How to secure your business without burning your budget? Cybersecurity tips for SMBs
Can Small and Medium-sized businesses become cyber resilient without burning off their budget on cybersecurity?
Let us find out in this edition of the SharkStriker Journal.
Increased frequency of attacks on Small and Medium Businesses
Small and medium-sized businesses are always on the radar of cybercriminals. They are relatively less prepared in terms of cybersecurity and often lack the resources, tools, or expertise they need to fend off, let alone sophisticated threats.
Also, modern cybersecurity has become much more complex (to keep up with an evolving threat landscape) and expensive, requiring a level of expertise to create most solutions.
On top of this, businesses often commit common mistakes that make it challenging to become cyber resilient.
Common mistakes committed by businesses while approaching cybersecurity
Some of the common mistakes committed by businesses while approaching cybersecurity are:
Seeing cybersecurity as an expense or compliance requirement
Most business owners see cybersecurity as an expense that businesses must incur or a checklist item for adhering to compliance regulations. Proactively investing in cybersecurity might not only help them avert future cybersecurity and non-compliance risks but also save them from the massive costs of reacting to cyber threats.
It is not discussed often on-board level discussions
Data breaches have become mainstream news still many SMBs haven't prioritized cybersecurity yet. It isn't part of board-level discussions.
Cybersecurity budgeting doesn't have any actual basis
Businesses must plan a cybersecurity budget based on a detailed cybersecurity program scoping as per a comprehensive risk assessment as opposed to budgeting.
Some effective ways to secure your business without burning money on cybersecurity
Here are some of the effective ways through which you can secure your business without burning budget:
Take a risk assessment
A risk assessment can provide you with a clear picture of all the security weaknesses across the security posture. It tells how likely it is for a cybercriminal to exploit a weakness. Through risk assessments you can get a comprehensive view of cybersecurity and compliance risks that your organization might be exposed to. A risk assessment provides several benefits to your business. It:
Invest in cybersecurity based on critical areas identified
Once you have identified the critical areas to be secured as per priority, invest in solutions to monitor those areas, and detect & respond to suspicious activities. This approach will help you make efficient use of your cybersecurity budget.
Prioritize improving on basics
Ensuring cybersecurity basics like using strong passwords, enabling Multi-factor Authentication, regularly updating software, periodically taking backups, etc. It will be a lot more effective in keeping your infrastructure secure than any technically complex cybersecurity measure.
Human error was a factor exploited in 68% of data breaches (Verizon DBIR 2024). Instead of just providing training and awareness sessions on cybersecurity, create a culture that encourages cybersecurity best practices. It will reduce the possibility of human error considerably.
Take assistance of experts
Do not hesitate to take the help of cybersecurity experts who can help you: