Sec. 2. Findings

286 words·~1 min read·/bill/116/hr/1648/ih/section-2

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Congress finds the following: Small businesses represent more than 97 percent of total businesses in the United States and make up an essential part of the supply chain to some of the largest companies, many of which are in critical infrastructure sectors, from financial and transportation organizations to power, water, and healthcare suppliers. Many small businesses do not have dedicated information technology ( IT ) departments and must outsource IT functions or assign these duties to an employee as a secondary function.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center within the United States Department of Justice recorded 298,728 cybersecurity-related complaints in its 2016 report. There has been steady increases of cybersecurity-related complaints year over year since the year 2000, totaling 3,762,348. Seventy-one percent of cyber attacks occurred in businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Only 14 percent of small- and medium-sized businesses believe they have the ability to effectively mitigate cyber risks and vulnerabilities.

Small businesses risk theft and manipulation of sensitive data if they lack adequate cybersecurity measures. The Better Business Bureau found that half of small businesses could remain profitable for only one month if they lost essential data. Cyber crime is growing rapidly and the annual costs to the global economy are estimated to reach over $2,000,000,000,000 by 2019. Cybersecurity is a global challenge where the security threat, attacks, and techniques continually evolve and no company, individual, or Federal agency is immune from these threats.

Strong collaboration between the public and private sector is essential in the fight against cyber crime. There is a reluctance among small businesses to voluntarily share information with government entities, and the Federal Government should work proactively to incentivize and encourage voluntary information sharing to improve the Nation’s cybersecurity posture.