FTC Offers Small Businesses Free Cybersecurity Resources

The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) newly launched national initiative to educate small business owners about cybersecurity threats and defenses began with a "listening tour" last year.

What it learned became the foundation for the agency's new Cybersecurity for Small Business website and related resources, which draw from a dozen different security topics FTC officials gathered from its discussions with small and midsize business (SMB) owners nationwide, said Jon Miller Steiger, director of the FTC's East Central Region, who spoke at the 2018 Cyber Security Conference for small businesses in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this week.

Among their hot-button concerns, Steiger said, are their ability to train employees properly for security awareness, cyberthreats, and human error leading to a cyberattack. "They want to get one unified message from the federal government" on cybersecurity as well, he said.

The new website, created in cooperation with the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Small Business Administration (SBA), was officially launched on Oct. 18. It includes cybersecurity basics and best practices including the NIST cybersecurity framework for SMBs, and covers security threats, such as phishing, ransomware, email spoofing, and tech support scams. 

The FTC site also includes free resources, such as quizzes and educational videos. See the new FTC program site here.

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