Every facet of life in the city — from the delivery of water and electricity to transportation, health care, and emergency response — has become deeply reliant on technology. Yet the proliferation
of smartphones, sensors, and internet-connected devices within our homes, workplaces, and public spaces has also created more opportunities for cyber-attackers to steal data or disrupt critical
systems. The City’s NYC3 will develop a centralized, holistic approach to mitigating cyber risk. Over the past two years, NYC3 has pioneered world-class approaches to preventing, detecting, responding to, and recovering from cyber-threats. To expand our capacity to respond to growing threats, we will build the most robust cybersecurity ecosystem in the world, cultivating a homegrown talent pipeline representative of local communities, fostering innovative cybersecurity companies, and safeguarding the City, its services, and local institutions from cyber-attacks.
FORMALIZE THE LONG-TERM ROLE AND CAPACITY OF THE CITY’S CYBERSECURITY FUNCTION
Working with the City Council, we will seek to formalize NYC3’s long-term organizational structure. As the City’s 2019 Hazard Mitigation Plan highlights, we must expand NYC3’s existing functions to better respond to new threats, including fake audio and video generated by artificial intelligence (AI), data-center malware, and industrial attacks. The City will build, test, deploy, and maintain modern emergency management plans to enlist the aid of City employees and the private sector during city-scale cyber-attacks.
HELP NEW YORKERS COMBAT INTERNET MISINFORMATION
In a partnership between the City’s Chief Democracy Officer and NYC3, and with support from local government, we will launch public awareness campaigns that empower New Yorkers to critically engage with digital content and develop protocols for how the City can respond to highly visible misinformation at critical moments (e.g., during rollouts of major programs, or right before election day). Additionally, we will leverage relationships with social media platforms to combat localized
misinformation at key moments. For more, see A Vibrant Democracy.
MOBILIZE A “NATIONAL CYBER CONSORTIUM” TO CONFRONT KNOWN AND EMERGING CYBER THREATS
The City will create a national coalition of local governments, academic institutions, and other entities to confront cyberthreats. The coalition will share relevant data and best practices, integrate crisis response plans, and conduct joint simulations of cyberattacks. The City will develop a
rotational program for public cybersecurity employees to learn from cybersecurity professionals in other cities to spread best practices, drive professional development, and enhance cooperation. Finally, we will build on our 2019 announcement of the New York City Cyber Critical Services and Infrastructure group, a partnership between NYC3, NYPD, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and 17 critical industry sectors to coordinate on pressing cybersecurity challenges.
PROTECT THE CITY’S 240,000 SMALL BUSINESSES AND CONSUMERS FROM CYBER THREATS
Launched in 2018, the NYCx Cybersecurity Moonshot Challenge explores innovative and affordable solutions to safeguard small businesses from cyberattacks. In 2019, City agencies will make small business owners aware of affordable and user-friendly cybersecurity software and services, and launch technical training programs to help them install and deploy the software. NYC3 will also leverage policies, standards, and legislative tools to enhance small business protection.
ESTABLISH NEW YORK CITY AS A GLOBAL CYBERSECURITY LEADER
New York City has the talent and educational resources to become a global center for cybersecurity training, services, and job creation. As part of the City’s Cyber NYC program, we will create 10,000 good-paying cybersecurity jobs by 2030, and cultivate a thriving and inclusive start-up ecosystem
that attracts companies from around the world. To ensure cybersecurity careers are accessible to all New Yorkers, we will launch a “cyber boot camp” to train more than 1,000 residents from underserved communities with the necessary skills to excel in cybersecurity jobs. In collaboration with City University of New York, Columbia University, New York University, Cornell Tech, and iQ4, we will launch an Applied Learning initiative to both make experiential learning available in the classroom and build more diverse talent pipelines between our major research universities and cybersecurity employers. The City will also open two world-class spaces — the Global Cyber Center by SOSA, and Hub.NYC by Jerusalem Venture Partners — for cybersecurity programming, ecosystem development, technical demonstrations, and start-up acceleration. Finally, we will develop and launch a collaboration between the Department of Education (DOE), the Economic Development Corporation, and NYC3 to offer and support cybersecurity education and career awareness across DOE schools.
