For rural residents, it’s a point of pride: You don’t need to lock your front door when you make a run to the store. And, when you get back home, you might even leave the keys in the car as it sits in the driveway.
But while residents may feel safe among swaths of farmland and forests, small businesses can’t be as trusting when it comes to online data and security. This is why rural manufacturers and other small companies, often a lifeline for families across rural America, need to think differently when it comes to cybersecurity.
“Even though they might feel like they might not be important enough to be attacked, when that security is broken, it can take them under,” said Samantha Bannister, a student at Augusta University who is trained to conduct cybersecurity site-assistance visits through the Georgia Cyber innovation & Training Center. The program, which is supported by Georgia AIM, trains students to work with small and medium businesses, particularly manufacturers, to identify and close security gaps.
“They’re used to leaving their car doors and their house doors unlocked because they have this beautiful trust within the community, but cyber is not like that,” added Bannister. “Cyber attacks can happen to anyone, any time, and are non-discriminatory. And it’s invisible, which makes it so hard to see as a real threat.”
As more businesses work online, store data in clouds, and conduct work remotely, the demand for solid cybersecurity increases. This is why Georgia AIM partnered with the Cyber Center, to provide real-world training for students entering the cybersecurity field, while offering a much-needed service to small businesses at no charge.
It’s a win-win for both the students and the companies they work with, said Eric Toler, director of the training program at the Georgia Cyber Innovation & Training Center.
“We’re giving undergraduate students access to cutting-edge tools and training in identifying and resolving cybersecurity risks, and by working directly with companies, students get the experience of working with a client,” said Toler. “And, our small and mid-sized businesses across Georgia benefit from these site-assistance visits and develop a deeper understanding of their security gaps and best practices.”
Undergraduate student Lawrence Johnson said AI is also changing the landscape of cyber attacks. He’s been with the Cyber Center program for a year, and said it’s taught him a lot about threats — and the mind-set of businesses and local governments, which often believe an attack can’t happen to them.
“Nobody thinks they’re going to be susceptible to a cyber attack until it actually happens, so that’s why we’re taking a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach,” he said. “Here, I’m exposed to a lot of different tools, methodologies, and how threat actors can actually harm your business operations. But I’m not only learning in a theoretical sense — I’m able to apply it to my internship here at the very same campus where I’m taking classes, so it’s very awesome.”
And small businesses recognize the benefits, too.
Noelle Ross, a food industry entrepreneur and small business owner, said she recognizes the role AI and cybersecurity can play in day-to-day operations. She worked with the Cyber Center to analyze her cyber practices and shore up some of her business processes.
“There have been so many different things that they’ve been able to help me understand, with documents and just technical things that you need to know when it comes to spyware and hacktivism,” said Ross. “And all these really cool things that I would never have really thought about, especially in the food industry.”
Ross said the site-assistance visit process was easy for her business to understand, and never felt invasive. The team, which involves faculty lead John McLain and a team of trained students, first run a vulnerability assessment — this offers a snapshot of what a business’s security situation looks like. Then, the team runs through a variety of scenarios and exercises with business employees to help them understand cybersecurity best practices and procedures.
“This is almost like if I were a home security professional and I very quickly looked at what you had for security — do your windows have locks? Do your doors have locks?” said Bannister. “Then we do tabletop exercises and an executive summary to tell them what we found and how else to protect themselves specific to their business.”
In the home security analogy, Bannister said she likes to ask clients to imagine their home’s locks, “but now you can have cameras or sensors. It’s an analogy to tie something invisible to something physical.”
Now knowing what she knows, Ross said the site-assistance visit and what she learned was essential for her business to grow. This free service is available to small and medium businesses across Georgia, not just in the Augusta area.
“Cybersecurity is part of your operations now. … Thinking about employees, having different transactions with money, and you have to have all of that documented in one way or another,” she said. “It’s totally given me the experience of looking beyond a veil to a certain extent, because I’m educated more — do you have a fob? Do you have a gate? Do you have a door lock? There’s so many different layers to security now that I see.”