(TLP:CLEAR) EPA Tabletop Exercise Design Webinar for Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities

Summary: On November 18, from 1 to 2 pm ET, EPA will host a free webinar on how to develop a tabletop exercise (TTX) using its TTX Tool for Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities. During this webinar, EPA will highlight why TTXs are valuable preparedness tools, share insights from an exercise designer who has used the TTX Tool, and feature a utility that recently participated in a TTX. EPA encourages attendees to bring their questions and comments and learn how to design an effective TTX.

Analyst Note: WaterISAC frequently extols the benefits of exercises, including as a complement to training. Regarding security and resilience, utilities should train their employees on indicators of suspicious, malicious, or other potentially harmful activity – from cyber and physical security incidents to natural disasters and other challenges – and subsequently conduct exercises to reinforce familiarity with organizational plans, policies, and procedures. Additionally, exercises are instrumental in identifying gaps in plans, policies, and procedures, such as in incident response plans (IRPs), which can then be addressed prior to real world incidents.

For additional resources to plan and conduct exercises, WaterISAC encourages water and wastewater utilities to access the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP), which is a national framework that provides standardized guidelines, terminology, and methodology to design, conduct, and evaluate exercises and build and assess capabilities. Additionally, the CISA Tabletop Exercise Packages (CTEPs) offer a comprehensive set of resources designed to assist stakeholders in conducting their own exercises. Each package is customizable and includes template exercise objectives, scenarios, and discussion questions as well as a collection of references and resources. Finally, WaterISAC encourages utilities to check for exercise opportunities that take on much of the planning that would otherwise be required. Opportunities include WaterISAC’s H2OEx series (check the Upcoming Events page) and CISA’s Cyber Storm and Dams Sector Information Sharing Drill (see the posting here for more information).

Original Source: https://ttx.epa.gov/

Related WaterISAC PIRs: 5, 12, 15, 18