HARTFORD, Conn. –
The Connecticut National Guard’s Cyber Team conducted a virtual engagement with the Armed Forces of Uruguay Cyber Forces at the Gov. William A. O’Neill Armory in Hartford on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in preparation for an in-person subject matter expert exchange in Uruguay later this month.
Six Connecticut Guardsmen are scheduled to fly to Uruguay to provide subject matter expertise to their Uruguayan counterparts to assist them in developing a cyber defense exercise called “Ciber Guacho”.
This new training exercise is inspired by “Cyber Yankee”, the National Guard’s premiere New England-based cyber training event for defense, state, and federal agencies to rehearse prevention and response best practices alongside key utility and municipal agencies.
Ciber Guacho aims to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructures against cyber threats and will include realistic cyberattack simulations, training, and evaluations of detection, mitigation, and response capabilities. This will also help develop a coordinated response between the Uruguayan Armed Forces, government agencies, and private sector partners to cyber threats and position Uruguay as a regional benchmark in cybersecurity through the international collaboration with the experts within the Connecticut National Guard.
In addition to helping prepare for their new cyber exercise, the subject matter expert exchange will also include site visits of Uruguay’s Agency for Electronic Government and the Information and Knowledge Society (AGESIC) and the National Cybercrime Unit, which is similar to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This past year, Uruguay has been actively working with the Connecticut National Guard to put all the pieces in place for the launch of Ciber Guacho. In June, 2024, the two partners hosted an introductory seminar to kickstart this project, followed by a planning video conference in October. This month, Connecticut’s cyber team is in Uruguay for the SME exchange. Next year, the Uruguayans are scheduled to participate in Cyber Yankee before launching Ciber Gaucho in December, 2025.