Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Teams up with Microsoft and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Offer Computing Security Program

In October, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce partnered with Microsoft and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for a breakfast that provided local businesses with information on computing security and shared best practices on how to best protect themselves and their businesses. 

The FBI estimates that computing security issues already cost U.S. businesses $67.2 billion each year, and as networked information systems and the Internet become more pervasive in business and personal activity, it is imperative that we protect ourselves and our information assets. System outages cost businesses millions of dollars in lost data, manufacturing downtime, and PR damage. Furthermore, risks to information systems from hackers, disgruntled insiders, cyber terrorists, viruses and worms have never been greater.

Participants at the breakfast heard from experts on the issue of computing security including remarks by Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett and a panel featuring George White, CIO of the Office of the Attorney General and John Mendenhall, Regional Director of the FTC.  The reoccurring theme of this discussion was that computing security threats impact businesses of every size.  The dangers of phishing and hackers, the importance of clear Internet policies for employees, and the value of up-to-date software and effective firewalls were focused on as areas of importance to small business.  Those at the breakfast came away with a developed sense of how to address these issues, and what to do if their computing systems are compromised.

While we certainly hope that you were able to attend the forum, if you were unable to attend, or if you would like to learn more about computing security, please visit www.uschamber.com/sb/security