Cybersecurity – best practices for SMEs
Cybersecurity – best practices for SMEs

Cybersecurity, hacker attacks and ransomware attacks are no longer foreign words in the digital world. This is because the increasing digital vulnerability of users and their systems is also increasing the rate of cyberattacks. This makes it all the more important for companies to proactively protect themselves against such attacks and know what to do if an incident does occur.
As SMEs are also increasingly coming under fire from such cyber attacks, we explain how small and medium-sized enterprises can protect themselves in certain situations and increase their cyber security using individual best practices.
Cyberattacks and their diversity
The number of different cyberattacks is large, and so is the risk of being affected. Typically, a cyber attack on companies is an action that aims to access or even destroy production or operationally relevant systems or company data.
There are several gateways to achieve this goal, such as ransomware, phishing emails or social engineering. These exploit interpersonal relationships to gain access to personal data such as passwords. People are often the risk factor through which a cyberattack is successfully launched: a cyberattack can be launched simply by clicking on a link that has been sent, by passing on access data via a single channel or by exploiting stressful situations. These are just a few examples of ways to gain access to the company network, its systems or company data, but it is immediately clear how essential it is to protect against such cyberattacks – even for SMEs.
For this reason, various aspects that have an impact on the security of your IT infrastructure and the company as a whole are outlined below.
Best practices – gateways for cyber attacks and how to prevent them
There are not only numerous types of cyber attacks, but also a number of ways to protect yourself. The challenge for small and medium-sized companies, however, is that they often lack the capacity to implement these protective measures. As a result, the most important cybersecurity tasks quickly fall under the radar in SMEs and are only noticed when it is already too late. For this reason, it is advisable to assign IT specialists with the task of increasing IT security in the company. This gives SMEs the protection they need to be able to focus on the essentials with peace of mind.
SMEs should address the following topics to increase their cybersecurity:
Training for employees
One of the biggest weak points from the “cyber security” risk assessment in every company are the employees: inside as IT users: inside. Cyber criminals often exploit human ignorance and therefore good faith to gain access to a company’s network or steal sensitive data. It is therefore essential that you educate your employees about the risks in the area of cyber security. This includes training on password security and phishing scams. And since attack vectors and approaches are constantly changing and evolving, continuous awareness and training of employees is the most fundamental and important means of ensuring IT security in your company.
Secure passwords and multi-factor authentication as a protective shield
The use of strong passwords and multi-factor authentication is essential for protecting your company’s sensitive data. Encourage your employees – ideally with technical measures – to use complex passwords that are difficult to guess and need to be changed at regular intervals. Multi-factor authentication provides an additional layer of security by requiring a second form of authentication, such as a fingerprint or text message.
Security through regular software updates
Regular, reliable software updates are important to close security gaps in your system. Cybercriminals often exploit outdated software to gain access to a company’s network. It is therefore important that you keep your software up to date with the latest patches. This is where professional, proactive services such as managed services can help you apply updates and patches promptly and enforce their effectiveness.
Protection software and firewalls – the security wall
Protection software such as antivirus solutions as well as ransomware detection/endpoint detection and response applications provide important basic protection on end devices. Modern next-generation firewalls are essential for protecting your company network against cyber threats.
Remote work – but secure!
Remote access to your company’s network can pose a security risk, as it involves accessing a protected environment from the outside and the risk of introducing malware into the company. It is therefore important to use secure remote access solutions if access is absolutely necessary. These solutions, such as a VPN connection, provide a secure connection to your network and protect your data from cyber threats – even if your employees are working from home. This is an opportunity to review and minimize the need for such access. Thanks to modern file exchange solutions, many “traditional” workflows can now be implemented not only more securely, but also more effectively for users.
Consult with experts
In addition to all the technical measures, it is also worth talking to your own insurance company to look at the case of a cyber incident from the perspective of business risk. As IT security for SMEs is a very dynamic and constantly evolving topic that is also closely monitored by insurance companies, it makes sense to seek the expertise of a specialist IT partner in this area too.
The aspects listed above represent only some of the challenges that entrepreneurs should face with regard to cybersecurity. The most important thing is to develop your own risk awareness and not to underestimate the fact that SMEs are exposed to the same cyber risks as corporations and public institutions.
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