FCC Launches Cyber Planner Website

On November 17, 2011 the FCC launched a new website aimed at helping small businesses protect themselves against cyber threats:

http://www.fcc.gov/cyberplanner

The site was developed through a “public-private partnership between government experts and private IT and security companies, including DHS, NCSA, NIST, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Chertoff Group, Symantec, Sophos, Visa, Microsoft, HP, McAfee, The Identity Theft Council, ADP and others.” When you go to the site it first asks you a few questions and then generates a customized “Cyber Security Planning Guide” that cover items such as privacy and data security, scams and fraud, network security, etc. It also provides a Cyber Security Glossary and an extensive list of Cyber Security Links.

The documents provided by the site should be a big help for any small business or home user interested in improving their security. The one shortcoming of the documents however is that they don’t include recommendations for specific tools (e.g. backup or encryption software) nor do they provide step-by-step instructions for implementing preferred solutions. Fortunately those are the things we cover here at Security Beacon. So, after you’ve downloaded the guide from the FCC you’ll want to come back here for the details. You can start with our Check List and then move on to other popular articles such as “Step-by-step guide to installing TrueCrypt and encrypting Windows XP system partition“,  “How to safely dispose of your old computer and hard drive“, and others that will get you moving quickly toward a more secure future.