As the Department of Defense has ramped up the fight against COVID-19 while continuing to execute its no-fail national missions, U.S. European Command’s cyber teams have worked tirelessly to ensure both the command’s infrastructure and its people are protected across all domains.

In an era already marked by increasingly severe and sophisticated cyber threats, COVID-19 has presented new opportunities for malicious actors to exploit. As many have shifted to telework and remote capabilities, the command has worked closely with interagency and commercial partners to take aggressive steps to counter cyber threats, defend networks, secure critical infrastructure and mitigate risks.

In taking quick action to guarantee operational readiness, enable joint functions and deter current and potential threats, experts within USEUCOM’s C4 and Cyber directorate, have taken a holistic approach to cybersecurity with the aim of protecting the warfighting ability of both USEUCOM and its Allies and partners, which remains a top priority for both the command and the DOD. 

Part of this effort to ensure systems are protected includes providing cybersecurity tips for personnel and their families who have been pushed into remote work and online learning environments. To keep USEUCOM teams across the European theater informed on best practices for protecting information, the command has provided continual updates with tips, proactive steps and extra precautions to help safeguard personal systems from being targeted by cyber criminals and to avoid potential risks, including malware attacks and phishing attempts.

“We are committed to the protection of our people, our networks and our mission and stand ready to respond to malicious cyber activities,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Maria Biank, USEUCOM’s J6 Joint Cyber Center director. “As this new telework environment introduces more opportunities for our adversaries to exploit, we encourage everyone to take cybersecurity seriously. By following common security practices both at home and at work, regularly ensuring devices have the latest patches and updates and watching closely for anything that is suspicious or out of the ordinary, we can all do our part to prevent vulnerabilities and protect against malicious cyber activities.”