Cyber Discovery continues to advance the State of Idaho’s operational readiness, playing a central role in the broader mission of Operation Cyber Idaho to strengthen statewide cyber resilience through targeted training and preparedness initiatives. This annual two-week event has grown significantly over the past year, expanding from 10 to 20 partner organizations and increasing participation from 94 to 135.
The exercise saw greater involvement from Idaho’s counties, cities, school districts, state agencies, and private sector partners, as well as cyber professionals from military units from Alaska, Idaho, and South Dakota. To broaden statewide access, this year’s program added a physical security component and successfully tested remote participation.
In collaboration with the Idaho National Guard, Cyber Discovery demonstrated that Idaho can rapidly surge its cyber defense capacity when needed, effectively scaling the team by nearly tenfold during the exercise and completing the equivalent of six weeks of work in just a few days.
This surge capability is exactly what the state requires to effectively respond during major cyber incidents. The Idaho National Guard’s operational expertise and mission focused mindset continue to strengthen Idaho’s preparedness and remain essential to the success of this effort.
This year’s event also benefited from the dedicated participation of service members from the Idaho, Alaska, and South Dakota Army and Air National Guard units. Their contributions, alongside those of Idaho’s community partners and critical infrastructure organizations, directly enhanced operational readiness and reinforced Idaho’s ability to respond as a unified team. This multistate and multisector collaboration reflects the shared mission that makes Cyber Discovery such a powerful component of Operation Cyber Idaho.
The success of the mission is only as strong as the team driving it. Leadership from ITS, especially Jeremy McLean, Matt Aslett, Kevin Pilcher, Peter Rails, and many others helped ensure the training aligned with Operation Cyber Idaho’s goals while delivering valuable hands-on experience to all participants.
ITS extends its appreciation to the following for their partnership and commitment in making this year’s Cyber Discovery a statewide success:
- Idaho Army National Guard
- Alaska Army National Guard
- Alaska Air National Guard
- South Dakota Army National Guard
- St. Luke’s Health System
- Boise State University
- College of Western Idaho
- Western Governors University
- Bingham County, Teton County
- Twin Falls County, Washington County
- Cambridge School District
- Kuna School District
- Teton School District
- The cities of Boise and Nampa
- CompuNet, Micron
- Mission 43
