Los Angeles is expanding its cyber lab following the award of a $3 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
The expansion will grow the lab’s capacity by building a universal, standardized platform for threat intelligence, analysis, and sharing that will be accessible and free-of-charge to participating private sector companies and government entities. Each participant will automatically and seamlessly feed threats to the Cyber Lab, which will subsequently be analyzed, correlated, and distributed to all participating members. Additionally, the expansion will focus on nurturing the next generation of systems and professionals dedicated to public cybersecurity through trainings, conferences, and the creation of the LA Cyber Lab Innovation Incubator — which will make the lab and its data available to students, researchers, and product developers.
“We learn more every day about the havoc that criminal hackers can wreak on our lives. This expansion ensures that L.A. will continue to lead with the urgency that is required to protect our financial, business, and personal information,” said Mayor Garcetti.
Launched in August 2017, the Los Angeles Cyber Lab is a first-of-its-kind public-private-partnership — a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting personal and protected information from malicious cyber threats by facilitating and promoting innovation, education, and information sharing between Los Angeles’ public and private sectors.
Membership in the lab is open to all businesses and residents at no cost. Leveraging information generated from the city’s Integrated Security Operations Center, the lab distributes daily and weekly cybersecurity alerts to over 500 local businesses.
Several localities have cyber labs or centers of excellence in an effort to support the growth of local cyber and cybersecurity jobs and training. Participants in Los Angeles’ lab can benefit from information sharing about potential cyber threats.
