SBA Offers Free Small Biz Cybersecurity Course

The Small Business Administration is offering a new online course on cybersecurity to help small business owners protect themselves against cyberattacks.

SBA's new course, "Cybersecurity for Small Businesses," provides an overview on how to secure business information, identify security threats and guard against potential hacker attacks.

Here's an overview of the topics the SBA's course covers, with FindLaw's own tips to boot:

1. The definition of cybersecurity. "Cybersecurity" encompasses information security as applied to networks and computers. It refers to the means by which your computers, data, networks, and services are protected from various cyberattacks, including unintended or unauthorized access, changes, or destruction.
2. The importance of cybersecurity. Cyberattacks are now targeting small businesses, which have proven to be especially vulnerable to attacks. The average cost of one small business cyberattack is nearly $9,000, according to the National Small Business Association (NSBA), so it's critical to keep abreast of cybersecurity tips and tools.
3. Types of information to secure. Your cybersecurity strategy should aim to protect your cloud storage, email, wireless network, social media accounts, mobile devices, and computers. Look for tools that will help protect against malware that hunts for credit card numbers, social media passwords, Excel and QuickBooks files, proprietary information, confidential client information, and other sensitive data.
4. Types of cyber threats. The term "cyberattack" refers to any number of ways a criminal may attempt to damage or access sensitive information from a computer or networked device. Attacks may come in a variety of forms, including: viruses, spyware, phishing, pharming, worms, keyloggers, bots, and Trojans.
5. Guarding against cyber threats. Small business owners can take a number of precautionary measures to protect against cybersecurity threats. For starters, this will include anti-virus and anti-spyware software, spam filters, secure Wi Fi connections, strong passwords that are changed frequently, as well as implementing cybersecurity "best practices" policies and training employees on appropriate computer use.

The SBA's online "Cybersecurity for Small Businesses" course is free, and takes about 30 minutes to complete. To learn more about protecting your business online, check out FindLaw's Online Safety section.

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