{"id":3044,"date":"2023-07-25T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/innovation\/blog\/ms-industry\/4-simple-steps-to-de-mystifying-cyber-risk-for-small-business-owners\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T08:57:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T15:57:15","slug":"4-simple-steps-to-de-mystifying-cyber-risk-for-small-business-owners","status":"publish","type":"ms-industry","link":"https:\/\/cm-edgetun.pages.dev\/en-us\/microsoft-cloud\/blog\/financial-services\/2023\/07\/25\/4-simple-steps-to-de-mystifying-cyber-risk-for-small-business-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"4 simple steps to de-mystifying cyber risk for small business owners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No entrepreneur goes into business to learn how to fight off cyberattacks. They go into business to create the best bakery in town, to build beautiful new homes, or to sell things they love. Almost no business, however, can operate in the modern world without a digital footprint, which means that every business is exposed to cyber <\/s>criminals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Empowering intelligent insurance<\/h2>

Manage risk, build trust, and enhance customer experience.<\/p>

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The ubiquitous nature of cybercrime <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cyber risk is the risk that businesses face from bad actors\u2014be they rogue operators, criminal enterprises, or even nation-states\u2014who try to break into information systems to steal money, misuse data, take systems hostage for ransom, or otherwise wreak havoc. Unlike the threat of a physical break-in, there is no \u201cmove to a safer neighborhood\u201d option with cybersecurity. The very fact that a company is always online means that attackers have virtually endless access and opportunity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making things worse, automation and AI are being used to increase the volume and sophistication of cyberattacks, with ever-growing impact. Ransomware and fraudulent funds transfer attacks on small businesses have increased yearly. According to Microsoft Threat Intelligence, Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) has led to the evolution of a gig economy that lets small cyber criminals increase their reach and scale. Simply put, technology has allowed bad actors to automate and scale their cyberattacks<\/a>, making cyber criminality a large global business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyber protection essentials for small businesses <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The escalating threat landscape requires proactive measures to safeguard small businesses from cyberattacks. Fortunately, while the risks may be growing, the protections against them are keeping pace with improvements in quality and usability. And that means every business has the option of dramatically improving its security posture.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need the security of a giant enterprise to mitigate the risk of your small business getting hacked. You just need to master a few basics. In the Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2022, researchers found that \u201cOver 80 percent of security incidents can be traced to a few missing elements that could be addressed through modern security approaches.\u201d1<\/sup> I\u2019d recommend that every business owner review this report, and also learn how Microsoft is innovating on security<\/a>, specifically for small businesses.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, here is a summary of four of the most important steps every small business leader can take to sleep a little better at night:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Keep up to date<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To start, you should learn to love those software updates you\u2019re constantly being notified to install from Microsoft and other trusted vendors. One area of increasing cyber threats is through exploited software. Even long-trusted software may have vulnerabilities. Fortunately, software security providers and ethical hackers work directly to identify these vulnerabilities as fast or faster than bad actors so the software provider can craft fixes proactively. Those updates are useless if the technology domain owner doesn\u2019t implement them. Implementing a rapid patching plan is an easy best practice for any small business. Indeed, some cyber insurers have begun to deny coverage for cyberattacks if relevant software is not up to date, while others have put incentives like increasing deductibles in place to encourage timely patching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Keep score on your security posture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Beyond tracking updates, it can be hard to understand precisely how vulnerable your business is. So one essential tool is a measurement service like Microsoft Secure Score<\/a>, which evaluates your business\u2019s security posture based on your security configurations and provides insights and recommendations regarding security controls. Many businesses now make it a best practice to share their Secure Score with their IT security partner and their insurer, yielding good advice that’s tailored to their particular business.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Implement essential controls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need to be a cybersecurity expert to secure your online presence. You just need to focus on leveraging a set of key controls. Most cyberattacks on small businesses still come from the least sophisticated sources like social (for example phishing), malware (such as viruses and ransomware), and device and network hacking (like endpoints). Fortunately, there are some basic, proven ways to protect against these kinds of attacks. While no one security measure will stop every attack, there are a set of relatively simple-to-use controls that every small business should put in place. Five security controls really stand out as high impact:<\/p>\n\n\n\n