A team of North Carolina State University students and faculty, working with Cisco and the N.C. Department of Information Technology (NCDIT), have developed an AI-powered tool called CyberCoach NC to improve the cybersecurity of small businesses across North Carolina. CyberCoach NC is a free, user-friendly resource designed to help businesses identify potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities and implement essential cybersecurity practices.
CyberCoach NC is hosted by NCDIT, and functions as an AI-powered chatbot that can answer questions from small business owners who want to learn more about their cybersecurity vulnerabilities and how they can better protect their organizations. The tool was unveiled Oct. 26.
"Many small business owners lack the expertise and resources to implement cybersecurity programs on their own," says Laura Rodgers, who helped develop the tool as director of cybersecurity practice in NC State's Secure Computing Institute. "But even non-technical people can put basic cybersecurity programs in place, as long as they have clear guidance. That's the need that CyberCoach NC was designed to address.
"Honestly, I'm not aware of anything like CyberCoach NC that has been created to walk small business owners through this process on a free, statewide basis like this. It's exciting."
The CyberCoach NC project stemmed from an initial conversation between Rodgers and colleagues at Cisco. Cisco ultimately provided security engineering expertise and mentored students in a practicum course Rodgers taught that was designed to give undergraduates and graduate students hands on experience. As the project matured, NCDIT also got involved, providing mentorship and working with students to make sure CyberCoach NC was compatible with NCDIT's infrastructure.
"NCDIT's participation was essential to ensuring that the department would be able to house the tool once it was ready to roll out," says Rodgers. "And we also received encouragement from the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, which is responsible for registering new businesses in North Carolina. Their office appreciated the value of a tool like this one and urged us to bring this project to fruition."
Ultimately, 10 NC State cybersecurity students were involved in creating CyberCoach NC, beta testing a prototype with small businesses, and ensuring the tool is accurate and easy to use.
"It really is for any business owner whose business is registered in North Carolina - you have to have a MyNCID Business account to log in - though the benefit is greatest for small businesses who lack in-house cybersecurity expertise," says Rodgers.
"There are more than a million small businesses in North Carolina, and this project is a beautiful example of how NC State works with public and private partners to meet the needs of North Carolinians. It's an excellent illustration of what fulfilling the land grant mission can look like."
Businesses can learn more, and access CyberCoach NC, at https://it.nc.gov/resources/online-safety-privacy/cybersecurity-small-businesses.
