UH launches free cyber clinics to protect island small businesses

The University of Hawaiʻi Cybersecurity Clinic launched a no-cost statewide series of online clinics on Jan. 16 aimed at helping sole proprietors and small businesses strengthen defenses against cyber threats. The program arrives as local firms face growing digital risks that can interrupt operations, expose customer data, and impose recovery costs that many small enterprises cannot absorb.

The clinic will offer an introductory session, "Introduction to Cybersecurity: Cyber Hygiene," on Jan. 21 from noon to 1 p.m. HST via Zoom. The hour-long session will cover core safeguards including strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, regular updates and patching, backups and recovery, employee training, secure networks and devices, access controls, and basic incident response planning. Subsequent sessions in the series will build on those fundamentals to address practical steps for businesses across the islands.

Support for the clinics comes from Google’s Cybersecurity Clinics Fund and the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics, enabling the University to offer the sessions at no cost and reach small operations that lack in-house IT teams. Classes delivered online remove travel barriers for residents on Hawaiʻi Island, from Hilo and Hamakua to Kona and Kaʻū, allowing remote attendance during business hours.

For Big Island County, where tourism, agriculture, contractor services, and small retail firms dominate the local economy, improving cyber hygiene has direct financial and operational implications. Many sole proprietors and microbusinesses run on thin margins and depend on uninterrupted bookings, payments, and supply-chain communications. Basic defenses like regular backups and employee awareness can reduce downtime and limit the fallout from ransomware or phishing attacks that target smaller targets with fewer safeguards.

The statewide focus recognizes that an attack on one business can ripple through communities—damaging customer trust, disrupting payroll, and increasing costs for residents. By emphasizing incident response planning and access controls, the clinic aims to help businesses preserve continuity and limit losses if a breach occurs.

The University’s clinics also offer an entry point for owners who have struggled to prioritize cybersecurity amid daily operations. Free, accessible training can raise baseline protections across sectors and help sustain local employment and services. Big Island entrepreneurs and managers should consider attending the Jan. 21 session and planning follow-up participation for sector-specific guidance.

What this means for readers: small business owners and sole proprietors can take immediate, no-cost steps to reduce cyber risk and protect revenue streams; the UH clinic’s online format makes participation feasible from anywhere on the island, and further sessions will expand practical support for local economic resilience.