Federal money will flow into Colorado this year to help small businesses build up defenses against cybersecurity attacks that often lead to small companies closing. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced this week that Colorado would be one of six states to receive about $1 million in grant funding, money that flows to a collaboration among the Pikes Peak Small Business Development Center, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs and the National Cybersecurity Center based in Colorado Springs. 

The money will fund training for cyber consultants who will provide free cyber-cleanups and checks to small businesses across the state, said Brandon Eldridge, the executive director of the Pikes Peak SBDC. 

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The center already employs eight cyber consultants to help businesses, but the grant will allow the groups involved to build the cybersecurity workforce by training new consultants and helping businesses across the state, he said. He hopes 75% of the consultations will be proactive to prevent costly cyberattacks. 

The need for the additional services was highlighted Tuesday at a field hearing hosted by Sen. John Hickenlooper at the UCCS Cyber Security Center, where local experts outlined the huge demand for cybersecurity professionals and the growing risk to small businesses.

As a whole, online crime is big business, with the FBI reporting that in 2022, losses related to crimes such as ransomware attacks and fraud reached $10.3 billion. 

At the hearing, Shawn Murray the the newly elected president of the International Board of Directors of the Information Systems Security Association listed off these startling statistics as part of his testimony:

? According to the National Cybersecurity Alliance, 70% of cyberattacks target small to midsize businesses.

? Fifty percent of companies breached become unprofitable after a month of the attack, the Better Business Bureau found.

? Sixty percent of targeted companies will go out of business within six months of the attack, a report by Gartner said. 

Murray also noted that as companies moved more capabilities online during the pandemic, it increased opportunities for cyberattacks. 

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“The disruption to commerce through the threat actors … should be considered a serious threat to our economic viability,” he said. “With the onset of new technological advances such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, there needs to be dedicated resources to educate, train and advise business owners and leaders on achieving appropriate cybersecurity hygiene, to protect the businesses as well as their information.”

The need for cybersecurity professionals is huge, with 22,000 available jobs in the Colorado, said Gretchen Bliss, director of cybersecurity programs for UCCS.

But preparing the workforce is challenging because the threat is constantly evolving, and so Bliss said she would like to see good collaboration between educators, industry and government so that students get hands-on experience.

The new grant will give the workforce a bit of a boost through training that UCCS will provide to new consultants, although Eldridge said he did not have an estimate yet for how many people would be trained.

The grant is expected to fund efforts over two years, and Eldridge said he would like to see the effort be sustained into the future through federal funds. 

When it comes to reaching small businesses with education, Eldridge said part of it will be encouraging them to be proactive.

“There are a lot of clients who are just afraid of the topic altogether. … It doesn’t have to be a scary topic,” he said. 

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