Did you know that 99.9% of businesses in America are small businesses?[1] Small businesses are a major source of innovation for our country—but they’re often faced with limited resources and budgets. Many of them need cybersecurity solutions, guidance, and training so they can cost-effectively address and manage their cybersecurity risks. Hmmm…where can you find guidance like this all in one place?
Voila! The Cybersecurity Corner for Small Businesses!
The NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Act, which mandated that we “disseminate clear and concise resources to help small business concerns identify, assess, manage, and reduce their cybersecurity risks,” led us to create this website in 2019. It now provides videos, planning guides, case studies, topical guidance ( e .g., ransomware, phishing, etc. ), and crucial information that small businesses can use. We continued on after that.
The Small Business Community of Interest ( COI ) is introduced.
A new Small Business Community of Interest will be established by NIST on March 6, 2023, opening up more opportunities for the exchange of knowledge, resources, and ideas between the organization and the country’s small business community. To help us with our work, the COI will bring together members of the small business community, businesses, trade associations, and others.
We hope to make it easier for smaller businesses to communicate their cybersecurity needs, share challenges, and discuss urgent issues by creating a COI specifically for small businesses. Since it was introduced last month, more than 1,000 small businesses have already joined this COI. Interested? We would adore for you to join us!
In the upcoming months, NIST intends to start holding regular meetings and is currently developing the COI.
2023’s upcoming SMB events include:
As part of its NCCoE Learning Series and to start interacting with the new COI, the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence at NIST will host two events during National Small Business Week ( April 30–May 6, 2023 ). In June, a third virtual event will be held. Each of the three webinars will feature brand-new and pre-existing NIST small business resources and allow attendees to interact with subject matter experts and share ideas. The specifics are as follows:
The year has more events planned. You’ll learn when new events are added to our lineup by joining the COI.
The core of NIST’s work is knowledge exchange, transparency, and collaboration. With actionable, understandable information based on NIST’s fundamental advice, we are dedicated to assisting the small business community in managing its cybersecurity risks, but we cannot do it on our own. To determine what will have the greatest impact, we will rely on your advice and input.  ,
Do you have a query, remark, or suggestion? Smallbizsecurity[at ] nist is the small business team’s contact information. gov ( smallbizsecurity )at ] nist]dot]gov