The Albanese Government is encouraging small businesses to stay cyber safe this Festive Season.
With many small businesses experiencing an increase in trade during the Festive Season, it's a good time to consider what you can do to step up your cyber security.
The Minister for Small Business, Julie Collins, today visited The Project Lab in Hobart and heard about the great work they are doing to help small and medium businesses in Tasmania manage their cyber risks and prevent online attacks on their staff and business.
The Albanese Government is helping small businesses to prevent digital threats through the recently launched $23.4 million Cyber Wardens program.
Cyber Wardens provides small businesses with training for their staff to help them identify cyber safety practices that they can implement in their business to better protect their business, employees and clients.
The Government's investment will help train up to 50,000 Cyber Wardens over the next few years across Australian small businesses.
Small businesses can sign‑up to be part of Cyber Wardens at: https://train.cyberwardens.com.au/
It's not the only way the Albanese Government is supporting Australia's 2.5 million small businesses on cyber security.
We have also established the National Anti‑Scam Centre to stop scammers from reaching potential victims and we have taken down thousands of scam and phishing websites to help keep online transactions safe from scammers.
As part of the 2023‑2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy, the Government recently announced two new initiatives to support small and medium businesses to strengthen their cyber security capabilities.
The Albanese Government is committing $7.2 million to establish a voluntary cyber health‑check program, supporting businesses to undertake a free, tailored self‑assessment of their cyber security maturity.
The Government will also invest $11.1 million in the Small Business Cyber Resilience Service which will provide one‑on‑one assistance to help small businesses navigate their cyber challenges, including walking them through the steps to recover from a cyber attack.
These new programs will build on the steps that the Albanese Government has already taken to strengthen Australia's privacy laws, to ensure that small businesses are less attractive targets for cyber criminals.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Small Business, Julie Collins MP:
"It's fantastic to see the work of The Project Lab which is supporting small and medium businesses in Tasmania to manage their cyber risks and prevent online attacks on their staff and business.
Our Government knows how critical this work is, which is why we have introduced significant new support to help small businesses step up their cyber security.
The Festive Season is a busy period of trading so I encourage small businesses to take advantage of the support that is available including the recently launched Cyber Wardens program."
Quotes attributable to COSBOA CEO, Luke Achterstraat:
"The basis of Cyber Wardens is that you don't need to be an IT guru to take practical steps to reduce your cyber risk.
We are proud to be delivering a program that will reduce risk, promote awareness and help protect the small businesses of Australia.
The program is free, takes no more than an hour and might just be the best investment of time you make this summer season."
