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Respondent

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Deborah Coleman

1. NAME OF NOMINEE:

US Department of Education

2. NOMINEE'S EMPLOYING ORGANIZATION:

Cybersecurity Awareness and Training Program Manager

3. NOMINEE'S POSITION AND/OR TITLE:

202-245-7304

4. NOMINEE'S PHONE NUMBER:

deborah.coleman@ed.gov

5. NOMINEE'S E-MAIL ADDRESS:
Qualification Statement (What has the nominee done to warrant

this nomination?

Explain how the nominee exemplifies innovation in an awareness and training program and the

impact of the program.

I nominate Deborah Coleman, Cybersecurity Awareness and Training program manager of

the US Department of Education for the FISSEA 2021 Cybersecurity Awareness and Training

Innovator Award. Since 2009 Ms. Coleman has worked diligently to enhance and mature the

Department’s cybersecurity training program. Under her direction, the program has moved

beyond just compliance with Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) of

2014 requirements to a full fledged cybersecurity workforce development program. Current

program components include: program governance, cybersecurity & privacy awareness

training, organization-wide communications, specialized role-based training (RBT), phishing

assessments, and cyber workforce development.

I nominate (NOMINEE'S NAME AND TITLE) of (NOMINEE'S ORGANIZATION) for

the FISSEA 2021 Cybersecurity Awareness and Training Innovator Award.

6.

In FY2020 Ms. Coleman led the deployment of the Department’s Report Phishing button to

all ED Outlook email clients; this button allows users to directly report suspicious emails to

the Department Security Operations Center (EDSOC) with a single click. When the button is

used to report an email delivered as part of an authorized phishing exercise, the user

receives immediate feedback in the form of a “Thank you” message. Through these

innovations department seen a 50% improvement in reporting rates and a similar decrease

in susceptibility. In FY2021, she led the deployment of an email warning banner to warn

users about the origination of the email (e.g., outside of the Department) in addition to

Department standards of target trainings for repeat risk users through authorized fiscal year

phishing campaigns. Ms. Coleman implemented and maintains the Department’s

cybersecurity workforce development program. She actively participates with interagency

workforce development working groups and contributed to the Cyber Career Pathways Tool

developed by the Interagency Federal Cyber Career Pathways Working Group. Employees

and contractors in roles with significant security responsibilities (SSR) are required to

complete cybersecurity role-based training (RBT) annually. Ms. Coleman strives to ensure a

wide range of current RBT courses, e-books and videos are made available to these

individuals through the Department’s learning management system. Instructor-led courses

and workshop materials to focus attention on increasing role specific knowledge, skills and

abilities. Under her direction in October 2020, the Department conducted its first virtual

Cybersecurity Symposium. This symposium was conducted each Thursday throughout the

month of October and it provided current information and training to over 500 Department

employees and contractors. Ms. Coleman selected and branded the web-based platform

used to deliver the symposium, developed the event agenda, and engaged a wide range of

informative speakers from within the Department as well as the public and private sectors to

support the event. Throughout the event a variety of communications were used to

encourage participation. Event attendance was tracked and surveys used to obtain feedback

7. Explain how the public sector benefitted from the activities of the nominee. *
and cyber training credits. Ms. Coleman and her team launched a refreshed annual

cybersecurity & privacy awareness training course which was updated using insights gained

from training surveys, phishing data and stakeholder outreach. The course included a new

test out feature. Users which demonstrated competency in course knowledge areas by

successfully passing the test out feature completed the training in an average of fifteen

minutes. This represents an average time savings of thirty minutes per user. The deployment

of the ED Report Phishing button, the Department’s SOC gained needed visibility to

malicious emails which made it through the perimeter into user mailboxes. This visibility

allows the Department to stop threats faster. Prior to the deployment of the ED Report

Phishing button, the average reporting rate in FY2019 was 15.21%. After the launch of the

button, the average reporting rate increased to 30.2% at the end of FY2020. From a “live

fire” perspective the Department’s SOC has seen a sizable increase in phishing reported via

the new reporting capabilities.

Throughout the pandemic situation, Ms. Coleman developed and delivered a series of

awareness articles designed to increase awareness of emerging fraud schemes and scams

targeting employees and their families. These timely articles communicated how bad actors

were using the public’s interest in COVID-19 to obtain personally identifiable information

(PII) and money through various schemes; other articles focused attention on attacks against

our Nation’s largely remote workforce. Each article included tips and information on how to

avoid getting scammed and these tips enabled the employee to take action to protect

themselves, their families and the Department. In FY2020, Ms. Coleman implemented new

processes to identify and maintain a baseline of employees and contractors with significant

security responsibilities, including privileged users. Identifying this user base has enabled the

Department to gain visibility to and take action to reduce risks originating from privileged

users such as failed phishing exercises. Phishing exercise data and reports provide senior

leadership with necessary insights to support focused capability development efforts to

alleviate the issue of users which repeatedly clicked on suspicious email messages. Through

data dissemination and increased messaging of phishing susceptibility risks and a need to

increase phishing reporting from the top down across the enterprise and sub agencies. The

department saw a trend in the right direction for how users interacted with phishing threats.

The information is briefed to the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Assistance Secretaries and all

leadership throughout the Department. Phishing is now a standing agenda item at the

senior management meetings and briefings with the Secretary and Deputy Secretary.

Department leadership uses the feedback from the phishing and training exercises to

reinforce the importance of safe user behavior and actions when working online. With

leadership discussing the importance of phishing and cybersecurity, the Department truly

has cybersecurity as part of its culture.

Describe the impact of the nominee's achievements and accomplishments

within and/or beyond the nominee's organization. *

8.
Ms. Coleman led the program, resources, and technical oversight that assisted with the

efforts described.

If any of the activities of the nominee were part of a group effort, indicate the

amount and type of direct participation by the nominee as compared to other

participants. Describe how the nominee distinguished himself/herself from

other members of the group. *

9.

Ms. Coleman maintained and enhanced the department cybersecurity training program

while the administration change too place and optimal funding levels not met.

10. Additional information about the nominee that FISSEA should consider. *

ED Chief Information Security Officer, Steven Hernandez

11. Person making this nomination: *

(202)245-7779 steven.hernandez@ed.gov

Daytime Phone Number and E-Mail Address of Person making the nomination:

*

12.