San Diego Regional Cyber Lab Supports Local Businesses with Cyber Security Needs

June 27, 2024 | City News Team

Three people are seated at desks attentively monitoring computer screens displaying the San Diego Regional Cyber Lab emblem, in a professional office environment.

The City of San Diego’s Cyber Lab now offers a new web-based resource that employs artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help public and private organizations bolster their cyber security protection. Called “My eCISO” (CISO stands for Chief Information Security Officer), this AI-powered chatbot provides potential users, such as small business owners, a starting point to learn about and create a cyber security program to protect them from cyber-attacks and data breaches.

“Organizations and small businesses with limited resources need all the help they can get to protect themselves in this ever-evolving digital landscape,” said Jonathan Behnke, Chief Information Officer for the Department of IT. “The new My eCISO tool will assist people and organizations who need cyber security protection and don’t know where to start.”

Traditionally, an organization’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is responsible for monitoring and maintaining the security of an organization’s applications, databases, computers and websites. However, as the technological landscape rapidly evolves, organizations without a CISO on staff also need assistance evaluating their existing cybersecurity infrastructure and installing the necessary safeguards to protect their customers and users from potentially devastating impacts of cyber crime.

To address this need, the City of San Diego, through its regional Cyber Lab, has partnered with California Polytechnic State University and Amazon Web Services to create My eCISO. This generative AI-based application can assist public and private organizations with identifying areas of their cyber defenses that need the most immediate attention.

After signing up for an account, users of My eCISO can start a natural language interview with the program’s AI chatbot. The chatbot will use a question-and-answer format to evaluate the organization’s current cyber security situation and advise on actionable steps for improvement. The user’s responses provide the chatbot with information to generate a PDF “report card” that grades the organization’s current cyber security measures and offers recommendations based on National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidance.

For security purposes, My eCISO allows users to include only the level of detail they are comfortable sharing. The more details that are shared, the more sophisticated the reports. This helps users to shape a report that fits their organization’s needs.

Considering the highly sensitive nature of organizational cybersecurity data, security and trust were heavily prioritized in My eCISO’s design and implementation. Only the user who originally submitted their data can access it. Additionally, any user conversation is automatically removed after 30 days or may be removed at any time by the user.

My eCISO is part of San Diego’s Regional Cyber Lab program offerings. The Cyber Lab serves as a regional resource for small businesses, public agencies and educational institutions to receive specialized training with safe environments to simulate and defend against cyberattacks. The lab’s mission is to provide coordinated cybersecurity awareness for the greater San Diego region through collaborative access to the latest technology, intelligence and training tools.

To get started on using the My eCISO tool, visit https://myeciso.com/.

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San Diego Regional Cyber Lab Supports Local Businesses with Cyber Security Needs

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