Schriever earns 'Excellent' CCRI rating

SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Team Schriever received an "Excellent" rating during its Command Cyber Readiness Inspection Feb. 9-14 at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.

The results of the inspection showed excellence in the base's internal network, Information Assurance programs, traditional security, vulnerability management, Non-classified Internet Protocol Network, Secret Internet Protocol Network and Voice over Internet protocol.
 
"This would not have been possible without total support across the base, whether providing augmentee manpower to 50 SCS or cooperating on the various SIPR up days and reboot requests," said Col. Bill Liquori, 50th Space Wing commander. "Thank you for your patience and individual actions that we requested in the months/weeks leading up to the inspection.  As with any inspection, the trick will be to sustain these good network security practices."

As part of the CCRI, the 50th Space Communications Squadron hosted six Defense Information Systems Agency inspectors who conducted the inspection to evaluate the base's cybersecurity programs.

The goal of the inspection is to ensure compliance with the standards and regulations laid out for appropriate and consistent levels of cybersecurity.

Master Sgt. Danielle Gangadeen, 50th Space Communications Squadron, quality assurance superintendent, enforces the commander's self-inspection program as well as policies and guidelines set forth by the Air Force. She oversaw the preparation for the inspection.

"We've been preparing since the last inspection, which was a year ago," she said.
Gangadeen, Tech. Sgt. Micaela Walker, 50 SCS NCO in charge of network operations, Tech. Sgt. Kendra Bryan, NCO in charge of vulnerability management cell, and the men and women of the 50 SCS all played a crucial part toward the success of the CCRI. 

"My role was server patching and Security Technical Implementation Guides for web and database servers," said Bryan.

This means applying patches for vulnerabilities to the servers and STIGs are checked from DISA to ensure configurations are correct on each server, Bryan said.

She also scans the NIPR and SIPR network for vulnerabilities, which could potentially affect work stations and servers, printers and routers.

"A vulnerability is a finding, a deficiency in your system - something a hacker or adversary could potentially use to access or attack our network or system," Bryan said.

Bryan and her team also provide the patches or fixes to protect the network.

"With technology it's constant, and it can be difficult at times but it's essential," she added. "If there's a vulnerability that affects our most important mission systems and satellites, we protect them. We take our Air Force network seriously."

Walker said Team Schriever scored a rating of 84 on NIPR and 88 on SIPR, which were both excellent. The 50 SCS showed a commitment to continuous improvement by using the last inspection's lessons learned to better prepare for this one.  

"The teamwork between all the work centers this year was great.  The communication was open and we worked very efficiently," said Walker.

The DISA team assessed Schriever's network and traditional security as a whole.

"They were very impressed with our traditional security," said Gangadeen.

According to Gangadeen, one of the inspectors said Schriever was one of the best sites he has seen.

"I was extremely happy with the results and all the hard work that went into this," Gangadeen added. "Our leadership is also extremely proud. They saw the effort."