Cyber Security Technical Working Group

Safeguarding Digital Trust Across San Diego State University

Working Group Overview

Purpose and Scope:

The Cybersecurity Technical Working Group (CSTWG) is a standing initiative under the SDSU Information Technology Governance Council (ITGC). Its charge is to cultivate a secure, resilient, and compliant technology environment that advances the university’s mission in teaching, research, and community service.

Charge:

• Define and continuously improve campus-wide cybersecurity governance processes
• Develop policy recommendations and technical standards aligned with CSU, state, and federal mandates
• Coordinate risk assessments, vulnerability management, and audit-remediation priorities
• Promote a culture of shared responsibility for security across all units and auxiliaries
• Strengthen incident-response readiness and cyber-resilience capabilities
• Advance security education, awareness, and workforce development

Key Objectives & Focus Areas

• Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC): Policy, standards, assessment
• Identity & Access Management: SDSUid, Entra ID, role-based access
• Network & Cloud Security: Segmentation, micro-segmentation, Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)
• Endpoint Protection: Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR), mobile, Internet of Things( IoT) risk
• Data Protection & Privacy: Encryption, retention, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)/ Personally Identifiable Information (PII) safeguards
• Security Operations: Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), threat intelligence, logging, Security Operations Center (SOC)
• Incident Response & Forensics: Playbooks, tabletop drills, after-action reviews
• Awareness & Training: Phishing simulations, secure-coding outreach

Initiatives in Motion

CSU IT Audit Remediation & Improvement Plan

Focusing the Cybersecurity Technical Working Group on closing the final three audit findings

Outstanding Findings:

• Computer Encryption: Implement full-disk encryption for all university-owned endpoints and securely store escrow recovery keys.
• Computer Baseline Hardening: Publish and apply a secure configuration baseline (Windows, macOS) using the Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks.
• Patching: Improve to  ≥ 95 % critical/important patch compliance within 30 days for servers, endpoints, and network devices.

Process and Improvement Plan

The CSU Chancellor’s Office requires a formal process description and improvement plan by July 18, 2025. Implementation will continue through December 2025.