Cyber attacks are on the rise, so much so that the United States now considers the hackers behind these attacks to be terrorists. New York City has set up its own operational center to fight this scourge.
After several years of palaver (the idea has been in the air since 2017), New York has finally opened its Cyber Critical Services and Infrastructure (CCSI) operational center in the heart of Manhattan. This initiative, which combines public and private, includes Amazon, the US Federal Reserve, IBM, the New York police, as well as insurance and health companies.
Ransomware that brings cities to their knees
The mission of the operational center is to promote cooperation between all parties affected by a cyber attack. The CCSI must also be able to put in place a common response to match the level of the attack if it affects the city’s vital infrastructure (such as transport or hospitals, for example).
New York is the first major American city to set up such a center. Several other metropolises in the country could follow, such as Atlanta and Baltimore, which have suffered attacks recently: the authorities have suffered ransomware that can cripple large parts of economic and social activity. Failure to respond appropriately and quickly sometimes causes an extremely long recovery which only makes the situation worse.
A center where common decisions can be made quickly could just help cities bounce back from such attacks more quickly, or at least reduce damage. According to a study by Cybersecurity Ventures, the United States suffers a cyber attack every 14 seconds! 4 out of 10 targeted companies end up paying the ransom, but 80% of them face further assault.
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