Scout Representatives Spoke at the ITS Heartland Conference on the KC Scout cybersecurity event

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This past April marked KC Scout’s one-year anniversary of the cyber event that resulted in months long system outage and there was interest in how the agency mitigated the aftermath of the cyber-attack.


At the ITS Heartland conference, KC Scout’s Traffic Center Manager Randy Johnson and Traffic Systems Supervisor Kelly Alvarez presented about the cyber event, giving their firsthand account of the event and how KC Scout recovered.

The presentation focused on the first eight hours after impact, our response over the course of the first few days, and the consequential months as KC Scout recovered.


 “During that time, KC Scout received a great deal of interest on how our agency mitigated the aftermath of the cyber-attack. The ITS Heartland Conference provided an ideal opportunity to talk about our experience” shared Alvarez.


While continuing to share about their experience, they shared what they learned. "We focused on lessons learned which included: limiting too much ‘ad hoc’ effort, using the National Incident Management System (NIMS) structure, the benefit of media outreach, key leadership support, and using the NIST Cybersecurity Framework recommendations” stated Alvarez.

The presentation was well received by the audience, prompting many comments and questions following the presentation.


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