A report by GAO shows that the Pentagon’s Office of Small Business Programs has failed to offer cybersecurity options to protect the companies it does business with.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Department of Defense (DOD)’s Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) has failed to offer cybersecurity options to protect the companies it does business with, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report.
“(A)s of July 2015, the office had not identified and disseminated cybersecurity resources in its outreach and education efforts to defend small businesses,” the report, issued on Thursday, said.
OSBP officials acknowledged that cybersecurity is an important and timely issue for small businesses and therefore the office is considering incorporating cybersecurity into its existing outreach and education efforts, the GAO pointed out.
“GAO identified 15 existing federal cybersecurity resources that DOD OSBP could disseminate to defend small businesses,” the report said.
OSBP officials were not aware of existing cybersecurity resources, it noted.
“Small businesses, including those that conduct business with DOD, are vulnerable to cyber threats and may have fewer resources, such as robust cybersecurity systems, than larger businesses to counter cyber threats,” the report warned.
The Government Accountability Office is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer money.
In recent years, US businesses and government agencies have come under attack from a variety of cyber actors, with criminal, economic or political motivations.
Millions of dollars have been lost in the United States as a result of cyber theft, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
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