SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Some of San Diego’s top cybersecurity experts gathered for a special event in Sorrento Valley on Tuesday.
The Cyber Center of Excellence and San Diego's Regional Economic Development Corporation unveiled their latest regional report – revealing cybersecurity has a $4 billion annual economic impact for our region.
“That’s significant. It’s about the amount of 24 Comic-Cons. So if you’re adding up 24 Comic-Cons in a given year, that’s what this industry means to San Diego,” said Eduardo Velasquez, senior director, research and economic development. “Everything that’s connected nowadays requires some type of cybersecurity to prevent any threats,” he said.
As several San Diego industries and businesses have battled cyberattacks in recent years, experts said it’s more important than ever for companies to boost their security.
“More than ever we need to train our workforce, our employees and everyday people about what a social engineering attack looks like,” said Chase Franzen, chief information security officer for Sharp Healthcare. “A 16-digit credit card from a bank is only worth about a dollar on the dark web, but a patient record is worth over $500."
Experts explained San Diego is a big target because of the area's military bases on top of flourishing medical, tech and tourism industries.
“All of this basically yields lots and lots of data, and data is unfortunately what bad actors are after,” said Lisa Easterly, president and CEO for the Cyber Center of Excellence. "The good news is the good guys have the technology as well."
