Cybercrime Affects All Businesses, FCC Warns

In an effort to stop cybercrime from affecting a huge amount of businesses on the Internet, the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, is teaming up with companies such as Symantec Corp and the US Chamber of Commerce to teach small businesses ways to combat cybercrime.

It is planned that the FCC will dedicate a portion of its website exclusively to issues relating to cyber-security with small business. They also plan to release a tip sheet for small businesses through Intel Corp’s McAfee cyber-security unit, Symantec and the Chamber of Commerce.

The FCC also plans to host a cyber-security event sometime this year. They have also joined the US government’s National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education.

During an FCC roundtable aimed at discussing the impact of cybercrimes on small- to medium-sized businesses, the FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, indicated that it is just as critical to secure large industries and the government from cyber-threats as it is for small businesses.

According to the FCC, approximately 74% of small- to medium-sized businesses have been subject to cyber-terrorism within the past year. They indicate that the average cost per incident reached a record of $188,242 in 2010. Approximately 42% of these smaller sized businesses have lost private or confidential data within the past year and about 40% were subjected to direct financial costs resulting from these cyber-attacks.

The Homeland Security Department’s former secretary, Michael Chertoff, indicated that cyber-crime is a problem for large as well as small businesses. Further, the FCC’s efforts are not just about education but the empowerment of small businesses with the knowledge necessary to combat these problems.

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Posted by Melissa Wylie on May 17 2011. Filed under Business Financial News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.