Cyber Risk Management for SMBs: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Firewall

The “Oh No” Moment That Changed Everything

It was a Monday. It’s always a Monday.
I was sipping lukewarm coffee, digging through emails, when my phone buzzed with a Slack message from our sales guy:
Cue the full-body cold sweat.

That, dear reader, was my baptism by fire into the very real world of cyber risk management for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Because let’s be honest—when you’re running an SMB, your "cybersecurity strategy" is usually a sticky note on your monitor that says "Don't click weird links."

I learned the hard way. But you don’t have to.

Why Cyber Risk Management Is No Longer Optional (Yes, Even for You)

Here’s the brutal truth: cybercriminals LOVE small businesses. Why? Because we’re easy.

We have just enough data to be valuable, but not enough resources to build a Fort Knox-style IT department. It’s like leaving your bike unlocked outside a donut shop—you’re basically asking to get robbed.

Then I realized attackers don’t discriminate—they automate.

Phishing emails, ransomware, credential stuffing, DDoS attacks… it’s like being in a horror movie, except instead of zombies it’s some teenager in a basement running a Python script named “pwnd-you.py.”

For SMBs, services like Kenoxis AV offer affordable antivirus and cybersecurity protection—an important first step.

Step 1: Know Thyself (and Thy Weaknesses)

Before you can manage cyber risks, you have to find them. And trust me, the first time you look under the hood, it’s not pretty.

• Our passwords were basically nursery rhymes.

• One of our devs was hosting a public database… with no password. (He said it was for “convenience.”)

• Nobody had updated their devices since the Obama administration.

So, I made a list. Then another. Then I cried a little. Then I got to work.

Step 2: Basic Hygiene (The Kind You Wish Your Teen Had)

We started small:

• Enforced multi-factor authentication (MFA). Yes, it's annoying. No, you won’t die from opening your phone to approve a login.

• Required regular software updates. If your laptop is still running Windows 7… just stop.

• Rolled out a password manager. Because “Password123!” is not a strategy. It’s an invitation.

You wouldn’t brush your teeth once a month and call it dental care. So why treat cybersecurity that way?

Step 3: Employee Training AKA Herding Cats

Let me tell you: teaching non-tech staff about phishing is an adventure. You haven’t lived until you’ve had to explain to Bob from accounting why clicking a link in an email titled “URGENT: Invoice from Elon Musk” was a bad idea.

We did monthly phishing tests. We made it a competition.
The winner got a Starbucks gift card. The loser got publicly roasted in our Slack channel (gently… mostly).

Over time, they got better. And guess what? So did our defenses.

If you're looking to train your team effectively, partnering with Employment Express can help with tailored cybersecurity and compliance training modules.

Step 4: Backup Like Your Sanity Depends on It

Our backup strategy used to be “hope nothing goes wrong.” Spoiler alert: it did.

Now we do:

• Local encrypted backups every Friday.

• Regular tests to actually restore data. Because a backup that doesn’t work is just expensive digital clutter.

And yes, we practiced our “disaster recovery drill” like it was a fire drill. I even made everyone do it with the lights off once.

Step 5: Get a Plan

It wasn’t fancy. It was mostly bullet points and bad jokes. But everyone knew what to do if something went sideways—and that’s what matters.

• Who to call?

• What to shut down?

• When to scream and when to keep calm?

That clarity alone saved us hours (and probably thousands of dollars) when our DNS settings got hijacked for a second time. (Yep. Monday again.)

If you don't have in-house expertise, consider outsourcing your IT and cybersecurity management to a trusted partner like Bridge Group Solutions.

My Parting Advice for Fellow SMB Warriors

You just need awareness, consistency, and the humility to admit that you might not know everything.

Start with the basics. Train your team. Make backups. And for the love of all that is good and encrypted—stop using “admin” as a username.

You’re not too small to be a target. But you are smart enough to not be a victim.