Galia Nurko, GCA´s Director of Strategy and Development, recently participated in the webinar “Strengthen Your SME’s Cybersecurity with Key Tools from the Global Cyber Alliance,” hosted by the ICC Centre of Entrepreneurship.
The timing is opportune. “Latin America and the Caribbean is the fastest growing region in reported cyber incidents, with an average annual growth rate of 25% over the last decade. It is also the least protected region, with an average cybersecurity score of 10.2 out of 20,” according to the World Bank.
The event, followed by 60 participants, focused on simple and free tools that, “if applied to your business, reduce the probability of becoming a victim of a cyber attack,” Nurko explained.
The attendees came mainly from Latin America and Spain. Nurko, moderated by Valeria Araujo, Programme Manager of ICC Centro de Emprendimiento, presented effective solutions such as “Have I Been Pwned,” a tool that searches through multiple data breaches to find out if a specific email account or phone number may be vulnerable, either because their passwords are exposed, because they may have been victims of improper access through social networks, shopping platforms, etc., or because they may have been the victims of a cyber attack.
Nurko listed in her opinion the most effective tools and resources, such as using multi-factor authentication tools, always adding multiple layers of security, managing passwords, backing up data, and following the organization’s recommendations on prevention.
The GCA Cybersecurity Toolkit for Small Business, available in six languages, contains links to a multitude of useful resources. Since its launch in 2019, the organization’s toolkits have been visited by more than two million people worldwide.
Finally, the webinar allowed for a round of questions, in which queries were answered on data encryption, backups, hard disk security assessment, the criminal organization of attackers, the handling of cyber attacks, and quantum computers.
Nurko invited users to ask questions in follow-up to the session, invited participants to regularly consult www.globalcyberalliance.org, and thanked them for their level of participation.
The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to building communities to deploy tools, services, and programs that provide cybersecurity at global scale. It achieves this in three ways: working with communities; engaging infrastructure owners and operators; and driving ecosystem engagement for collective action on cybersecurity.
The ICC Centre of Entrepreneurship is a global programme connecting and empowering chambers of commerce and ICC national committees to create entrepreneurship ecosystems. Set up in 2020, the programme leverages the ICC network to help its partners access knowledge and expertise from across the world. The ICC Centre of Entrepreneurship network today spans 16 countries and four continents, helping SMEs increase their participation in global trade and build global competitiveness.
For more information, please visit: https://iccwbo.org/business-solutions/services-for-small-business-and-entrepreneurship/icc-centre-of-entrepreneurship/
Note: GCA used AI to aid in the translation of this article from its original version in Spanish.
