Senator Coons hosted a Senate Law Enforcement Caucus briefing on cyber security Wednesday to highlight the crucial role state and local agencies play in the fight against cybercrime, an increasingly common security threat.
The panel comprised cyber security experts from a variety of fields. They included Sergeant Kevin Perna, Operations Commander from the Delaware State Police High Technology Crimes Unit and the Delaware Internet Crimes Against Children Federal Task Force; Assistant to the Special Agent in Charge Ari Baranoff from the U.S. Secret Service’s New York Field Office; David Szuchman, the Executive District Attorney and Chief of the Investigation Division at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office; Tony Encinias, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Chief Information Officer; and Colonel David Walker, commander of the Delaware Air National Guard’s 166th Network Warfare Squadron.
The panelists stressed the importance of multilateral partnerships among law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels to strengthen cyber security. They also emphasized that strong cooperation and frequent communication are critical to preventing, combatting, and prosecuting cybercrime. Sharing resources and best practices aids the fight against cybercrime tremendously.
Bridging their five different perspectives, the panelists unanimously agreed that better training is the foremost need for each of their organizations in addressing cyber security. State or local police at the scene of a cybercrime, for example, need to know how to collect computers and phones properly to ensure that the evidence those devices contain is not compromised.
In his introductory remarks, Chris said cyber security is “a constant source of concern and anxiety for me” because it is “the area where we are least well-prepared.”
To increase local capacity to respond to cyber attacks, Chris introduced the bipartisan Cyber Warriors Act of 2013 in March. This bill would establish Cyber and Computer Network Incident Response Teams, known as ‘Cyber Guards,’ as part of the National Guard, replicating the successful model of Delaware’s 166th Network Warfare Squadron in other states. The bill would allow local law enforcement across the country to leverage the unique expertise of National Guard members in the aftermath of a cyber attack.
“We can’t stop being attentive to the needs of the men and women on the front lines,” Chris said.