CyberShare 2024 Accomplishments

Twenty-eight broadband providers joined CyberShare, bringing the total number of member companies to 119 and individual participants to 309. Participation includes up to three employees per company for small broadband providers. CyberShare’s value increases every time another small broadband provider joins and shares its experience and expertise with participants.

In coordination with the CyberShare Working Group, NTCA released an updated version of the NTCA Cybersecurity Series, a comprehensive guide consisting of six components designed to help executives, board officers and operational staff develop a risk management approach to cybersecurity.

NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield hosted a webinar with CISA Director Jen Easterly to discuss Easterly’s path to becoming CISA director and the free resources, exercises and training CISA offers to promote cybersecurity and physical security.

In the past year, during CyberShare’s twice-monthly member calls, participants heard from industry leaders and government experts from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on a range of topics including ransomware, phishing and distributed denial-of-service attacks, security patching and vulnerabilities, cyber insurance, policy trends and more.

CyberShare partnered with ACA Connects, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, the Rural Wireless Association and WISPA–The Association for Broadband Without Boundaries to host the 2024 CyberShare Summit. These organizations, which serve small broadband providers across the country via a variety of technologies, worked together to provide a forum to discuss cybersecurity best practices and the latest vulnerabilities facing network operators.

CyberShare launched a new Strategic Partners membership category to enhance the CyberShare experience and integrate the wealth of knowledge of those who offer security products and services. With this new category, approved vendors have the opportunity to participate in certain CyberShare activities and share specific threat and mitigation measures, enhancing the value of CyberShare for all.

CyberShare participants learned about serious vulnerabilities impacting their equipment before details were released by manufacturers through the daily threat reports and weekly technical analysis, including time-sensitive, urgent information about data breaches and cybersecurity vulnerabilities in software and security programs.