California Apparel News

Cyber crime continues to be a top concern for governments, education, medicine, giant corporations and small businesses. The United States federal government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the umbrella trade group Retail and Hospitality ISAC, of which the National Retail Federation is a partner, have developed a cybersecurity drill that will run on a yet-to-be-announced June date, and they are inviting businesses to participate.

The exercise, named EX-RH2021, will feature training sessions designed to challenge information-security teams, executive decision-making and cross-disciplinary coordination, said Suzie Squier, president of RH-ISAC.

“RH-ISAC is the epicenter for information sharing for retail, hospitality and travel organizations and as such is the ideal host for the first sector-wide exercise,” Squier said. “Together with CISA and key trade associations, we’ll be able to mature our enterprise security activities as well as our collective coordination.”

Dr. David Mussington, CISA’s executive assistant director for infrastructure security, said that the exercise will help companies with testing communication, coordination and decision-making protocols in case of a cyber crime.

“This exercise is essential to preparing for an incident, and participants will be able to gain valuable information on how to handle and respond to an incident within the industry,” Mussington said.

CISA and RH-ISAC recommend participation from C-level executives who manage cyber-security issues such as chief security officers, chief information security officers, chief commercial officers, chief financial officers, chief legal officers, chief marketing officers and chief operating officers. Other professionals who would benefit include those who work within cyber security such as practitioners and analysts associated with retail privacy, compliance and point-of-sale issues and controls.