New gov't security resource for SMBs

Do you know a small or medium size business owner? Does a business partner of your enterprise need some assistance with how to handle security for their company? The government has put together some interesting guidance for small and medium businesses to help them address their security initiatives.

The program details are located at http://www.cyberpartnership.org/init-aware.html. The page contains plans, explanation documents, manager's guides and even downloadable FAQ lists. The program is built around common sense approaches and explanations that easily meet the 80/20 rule when followed.

The guides are in easy-to-read, everyday language and give both real-world examples of threats as well as ideas for extended mitigations. Reading these basic sources will give business owners and managers a good leg up on the need for and strategies associated with information security. They make an excellent resource for helping partners and business owners reduce their risk.

As I have talked about in this column many times, enterprises and security teams truly need to create and utilize documents such as these as a basis for helping others identify the risks in their environment and deploy effective controls for reducing and mitigating their risks. Only when we all play together with everyone looking out for each other - can we hope to make the world and the Net a safer place.