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NEWS
Federal Communications Commission

News Media Information 202 / 418-0500

445 12th Street, S.W.

Internet: http://www.fcc.gov

Washington, D. C. 20554

TTY: 1-888-835-5322

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).

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.

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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:

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.

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.

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.

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
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