Maine education, technology, and cybersecurity partners will bring together school leaders on February 12, 2026, for CyberStorm ’26, the state’s third annual statewide school cybersecurity tabletop exercise, focused on strengthening readiness, coordination, and response across Maine’s school systems. This statewide cyber “fire drill” for elementary and secondary schools still has registration spots available to school administrative units (SAUs) that would like to participate.
Hosted via a partnership with the Maine Department of Education (DOE) Learning Through Technology (LTT) Team, Maine Office of Information Technology (MaineIT), Maine Educational Technology Directors Association (METDA), Center for Internet Security (CIS), CISA, and Network Maine (NWM), this virtual exercise will run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and is open to school IT leaders, network administrators, and school and school administrative unit (SAU) leaders. Enrollment has already reached 100 participants, with a max of 150 participants (at which point, enrollment will close).
CyberStorm ’26, themed “Zero-Day Melee,” reflects the evolving cyber-threat landscape facing Maine schools, where limited local resources, geographically distributed SAUs, and shared statewide services heighten the need for coordinated planning. CyberStorm ’26 poses a scenario that challenges participants to respond to a rapidly unfolding zero-day vulnerability affecting instructional operations, student data, and core technology services.
This year’s facilitator is CIS, which is home to the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), the trusted resource for cyber-threat prevention, protection, response, and recovery for U.S. state, local, tribal, and territorial government entities.
This exercise builds upon Maine’s broader, multi-year focus on preK-grade 12 cybersecurity resilience. In recent years, the state has emphasized shared services, collaborative training, and cross-agency communication to help SAUs improve incident response readiness and align with national best practices. MaineIT facilitated last year’s event, which aligned with the efforts of Maine’s State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. CyberStorm has become a key venue for schools to test decision-making, clarify roles between educational and technical leadership, and strengthen relationships with state and federal partners before a real incident occurs.
Rather than focusing solely on technical response, CyberStorm ’26 highlights the full scope of a school cyber incident, including leadership decisions, communications, continuity of learning, and recovery considerations—all within a Maine-specific context. CyberStorm continues to evolve alongside emerging threats and lessons learned, reinforcing Maine’s commitment to supporting safe, secure, and resilient learning environments for students and staff across the state.
To register for this event, please submit a request for the registration link to DOE-LTT@maine.gov.
Maine DOE Newsroom 