Cyber Readiness Institute Urges Biden to Help Small Businesses Improve Cybersecurity

The Cyber Readiness Institute has called on President Joe Biden to place immediate measures that will protect small- and medium-sized businesses from cyberattacks.

On May 6, the institute published a white paper noting that SMBs must have easier access to cybersecurity resources as well as human behavior-focused “easy-to-adopt” programs that impact daily operations.

The nonprofit noted that the recent attacks on the digital infrastructure of the U.S. were launched by adversarial actors that take advantage of compromised SMBs. There is an urgent need for the Biden administration to address critical gaps in national cyber defenses, CRI said.

In the white paper titled “The Urgent Need to Strengthen the Cyber Readiness of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses,” the institute noted that the SolarWinds and Microsoft Exchange events compromised many SMBs, which are often targeted by cyber attackers because of their lack of resources to improve their cyber readiness.

To address the issue, CRI offered five policy and program recommendations for the government to implement.

The institute proposes creating an SMB cybersecurity center, suggesting that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency could lead the effort.

CRI also recommends enacting cybersecurity incentives. SMBs that invest in cybersecurity could get tax credits, the organization said.

The government could also expand the existing CyberCorps with cyber squads of student interns that would help minority-owned SMBs.

Another recommendation is to establish cybersecurity standards that all organizations in the industry should adhere to. CRI said that the standards should employ a risk management approach that enables companies to tackle their cybersecurity vulnerabilities in accordance with their mission, assets and resources.

The last in CRI’s list of recommendations is to create a national awareness campaign that would direct SMBs to a consolidated list of available public and private resources about cybersecurity. CRI mentioned that currently, resources are scattered across different government agencies. The institute then recommends that CISA be the agency to curate cybersecurity resources for SMBs. The agency that will lead the campaign must also be able to simplify cybersecurity concepts for business owners.