Essentials of Community Cybersecurity

The Essentials of Community Cybersecurity (ECCS) course provides individuals, community leaders, and first responders with information on how cyber attacks can impact, prevent, and/or stop operations and emergency responses in a community. The course also provides a cursory introduction to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, risks, threats, and countermeasures. It explains vulnerabilities of computer systems and networks and how these vulnerabilities can affect communities, organizations, and daily workplace operations. The course introduces actions communities can take in establishing a cybersecurity program. The course provides participants with an awareness of issues. It gives an overview of threats and vulnerabilities, without going into too many details, to highlight the potential impact a cyber attack could have. Participants discuss some of the fundamental activities needed to develop a cybersecurity program, without addressing the technical details of how to secure critical infrastructures. The course introduces the Community Cybersecurity Maturity Model (CCSMM) as a framework for understanding community cybersecurity and offers a brief introduction to low-cost or no-cost approaches to securing a community against cybersecurity threats and attacks. The course sets the stage for further efforts in which a community can build a cybersecurity program.

As part of a Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (DHS/FEMA) cooperative agreement training program, this course is available at no direct cost to state, county, and local government agencies.

Course Length: 4 hours

Course Manager:

Course Timeline:

Registration Information: Participants must be U.S. citizens. A FEMA Student ID is required to register for and participate in any training provided by FEMA agencies. All FEMA training providers, registration systems, and enrollment procedures are required to use this FEMA SID, which can be obtained at the following website: https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasidopens in a new tab; or with TEEX assistance upon arrival for class.

Prerequisite: There are no prerequisites for this course.

Target Audience/Discipline: Personnel with no more than a basic understanding of cyber security and are involved with critical infrastructure, emergency operations, and incident response in public or private organizations, including state, tribal, county, and municipal offices; members of industry affiliations and chambers of commerce should attend.

Scheduled Classes: There are no scheduled dates for this course.

Please note: Applications for courses will be accepted up to 1 day prior to the course date.

If you want to learn more about the Training Program or are interested in attending a specific course, please contact your IEMA Regional Coordinator or Nancy Buck. Registration should be made in advance to attend any IEMA sponsored class. Walk-in registrations are only accepted if room space and course materials are available. To register for IEMA classes, please see the IEMA Online Registration and Tracking Program Page.