Cyber Warriors Emerge: 25 Fresh Faces from NYC’s Elite Academy

Summary

• NYC Cyber Academy graduated 25 city employees from 22 city agencies in March 2025.
• The four-week program, run by NYC Cyber Command, focuses on incident response and threat intelligence.
• Graduates serve as Cyber Command liaisons for their agencies.
• The academy has now trained 75 public servants from 61 agencies since it started in 2022.

A New Class of City Cyber Defenders

New York City’s Cyber Academy has graduated its latest class of 25 public servants. City Chief Technology Officer Matthew Fraser and Chief Information Security Officer Kelly Moan marked the graduation in early March 2025. The graduates come from 22 city entities and will now act as liaisons between their agencies and NYC Cyber Command.

Inside the Cyber Academy

NYC Cyber Command, part of the city’s Office of Technology and Innovation, developed and runs the four-week program. It covers incident response and network security, along with cyber threat intelligence work. The goal is a larger, better-trained cyber workforce across city government and closer coordination between agencies and Cyber Command.

The program grew out of a 2022 mayoral mandate that each city agency appoint a Cyber Command liaison to share information and security best practices.

Why the City Is Training Its Own

Hiring is hard. New York City’s agencies run services that millions of people depend on every day, from water to schools to emergency dispatch, and skilled security staff can usually earn more elsewhere. Training existing employees gives each agency someone who knows both its systems and Cyber Command’s procedures.

“As cyber threats continue to pose real-world dangers, New York City remains committed to staying current and expanding the skills, knowledge, and coordination of its cyber professionals throughout city government to ensure the resilience of the critical services that New Yorkers depend upon,” Fraser said.

How Cyber Command Works with Agencies

NYC Cyber Command leads citywide cybersecurity. It sets security policy and works with more than 100 municipal agencies to prevent and respond to threats.

It also partners with state and federal agencies at the Joint Security Operations Center (JSOC) in Brooklyn, which monitors threats around the clock. Moan said that in just over two years the academy has produced a better-trained and more collaborative cyber workforce in city government.

What the Graduates Will Do

Back at their agencies, the graduates will strengthen security practices and coordinate with Cyber Command during incidents.

With this class, the academy has trained 75 public servants from 61 city agencies since 2022.

A Growing Network

Each class adds people across city government who know whom to call and what to do when an attack hits.

“Today’s Cyber Academy graduates play a frontline role in our continuous efforts to keep our city and its government safe from constant online threats,” Fraser said.

What Other Cities Can Learn

It’s cheap to copy. Train a security liaison inside each agency, and connect them all to a central security team.

For cities that cannot hire enough security specialists, building skills from within is often the most practical way to close the gap.

Frank Jones, CISSP

Frank Jones has loved computers from the age of 13. Frank got his hacking career started when he downloaded a war dialing program that he used to detect dial up modems in his hometown of Chicago. Frank Jones now works as a JAVA coder and cyber security researcher.