The feds are giving smaller telecoms/information service providers a hand with cyber hygiene.
According to NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association, it is partnering with the Department of Homeland Security and the National Institute for Hometown Security (NIHS) to give small, primarily rural, telecoms education and insight into best practices for cybersecurity risk management.
Smaller operators often don't have the resources for comprehensive risk management programs, which will be increasingly important in an IoT world.
NTCA's CyberWise initiative is backed by an award from the DHS National Infrastructure Protection Plan Security and Resilience Challenge and the Office of Infrastructure Protection and NIHS.
The initiative will provide sector-specific guidance, a comprehensive best-practices guide, three days’ worth of educational workshops in conjunction with planned NTCA events, recognition as a Cyber Risk Manager for participants who attend at least one in-person training session and attend two educational webcasts.
Training sessions will be held in conjunction with the 2018 NTCA Telecom Executive Forum (March 11–13 in Monterey, Calif.; IP Vision Conference & Expo (April 23–25 in New Orleans); and the NTCA Cybersecurity Summit (Oct. 21–23 in Dallas).
