Forge Institute, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Little Rock, launched the Arkansas Cyber Defense Center (ACDC) to help businesses understand the cyber threat to their business, receive training for defenses and resilience in the event of a cyber incident and to provide a hotline for incident support.
This past September, ACDC began to develop and right-size cyber services for Arkansas’ small businesses through awareness, assessments, training and incident support. Partnering with the United States Small Business Administration, Forge Institute received $1 million to offer the above-stated services to small businesses for no charge as part of a pilot program with the SBA. The current funding and the pilot program ends on Aug. 31 2023.
In partnerships with not only the SBA, but also with Arkansas Small Business & Technology Development Center, University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Arkansas Municipal League, Forge Institute was able to bring ACDC services to multiple communities of small businesses across Arkansas.
ACDC is led by four full-time analysts, four part-time interns –with six of the eight being veterans– and assigned an additional 10 transitioning service members to participate in the Forge Fellowship Program, assisting with ACDC services.
Chief of Staff, Instructor and Program Manager, Wes Nickels, joined Forge Institute with 20 years of Air Force experience, and before joining the institute, he completed the Forge Fellowship Program.
According to Nickels, there are several cyber threats that small businesses could face, including ransomware, fraud and scams, all of which are largely motivated by geopolitical objectives, or by making profits.
“Ransomware and insider threats are huge concerns for small businesses, but with proper training, employees and business owners are able to think about common, best practices in their day-to-day operations,” Nickels said.
According to U.S. National Cybersecurity Alliance,60% of small businesses that are victims of a cyber attack go out of business within six months. While a lack of cyber security can be devastating for small businesses, the ACDC team developed a curriculum in order to teach small businesses how to set up a business securely, build a cyber protection plan, build a cyber incident response plan and understand cyber and data privacy implications in contract agreements.
In doing its work, the ACDC has reached over 4,000 small businesses in the state, engaging with 600 small businesses through awareness events, training and assessments and supporting five small businesses with major cyber incidents.
Scott Anderson, executive director at Forge Institute, also comes from 24 years of service in the U.S. Air Force, and brings a crucial perspective to the center.
“Forge helps leaders understand how to defend their businesses while providing necessary training and the Arkansas Cyber Defense Center provides on-job workplace experience for interns preparing to enter the workforce,” Anderson said.
According to Anderson, ACDC trains at all levels, users, leaders and board members, so that everyone understands an aspect of security.
“Running a small business is already hard enough, and with proper training, you can take some cyber threats out of the equation and build resiliency,” Anderson said.
For more information about Forge Institute or ACDC, visit its website.
Photo Details: (From Left) Bryce Ebsen (Intern), Jimmy Goodwin (Intern, Dugen Stem (Cyber Analyst), Kalia Foster (Cyber Analyst), Sierra Bell (Fellow) and Kenny Willoughby (Fellow)
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