A new Senate bill would send millions of dollars in funding to small business centers to train cybersecurity workers and audit and assess business IT environments.
The Small Business Cybersecurity Act, introduced this week by Sen. Maggie Hassan, DNH, would authorize $20 million for the Small Business Administration through 2023 and each year to provide non-competitive grants for small business growth. Centers across the country to help fund small businesses with various cybersecurity programs and resources, a copy of the bill obtained by SC Media.
Those services may include things like cybersecurity training for employees, desk exercises, reviews of policies, plans or procedures, penetration testing services, or cybersecurity consulting services.
Hassan said in a statement that the bill was inspired in part by programs offered by the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center, which provides businesses with 500 or fewer employees with free cybersecurity assessments, training based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s cybersecurity framework, and one-on-one sessions with business advisors on cybersecurity concerns. Consult.
“I encourage my colleagues to pass this legislation to help small businesses in New Hampshire and across the country thrive and protect small businesses from cyberattacks,” Hassan said.
Small businesses are among the most vulnerable targets for malicious hackers, ransomware groups and other cybercriminal groups. A survey of more than 2,000 small and medium-sized businesses from Intuit published in April found that 42 percent of their organizations reported experiencing a cybersecurity breach, with 1 in 5 listing cyberattacks as the biggest threat to their business.
They comprise critical parts of the technology supply chain, but often lack the financial capacity and expertise to commit to cybersecurity. That fact could pose a major problem for the federal government’s larger efforts to raise the level of cybersecurity across the country, as many such programs require significant investment in human and technical capital.
Hassan’s bill covers the amount of funding each individual state can disburse, as determined by the SBA administrator. Small states receive a maximum of $200,000, medium states can receive up to $300,000 and funding for large states is assumed at $400,000.
