Cyberterrorism is focus of Citizen Corps ceremony in Palo Alto

Palo Altans' third-top-ranking concern, cyberterrorism, will be the focus of discussion by a top FBI expert on Thursday, Jan. 26, at Palo Alto City Hall.

Elvis Chan, FBI supervisory agent, will speak on the topic during the seventh annual Palo Alto Office of Emergency Services Community Partnership Awards Ceremony. The Palo Alto/Stanford Citizen Corps Council honors, which are open to the public, are given to five individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievements related to emergency services.

Chan will discuss how people and companies can protect themselves from the threat. Cyberterrorism ranked third out of the top 10 perceived threats to the city's residents, a 2016 city survey found. The crime has been identified as a local threat in the city's 2014 Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment Report, and it is one of the official Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Planning Scenarios, Kenneth Dueker, the city's director of emergency services, said.

"A cyberattack could cripple the power grid, leaving Palo Alto and other areas with no electricity or impair other key utilities, such as telecommunications. At a more local level, our residents, businesses, and even the city itself have been victims of cybercrime," he noted.

Examples have included a dentist's office that had its records database hacked and held for ransom and jamming of the city's 911 dispatch center with hundreds of calls by a phantom caller.

In 2015, President Barack Obama signed an executive order on cybersecurity at Stanford University during the Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection. The nation's power grids and critical financial, health and air traffic control systems are all run on systems connected to the internet and create levels of vulnerability never seen before, Obama said.

Annette Glanckopf, a member of the Citizen Corps Council and an event organizer, said the topic "is amazingly timely. Cyber, and Russian hacking have constantly been in the news, so the topic was a no-brainer. I am a graduate of the FBI Citizens' Academy and heard (Chan) speak. I thought his message was fascinating and he is a great speaker."

The event is free and is open to the public. In addition to Chan, residents can congratulate their fellow citizens, who are receiving awards for their volunteer contributions to community emergency safety.

This year's awards will go to Palo Alto Emergency Services Volunteers David Rost, Ken Joye and Jack Pines; Sandra Slater of the Cool City Challenge/Palo Alto Cool Block Program and Ramsey Shuayto, Stanford University Real Estate Operations associate director of asset management.

The event takes place at City of Palo Alto Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto at 6:45 p.m. and includes a reception, ceremony and formal program. More information about the city's Emergency Volunteers Program can be found at here.

Source: http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2017/01/25/cyberterrorism-is-focus-of-citizen-corps-ceremony-in-palo-alto