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New Canaan Officials Train To Combat Cyber Threats

NEW CANAAN, Conn. -- New Canaan officials took part in training last week to bolster their preparedness and awareness of potential cyber security threats.

Michael Handler, director of the office of Emergency Management for New Canaan

Michael Handler, director of the office of Emergency Management for New Canaan

Photo Credit: Anthony Buzzeo

The Office of Emergency Management conducted the cyber threat training exercise on Friday, focused on increasing cyber security awareness, threat prevention, mitigation and response. Town departments that took place in the training included police, fire, EMS and information technology. The FBI and the Connecticut State Police Counter-Terrorism Unit/Cyber-Crimes Unit provided subject matter expertise throughout the exercise.

“As part of its ongoing mission to provide multi-agency all-hazards training and planning, the Office of Emergency Management is pleased to have been able to bring this discussion to the forefront, as it is often overlooked until it is too late," said Emergency Management Director Michael Handler. "It is always important to test our current level of preparedness and look for ways to enhance our policies, procedures and responses. I want to thank First Selectmen Mallozzi for providing the environment, encouragement and support all of our emergency preparedness training.”

“The more we educate ourselves and our users on emerging cyber-threats, the less vulnerable we will be," said Director of Information Technology Chris Kaiser.

Police Chief Leon Krolikowski, who led today’s exercise commented on the “importance of multi-agency coordination in order to mitigate and respond to cyber-threats.”

Following the training, the next steps for the town are to update policies, educate employees, and then further test procedures and response protocols. Ultimately, the plan is for cyber threat response protocols to be added as a formal annex to the town's Emergency Operations Plan.

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