New cyber security command center up and running protecting city from cyber attacks
SAN ANTONIO - A new cyber security command center is up and running protecting the city and your utilities from cyber attacks.
We went to Port San Antonio to see how this new command center could become a model for the rest of the nation.
One of the biggest threats right now to cities, municipalities and big organizations including utility companies are cyber attacks and ransom ware.
This new command center aims to give San Antonio and CPS Energy a big shield against those attacks.
Check out this video of the Alamo Regional Security Operations Center or ARSOC.
The goal of this command center is to protect the digital assets of the city of San Antonio and CPS Energy simultaneously.
The new 20,000-square-foot secure facility is in the heart of Port San Antonio’s technology innovation campus.
It allows municipal and CPS Energy security teams to work side-by-side and around-the-clock.
“Most things that we see the team knows how to handle but it’s the things that are new that show up that they need to share Intel quickly and how to address it," said Craig Hopkins, Chief Information Officer, San Antonio.
As a result, the partners will exchange information in real-time as they jointly monitor and thwart potential cyberattacks.
Officials tell me this is a necessary step as hackers from around the world are constantly trying to infiltrate corporate and municipal systems. The city of San Antonio gets hit with cyber attacks all the time.
“Thousands a day. Thousands a day and it could be from low impact information to high impact information at times depending on what it is," said Hopkins.
Just like hospitals and fire stations, the modern facility even features dormitory rooms for staff to rest if their extended on-site presence is required in an emergency.
“There is no silver bullet that says this approach is going to protect us in every single instance when you have thousands of opportunities a day that someone is trying to find a way into the system," said Rudy Garza, Interim CEO, CPS Energy.
The goal of this new command center is to protect critical infrastructure such as our power grid from falling into the hands of cyber criminals.
It can also be used to educate and employ some of the best and brightest students in San Antonio. More on that later.
If a major threat is detected at the command center security teams can immediately contact the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies for help.
More organizations are expected to be coming on board here at the command center. VIA has already agreed to come in and there are conversations to bring in the San Antonio Water System and the San Antonio River Authority.
