Showcasing cooperation with over 20 partners and businesses across the nation from government, academic and industry, the Georgia Cyber Center Innovation and Training Center’s five year anniversary party was in full swing on Monday, July 10.
To commemorate the center’s success in cybersecurity training and education, the public were invited to learn about the staff’s mission and purpose through the enjoyment of a celebratory open house, complete with ice cream, tours, live demos and workshops.
“It still amazes me how many people in Augusta still don’t know that this is here, and they don’t know what’s going on here … so it’s just an opportunity for them to come in and see what we’re doing,” said the center’s Executive Director Eric Toler. “The recent threat to [cybersecurity] is making people take more of an interest now, particularly with the focus on small businesses, local government, state agencies and school districts.”
From his own experience protecting against cyberattacks as a retired intelligence officer for the U.S. Army, Toler said partnerships were important to the center, because it allowed for stronger defenses and all-around more efficient security.
As part of an economical administration grant, the facility is about to start venturing out and providing cyber risk assessments for various manufacturing companies at no cost. This endeavor will allow the center to help protect 44 companies within the state by pointing out their risks; however, this is only part of the solution, according to Toler.
“We can no longer operate separately in our little cylinders – we have to work together,” he said. “When 43% of all your cyber attacks on the U.S. last year were on small businesses – that’s something that the government can’t ignore. These businesses just don’t have the revenue to protect themselves. We have to figure out how to work together against primarily China, but also Russia, Iran and North Korea.”
With smaller businesses being a large target across the nation and over half going out of business in a year of said cyberattacks, efficient and affordable security has become an absolute priority of the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center.
“It’s a national problem … small businesses don’t have the means to just hire someone who can fix or prevent these problems, which means businesses are closing within a year or two as a result of these cyberattacks. Oftentimes, the owners don’t even realize there is a problem until it’s too late,” said Toler. “We need to change that, and we’re trying to accomplish that goal here.”
“We’re creating this program as well using the university’s students as a large part of the workforce; the idea is to provide business owners or leaders of organizations with a non-bias assessment of their network and security so they can make informed decisions,” said Toler. “Then we’ll also provide recommendations on what they can do to make themselves more secure within their risk tolerance and budget.”
Located in downtown Augusta, at 100 Grace Hopper Lane, the facility is also well known in the community for giving Augusta University students the chance to have real-world training that better prepares them for the future day-to-day work. With a virtual world room and a cyber range, students and employees are also given the opportunity to create physical inventions and solutions for cyber problems.
In addition to providing several educational internships, classes and training programs to help further the field, Toler also said the cyber center encourages tackling imaginative projects and community issues through teamwork and healthy competition.
“There’s just a lot going on, and agencies and departments have to work together on a federal, state and local level,” he said. “We have partners here that are competing for certain contracts, but then they’re also working together to come up with solutions or ideas on other projects.”
By banning private microwaves and fridges within the center’s smaller rented out offices for various companies around the country, Director of Outreach and Engagement, Todd Gay, said even the facility’s design and leasing agreements were composed with collaboration in mind.
“We have central kitchen on all floors so that people have to come out of their office and interact with others, because collaboration can’t happen when people are isolating themselves,” said Gay.
In the future, Toler said he hopes to continue highlighting the community’s needs in company efforts, partnering with more companies and organizations, supporting local AU efforts in upstarting and growing cyber degrees, while also individually inspiring students with on-the-job training in order to become a part of the nationwide fight against cyberattacks.
“There were people that said this couldn’t happen in Augusta, but I was more than optimistic, but our academic research has to be more focused on things that actually matter towards operating and protecting our critical infrastructure for national security,” he said.
From the Department of Defense to the Bureau of Investigations and Augusta University’s Security Operations Center, Toler said he is proud the innovative hub focuses on protecting community and statewide establishments, while helping to create new companies through unified and competitive contracts. In the next five years, he hopes to expand even more to encourage further cybersecurity awareness in the CSRA.
For more information about the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center, visit: https://www.gacybercenter.org/
