NC North Carolina News

Cyberattack attacks continue to grow in North Carolina, but the state National Guard is responding to help protect residents, governments and elections in the state and nation. 

North Carolina National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Matt DeVivohe said the branch's Cyber Security Response Force has been requested for more than 35 cybersecurity incidents in multiple states since 2018, according to a News & Record report on April 11. 

With the upcoming election, the Cyber Security Response Force has seen an increase in attacks, National Guard Capt. Steven Schmidt told the News & Record. 

“Globally there’s definitely been an uptick [in cyberattacks], going back to November [or] December when coronavirus popped up in China," Schmidt told the News & Record. 

Schmidt told the News & Record that panic and curiosity for COVID-19 will also make someone more likely to open a harmful link. 

“When you get an email and it’s talking about COVID-19 (and) someone dying in your area, it makes it that much more enticing to click on a malicious attachment or malicious link,” which is how the software will become installed to steal data, he told the News & Record. “In that shift, organizations are trying to get their systems online and they’re not necessarily following the best cybersecurity practices."

A news release from National Guard said the Cyber Security Response Force has 10 full-time cyber professionals and more than 400 Army and Air Guard cyber specialists. 

“They bring real-world experience as well as professionalism to incidents and provide a calming voice in what can often be a chaotic and stressful cyber-attack environment,” North Carolina Army National Guard Lt. Col. Seth Barun said in the news release.

But the state's National Guard doesn't just respond to incidents. Sgt. Manuel Bennett, one of the Guard's cyber specialists, said they are put in place to help out during elections, according to the News & Record. 

“During the election process, we’re in place,” Bennett told the News & Record. “Because things do happen, so we’re not reactive, we’re proactive.”

The Cyber Security Response Force will evaluate information on potential threats and be prepared with a strategy during elections, according to the News & Record. 

Barun told the News & Record that members of the team also work with emergency managers, election officials and many others. 

“It’s a whole team effort … civilians [are] involved, too,” Barun said during a phone interview.