Award: USG Service Excellence Award – Outstanding Team
Team Name: Georgia Tech CyberSecurity
Number of Team Members: 10
Team Leader Information:
Name: Herbert Baines, III
Phone: 404-894-0226
Email: [email protected]
Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology
Photos of Team: Pending
Team Supervisor Information
Name: Jason Belford
Phone: 404-894-6159
Email: [email protected]
Team Description:
The strategic goal of the Georgia Tech CyberSecurity team is to build a
foundation of support for the Institute’s Strategic Plan by creating a secure
environment in which the Institute’s goals and objectives can be realized.
While the risks to the Institute’s mission and resources remain constant, the
threats are evolving to become more advanced. To mitigate these threats to
the Institute, the CyberSecurity team, which contains 10 highly motivated,
customer-service focused security professionals, operates the following
programs: Education & Awareness, Endpoint Security, Incident Response &
Digital Forensics, Information Technology & Security Policy Development,
Network Security, Regulatory & Policy Compliance, Security Consultation,
and Security Partnerships.
Describe how this nominee's actions/accomplishments go above and beyond
normal job duties.
Even with limited resources, Georgia Tech CyberSecurity fulfills its primary
mission to Georgia Tech and has extended themselves to provide many of
these same security services across the University System of Georgia (USG).
The following are specific areas where Georgia Tech CyberSecurity has
provided resources to the USG.
Education & Awareness
Georgia Tech CyberSecurity staff presented two different sessions at the USG
Information Security Officers Conference (ISOC) in Columbus, Georgia. One
of these sessions helped establish a procedure for security professionals
across the USG to communicate securely through the use of email encryption.
This process can be used to transmit sensitive information using secure
methods. In addition, the CyberSecurity team used its existing relationships
to arrange a keynote speaker at this conference. All of these opportunities
allowed Georgia Tech CyberSecurity to share relevant security information
with the other USG entities to help prevent and better identify potential
security incidents.
Incident Response & Digital Forensics
Georgia Tech CyberSecurity assisted 3 other USG schools and USG Internal
Audit with security incidents. Each of these incidents required direct
collaboration with each university's leadership to provide incident response
and digital forensics services. For these incidents, Georgia Tech
CyberSecurity provided the necessary resources, which included an average
of 150 hours of personnel time and supplies. Each of the schools expressed
gratitude for the respectfulness Georgia Tech CyberSecurity showed with the
regards to the sensitivity of these issues, as well as for the professional and
successful completion of the engagements.
Information Technology & Security Policy Development
Georgia Tech CyberSecurity continues to provide mature IT and security
policies. Several USG schools have reached out to request advice on the
development of their own policies. In addition, Georgia Tech has consulted
with some USG schools to use Georgia Tech best practices as the basis for
their own policy to better protect their institutions against cyber attack. The
Georgia Tech CyberSecurity team continues to partner with the USG System
Office to shape the development of the USG IT Handbook.
Endpoint and Network Security
Georgia Tech CyberSecurity wrote a system to proactively look for potential
compromised webservers at Georgia Tech. With some changes, Georgia Tech
CyberSecurity was able to adapt this system to identify compromised web
servers within the USG entities. This past year, Georgia Tech CyberSecurity
assisted several USG entities with compromised webservers by notifying
them of the issue assisting them in the incident response process.
In addition, Georgia Tech CyberSecurity provides security intelligence to
other USG entities. For example, in December Georgia Tech CyberSecurity
identified an international cyberattack. The CyberSecurity team sent the
details of the incident to the Information Security Officers within the USG.
This information was leveraged by several USG entities to look for potential
fraud on their own systems. Additionally, Georgia Tech CyberSecurity
receives intelligence reports from trusted partners and continually reports
compromised credentials to affected USG organizations.
For all of the reasons stated above, I strongly recommend the Georgia Tech
CyberSecurity team for the USG Service Excellence Award for Outstanding
Team. By doing so, you can assist Georgia Tech leadership in demonstrating
appreciation and support for the collaborative efforts and contributions this
team has made to the USG and recognize the Georgia Tech CyberSecurity
teams commitment to the "oneusg" strategy.
Nominator’s Information:
Name: James O’Connor
Phone: 404-894-9044
Email: [email protected]