It's about taking the path of least resistance to an organization's finances, data, and systems, and unfortunately, SMEs offer easier entry points.
Although a few years have passed, the lack of dedicated security teams and budget, plus less sophisticated tech stacks, continue to put SMEs on the firing line.
Let's review the security challenges that are making IT teams nervous this year and discuss the essential remediation strategies you need to know.
Balancing the speed of growth with the quality of security is extremely difficult, but SMEs must find a way to prioritize both.
Reliance on basic security strategies like firewalls and antivirus software is rife among SMEs.
Providers' pricing and packaging options are often not appealing to SMEs and their specific and complex requirements, which makes purchasing and maintaining a security tech stack overwhelming.
SMEs are the stepping stone to larger organizations and third-party vendors that are more valuable to hackers.
Compliance regulations force SMEs to establish policies and processes between themselves and third parties, but most businesses don't realize that these regulations often define minimum acceptable requirements.
Without an advanced understanding of cloud security requirements and the context of the evolving threat landscape, SMEs risk falling victim to attacks like malware, ransomware, and phishing.
42% of SME leaders have difficulty visualizing the full scope of an attack, highlighting that they are unprepared for disruptive crisis events.
40% of SMEs say that a lack of skilled security personnel is a barrier to maintaining a security posture.
Adopting new technology is one piece of the puzzle, but it's not the only prevention and remediation strategy SMEs should implement.
An incident response plan defines the exact procedures and recovery strategies your SME will follow in the event of an attack, ensuring you respond swiftly and minimize financial, legal, and reputational damage.
This task involves assessing your organization's technology, people, and processes, defining your security posture, identifying areas of concern, and implementing automated monitoring and testing tools to keep you safe 24/7. Invest in Up-to-date Security Software.
We've already discussed that SMEs need simple yet effective solutions to make up their cybersecurity tech stack.
Finally, regular cybersecurity awareness training like phishing simulations equips employees with the skills needed for secure and confident online working experiences, helping reduce human error, improve security awareness, and protect your organization.
You can also consult external experts that tailor award-winning security training to the exclusive needs of SMEs with 25 - 150 employees.
CybeReady's security training solution is used by leading banks, hospitals, and tech companies worldwide.
Regular employee cybersecurity awareness training is a reliable and high ROI strategy to help SMEs like yours strengthen security measures, and it's one that doesn't pull your resources and teams away from other critical tasks.
The post Top 6 Security Challenges of SMEs appeared first on CybeReady.
This Cyber News was published on securityboulevard.com. Publication date: Wed, 06 Dec 2023 12:13:04 +0000