The FCC has released an update of its small business
cybersecurity planner, which combines the resources of eBay, Visa, McAfee, the
Department of Homeland Security, Microsoft and others in an online resource to
protect against cyberattacks.
The online tool
allows business to create a customized plan addressing issues including privacy
and data protection, network, security and incidence response and reporting.
The planner was launched in November 2011, and the FCC says
that almost 10,000 small businesses have used it to create customized plans.
That's the good news. The bad news: The commission says studies by Symantec,
also a partner in the FCC's cybersecurity outreach, show that 83% of small
businesses have no protection, even as two-thirds of those businesses have become
more dependent on the Internet.
The latest version of the FCC effort, Small Biz Cyberplanner
2.0, includes new details about "cyber insurance," best practices on
spyware, and "the latest security information." It also follow's chairman
Julius Genachowski's cybersecurity roundtable last year with industry execs,
the FCC pointed out in announcing the update.
