Given the importance of cybersecurity to the trucking industry, any resource that helps with the effort is welcome. And many people in our industry don’t realize we already have access to tons of resources from the federal government.
I realize it can be intimidating to think about approaching the federal government for help. If you’re not familiar with how it works, it can be overwhelming just trying to figure out where to start.
I’ve worked with these resources for a long time, and I can tell you they are very valuable. Trucking companies who would like to take advantage of these offerings but don’t know where to start can start with me. I know the players and I have their contact information. I can walk them through the process of finding the right resource for what they need.
Here are some of those resources:
The Center for Internet Security offers the 18 CIS Critical Security Controls. Click the link to get the details. It’s a very comprehensive list.
The Federal Virtual Training Environment (FedVTE) offers free cybersecurity courses. Here is where you can go to read more about them.
Ransomware Guidance and Resources is a one-stop destination for ransomware resources and guidance from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Other resources within this division include:
- Incident Response Training
- Guidance for Corporate Leaders and CEO
- Message to Cyber Leaders
- Message to Staff Users
- Cyber Essentials Toolkit For What Makes You Operational
- Cyber Essentials Toolkit For Your Surroundings, The Digital Workplace
- Cyber Essentials Toolkit For Your Data, What The Business Is Built On
- Cyber Essentials Your Crisis Response
The FBI publishes regular bulletins to private industry, and you can find more about that here.
You can also find information from the FBI on ransomware prevention and response for CISOs.
The CIS also offers information on 7 Steps to Help Prevent and Limit the Impact of Ransomware.
The trucking industry is defined by the federal government as part of the nation’s critical infrastructure, and rightly so. The transportation sector is one of 16 that falls under this description, and as a result our industry has access to federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.S. Secret Service.
One of the reasons I joined NMFTA was my experience working with these resources, and my interest in helping the trucking industry take advantage of them. In previous positions, I coordinated with all the agencies mentioned above. I was familiar with the information, the security tools and the threat intelligence services they were willing to provide to industries who are part of the nation’s critical infrastructure.
If you have questions about any of these resources, contact me via antwan.banks@nmfta.org. Here at NMFTA, we want the industry to be protected from cyberattacks. Resources like these are critical to that effort.
