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Multimedia Training Offers Guidance to Help Small Businesses Better Protect Themselves Against Employee-Targeted Cybercrime

Bedford, MA - RSA, The Security Division of EMC (NYSE (EMC) announced the release of "Cyber Security 101 for Small Business Employees," a simple training tool designed to help educate employees how to avoid becoming a victim of cybercrime and fraud in the workplace.

According to a new survey of U.S. small businesses sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance, 77 % of small business owners said they do not have a formal written Internet security policy for employees and of those, 49% reported that they do not even have an informal policy. Forty-five percent of small business owners also said they do not provide Internet safety training and a majority of businesses (56%) do not have Internet usage policies that clarify what websites and web services employees can use. Only 52% have a plan in place for keeping their business cyber-secure.

Available immediately as a no-cost download, the 20-minute multimedia training offers small business employees fundamental cyber security awareness education and also gives expert guidelines and practical advice for handling employee-targeted cybercrime and fraud issues including:

• Phishing and email security
• Defending against social engineering
• Protecting home and work devices against malware
• Staying safe while internet browsing or using social networks
• Password best practices
• When and how to encrypt sensitive data
• Supporting Quotes:
• Dave Martin, Chief Security Officer, EMC Global Security Office

"Small businesses can be especially vulnerable as they often lack the resources and knowledge to train their employees to adequately defend against targeted cyber attacks, which are more often directed at employees as a way to infiltrate an organization. Proper training and cyber security education can go a long way to help prepare employees to be more aware of potential cyber threats and to take the right actions when they’re faced with a potential attack. Having the right knowledge and training could make the difference between a targeted cyber attack being successful or unsuccessful."

Michael Kaiser, Executive Director, National Cyber Security Alliance

"The threats grow in number and complexity each day, but too many small business owners remain naively complacent. The stakes are high for individual businesses and the nation as a whole: a single malware attack or data breach can be fatal to a small enterprise but the collective vulnerability of all our businesses is a major economic security challenge."

Sam Curry, CTO, Identity and Data Protection at RSA, The Security Division of EMC

"We all share the same internet and wish to do our part to help out our fellow ‘netizens’ to stay safe online. Small businesses typically don’t have much access to formal or even informal cyber security training for their employees. RSA has aggregated fundamental education and guidance about internet safety from trusted sources such as the National Cyber Security Alliance and our own EMC Global Security Office and has packaged it into a simple, easily digestible format."

John Havermann, President, NCSA Board of Directors and EMC Federal Office Senior Account Executive

"Offering this simple multimedia training for small business employees is another way EMC and RSA are helping to promote the mission and message of the National Cyber Security Alliance to an important business audience that could be one of the most vulnerable to cyber attacks. Organizations that wisely give their employees fundamental internet safety awareness training stand a much better chance of experiencing fewer cyber-related incidents and more importantly, fewer serious incidents that could do irreparable harm to their business."

In its eighth year, National Cyber Security Awareness Month is a coordinated effort of the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and The Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) and myriad companies, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations and individuals throughout the nation focused on improving online safety and security awareness and education for citizens and businesses. In 2010 the NCSA, working in partnership with private industry, reached an estimated 100 million people to promote online safety during the month of October.

As a leader in information security, RSA marked October 2011 with multiple contributions to National Cyber Security Awareness Month through volunteerism and outreach to schools and the small business community. Hundreds of EMC and RSA employee volunteers have been working with schools, youth groups and small business associations throughout the U.S. and abroad to help educate the public about key online safety and digital responsibility issues such as social network safety, phishing and employee-targeted cybercrime.

EMC and NCSA encourage all audiences – teachers, employers, families, consumers, and more – to visit the National Cyber Security Awareness Month Web portal to get more information about how to get involved, events, and additional resources to help organizations and individuals participate in the public awareness and education campaign.