Introducing the New Small Business Cybersecurity Support Program Finder

For small businesses who are often confronted with limited resources, knowing how to get started and where to find support with planning, implementing, or evaluating a cybersecurity risk management strategy can be challenging — sometimes making cybersecurity feel like an insurmountable hurdle. However, there is good news. Many non-profit organizations across the United States have created programs for their local small business communities (in addition to local schools, municipal governments, and non-profits) that often extend beyond general cybersecurity education to include services like conducting risk assessments and penetration tests, performing compliance consulting services, helping with incident preparedness and response measures, and more.

The NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Support Program Finder brings these programs together into one tool, connecting small businesses with local non-profit community partners who help with cybersecurity risk management.

Explore the Tool

Selecting a state on the interactive map will present a list of programs, as shown in the graphic below. A table of programs alphabetized by state is also provided below the map for users to browse.

Add to the Tool

The list is not exhaustive, and we’d love your help building it out. Programs must be hosted by non-profit institutions and have dedicated services helping their region’s small business community proactively manage cybersecurity risks. To be considered for inclusion on the list, submit a request to smallbizsecurity [at] nist.gov (smallbizsecurity[at]nist[dot]gov). Include program name, host institution, state, and URL.

An Expanding Portfolio of Small Business Cybersecurity Resources

NIST regularly works in collaboration with and in support of organizations of all sizes. The NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Act, which became law on August 14, 2018, directed NIST to “disseminate clear and concise resources to help small business concerns identify, assess, manage, and reduce their cybersecurity risks.” The NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Corner was created to serve as the hub of NIST’s small business cybersecurity programming to connect the small business community (and other under-resourced organizations) with free educational cybersecurity resources from not just NIST, but across the U.S. Government and non-profits. These resources include videos, quick-start guides, information organized by topic and sector, and more. Many of the resources on this site are leveraged by programs included in the NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Support Programs Finder.

Stay Engaged

Non-Endorsement

The NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Support Programs Finder is provided as a public service of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Users of the tool are not permitted to use the name or logo of NIST in any advertisement, promotion, news release or other type of statement, written or verbal, in any way that implies a NIST endorsement, certification or approval of any company, product or service. NIST does not vouch for or validate the programs listed within the tool.

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

See author's posts