CybersecurityGovernment offers free cybersecurity protection tool for small businesses

To help small businesses guard themselves against hackers and computer criminals, the U.S. government is offeringa free online tool that helps business owners bolster their cyber defenses.

On Monday, the government announced that in November it would release its Small Biz Cyber Planner that helps business owners create their own customized cybersecurity plans by answering basic questions about their company and its online presence.

The online tool was made with the help of several major businesses including Symantec, Visa, and Bank of America.

“Small businesses that don’t take protective measures are particularly vulnerable targets for cyber criminals,” said Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

According to a new survey by Symantec and the National Cyber Security Alliance, only 52 percent of small businesses had a basic cybersecurity strategy or plan in place.

In addition, the survey also found that small business owners had a false sense of security with 85 percent believing that their companies were safe from cyber threats, yet 77 percent had no formal written Internet security policy, and of those, 49 percent did not even have an informal policy.

Genachowski warned that hackers would begin to increasingly target smaller businesses now that major companies have begun to take cybersecurity more seriously.

“With larger companies increasing their protections, small businesses are now the low-hanging fruit for cyber criminals,” Genachowski said.

“Forty percent of all targeted attacks today are directed at companies with less than 500 employees,” said Cheri McGuire, the vice president of global government affairs and cybersecurity policy at Symantec Corp.

Last year the average annual cost of cyber attacks was $188,242 for small and medium-sized businesses, with down-time costing some small firms as much as $12,500 a day.