By Simon Bracey Lane, PhD student, University of Canberra.

A driving force of the Cyber Security Summit is the goal of resolving issues that matter to people. The small business session features experts who know how to secure a small business. No matter your company’s size, by the end of this session you will be able to:

— Identify the threats to your bottom line.

— Secure your business without breaking the bank.

— Know where to go for support from governmental bodies.

— Get yourself fighting fit to comply with the government supply chain requirements.

The session will begin with Lyle Wright who serves as Associate State Director at the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC). He will outline our “The New Normal” and how the deeply interconnected nature of today’s world means that cyber security can have a direct impact on small businesses bottom line. He will detail how a good cyber security culture in your business can help protect profits and enable your organization to thrive in today’s modern business environment. The sessions will outline tactics, tools and approaches you can adopt to ensure your success.


Cybersecurity Resources for small businesses:

VP & CISO Melinda Rambel Stone from Bremer Bank will lead a panel of experts with backgrounds in cyber security, operations, fraud, and insurance. They will discuss the practical ways to manage risk as a small business with real customer stories. Working on the understanding that small businesses are an attractive target for cybercriminals, Bremer Bank will help to increase your knowledge of cyber security threats and what small businesses should be concerned about when it comes to banking and cyber security.

Another resource-driven discussion will be led by Earl Gregorich, Area Manager & Business Consultant for the Greenville Area SBDC. This session will feature advice on how to implement cybersecurity safety measures without burning through time and money. It will outline how the SBDC Cybersecurity Task Force has put together simple, non-technical tools and guidance to help entrepreneurs understand the basics of cybersecurity awareness. This session will also explain how you can access the no-fee services of the SBDC network to plan and launch a realistic approach to achieving good cyber hygiene.


Small Business & Government

Government support is available to small businesses. Chris Gabbard, Cybersecurity advisor at Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will lead a briefing on the threat landscape facing small businesses and what can be done to mitigate them. He will also outline the resources that are available to business owners to protect their bottom line.

Further support on engaging the government is provided by Scott Singer, President of CyberNINES. He will outline the expanding government cybersecurity requirements for suppliers. Many small businesses further down the supply chain are getting caught off guard, they are being notified of requirements they need in place and have no idea of why or how to begin implementing them. Today’s cybersecurity threats make these supply chain requirements mandatory. This talk will identify how this process works and ensure your business is caught.

The ambition of the Small Business track is to equip those who undertake the huge task of running a small business with the tools they need to navigate these issues. Through panel discussion and individual briefings, the primary goal of this discussion is to best equip your organization to survive and thrive in today’s competitive digital ecosystem. We hope to see you there.