Providing cybersecurity grants protects small businesses and guaranteed cybersecurity.

Beyond the status quo, the federal government could provide cybersecurity grants. As mentioned earlier, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced it will grant $3 million to strengthen the cybersecurity infrastructure of new small businesses (SBA, 2022). A similar program for smaller businesses with promising IP might help small businesses avoid theft that might put them out of business. In 2018, small businesses accounted for 43.5% of U.S. gross domestic product (Kobe & Schwinn, 2018). Meanwhile, according to The Small Business Guide to Cybersecurity (SCORE, 2020), up to 71% of cyberattacks occur at businesses under 100 employees. There is a lot of variability in these estimates from different sources and years—CPO magazine estimates that 50% of all cyberattacks (Powell, 2019). Regardless, most estimates indicate malicious cyber activity aimed at small businesses outstrips the businesses’ contribution to the GDP. Alarming statistics abound when studying the behavior of our adversaries versus small businesses. According to Barracuda Networks (2022), the average employee of a small business with fewer than 100 employees fields 350% more social engineering attempts than an employee of a larger enterprise. Although it is impossible to prove, available data suggests that small businesses underinvest in cybersecurity. Juniper Research (2018) found that small businesses make up only 13% of the overall cybersecurity market. Meanwhile, small businesses make up 99% of all U.S. businesses (SBA, 2020). It seems that adding a grant program specifically for companies with promising IP to the U.S. government’s existing efforts could be a step in the right direction. Although Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations (ISAO) are not government organizations, the formation of an ISAO focused on the protection of intellectual property would be beneficial. These organizations can help spread threat-specific information and best practices to innovators across the country.