We all love our computers until they don't work the way we want them to work. Technology is a beautiful luxury to enjoy until someone hijacks your life.

 

It seems that no business is secure from cyber thieves who hijack your computer, data centers and lock you out of your services. In today's world, we seem to be helpless without our company's computer systems. Recently, a significant gas pipeline on East Coast was shut down because of hackers and the beef industry.

Idaho's National Security Resources

With the rise of cybercrimes, we all have to wonder just how secure is the Gem State? Its businesses? Idaho is home to Idaho National Laboratory, Mountain Home Air Force Base, and Gowen Field. Nuclear energy and military facilities cannot afford to be shut down by hackers. Their cyber attacks threaten our safety and national security.

How Idaho is protecting the nation from cyber attacks

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson details Idaho's role in cybersecurity in a statement released Thursday morning.  “The Department of Energy’s best resource against a crippling cyberattack is one of its own national laboratories. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is a world leader in securing industrial computer technology from the kinds of cyberattacks that took down Ukraine’s power grid in 2015 and 2016. They work with industry to assess and improve technology against threats like those that turned off the safety systems at petrochemical plants in Saudi Arabia in 2017. And, they have the expertise to advise and train organizations how to avoid the conditions that Europe experienced when malware locked up their banks, ports and manufacturing facilities."

The role of the Idaho National Laboratory

The Gem State has a long history of protecting energy and military resources.  A former senator worked with Congressman Simpson early on to protect the Homeland.  Simpson shares the details of their partnership that secured the nation.   “Idaho has long been a leader in cybersecurity development. In 2002, Senator Larry Craig and I secured funding to establish INL’s Critical Infrastructure Test Range Complex. This location allows lab researchers to test the digital security of power and water systems at full-scale. In 2004 and 2005, we also secured funding to build a control systems test facility that paved the way for INL’s energy-cyber missions. And since 2014, I’ve worked to ensure the laboratory’s electric grid test bed received the necessary funding to create a demonstration environment for government and private industry. "

Cybersecurity will continue to dominate the headlines in today's world.  Let's continue to encourage the work being done in Idaho that will keep our technology safe.

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