Garbarino Introduces Bill To Help Small Biz With Cyber Attacks

LONG ISLAND, NY—Representative Garbarino, Republican from Long Island's 2nd District, introduced a bipartisan bill in Congress Monday that seeks to help small businesses tighten up their cyber security.

A similar bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Marco Rubio to give small business development centers across the country up to $350,000 each year to create a cyber training program to assist small businesses.

“Cyber attacks are ramping up against everything from our critical infrastructure to schools and small businesses and we must do more to prepare for and mitigate against these attacks,” Garbarino said in a statement.

“It is my hope that this bipartisan legislation will be an impactful first step to getting small businesses the training they need to protect themselves from cyber criminals.”

The bill is cosponsored by two Democrats, and another Republican representative.

The measure focuses on small businesses because they often lack the resources to prepare for or respond to cyber attacks.

"Small businesses often lack the resources or technical knowledge to prevent cyber attacks and, with the high costs of hiring specialized employees or cybersecurity experts, it can be difficult to bridge the sizable education gap. This bill would help small businesses get the information they need to implement their own cyber strategy and to take the appropriate steps in the event of a cyber attack against their business.

The Small Business Cyber Training Act would establish a cyber counseling certification program at Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) which partner with the Small Business Administration to assist small businesses in every state.