The Georgia Technology Authority (GTA), together with the Georgia Department of Defense, organized Cyber Dawg 2025, a week-long cybersecurity exercise held from September 22 to 26 at the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center in Augusta. The event brought together 129 participants from 33 organizations, which is a 23 percent increase compared to last year.
Participants formed blue teams mainly made up of state agency employees. These teams worked within 11 simulated agency environments and were tasked with defending their networks against ongoing cyberattacks. Nearly two-thirds of the defenders were new to Cyber Dawg, highlighting the event’s focus on developing new talent in cybersecurity.
A red team simulated advanced nation-state cyber threats by conducting operations that included reconnaissance, social engineering, exploitation, covert command-and-control activities, lateral movement, and data exfiltration. Blue teams had to quickly detect and respond to these attacks while being supported by intelligence specialists and technical experts who maintained the exercise environment.
According to organizers, “Cyber Dawg 2025 reaffirmed Georgia’s commitment to practical, hands-on training. By simulating realistic adversary behavior in a safe environment, the state identified actionable improvements that will directly strengthen Georgia’s defensive posture.”
The main emphasis of the exercise was on detection and analysis under pressure, encouraging teamwork and coordination among agencies.
