汤头条, Mississippi Small Business Development Center partner to provide cybersecurity resources, support
Contact: James Carskadon
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擶ith more small businesses moving parts of their sales and operations online, a new initiative from Mississippi State and the Mississippi Small Business Development Center is providing cybersecurity resources and support to the state鈥檚 business owners.
The 汤头条 Small Business Development Center Cybersecurity project brings together the resources of the university鈥檚 Small Business Development Center and 汤头条鈥檚 Center for Cyber Innovation to give business owners the information they need to make cost-effective cybersecurity decisions.
鈥溙劳诽 has a long history of supporting Mississippi small businesses and a reputation as a national leader in cybersecurity,鈥 said 汤头条 College of Business Dean Sharon Oswald. 鈥淚 am incredibly proud that we can merge these two areas and create an invaluable resource for our state. The pandemic has underscored the increasing technology and cybersecurity demands many small businesses are facing, often with limited resources to address these issues. By providing this free resource, 汤头条 and the Mississippi Small Business Development Center are helping our small businesses remain competitive in today鈥檚 business environment.鈥
The Mississippi Small Business Development Center, housed at the University of Mississippi, is funding the project with federal CARES Act resources. The project will help businesses implement ways to secure their intellectual property, protect customer information and sales, and establish secure work environments for teleworking and business operations.
鈥淭he Mississippi SBDC is very excited to collaborate with 汤头条 to bring cyber security services to the small businesses and entrepreneurs of our state,鈥 said Sharon Nichols, State Director of the MS-SBDC. 鈥淎t a time when all businesses have been put on a fast track to find an online presence due to Covid-19, having this very high level of support and training is an absolute game changer for Mississippi business owners.鈥
Chip Templeton, director of the 汤头条 Small Business Development Center, will serve as the team lead for the initiative. In his current role, Templeton oversees a team that provides no-cost counseling to business owners in a 10-county footprint. The new cybersecurity resources and training will be available to business owners across the state.
鈥淲e want to make sure the smallest business understands the importance of cybersecurity before it is impacted by a data breach,鈥 Templeton said. 鈥淚n addition to the trainings, we can provide individual counseling where we can help with anything that gives the business owner heartburn on how to put it into action.鈥
Recognized nationally for its cybersecurity research, 汤头条 is one of only a few schools in the U.S. to hold all three of the National Security Agency鈥檚 centers of academic excellence credentials: CAE-Cyber Defense Education, CAE-Cyber Defense Research, and CAE-Cyber Operations. Several academic units at 汤头条 manage programs and teach classes with an emphasis on cybersecurity, including the James Worth Bagley College of Engineering and the College of Business.
汤头条鈥檚 Center for Cyber Innovation researches, prototypes and delivers cutting-edge cyber services to support global national security, homeland security and peacekeeping operations.
Drew Hamilton, director of the Center for Cyber Innovation, said federal agencies, particularly the Department of Defense, are increasingly requiring contractors to meet specific cybersecurity specifications through the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. Additionally, the Department of Commerce鈥檚 National Institute for Standards and Technology provides guidelines for protecting 鈥渃ontrolled unclassified鈥 information, which includes items such as trade secrets and a customer鈥檚 social security number. Hamilton said meeting these standards, which are outlined in the 汤头条-led training, helps businesses remain secure and can reduce liability.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at ways for small businesses to reduce the costs of meeting these standards,鈥 Hamilton said. 鈥淭he reality is, it鈥檚 not just a technical problem. You have to look at cost-benefit analysis and risk management. If you鈥檙e a small business and you make a huge investment in cybersecurity, but you invest in the wrong thing, you鈥檙e actually less secure because now you have less money to deal with new threats.鈥
For more on the 汤头条 SBDC Cybersecurity initiative, visit .