Securing Spokane

A new federal agency in Spokane is protecting critical infrastructure across the region

BY NATE SANFORD

One of the youngest federal agencies is expanding to Spokane in an effort to help local governments and businesses in Eastern Washington and North Idaho protect themselves from physical and cyberattacks.

The first challenge: letting people know it exists.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency was established under the Department of Homeland Security in 2018 amid growing concern over the threat of cyberattacks and election security. The agency has had Seattle-based staff for several years, but an increased request for services in the Inland Northwest prompted the agency to hire a Spokane-based team, who set up shop in the area in late January.

The new Spokane team is composed of Steve Neal, who handles physical security, and Dan Brown, who focuses on cybersecurity. In their first weeks on the job, the team members say they’ve been focused on meeting with local entities, building relationships, and letting people know they’re here and want to help.

CISA works with a variety of entities, including state, local and tribal governments, schools, water facilities, energy providers and the health care sector.

The main service they offer is consultations. On the physical security side of things, those consultations involve an in-person visit from Neal, who will look around the facility for weaknesses a bad actor might try to exploit. On the cyber side of things, Brown will look for vulnerabilities with tools like network scans and fake phishing campaigns.

The security analysts aren’t able to talk about specific partnerships or security incidents involving local entities, but it’s clear that the threats facing local governments and businesses are very real. Last fall, hackers crippled Whitworth University’s computer network and held student data hostage. In 2021, computer science students at Eastern Washington University narrowly prevented a Russian cyberattack on the city of Spokane Valley. A recent string of unexplained attacks on power stations across the Pacific Northwest has also underscored the physical threats facing infrastructure.