Regional Exercise Aims for Unified Cyber Response

On October 8, 2024, over fifty (50) representatives from local governments and regional partner agencies gathered for the NVERS Regional Emergency Management Tabletop Exercise (TTX) - Cyberattack. The exercise was developed by a multi-disciplinary planning team led by the Northern Virginia Emergency Management Training & Exercise Working Group, in partnership with cybersecurity and information technology subject matter experts. Participants examined the scenario of a national-level IT system disruption impacting operations within the region's Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs). An added wrinkle to the scenario included a simultaneous severe weather response, driving increased communication, operational coordination, resource management, and public information needs. Following on the recent DC Walkout Seminar and TTX, this exercise continued the regional work on planning for large-scale, multi-faceted emergency response. "The region, and many localities identified cybersecurity as a priority in last year's integrated preparedness planning processes, so its great to see so many partners, including many new faces, joining together to tackle this exercise and move regional preparedness forward", said Taylor Jones, the Chair of the NOVA Emergency Management Training & Exercise Working Group.