Image caption: N.C. Department of Information Technology cybersecurity staff and other participants at Operation Tobacco Road in August 2026.
N.C. Department of Information Technology cybersecurity staff participated in Operation Tobacco Road, a five-day training from the N.C. National Guard Cyber Security Response Force for professionals in local, state, and federal government, K-12 and higher education, and critical-infrastructure sectors.
On Aug. 17-21, NCDIT Security Operations Center analysts Noah Dudley and Jajuan Garvin joined 62 other participants in a hands-on exercise designed to replicate real-world cyberthreats in a controlled environment. Deputy Chief Information Security Officer Jennifer Fix and Security Operations Center Manager Albert Moore also received a briefing and got a firsthand look at the training environment.
Join the Next Operation Tobacco Road Oct. 5-9
Cybersecurity staff in state and local government, public education, and critical-infrastructure sectors are invited to join the next Operation Tobacco Road training on Oct. 5-9 at no cost.
Built on lessons from real-world cybersecurity incidents, this annual statewide exercise trains network defenders and information security personnel to identify and respond to cyberthreat actors in an enterprise environment.