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20th CS holds cyber week

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Zade Vadnais
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  The 20th Fighter Wing held a cyber security week here, May 30 to June 3 in preparation for a Command Cyber Readiness Inspection Aug. 1-5.

Cyber security weeks are held periodically at Shaw, and serve to highlight the importance of cyber operations to the accomplishment of the 20th Fighter Wing’s mission.

“In order to line our operations up with the new Air Force Inspection Program, we are striving to accomplish a steady state culture of compliance in preparation for upcoming inspections,” said Master Sgt. Dexter Huggins, 20th Communications Squadron cyber operations section chief.

During cyber security week, 20th CS Airmen teamed up with personnel from the 20th FW’s Information Protection Office to visit several different units around Shaw. These unit walk-throughs provided an opportunity for the cyber security team to interact with unit-level information assurance officers while checking the readiness of users throughout the wing.

Huggins said cyber security is everyone’s responsibility and identified several easy ways for the average network user to improve their security posture.

“The importance of maintaining positive control of common access cards needs to be stressed to all personnel,” said Huggins. “If personnel step away from their computer, they must remove their CAC and ensure their computer is locked.

“Lack of control over personally identifiable information was identified as well,” continued Huggins. “PII is required to be locked in a cabinet when not in use. The IPO also noted that users who work in classified processing areas needed to be more consistent when documenting end-of-day checklists for their work centers and safes.”

By being more mindful to maintain positive control of their CACs and secure PII when not in use, as well as attaching classification stickers to removable media such as CDs, DVDs and external hard drives, Team Shaw members will develop good cyber security habits that should allow them to breeze through the CCRI this August.

“The result of these actions enable us to maximize security and compliance of the Shaw enclave of the Air Force Network,” explained Huggins. “This facilitates our ability to provide combat-ready air power and Airmen to meet any challenge, anytime, anywhere.”