Cyber Florida at the University of South Florida has partnered with FloridaMakes to boost economic growth and resilience while improving cybersecurity awareness statewide.
With the rising threat of data breaches, ransomware attacks and business email compromise — particularly impacting small businesses — the collaboration aims to address these challenges, the organizations said in a release.
“This partnership with FloridaMakes is a significant step forward in our mission to help protect and empower Florida’s critical industries,” Director of Cyber Florida at USF Ernie Ferraresso said in the statement.
Critical sectors such as manufacturing and defense are increasingly targeted, making this partnership important for protecting state and national security, according to the statement.
“By joining forces, we are not only bolstering the security of Florida’s manufacturing and critical infrastructure sectors but also positioning the state as a national leader in secure manufacturing and critical infrastructure protection,” President and CEO of FloridaMakes Kevin Carr said in the statement.
FloridaMakes provides information security training and conducts assessments of security practices. Cyber Florida offers resources, including research, community grants and training opportunities.
Central to the mission is improving the assessment of risks to critical infrastructure using the Critical Infrastructure Risk Assessment platform. This platform, based on national cybersecurity standards, was created with the help of the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Lab.
Recently, Cyber Florida updated the platform. As a result of this collaboration, the enhanced platform will now be available to manufacturing and defense companies across Florida.
