Tool kit includes animations, digital content and marketing materials to spread cyber security awareness and safety

More than 130 large-scale targeted breaches occur in the United States each year, and that number is growing by 27 percent each year. (Accenture)

The average cost of a malware attack on a company is $2.4 million. (Accenture)

Ransomware attacks are growing more than 350 percent annually. (Cisco)

For every one of these statistics, there are hundreds more. Cyber security threats loom. Attacks are intensifying. Every second, hackers are targeting people, homes, small businesses and international corporations. The urgency is real, and National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) is responding.

October brings National Cyber Security Awareness Month, and the technology cooperative has added another tool in its cyber security arsenal, with the launch of CyberSense, a free educational toolkit available to organizations nationwide.

Designed specifically for rural electric cooperatives, public power utilities and telecommunications companies, the kit includes three short animated videos, downloadable bill stuffers, social media content and retractable banners.

“Our target audience is end consumers/customers,” says Jeff Nelson, NISC general counsel and vice president of Information Security and Risk Management. “Awareness starts at home. If we can bring a cyber security culture into our homes, we are not only providing a service to our communities, but we’re helping to mitigate threats and strengthen our nation against these cyber crimes.”

NISC’s leadership in cyber security extends into its software solutions, with a full suite of solutions designed to help Members protect their organizations from attacks, including training modules, detection and response solutions, endpoint protection, perimeter defense tools and vulnerability management solutions.

“As a technology cooperative, it is our responsibility to arm our Members with premier protection solutions so they can be positioned for success and serve their Members with a safe and secure backbone,” Nelson says.

The full CyberSense kit is available for download on NISC’s website.

To learn more about how NISC can help you protect organizations from cyberattacks, please reach out to NISC’s Cybersecurity Services Team at cybersecurity@nisc.coop.

About NISC

National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) is an information technology organization that develops, implements and supports software and hardware solutions for our Members. We deliver advanced solutions, services and support to 825 independent telephone companies, electric cooperatives and other public power entities. NISC is an industry leader providing information technology solutions including billing, accounting, operations, automated mailroom services, third-party integration as well as many other solutions. With facilities in Mandan, N.D., Lake Saint Louis, Mo., Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Shawano, Wis., NISC and its subsidiaries employ more than 1,260 professionals between the four locations.

Additional information about NISC can be found at www.NISC.coop.