Stop cyber threats! Learn to use AI as your small business security ally
University of Hawaiʻi
The University of Hawaiʻi Maui College is hosting the second of three free online cybersecurity clinics for Hawaiʻi's sole proprietors and small business owners. “Security using GenAI” is the topic for this session, taking place on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, from 12 to 1 p.m. HST, via Zoom.
Moderated by Debasis Bhattacharya (professor and program coordinator of the UH Maui College Applied Business and Information Technology Program), the clinic will help participants transform Generative AI from a buzzword into a powerful security ally. This session will focus on the security and privacy issues associated with AI, providing a clear roadmap for integrating AI tools ethically and effectively to stay one step ahead of sophisticated cyber threats.
Participants will learn practical use cases, including:
- How generative AI identifies anomalies and patterns that traditional rule-based systems miss.
- Basics of prompt engineering for small businesses.
- Navigating data privacy concerns and “shadow AI” while maximizing defensive capabilities.
- Automating threat detection and accelerating incident response times.
Presenters include Jodi Ito, UH chief information security officer, and David Stevens, assistant professor at Kapiʻolani Community College, a University of Hawaiʻi campus.
“Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT are popular because they have learned just about everything there is to know on the Internet, and they respond to chat prompts in a human-friendly way. The risks here are loss of data privacy, training bias and hallucinations from the AI tool itself. This webinar will help small businesses use GenAI tools reliably and effectively to secure their business,” said Bhattacharya.
These clinics are part of the University of Hawaiʻi Cybersecurity Clinics, funded by a $1-million grant and wraparound support from Google’s Cybersecurity Clinics Fund.