Many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) underestimate their vulnerability to cyberattacks, wrongfully assuming hackers only pursue large corporations. In reality, more than 90% of organizations breached have fewer than 1,000 employees according to Verizon's 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report.
SMBs are disproportionately affected because they often operate with a lower level of security maturity than larger enterprises. That doesn’t just mean smaller teams or tigheter budgets – it can also mean fewer formal processes, less visibility across systems, and slower response when incidents occur. These gaps make it easier for attackers to succeed with tactics like ransomware, phishing attacks, and credential theft.
The good news: defending against these threats doesn’t require enterprise-scale staffing or budgets – just the right strategy and tools. By understanding the most common risks and following a structured set of security practices, SMBs can build a resilient defense that protects their systems and keeps their operations running smoothly. This article will walk through the threats most likely to impact SMBs and provide a practical checklist you can use to strengthen your security posture.
Many cyberattacks against small businesses never make headlines. News coverage tends to focus on large-scale incidents, but everyday attacks on SMBs are far more common – and often just as disruptive. Understanding the most frequent threats is the first step in strengthening your defenses.
Phishing is one of the most common attack vectors today. As systems become harder to crack, attackers increasingly rely on human error. Tricking someone into providing access or clicking a malicious link is far easier than bypassing enterprise-grade authentication or firewalls.
Example: Josh Junon, a maintainer of very popular npm projects, was phished despite having a strong technical background. The point: phishing schemes are often convincing to even the most discerning victims.
Ransomware seizes a victim's files or systems and demands payment for restoration. SMBs often lack the backups and incident response plans needed to recover quickly, making them more likely to pay the ransom.
Example: Ransomware has led to complete closures, such as the Knights of Old ransomware attack that forced it to close its doors after 158 years of operations.
Malware includes any malicious software, such as viruses or spyware, that can steal data, hijack systems, or open backdoors. It often spreads through downloads, email attachments, or infected websites.
Example: A Zip Security client was targeted by a fraudulent advertisement spoofing a popular utility application. When an employee downloaded the software, they instead installed malware designed to steal credentials, browser data, and cryptocurrency keys. Zip’s platform immediately detected the threat, killed the process, and isolated the device before any data could be exfiltrated. Read the case study here.
Social Engineering attacks manipulate people into performing risky actions or revealing confidential information. These attacks typically rely on creating a sense of urgency, exploiting fear, or impersonating trusted individuals.
Example: Hackers impersonated Clorox employees when contacting the company’s IT helpdesk, which was managed by an external provider. By posing as internal staff, they convinced the helpdesk to hand over an access credential — a social engineering ploy that ultimately led to a major breach.
Whether malicious or accidental, employees, contractors, or vendors can pose major risks. Data theft, privilege misuse, or simple carelessness can all result in breaches.
Example: A well-meaning employee makes a confidential document public in a Google Drive folder to make it easier for everyone to access, unintentionally exposing it online.
Basic or reused passwords are one of the most common entry points for attackers. When paired with leaked credentials from previous data breaches, many of which go unnoticed or unaddressed, they can provide hackers with easy, unauthorized access to your business systems.
Example: In the previously mentioned Knights of Old breach, attackers logged into a business account using a password that had already been leaked from another service. Because the same credentials were reused, a single weak password opened the door to a devastating ransomware attack that ultimately shut the company down.
Without MFA, a single stolen or guessed password can provide an attacker with full access. MFA adds an essential layer of security that often prevents unauthorized logins.
Example: Two recent high-visibility attacks were caused by a lack of multi-factor authentication (MFA): the 2024 Snowflake breach and the UnitedHealthcare attack. In both cases, a single compromised password gave attackers full access without any additional verification, leading to major data exposure and financial impact.
Outdated operating systems or software tools often contain known security flaws. Attackers use automated tools to scan for and exploit these vulnerabilities.
Example: British Airways suffered a major breach when attackers exploited an outdated third-party script (Modernizr) on its website. The vulnerability allowed hackers to hijack the site and steal credit card data from 380,000 customers. Small businesses running unpatched WordPress plugins face the same kind of risk, with attackers often redirecting visitors to scam sites.
These examples highlight the range of cybersecurity threats that small businesses commonly face. They demonstrate how attackers leverage various techniques, ranging from technical exploits to human psychology, to gain unauthorized access to sensitive business systems and data.
Each threat vector represents a different potential vulnerability in your organization's security posture. Understanding these vulnerabilities in detail and recognizing how they might specifically impact your business operations is the essential first step toward implementing effective protection measures.
Now that we’ve covered the most common cyber threats, the next step is to put practical security strategies in place to address your business’s specific risks.
The first step in building a modern security program is device management. Every laptop, desktop, and mobile device your team uses is an entry point for attackers — and without consistent visibility and control, the rest of your security stack can’t function reliably. Mobile Device Management (MDM) gives you that foundation.
With MDM in place, you can:
Once devices are under management, you can layer on additional controls with confidence:
By anchoring your security strategy in MDM, you establish the visibility and control that make other safeguards effective — reducing risk and ensuring your business has a solid, scalable foundation.
Control who has access to your system and what actions they can perform once inside.
Build understanding about what cybersecurity is and what employees should do when things go wrong.
Safeguard business continuity and minimize financial impact.
By systematically implementing the security measures outlined in this checklist, small businesses can significantly reduce their vulnerability to common cyber threats. While no security approach can guarantee complete protection, these foundational steps create multiple layers of defense that make your business a much harder target for attackers.
This proactive approach to cybersecurity is far more cost-effective than dealing with the aftermath of a successful breach.
While cybersecurity is critical for protecting your business, it also underpins legal and regulatory compliance. Small businesses that handle sensitive data – whether customer, health, or financial information – may fall under industry-specific or regional standards. Failing to meet these requirements can lead to fines, lawsuits, reputational harm, and even lost business if vendors demand proof of compliance.
Common compliance standards that affect SMBs include:
At their core, these frameworks are about security. Over time, many organizations have treated them as check-the-box exercises, but their true purpose is to drive practices like access control, patching, monitoring, and encryption — all foundational defenses for any business.
For SMBs, the best way to approach compliance is to treat it as a baseline for security maturity. Instead of seeing it as a burden, use it as a roadmap: it strengthens your defenses, helps prove trust to customers and partners, and ensures your business can scale securely.
Implementing effective cybersecurity measures isn't just a technical necessity—it's a critical business decision that protects your company's future. As cyber threats continue to evolve and target businesses of all sizes, taking proactive steps now can prevent costly breaches later.
Remember that cybersecurity is not a one-time project but an ongoing process requiring regular assessment, updates, and improvements. By making security a core part of your business operations, you can significantly reduce risk while positioning your company for sustainable growth in an increasingly digital world.
To begin strengthening your cybersecurity posture:
At Zip Security, we help organizations of all sizes achieve enterprise-grade protection by automating the deployment, configuration, and ongoing management of essential tools like MDM, IdP, and EDR. With Zip, our platform acts as your security expert – automatically remediating issues and surfacing only alerts that require your attention. The result: strong security that anyone can manage, no technical background required.
Zip brings together industry-leading tools from providers like Microsoft and Google into a single platform, giving you full transparency while protecting identities, devices, browsers, and more.
Investing in security today means protecting your business – and its future – from tomorrow’s risks.
