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This week, President Biden signed into law the SBA Cyber Awareness Act (H.R. 3462), a bipartisan bill by U.S. Reps. Young Kim (CA-39) and Jason Crow (CO-06) to strengthen the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s cybersecurity capabilities to handle and report cyber threats that impact small businesses.
Reps. Kim and Crow serve as Ranking Member and Chair of the Small Business Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Workforce Development.
“Half of small businesses with fewer than 500 employees say that they are likely to experience a cyberattack in the next 12 months. These entrepreneurs provide vital jobs and deserve certainty that they can safely and securely access the SBA resources available to them,” said Kim. “I thank Rep. Jason Crow for working with me on this bipartisan effort to support our small businesses and ensure SBA has the tools needed to keep their information safe from cyberattacks. I won’t stop fighting for the entrepreneurs chasing their American Dream.”
“Our small businesses are three times more likely to be targeted by cybercriminals than larger companies are. And when successful, just one of these attacks can be fatal to the business,” said Crow. “I am proud to work with Ranking Member Kim on a bipartisan basis to help protect our small businesses, and honored to deliver this win for business owners across the country.”
The SBA Cyber Awareness Act would expand cybersecurity operations at the SBA by requiring the SBA to notify Congress of future breaches with information on those affected and how the breach occurred and directing the SBA to issue a report within six months of bill passage assessing the agency’s ability to combat cyber threats. Specifically, the report would disclose:
- The SBA’s cybersecurity infrastructure;
- The SBA’s strategy to improve cybersecurity protections;
- Any equipment used by the SBA and manufactured by a company headquartered in China; and,
- Any incident of cyber risk at the SBA and the agency’s actions to confront it.
Senate companion legislation (S. 1691) was introduced by Senate Small Business Committee Chair Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). The SBA Cyber Awareness Act passed the House in November 2021.
