CESER’s CyberStrike program prepares over 100 participants to defend our nation’s critical infrastructure.
Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response
February 18, 2026
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Los Angeles, Calif. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in collaboration with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL), delivered eight sessions of CyberStrike training as part of a proactive approach to energy security for the 2028 Olympics. The CyberStrike program enhances the ability of energy sector infrastructure owners and operators to prepare for cyber incidents impacting operational technology (OT).
In 2025, President Trump established a White House Task Force on the 2028 Olympics via Executive Order. A key function of the order is to ensure operational readiness across law enforcement, counterterrorism, transportation, and emergency response. The recent collaboration between CESER and LADWP directly demonstrates the DOE’s support for the current administration’s priorities.
The Los Angeles CyberStrike training brought together over 448 participants from 20 unique organizations, all with a range of skills and operational responsibilities. Energy sector professionals in attendance included: control room operators, energy management systems support workers, and cybersecurity staff. Other participants included: local law enforcement, transportation officials, state and Federal government, academia, Department of War, and the LA28 Games Organization.
The training combined expert-led lectures with hands-on, immersive simulated scenarios that mirror the kinds of incidents utility owners and operators face every day. Participants navigated scenarios ranging from denial-of-service attacks, passive machine monitoring, firmware analysis, defender mitigation strategies, and open-source intelligence, representing just a glimpse of what CyberStrike has to offer. By the end of the training, participants didn't just gain technical knowledge, they walked away with practical experience in anticipating threats and collaborating under pressure.
Furthermore, the Los Angeles CyberStrike training significantly advances cyber readiness for the 2028 Olympics by strengthening coordination across Federal, state, and local law enforcement partners and validating agencies’ ability to response to a large-scale regional incident. Beyond the exercise itself, the training generated actionable insights that informed updates to regional security plans, guided resource deployments and reinforced a more unified security posture – ensuring participants are better equipped to detect, deter, and respond to threats at scale.
CESER has offered 221 CyberStrike trainings since 2016 to more than 7,216 professionals in the U.S. and internationally. CyberStrike offers an in-depth look at some of the most sophisticated cyber adversary groups targeting industrial control systems. The training guides participants through exercises that challenge them to defend against tactics, techniques and procedures used by our nation’s enemies.
The CyberStrike program can be tailored and allows participants to defend equipment they routinely operate within industrial control systems (ICS). CyberStrike offers invaluable training and awareness to the most pressing and emerging threats to OT. The training sharpens participants’ ability to recognize, respond to, and mitigate evolving threats in real-time. This preemptive approach to energy security ensures participants leave CyberStrike armed with mitigation strategies to better protect critical infrastructure, ultimately improving readiness to defend our nation against cyber threats.
To learn more about the CyberStrike program, visit the CyberStrike website.