Meet Kelly Moan, first woman to serve as NYC's chief information security officer in charge of cyber security

NEW YORK -- New York City sees 90 billion suspicious cyber events each week, according to the city's Office of Technology and Innovation. 

So preventing cyber attacks and safeguarding sensitive information is crucial.

Kelly Moan is leading that charge, and she is the first woman ever in the city to do it.

In a massive office space at 11 MetroTech in Downtown Brooklyn, CBS2's Elijah Westbrook got a firsthand look inside the New York Joint Security Center.

"This is our 24/7 security operations center. We have partners who sit here, including New York State, and we monitor for ongoing security activity or an event," said Moan, New York City's Chief Information Security Officer.

Moan is the first female to take on this job in New York City. She's tasked with protecting city government -- which is comprised of more than 100 agencies, comprised of 300,000 employees -- from cyber attacks.

"You've got a computer at home, we're securing those endpoint devices, as we call them, all the way to more advanced -- think of internet and devices that are connected to the cloud," Moan said.

Moan's journey to her cyber security career started in Washington, D.C. at American University before further pursuing her graduate degree at Penn State. It was then she discovered her passion for cyber security, becoming a division chief for U.S. Homeland Security and building technology to enhance cyber security defense. 

Moan then moved to New York to become the NYPD's Chief Information Security Officer.

"I didn't see a lot of folks that looked like me, and I think representation is important as a leader," said Moan.

As chief, those big decisions are made in a room Moan deems, "the epicenter."

"This is where we bring our partners together. We've hosted international delegations -- the Ukrainians, we've had European delegations, we've also hosted Senator Gillibrand's team," Moan said.

The next time a cyber threat or attack hits a city agency, you might think of Kelly Moan and her team -- one of the many who work to keep New Yorkers safe.