About North Star

The North Star Cybersecurity Program provides an opportunity for advisors and staff members across the country to become the cyber-savvy helping hand that small businesses need. The program, now hosted by the Delaware Small Business Development Center at the University of Delaware, serves any entity that has a current cooperative agreement or grant with SBA including, but not limited to: SBDCs, WBCs, SCORE, VBOCs, Cyber Grantees, and STEP. 

CYBERSECURITY RISKS ON THE RISE
As advisors, our task is to help small businesses expect the unexpected, and with an increasing number of cyberattacks and data breaches in today's environment cybersecurity is yet another topic we must train on. These daily attacks can have significant financial consequences and disrupt business operations. According to Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report, cyber threats are rapidly rising – small businesses (< 1000 employees) are almost 4 times as likely to experience a data breach compared to large organizations. The overall presence of ransomware has increased by 37% since last year, and about 90% of data breaches for small businesses are associated with ransomware (compared to a 39% for large organizations). 59% of small business owners with no cybersecurity measures in place believe their business is too small to be attacked. These statistics paint a dangerous picture for small businesses that ignore cybersecurity risks.

NORTH STAR'S PURPOSE
To empower our fellow advisors and support them in guiding their clients, America's SBDC created the North Star Cybersecurity Program, funded by the SBA Cyber Prize and managed by Delaware SBDC since 2024.