Cyber Secure Your Business

Cyber Secure Your Business

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are the backbone of the American economy. According to the SBA, firms with fewer than 100 employees make up the largest share of small business employment. The reality is that companies of all sizes are at risk, and small and medium-sized businesses are growing targets for cyber thieves. According to Symantec’s 2016 Internet Security Threat Report, there has been a steady increase in phishing attacks targeting businesses with fewer than 250 employees, with 43 percent of all attacks in 2015 targeted at small businesses. When these businesses fail or suffer, the economy reacts in the same way. To help ensure entrepreneurs are prepared, the NCSA has partnered with U.S. Small Business Administration’s Tech Coalition to help bring vital cyber security information into to the hands of small business owners.

Utilizing the National Institute of Standards and Training (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, content from federal agencies like the Federal Trade Commission and the most recent threat data, NCSA teaches smaller organizations how to think about cybersecurity and offers real-life scenarios along with steps they can take to better secure their data. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework offers a tremendous way to engage businesses by helping them to envision how cybersecurity applies to their individual circumstances and provides a pathway to better cybersecurity both immediately and as their businesses grow.

NCSA has designed the workshop to be highly interactive. During the workshop, an NCSA-trained facilitator takes the attendees through the following steps:

  • Understanding the assets they have that others might want to steal

  • Learning how to protect those assets without having to spend a lot of money or time

  • Detecting when something has gone wrong

  • Knowing how to react quickly and appropriately to make the impact as small as possible and understanding the need to create a plan of action that can be implemented when a breach occurs

  • Learning what resources are needed to recover after a breach

The content is designed to be understandable by people who do not have technical backgrounds. Attendees learn about creating a business inventory list and policy document, the importance of employee training plan and a draft recovery plan. Some of these materials are used during the workshop, and others are reference materials for future use. Attendees leave the workshop with a better understanding of the threats and tools to better secure their company data.

The workshop will be held on Monday, September 18, 2017 at Des Moines Area Community College campus in Ankeny.  For more information and to register, visit IASourcelink’s event page: CyberSecure My Business Workshop.

About The National Cyber Security Alliance: The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) is the nation’s leading nonprofit, public-private partnership promoting cybersecurity and privacy education and awareness. NCSA works with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and NCSA’s Board of Directors, which include representatives from ADP; Aetna; AT&T Services, Inc.; Bank of America; Barclays; CDK Global; Cisco; Comcast Corporation; ESET North America; Facebook; Google; Intel Corporation; LifeLock, Inc; Logical Operations; Mastercard; Microsoft Corp.; NXP Semiconductors; PayPal; PKWARE; RSA, the Security Division of EMC; Raytheon; Salesforce; SANS Institute; Symantec Corporation; TeleSign; and Visa Inc.

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