Building a Stronger Cyber Defense: Key Insights and Member Opportunities from the Tribal-ISAC

The past few weeks have been a great reminder of what makes the Tribal-ISAC community  so valuable: the connections we build with one another. 

TribalNet gave us the opportunity to have a lot of great conversations. Some were with  members we work with regularly, some were with longtime supporters, and others were  with people learning about Tribal-ISAC for the first time. We talked about cybersecurity challenges, projects underway, new technologies, and what organizations are seeing in their own environments. 

Those conversations reinforce something I believe strongly: none of us has to figure all of this out alone. 

Across Indian Country, there is an incredible amount of knowledge and experience.  Someone has likely faced a challenge similar to yours. Someone has evaluated the technology you are considering. Someone has learned a lesson they are willing to share so another organization can benefit from their experience. 

That is what information sharing is really about, and creating a trusted community where it  can happen continues to be at the heart of Tribal-ISAC. 

We saw a great example of that with the release of the second annual edition of The Pulse:  The State of Cybersecurity Within Tribal Nations. We released the report at TribalNet and shared it exclusively with Tribal-ISAC members and our tier sponsors. 

The Pulse gives us a unique look at cybersecurity within Tribal Nations and tribal enterprises, but its value goes beyond the statistics. The information comes directly from tribal organizations willing to share what is happening within their environments so others can learn from their experiences. 

The report gives our members an opportunity to see how their programs compare with their peers, identify challenges shared across the community, and start conversations about what others are doing. Some of the best feedback I heard at TribalNet was simply people  looking at a finding and asking each other, “What are you doing about this?” 

That is exactly the kind of conversation we want to encourage. 

We also have a couple of opportunities available right now that I don't want our members to miss. 

Our Cybersecurity & Technology Leadership Scholarship Program application window is open through Oct. 20, 2026. The program provides financial support for education,  training, certifications, and other professional development opportunities. We have already 

had the opportunity to support members through the program this year, and I am excited to see what comes from this next round of applications. 

There is also one final opportunity for new Tribal-ISAC members to apply for a 2027  Tabletop Exercise Grant through the end of October. These grants give participating organizations access to a professionally facilitated cybersecurity tabletop exercise designed to strengthen incident preparedness and bring technology teams and organizational leadership together around the table. 

Programs like these are important, but they are only one part of what makes this community work. The real strength of Tribal-ISAC comes from people being willing to participate, ask questions, share experiences, and help one another. 

That is the momentum I want us to keep building. 

Thank you to everyone who connected with us in Dallas, and especially to our members who continue to contribute their time, experiences, and ideas to this community. 

If you're already a Tribal-ISAC member, I encourage you to stay engaged, take advantage of the opportunities available, and continue sharing what you're learning. If you're not yet  part of Tribal-ISAC, we'd love to have you join the conversation. 

Every conversation and every connection makes the network a little stronger, and ultimately, that makes all of us stronger.