First Cohort of LA Business and Nonprofit Participants in SecureTheVillage Program Receive Customized Cybersecurity Roadmaps from Sightline Security
SecureTheVillage’s innovative LA Cybersecure Program Provides Education, Tools, Coaching, and Community to Empower Small Businesses and Nonprofits to Defend Themselves in a way that, until now, only Big Businesses have Been Able to Achieve.
By: SecureTheVillage
LOS ANGELES – April 22, 2024 In October, 2023, in our first press release, the Los Angeles nonprofit SecureTheVillage announced the LA Cybersecure Pilot Program to help teach small and midsize businesses and nonprofits how to understand, assess, and set their own roadmap to mitigate cybercrime.
As we announced in our second press release in February, the Pilot kicked off the first Cohort of five business and nonprofit organizations and their assigned coaches in January. During the first three months of the program, Kelley Misata, PhD, founder and President of Sightline Security, led Cohort Participants through Sightline’s Kickstart Program. At the end of the program each of the five Cohort Participants received a customized Sightline Kickstart Outcomes and Roadmap report detailing their current information security posture with specific recommended next steps for strengthening their cybersecurity. Each of the customized Outcomes and Roadmap reports was extremely thorough, dozens of pages in length.
As described in October, the program aims to enhance cybersecurity practices among small organizations, equipping them to better defend against cybercrime. It is partially funded by the Center for Internet Security’s Alan Paller Laureate Program.
“We are so grateful for everything Sightline Security has done for this program, and for the support they’ve given to program Participants. Cohort members feel confident, knowing their relative strengths and weaknesses, and what they need to focus on,” said Stan Stahl, PhD, Founder and President of SecureTheVillage. “This is an important “proof of concept” towards achieving our vision to make Los Angeles the cyber-safest metropolitan region in the United States for smaller businesses, nonprofits, families, and individuals” added Stahl.
The next step in the journey of this Cohort is to complete the Cyber Readiness Program of the Cyber Readiness Institute.
Who are some of the Participants in this Initial Cohort?
- DLD Accountancy LLP, Certified Public Accountants https://www.dldcpas.com
DLD Accountancy provides outstanding and meaningful guidance in the areas of income tax planning, tax return preparation, accounting, and business management services.
- 50 /50 Women on Boards™ https://5050wob.com
50/50 Women on Boards™ is on the forefront of a global movement committed to reshaping the corporate landscape. They are the leading nonprofit global education and advocacy campaign committed to advancing gender balance and diversity on corporate boards.
- ProCAT https://procat.com
ProCAT is the leading provider of computer-aided transcription software, Closed captioning, and electronic stenographic machines to the court reporting market.
- One Item https://www.oneitem.com
One Item is an organization with a core infrastructure platform supporting multiple branded apps with a variety of modules that help people and organizations improve on a specific part of their life.
What Are Participants Saying about the Sightline Security Kickstart Program?
“We had no idea our Sightline report would be so customized with so much detail for our business. There are so many specific things about us and our organization that we can work on from this remarkably detailed report. We understand the cybersecurity journey never ends, but now we feel we understand what is most important to work on right now, and what’s further down the line in this roadmap. We are a small business and did not realize how helpful and fun the process would be.”
-One Item
“This innovative program is so important, it’s always rewarding to work with smaller organizations who do not have deep expertise in cybersecurity and how to think about prioritizing and investing in it,” said Kelley Misata, PhD, founder and President of Sightline Security. “We have been doing this work for years and using our Kickstart Program has again proven to be the right level of information and detail for smaller businesses and non-profits to get going on their personal roadmap.”
The Pilot Project Team
SecureTheVillage is a nonprofit whose vision is to make Los Angeles the cyber-safest metropolitan region in the United States for smaller businesses, nonprofits, families, and individuals. We do this by turning people and organizations into CyberGuardians TM with the knowledge, skills, and commitment needed to meet the ongoing challenges of cyber crime, cyber privacy, and information security. Founded in 2015 by cybersecurity pioneer Dr. Stan Stahl, SecureTheVillage was recognized for its cybersecurity leadership by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2018.
Sightline Security: Based in Boston, MA, Sightline Security, a distinguished 501(c)3 nonprofit, envisions a world where nonprofits are fortified with the tools and knowledge to confidently champion cybersecurity. Dedicated to reshaping the narrative, Sightline’s KickStart program, based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, promotes a culture where cybersecurity best practices are integrated into daily operations.
The Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI) provides free, easy-to-use tools and resources to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) around the world become more secure and resilient. Their mission is to advance the cyber readiness of SMBs to improve the security of global supply chains. CRI emphasizes human behavior and employee education and awareness to create a culture of cyber readiness throughout an organization.
The Center for Internet Security (CIS®) is a community-driven nonprofit making the connected world a safer place by harnessing the power of the global IT community to safeguard public and private organizations against cyber threats.
About the Center for Internet Security Alan Paller Laureate Program
From the Center for Internet Security: The Center for Internet Security launched the Alan Paller Laureate Program in memory of Alan Paller, an innovative leader and trailblazer in the field of cybersecurity. The program will empower U.S.-based nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and individuals who are focused on improving cybersecurity by making cybersecurity controls demonstrably more effective, simpler, and more automated; developing and equipping highly skilled cyber experts; and improving the teaching of cyber defense at every level.
