Maryland Army Guard hosts cyber exchange with Bosnia and Herzegovina counterparts
Story by Capt. Michael Fedner
LAUREL, Md. – Maryland Army National Guard’s Cyber Protection Team (CPT) 169 partnered with their counterparts from the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH) for a cyber knowledge exchange at the Pvt. Henry Costin Readiness Center, September 16-20, 2024.
Six members, comprised of soldiers and civilians, from the AFBiH Cyber Operations Center (formerly known as the Security Operations Center) joined the Soldiers from CPT 169 to conduct the military-to-military cyber event.
The CPT 169 and the AFBiH members built upon their experiences gained from participating in Adriatic Regional Security Cyber Cooperation exercise earlier this summer in Slovenia. At the time, they collectively participated on a blue team defending the network and seeking indicators of network compromise during the multi-nation exercise.
“We’re breaking down what we learned this summer from the Adriatic Regional Security Cyber Cooperation exercise,” said Maryland Army National Guard 1st Lt. Harvey, CPT 169 mission element lead. “This week we learned about and practiced searching for indicators of network compromise and broke it down step-by-step alongside our SPP partners.”
Using a simulated “range” or practice network, together they were an offensive red team “attacking” the network for nefarious purposes by searching for vulnerabilities and to gain access with the goal of learning how to better protect a friendly network.
“Learning about this particular red team tool is going to help us develop defensive skills,” said AFBiH Capt Slaven Goluza, chief of Cyber Operations Center. “You must first know how [a] network can be attacked to know how to defend it.”
Maryland Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Amy Kremser, director of the Maryland National Guard Joint Staff, came to observe the military-to-military exchange and presented challenge coins to the members of the AFBiH.
The Maryland National Guard and Bosnia-Herzegovina have partnered together through the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program since 2003.
According to Harvey, the CPT 169 and the AFBiH Cyber Operations Center have become a tight-knit team after partnering together for the past few years through the mutually beneficial for exchanges of technical knowledge and enhance their overall capabilities.
“We are in our ninth or tenth military-to-military exchange with the AFBiH, and my favorite part of this partnership seeing our progress with each exchange,” said Harvey.
Both sides plan to expand their partnership through the SPP program in the years ahead.
“A lot of [the CPT 169 soldiers] have become our friends, and we really work as one team” said Goluza. “We are looking forward to new challenges and cooperation [in the] future.”
