It’s the kind of figure that can make your jaw drop, the kind that forces lawmakers and public officials to get off their duffs and do something, that drives home the way cyber insecurity is ravaging small businesspeople across the nation.

House and Senate lawmakers have cited it in bills that would redirect federal resources and are awaiting action on their chambers’ floors. Top executive branch officials have cited it in official testimony to Congress.

But it’s completely erroneous, not based on any existing study, according to an exhaustive Nextgov search.

The statistic, typically attributed to the National Cyber Security Alliance, is that 60 percent of small businesses that suffer a cyberattack will go out of business within six months.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2017/05/how-fake-cyber-statistic-raced-through-washington/137542

See related article, “House Panel Passes Bill Requiring Federal Cyber Guidance for Small Businesses,” at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2017/05/house-panel-passes-bill-requiring-federal-cyber-guidance-small-businesses/137499