SJ296: Commending Virginia's Operational Integration Cyberspace Center of Excellence and City of Hampton.


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 296
Commending Virginia?s Operational Integration Cyberspace Center of Excellence, Inc., and the City of Hampton.
 
Agreed to by the Senate, January 13, 2011
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 21, 2011
 

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Homeland Security, National Cyber Security Division has awarded a grant to Virginia?s Operational Integration Cyberspace Center of Excellence, Inc., (VOICCE), a municipal cyber laboratory in the City of Hampton, and has recognized that cyber security is now a pressing local issue needing attention, resources, and programs to address a variety of cyber-related issues and opportunities; and

WHEREAS, cyberspace has changed the fundamental assumptions of everyday life of all individuals; with the advent of networks and interactions between machines and humans, software is now required to address the many factors that have the potential to impact service delivery to the citizens of local governments in the Commonwealth of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, cyber security must be addressed and understood at local governmental levels in order to provide all citizens within a community the means to continue normal life functions during potential and actual cyber attacks; and

WHEREAS, municipalities have robust teams and infrastructure to support physical emergencies such as floods, hurricanes, fires, and other natural disasters; cyber attacks are usually addressed as administrative information technology functions without the same level of attention, resources, and processes that are associated with physical threats; and

WHEREAS, risks to the community from cyber attacks are neither identified nor incorporated in municipal emergency operations plans; and

WHEREAS, procedures, policies, and capabilities that enable localities to operate in the cyber domain must be considered simultaneously with state and federal government agencies responsible for cyber security; and

WHEREAS, in accomplishing its mission, VOICCE focuses on supporting communities by incorporating cyber education, training, and the associated processes and procedures of cyber-related events into the mainstream of emergency operations at the local level; and

WHEREAS, the City of Hampton is the sponsoring jurisdiction and will conduct a pilot project that will allow local governments and first responders to participate virtually with state and federal entities in simulated cyber attacks in order to assess emerging technologies, processes, procedures, capabilities, and security gaps that local communities face in a cyber attack; and

WHEREAS, the pilot project will develop realistic municipal simulated and recursive planning and replanning cycles, repeated exercising and improvements, and an overall increase in cyber security capabilities for local communities; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend VOICCE and the City of Hampton for their continued efforts to increase cyber security capabilities for local communities; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to VOICCE and to Mayor Molly Joseph Ward of the City of Hampton as an expression of the General Assembly?s gratitude for their work on behalf of the citizens and the communities of the Commonwealth.


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 296
Offered January 12, 2011
Prefiled December 29, 2010
Commending Virginia?s Operational Integration Cyberspace Center of Excellence, Inc., and the City of Hampton.
Patron-- Locke

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Homeland Security, National Cyber Security Division has awarded a grant to Virginia?s Operational Integration Cyberspace Center of Excellence, Inc., (VOICCE), a municipal cyber laboratory in the City of Hampton, and has recognized that cyber security is now a pressing local issue needing attention, resources, and programs to address a variety of cyber-related issues and opportunities; and

WHEREAS, cyberspace has changed the fundamental assumptions of everyday life of all individuals; with the advent of networks and interactions between machines and humans, software is now required to address the many factors that have the potential to impact service delivery to the citizens of local governments in the Commonwealth of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, cyber security must be addressed and understood at local governmental levels in order to provide all citizens within a community the means to continue normal life functions during potential and actual cyber attacks; and

WHEREAS, municipalities have robust teams and infrastructure to support physical emergencies such as floods, hurricanes, fires, and other natural disasters; cyber attacks are usually addressed as administrative information technology functions without the same level of attention, resources, and processes that are associated with physical threats; and

WHEREAS, risks to the community from cyber attacks are neither identified nor incorporated in municipal emergency operations plans; and

WHEREAS, procedures, policies, and capabilities that enable localities to operate in the cyber domain must be considered simultaneously with state and federal government agencies responsible for cyber security; and

WHEREAS, in accomplishing its mission, VOICCE focuses on supporting communities by incorporating cyber education, training, and the associated processes and procedures of cyber-related events into the mainstream of emergency operations at the local level; and

WHEREAS, the City of Hampton is the sponsoring jurisdiction and will conduct a pilot project that will allow local governments and first responders to participate virtually with state and federal entities in simulated cyber attacks in order to assess emerging technologies, processes, procedures, capabilities, and security gaps that local communities face in a cyber attack; and

WHEREAS, the pilot project will develop realistic municipal simulated and recursive planning and replanning cycles, repeated exercising and improvements, and an overall increase in cyber security capabilities for local communities; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend VOICCE and the City of Hampton for their continued efforts to increase cyber security capabilities for local communities; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to VOICCE and to Mayor Molly Joseph Ward of the City of Hampton, as an expression of the General Assembly?s gratitude for their work on behalf of the citizens and the communities of the Commonwealth.