Cyber attacks on small businesses are on the rise, however, studies show that many business owners still are not prepared to deal with potential breaches. While large businesses can dedicate resources to cybersecurity, small businesses face the same cybersecurity challenges and threats with limited resources, capacity, and personnel.

Forty-three percent of all attacks worldwide were targeted at small businesses with less than 250 employees, according to the cybersecurity firm Symantec’s annual Internet Security Threat Report, released in April 2016. Additionally, the U.S. National Cyber Security Alliance found that 60% of small companies are unable to sustain their business over six months after a cyber attack.

While no technology or program can stop every attack, taking basic precautions can reduce your technical risk and make your company a less attractive target.

To answer the call to educate and engage small businesses, and to help them protect their intellectual and fiscal assets, the Florida SBDC Network partnered with Ridge Global, a globally-recognized risk management, and cybersecurity firm, to launch its Byte-Size Small Business Cybersecurity Program in 2017. Since the successful program launch, the Florida SBDC has been able to bring the content online, update it with lessons learned, and expand it to cover current threats, making it the Florida SBDC Cybersecurity Program.

• Cyber Insurance 101 – Building Cyber Readiness and Resiliency by Andres Franzetti, Chief Strategy Officer and Founding Member Risk Cooperative
  
• Practical Cybersecurity Tech for Small Businesses by Tim Foley, Director of Information Security, Dataprise
• The Small Business Cybersecurity and the Global Supply Chain by Adam W. Salerno, Executive Director for Global Supply Chain and Trade Facilitation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Small Business Information Security: The Fundamentals by National Institutes for Standards and Technology (NIST)

• SecureFlorida.org – an initiative of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to protect the citizens and economy of Florida by safeguarding our information systems, reducing our vulnerability to cyber attacks, and increasing our responsiveness to any threat.