Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific celebrates National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) with various Lunch N’ Learn sessions hosted by the NAVFAC Pacific Command Information Office (CIO).

Throughout the month of October, NAVFAC Pacific CIO scheduled six sessions to educate its workforce on the importance of cybersecurity on the following topics – cybersecurity in the Pacific area of responsibility, NAVFAC’s strategy for securing Facility Related Control Systems, basic cyber hygiene, Windows 10 tips and tricks and system authorization access request (SAAR) forms.

“Cybersecurity is a big deal,” said Noreen Kenjo, NAVFAC Pacific supervisory information technology specialist and acting CIO business line manager. “It is essential that each person is educated and prepared as our vigilance and situational awareness is essential to operational security.”

NAVFAC Pacific CIO brought in guest speaker Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) Special Agent Pete Ruland to present on cyber hygiene tips and recommendations for NAVFAC Pacific employees.

In the two sessions held Oct. 17, Ruland provided instruction on individual cybersecurity by identifying techniques currently used by cyber criminals and how we can be prepared. He also discussed current and trending cyber threats, and the increasingly sophisticated, advanced attacks.

“Hackers are no longer lone individuals, but sophisticated criminal groups seeking money, nation/state actors looking to steal data, intellectual property, military information, and political activists,” said Ruland. “This is particularly a threat to those of us working for the Department of Defense.”

The session also included vulnerabilities often overlooked in email, social media accounts, mobile devices, along with new ways our security can be compromised.

“We can better protect ourselves by changing passwords, deleting suspicious email, reducing the amount of data we have online, and regular backups of data will better protect ourselves digitally,” said Ruland.

Creating a culture of cybersecurity is critical for every employee and family member both at work and home. It’s important not to let our guard down.

“NAVFAC Pacific strives to provide its employees with a variety of cybersecurity information and training opportunities,” said Julie Weinstein, NAVFAC Pacific information systems security manager.

Here are the six Cybersecurity Awareness Lunch N’ Learns NAVFAC Pacific organized throughout the month of October.

Date: Thursday, October 25, 2018
Speaker: Joe Rayray, NAVFAC Pacific CIO Information Systems Security Officer
Topics: SAAR or SAAR-N forms.

Date: Thursday, October 18, 2018

Speaker: John Degrood, NAVFAC Pacific CIO Information Technology Specialist
Topics: Windows 10 Tips & Tricks.

Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Speaker: Pete Ruland Special Agent Navy Criminal Investigative Service
Topics: Phishing, Social Engineering, Staying safe/secure while TDY.

Date: Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Speaker: Pete Ruland Special Agent Navy Criminal Investigative Service
Topics: Phishing, Social Engineering, Staying safe/secure while TDY.

 Date: Thursday, October 11, 2018
Speaker: Shane Siu, NAVFAC Pacific CIO Operational Technology Manager
Topics: NAVFAC’s strategy for securing Facility Related Control Systems, including SCADA, and provide an overview of the ICS/SCADA Security Essentials training course that he recently attended.

Date: Thursday, October 4, 2018

Speaker: Julie Weinstein, NAVFAC Pacific CIO Information Systems Security Manager
Topic: Cybersecurity in the Pacific area of responsibility.

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