MDDF Cyber Defense Unit Provides Cyber Operations Demonstration
November 19, 2019
Members of the MDDF Cyber Defense Unit Provide a Demonstration On November 17, 2019 the 3rd Annual Maryland Army National Guard (MDARNG) Information Operations and Cyber Operations Symposium was held at the Annapolis Readiness Center in Annapolis, Maryland. This conference was hosted by the 110th Information Operations Battalion of the MDARNG 58th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade. The conference sessions covered various topics including cyber operations, information warfare and military intelligence.
The Maryland Defense Force (MDDF) Cyber Defense Unit provided a cyber operations demonstration titled “Protecting Critical Infrastructure in the Cyber Domain - The Impact of Wireless Network Vulnerabilities and Social Engineering on Critical Cyber Domain Infrastructure.” Led by Capt. (MDDF) Corey Regelin, the primary presentation was given by 2nd Lt. (MDDF) Roger Harrison, followed by interactive demonstrations of WiFi password cracking and social network credential harvesting by 1st Lt. (MDDF) Marc Fructbaum and 1st Lt. (MDDF) Mark Regula.
“Our goal was to show how common weaknesses in critical infrastructure could lead to a scenario that enables a malign foreign cyber actor with the ability to influence the 2020 election through information operations,” shared Maj. (MDDF) James Lai, who commands the Cyber Defense Unit. “Once a malign foreign actor has access to a personal social media network account or command of a widely used WiFi network, the potential to spread misinformation and do harm is significant,” added Maj. (MDDF) Lai.
“Our Cyber Defense Unit is doing very important work serving the State of Maryland and raising awareness regarding potential threats. We always welcome opportunities to work with our partners in the Maryland National Guard and share some of our unit’s expertise,” commented Brig. Gen. (MDDF) Lorenza Cooper, commanding general of the MDDF. “As more devices and machines are networked and become part of the Internet of Things the importance of the work that our cyber warriors do will only increase,” concluded Gen. (MDDF) Cooper.
The Maryland Defense Force (MDDF) is the State’s uniformed volunteer militia unit providing competent, supplementary, professional and technical support and soldiers to the Maryland Military Department and the State of Maryland as needed. Established in 1917, the MDDF consists of nearly 200 personnel who perform legal, engineering, finance, medical, chaplain, field support and ceremonial services for the State of Maryland.
