NEWS Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974). News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: May 16, 2011 Neil Grace (202) 418-0506 Email: neil.grace@fcc.gov FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Unveils New Initiatives to Empower Small Businesses with Online Security Tools; Convenes Cybersecurity Roundtable with Public, Private & Non-Profit Leaders FCC unveils new webpage and Top 10 Cybersecurity Tip Sheet for small businesses; participants include former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff & top leaders from HP, McAfee, Symantec, Thomson Reuters, US Chamber of Commerce, National Urban League & SCORE (Washington, DC) – FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski today convened a roundtable event with leaders from across the public, private and nonprofit sectors to deliver the latest and most effective cybersecurity strategies to small business owners across the country. The event – “Securing and Empowering Small Businesses with Technology” – took place at the start of National Small Business Week. The FCC also unveiled a new webpage (www.FCC.gov/cyberforsmallbiz) devoted to being a resource for small businesses owners on issues related to cybersecurity. In addition, the agency released a Cybersecurity Tip Sheet, which outlines the top ten ways entrepreneurs can protect their companies – and customers – from cyberattack. Participants included former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff; Ann Beauchesne, Vice President National Security & Emergency Preparedness Department, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Al Kinney, Director, Defense Cyber Security Capabilities, HP Enterprise; Chanelle Hardy, Senior Vice President for Policy, National Urban League; Cheri F. McGuire, VP, Global Government Affairs & Cybersecurity Policy, Symantec; Dave Notch, Chief Information Security Officer, Thomson Reuters; Ken Yancey, CEO, SCORE; and Maurice Jones, CEO and CFO of Parkinson Construction Company FCC Chairman Genachowski said, “We’ve convened this roundtable today to discuss one of the biggest challenges our country faces – both for businesses and national security: the growing threats to cybersecurity.” Genachowski continued, “While it is critical to secure the government and large industry from cyber threats, it is vital that cybersecurity for small business be in this equation. We’re here today to help small businesses overcome these security challenges.” During the roundtable discussion, Parkinson Construction Company CEO Maurice Jones spoke about his recent experience where cybercriminals stole $92,000 from the company accounts. “This is a real problem for small business owners and unfortunately, I learned the hard way.” said Parkinson Construction CEO Maurice Jones. “But there are relatively simple strategies and steps that small business owners can take to protect their profits – and their customers. 2 The materials on the FCC website, as well as these partnerships, will go a long way towards serving small business owners with useful tools to tackle this problem.” During the event, FCC Chairman Genachowski unveiled new section of the website (www.FCC.gov/cyberforsmallbiz) specifically designed to serve small business owners trying to navigate cybersecurity dos and don’ts. Chairman Genachowski also released a Cybersecurity Tip Sheet – developed in close coordination with the FCC’s partners –that outlines the top ten ways small businesses can protect themselves. In his remarks, Chairman Genachowski stressed the importance of public/private partnerships in order to successfully tackle cyberthreats and the inability of any one sector alone to achieve success. Other partnership initiatives announced today were: Ø The FCC is partnering with U.S. Chamber of Commerce, McAfee, Symantec, SCORE and the National Urban League to distribute the Cybersecurity Tip sheet widely to small business owners across the United States through blogs, social media and outreach to businesses. Ø The FCC is partnering with the SCORE eBusiness Now Program to provide cybersecurity expertise at SCORE events for small business owners around the country, plus at a focused cybersecurity event to be held at FCC HQ later this year. Ø The FCC is working with key Education Partners to ensure that the FCC training efforts and materials are tailored to a diverse range of small business owners and to assure wide distribution. Organizations include National Urban League, National Congress of American Indians, LULAC, LISTA, National Black Chamber of Commerce, and National Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Ø FCC Joining Federal Government Cybersecurity Partnership and Campaign: The FCC is joining the public/private National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) partnership led by NIST. The NICE partnership runs the Stop. Think. Connect. Campaign, which is designed to raise awareness among the American public about the need to strengthen cybersecurity—and to generate and communicate new approaches and strategies to help Americans increase their safety and security online. For more information about the FCC’s efforts please visit: www.FCC.gov/cyberforsmallbiz