FRANKFORT, Ky. –
Soldiers and Airmen of the Kentucky National Guard (KYNG) engaged in multiple events last week as part of a long-term cyber resilience initiative (CRI) to exchange knowledge and information, strengthen partnerships, enhance cyber capability, and improve preparedness for cyber incidents, Aug. 11-15, 2025.
The KYNG and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) region four participated in a multi-day training exercise, 'Cyber Fortress,' hosted by the Virginia National Guard and U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM). KYNG partnered with a Maryland electrical cooperative to simulate a National Guard-assisted cyber response on a critical infrastructure network.
Kentucky’s specialized team consisted of Airmen from the 123rd Communications Squadron, and Soldiers from the Joint Force Headquarters Defensive Cyber Operations Element, Staff Judge Advocate, and cyber resilience team.
The scenarios differed day to day, but the primary goal was to engage civilian and government partners, as well as remote participants from other states, to provide cybersecurity and digital protection training for critical infrastructure and energy. This was also a training opportunity for local cooperatives and energy companies.
Teams faced multiple simulated challenges, including ransomware attacks, distraction and disruption efforts, and attacks against public-facing websites.
In addition to conducting Cyber Fortress, Kentucky’s adjutant general, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Haldane Lamberton, and cyber program manager and deputy chief information officer, Lt. Col. Dayna Sanders briefed officials on the Kentucky National Guard Cyber Resilience Initiative (KY CRI) at the Governor’s Local Issues Conference in Louisville.
Sanders and Lamberton talked about the various threats agencies face in cyberspace, required capabilities, and the potential for partnerships to build collective capacity to deter, prevent, defeat, and mitigate threats to critical infrastructure.
Sanders spoke specifically to cybersecurity risks and offered solutions by drawing attention to the power of strong partnerships through increased trust between local, city, county, and state levels, and the importance of sharing cyber capabilities across agencies and echelons. She also spoke about the importance of Emergency Support Function 17, which in the event of a cybersecurity incident, would provide the means to respond to a cyber incident affecting the Commonwealth.
Sanders outlined details of the initiative, the Guard’s cyber and signal capabilities, and the unique civilian-military expertise KYNG Soldiers and Airmen possess, enabling them to train, advise, and assist partners.
“We have a lot of folks who drill with our units that are maybe software engineers, reverse malware engineers, or work cybersecurity for a healthcare company in their civilian jobs,” said Sanders. “We can pull from those folks into our teams and leverage whatever capabilities or particular skill sets they have to meet the needs of an incident.”
Since the beginning of the initiative in July 2024, KY CRI has continued to build trust, cyber resiliency and shared cyber capabilities and knowledge across public and private sectors through operating along four lines of effort: meeting their federal mission, supporting domestic operations, engaging in community outreach, and building partnerships.
KY CRI will partner with Murray State University and the University of Louisville School of Engineering to host another training event in November, Cyber Bluegrass 2025, to continue building cyber disaster preparedness and response capability across the Commonwealth.