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Florida Conducts "Ethical Hacking" Training

The training should help state agencies assess potential network vulnerabilities, Florida's State Technology Office said.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The State Technology Office said on Monday that it will conduct a weeklong training session for state IT professionals on "ethical hacking."

AT&T will host the training, which is being orchestrated to provide a valuable starting point for state agencies to assess their need for security and help set security baselines, according to Florida's State Technology Office. Additionally, this training will provide the necessary background for identification of an intrusion on any point within the state's network.

The training will use cracker tools and methodologies intended to show not only how a cracker would work, but also what they look for and how they accumulate information.

"The State Technology Office is widening the circle, virtually every day, to include network engineers, network administrators as well as security teams and state agencies to work together to protect Florida's critical information technology assets," said Florida's CIO, Kimberly Bahrami. "Our information technology assets are not visible the way a seaport or an airport are, but our IT infrastructure is as critical to our defense and our ability to respond."

With state agencies, as well as businesses, migrating to e-government services for citizens, new technology issues have surfaced regarding the security of user's information.

The STO will work with AT&T to conduct the ethical cracking training in a controlled environment using a simulated, yet realistic, network environment with structured techniques and security tools, according to the STO.

The training session results can then be compared against best standards to build a benchmark for agency security, and the training will help teach agencies how to determine vulnerabilities while also teaching network professionals to identify when an intrusion happens, the STO said.

Florida State Technology Office