Washington, D.C.- Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO), chairman of the Small Business Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and Oversight, made the following opening remarks at today's hearing on 'The state of Small Business Security in a Cyber Economy':
"Today this Subcommittee seeks to better understand the impact small business cyber security has on the well-being of the economy. This Subcommittee also seeks to determine the types of threats that small businesses encounter on a daily basis. According to the Small Business Technology Institute Report released in July 2005:"
'If small businesses are not made fully aware of the economic impact of information security incidents, they will continue to under-invest in information security protection, and their exposure will continue to increase as their infrastructures become more complex. This increasing individual exposure, when aggregated across the many millions of small businesses in the U.S., supporting more than half of the Nation's GDP, represents an extremely high and worsening point of exposure for the U.S. economy as a whole.'
"Businesses do not have to sell their products online to be at risk of a security breech. They are exposed simply by being connected to the internet. The Government and large firms have dedicated information technology professionals who protect their electronic infrastructure. Small businesses seldom have either dedicated IT professionals or the resources necessary to provide adequate levels of protection."
Government witnesses included Larry D. Johnson, Criminal Investigative Division of the United States Secret Service; Steven M. Martinez, Deputy Assistant Director Cyber Division Federal Bureau of Investigation; Lydia Parnes, Director of Bureau of Consumer Protection Federal Trade Commission; Cita M. Furlani, Acting Director Information Technology Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Expert testimony from the private sector included Enrique Salem, Senior Vice President Security Products and Solution, Symantec Corporation; Howard Schmidt, former White House Cyber Security Advisor and President and CEO, R&H; Security Consulting LLC.; Roger Cochetti Director of US Public Policy Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA); Ari Schwartz, Deputy Director Center for Democracy and Technology; Dr. Burton S. Kaliski, Jr. Vice President of Research, RSA Security Chief Scientist, RSA Laboratories RSA Security.
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