SMB Cybersecurity: How to Protect Your Business in 2025

The end of the year is upon us. As you close the books on 2024 and plan ahead for the next quarter, the last thing on your mind is likely your cybersecurity plan.

Why should you worry about it when you already have your bases covered? Here’s the thing: you may have the very best anti-virus software and think that it’s enough to cover your bases, but if there’s anything that we can learn from the most recent data breaches, a cyber threat nightmare is only one third-party app away.

For small business owners, cybersecurity might feel like another weight on an already overloaded pile, but it doesn’t have to be.

In this blog, we’re going to dive into some of the most essential cybersecurity solutions for SMBs and how you can find the perfect one for your business.

Understanding the small business threat landscape

“I’m a small business. Why would hackers target me? Don’t they have bigger fish to fry?”

This is a great question, but one that delays the implementation of an effective cybersecurity plan, and a lot of bad actors know this. Small business breaches may not make headlines the way the Equifax breach did, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t happen. It’s much easier for cybercriminals to target a smaller business that may not have the same resources as larger, fortune 500 brands.

PII is PII no matter which company the hacker targets, and it’s just as valuable. But where can they get the most bang for their buck?

Small businesses.

In the not-too-distant past, the only real vulnerabilities that SMBs had to worry about were viruses and phishing scams. As we move further and further into the digital age, especially after the rise of remote work and the gig economy, the landscape is changing and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep up.

There are a lot of potential holes to patch, but where do you start? Let’s dive into a few things that you can implement to protect your customers and your business in 2025.

Endpoint protection: The digital lock

What is endpoint protection? Take a moment and picture your house. If you’re sitting in it while you’re reading this, take a look around. Notice the windows, the backdoor, the front door, the entry points. While your windows and doors are sturdy enough to keep out the elements, they’re not strong enough to keep out burglars. You need really reliable locks for that.

Endpoint protection is the lock on all of the digital entry points to your business. Considering that every device–laptops, cell phones, tablets, POS systems– could be a doorway for cybercriminals. Think of them as open windows. Without reliable locks, your business is vulnerable.

How to lock your doors: As a small business, you don’t want bulky hardware that relies on local servers. You need something that can scale up or down depending on the number of devices needing protection. A cloud-native endpoint security solution is not only cost-effective (no physical servers to maintain), but it also gives your business the benefit of real-time threat detection, response, and investigation across all endpoints.

Ringfencing: Nip it in the bud

What is ringfencing? Imagine all of the apps your business uses to function, the programs that are necessary to run a successful operation in the digital age, as a vegetable garden. In a garden, every vegetable has its own box so they don’t disturb each other while they grow. They also need their own box because if a pest ravages one of your plants, the whole garden won’t be compromised. The threat is contained.

This is what ringfencing does for your techstack. It’s like putting invisible fences around the programs your business uses to limit interactions with other parts of your system unless you want them to interact. If an app tries to do anything unusual or potentially harmful, your fence blocks it. If one of your programs is breached, your fence blocks the rest of your apps from being compromised, nipping a catastrophic breach in the bud.

How to build your box: While there are quite a few ringfencing solutions on the market to choose from, the challenge is finding a solution that is purpose-built to support the needs of a small business. Enterprise solutions are not the most cost effective and also require a lot of your time during implementation.

The Firewall – Cost-Effective with a Punch

What is a firewall? Every business needs a digital security guard. Someone who can check everything trying to enter and leave your network like a bouncer checking IDs at the door. They block anything unauthorized or harmful and only let in what you tell them to.

Instead of a security guard, a firewall is a hardware device that does all of this on the backend, blocking your front door while protecting your garden from pests who are looking for another way in.

Finding your perfect security guard: If there is anything small business owners don’t need, it’s another thing they have to take care of. That’s why, when looking for a firewall solution, a managed firewall is the way to go. Instead of having to manage the firewall yourself, a managed firewall comes with experts who constantly monitor and adjust for you. They make sure that the firewall is always updated to defend against the ever-changing threat landscape, often resolving issues before you even know there was a problem.

Securing your business shouldn’t be overwhelming

There are so many cybersecurity solutions on the market, and navigating this space can feel overwhelming, especially when you realize just how vulnerable your business may be. The good news is that you don’t have to go down the Google rabbit hole to find the right platform for your business.

The search can end right here.

We’re NTS, a managed services provider that handles everything you need to protect your business from cyberthreats. From endpoint protection, ringfencing, managed firewalls, and more, we’re covering your bases so you can get back to what matters most: running your business.

Ready to learn more? Contact us today.

LinkedIn Post

The end of the year is here—a time for reflection, planning, and tying up loose ends. But is your cybersecurity plan part of the conversation as you look ahead to 2025?

Many small business owners think, “We’ve got antivirus software—that’s enough, right?” But if past data breaches have taught us anything, even the best defenses can be compromised by one vulnerable app or unchecked entry point.