Nation’s First Cyberattack Defense Center Opens in NYC
The center, located in a lower Manhattan skyscraper and staffed by government agencies and private businesses, involves 282 partners who share intelligence on cyber threats.
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New York has opened the first real-time cyber-attack defense center in a major metropolitan area, reports the Wall Street Journal. The center is in a lower Manhattan skyscraper and has 282 partners all sharing intelligence on cyber threats. New York has been seen as particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks due to its cultural and financial power. Planning for the center began in 2017, when authorities became concerned over how New York would handle an attack on its water supply. The New York City Cyber Critical Services and Infrastructure project was launched in 2019, but it was completely virtual.
The real-time operational center has now come into play, due to the city’s vulnerability to attacks. Its 282 members range from Amazon.com Inc. to the New York Police Department and more. One ransomware attack happens every 14 seconds, according to John Miller, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism. The New York initiative shares information immediately after a cyber event starts anywhere in the country, and makes preparations in case an attack happens. It has also had “war games” where participants fend off attacks using their own systems to practice. Experts like Geoff Brown, New York City’s chief information security officer and head of its cyber command say they hope to mitigate the surprise.
