NEW YORK, July 19, 2022 – The Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI) has released a new guide to raise awareness and implementation of multi-factor authentication (MFA) among small and medium-sized businesses (SMB). At the White House National Cyber Workforce & Education Summit, the non-profit organization shared lessons learned from a global survey of small and medium-sized business (SMB) and the unique challenges they face protecting their businesses, employees, partners, and customers from cyber-attacks.
“We are honored to have the opportunity to represent small and medium-sized businesses at today’s Summit,” said Karen S. Evans, CRI Managing Director “Sharing insights on the workforce challenges facing smaller organizations and partnering with our public and private sector partners to increase awareness of the need for everyone to develop basic cyber practices and skills will make us all safer.”
The new MFA guide provides clear and actionable information SMBs can implement today to enhance their cybersecurity. Developed with input from CRI’s Small Business Advisory Council and subject matter experts at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the guide employs an FAQ format to address concerns SMBs have expressed about using MFA. CRI recently conducted a survey of 1,403 SMBs around the world, finding that 55% of the companies surveyed are not aware of MFA and its security benefits.
Today’s discussions focused on the human element of cybersecurity, and how to best equip the American people with the tools and resources needed to thrive in our interconnected society. CRI applauds the White House for convening critical government, private sector, academic, and non-profit organizations to collaborate on how to meet our pressing cyber workforce and education challenges
About the Cyber Readiness Institute
The Cyber Readiness Institute is a non-profit initiative that convenes business leaders from across sectors and geographic regions to share resources and knowledge that inform the development of free cybersecurity tools for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
CRI’s resources focus on human behavior and emphasize employee education and awareness. Our mission is to advance the cyber readiness of SMEs to improve the security of global supply chains. The Institute is housed within the Center for Global Enterprise, a New York-based non-profit applied research organization. CRI was co-founded by the CEOs of the Center for Global Enterprise, Mastercard, Microsoft, and PSP Partners, as a follow-up action to the work of the 2016 President’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. Members also include Apple, ExxonMobil, General Motors, and Principal Financial Group.
