Stopping An “Extinction-Level Event” for Small Businesses

By MSGI Policy Analyst Andrew Lautz

Two hearings on Capitol Hill this week focused on what one expert called “extinction-level events” for small businesses: cyberattacks. Congress is looking to get aggressive in helping small employers and entrepreneurs both respond to and defend against online breaches. Senators and Representatives introduced no less than 4 small business cybersecurity bills in the last 7 days alone.

The House Small Business Committee’s hearing covered online issues at large, but witnesses and Members ended up spending a large part of their time looking for ways to help mitigate the devastating impact of cyberattacks.

Why so much time on just this one aspect of digital entrepreneurship? Consider these takeaways from the hearing:

• Entrepreneurs generally don’t have dedicated information technology (IT) or cybersecurity staff
• The cost and time burden of becoming cyber-secure is often too high for smaller businesses

The Senate, for its part, devoted its entire hearing to cybersecurity. Witnesses from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) discussed ways they’re looking to prepare entrepreneurs and small contractors for 21st-century online threats. Private-sector witnesses challenged Congress to ensure their cybersecurity efforts don’t also impose new burdens on small business owners and staff.

More important than the hearings is what Congress does next. The top-ranking Members of both the House and Senate Small Business Committees are supporting bills that could help.

• Senate Chair Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), House Chair Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), and House Ranking Member Steve Chabot (R-OH) have proposed bills that would increase small business access to cyber training through SBA’s Small Business Development Centers
• House Chair Velazquez and Ranking Member Chabot also support legislation that would enhance the ability of small businesses to communicate with the Federal government about cybersecurity and cyberattacks

These bills are worth watching, especially given the importance assigned to cybersecurity at this week’s hearings. As one witness put it, they may make the difference between survival and extinction for small businesses.