U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) International Trade Analyst Marc Hamerski, along with a joint CBP/HSI team, has been awarded the CBP Commissioner’s Award for Trade and Facilitation.
The Center for Homeland Defense and Security alum was recognized along with the team on Nov. 20 for their work with Homeland Security Investigations in protecting U.S. supply chains by detecting and preventing cyberattacks from targeting members of the trade community, including U.S. importers, customs brokers, and software providers
Hamerski (Emergence Program cohort 2001) emphasized the collaborative nature of the work that earned he and the joint CBP/HSI team the award and noted the influence of his CHDS education on his work.
“There were a lot of people involved in this project from CBP and HSI, and I’m really grateful for the opportunity to work with all of them; many people worked tirelessly on this,” he said, adding that his CHDS Emergence Program education helped him think outside the box in an effort to seek innovative solutions to emerging security challenges.
Hamerski works for the CBP Office of Trade, Trade Modernization Division, where the team works to “examine emerging issues in trade, and to make process or regulatory changes to accommodate the changing environment” in international trade and supply chain security and resiliency.
Hamerski, who works for the CBP Office of Trade, Trade Modernization Division, where the team works to “examine emerging issues in trade, and to make process or regulatory changes to accommodate the changing environment” in international trade and supply chain security and resiliency. He said the companies were unable to transmit data to CBP as a result of the cyberattacks, leading to friction at the border, potentially compromised security, supply chain issues, and concerns that the cyberattacks could spread to government systems.
In response, Hamerski and the Trade Modernization team hosted tabletop exercises, developed directives, and made process changes to prevent the issues from escalating.
The award, he said, was focused on a specific joint initiative between CBP and HSI, which combined HSI’s investigative techniques allowing the detection of cyberattacks before they occur with CBP’s strong relationships with major import and export companies and their brokers. The partnership facilitated the passing of HSI intelligence on an imminent attack through CBP to their trade partners, allowing them to take steps to prevent them.
Hamerski said his CHDS experience taught him to start thinking more creatively about solving problems.
“Emergence taught me soft skills like leadership and about sharing ideas with upper management to encourage them to look at issues that we’ve seen changing. Obviously the threat environment is completely different than it was 30 years ago, and one person with some software can be a dramatic disruptor. Having a program dedicated to really creating creative government thinkers, people who are willing to look outside the boxes at how to solve problems and how to predict the next problem, and then how to get those people prepared, I’m really appreciative of CHDS for that. I truly appreciate those skills I learned and I think those have been critical for my career success.”
