West Virginia Northern Community College

Prerequisites: ** Due to the nature of this topic it is highly recommended that students have successfully completed a 40-hour formal basic instructor-led telecommunicator training program. ** Cybersecurity has become an ever-increasing threat for public safety. Emergency communications centers (ECCs) are a valuable and vulnerable target for bad actors of all types. As a result of their high importance and visibility within the public safety ecosystem, ECCs have been battling cyberattacks for years. Public safety is at constant risk for many types of cyberattacks. Research indicates that the frequency and intensity of cyberattacks will continue to grow. All ECC employees need to be educated on the types of cyberattacks and related activity that occur daily in the United States. This course provides a basic overview of the critical pieces of information that all ECC employees should know – from surfing the internet to being aware of key indicators in email for possible phishing attempts. This course also provides several resources for creating an Incident Response Plan and what to do if your ECC experiences a cyberattack. This course is built on the experiences of public safety cybersecurity experts and ECC professionals. This course will provide ECC professionals with foundational knowledge of cyberattacks, including the anatomy of a cyberattack, signs of an ongoing cyberattack and mitigation techniques. This includes preparing for cyberattacks, response to those attacks and the type of data to protect for post-attack forensics. Topics include: How Cyberattacks Work Why ECCs Are a Target Phishing Brute Force Hacking Website Drive-By Pre-Hacked Software Pre-Hacked Devices Data Destruction Data Exfiltration Ransomware Cryptojacking Persistent Threat Public Safety Cyberattack Case Studies Preventing Exploitation Cyber Hygiene Importance of a Cyber Response Plan Cybersecurity for Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) Schedule: 1 day, 8 consecutive hours per day for a total of 8 contact-hours. CDEs Earned: 8 Recertification Requirements: None