Cybersecurity Practices for Small Businesses to Avoid Attacks

Small businesses represent 99.81% of businesses in Brazil, according to Sebrae, but many still deal with... Cybersecurity for small businesses as an optional luxury.

The mistake is costly: in 2024, the average global cost of a data breach for SMEs rose to US$3.33 million (IBM Cost of a Data Breach report).

While giants invest millions in defenses, the average Brazilian entrepreneur often believes that "there's nothing valuable left to steal."

Does an attack really choose the size of its victim?

The truth is that 43% of cyberattacks target small businesses – precisely because they are the easiest pathway to larger networks (Verizon DBIR 2025).

Protecting yourself doesn't require a multinational budget, it requires intelligence.

Below you will find a practical, creative, and absolutely applicable guide.

Keep reading!

Cybersecurity for Small Businesses: Summary of Topics Covered

1. Why are small businesses such attractive targets?
2. How does training that truly changes behavior work?
3. Do strong passwords still matter in 2025?
4. What does multifactor authentication change in the game?
5. Automatic updates: why ignoring them is signing a certificate of vulnerability?
6. How do smart backups save more than just data?
7. Firewall and antivirus: what's the foolproof combination?
8. Cryptography: When does secrecy become a shield?
9. Access policies: who really needs to see everything?
10. Response plan: what if the worst happens tomorrow?
11. Frequently Asked Questions about Cybersecurity for Small Businesses

Read also: Internet in Remote Areas: How 5G and Satellites Are Changing Rural Connectivity

1. Why are small businesses such attractive targets?

Digital criminals don't hunt whales for sport – they hunt sardines that swim in schools.

A small accounting firm in Florianópolis, for example, can be the gateway to 47 corporate clients who trust it with invoices and contracts.

When an office is invaded, the attack spreads like metastasis.

Furthermore, most SMEs operate on a thin margin.

A ransom of R$ 87,000 (average amount charged in Brazil in 2024, according to Kaspersky) could completely disrupt cash flow.

++ Extended reality (XR: VR, AR, MR) in everyday life: practical applications beyond games

Therefore, the attacker knows: the probability of payment is high.

Finally, the lack of 24/7 monitoring turns any loophole into a party.

Unlike banks that detect suspicious activity in seconds, merchants only realize the problem when Instagram disappears or Pix payments stop going through.

2. How does training that truly changes behavior work?

Forget about 87-page slides on "don't click on links".

At a digital marketing agency in Recife, the team created "Phishing Friday": every Friday, the IT department sends out fake emails rewarding those who report the scams and fining (in coffee) those who fall for it. The result?

Click-through rate on malicious links dropped 92% in three months.

The secret lies in spaced repetition and gamification.

Thus, the brain records the dangerous pattern just as it records the password for your home Wi-Fi.

Another creative example: a dental clinic in Belo Horizonte turned training into a soap opera.

++ XRP and Cross-Border Payments: The Future of Remittances

Each employee received a character, and weekly, a "scene" arrived via WhatsApp showing what would happen if they shared the password with the "new intern."

Three months later, nobody was writing passwords on sticky notes anymore.

3. Do strong passwords still matter in 2025?

Yes, but not in the way your aunt uses "dog's name + 123".

An e-commerce manager in Curitiba discovered this the hard way: he was using “Magento2020!” on 41 websites.

When Magento leaked old data, all traffic dropped simultaneously.

Today the rule is phrase + creative substitution. “EuComproCafeNaPadariaDaEsquinaTodoDia” becomes “3uK0mpr0Kaf3NaP@dari@D#Esq!n@T0d0Di@”.

These are 42 characters that no dictionary can break.

Even better: corporate password managers (Bitwarden Teams, 1Password Business) cost less than a lunch per employee and eliminate the problem at its root.

4. What does multifactor authentication change in the game?

MFA is like putting an extra padlock on a door that already has a lock.

Even if the password is leaked, the attacker needs the second factor. In 2024, 99.9% of compromised Microsoft 365 accounts did not have MFA enabled (Microsoft Digital Defense Report).

Therefore, enable MFA across everything: email, banking, WhatsApp Business, RD Station, cloud computing.

Use an authenticator app (Authy, Microsoft Authenticator) instead of SMS – intercepting SMS is still trivial for those who know what they're doing.

5. Automatic updates: why ignoring them is signing a certificate of vulnerability?

In May 2024, a zero-day vulnerability in WordPress infected 1.2 million Brazilian websites because 68% were running outdated versions (Wordfence data).

Updating seemed like it would "break the site," so they postponed it. The result: customers receiving casino ads instead of the menu.

Therefore, configure automatic updates for critical plugins and hire a monthly preventive maintenance service.

The cost of 15 minutes of planned downtime is negligible compared to weeks of being offline.

6. How do smart backups save more than just data?

Backup isn't just copying files. A construction materials store in Porto Alegre lost everything to a ransomware attack... except for the offline backup on a hard drive stored at the owner's mother-in-law's house.

While competitors were paying ransom, she returned to the airwaves in 11 hours.

Updated 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies, 2 different media, 1 outside the office and disconnected from the network.

Test the restore function every quarter – backups that don't restore are just wasting space.

Backup Type	Ideal Frequency	Where to Store	Average Monthly Cost (10 GB)
Encrypted location	Daily	NAS internal	R$ 79
Automatic cloud	Every 4 hours	Backblaze B2	R$ 29
Physical offline	Weekly	Rotating external hard drive	R$ 0 (unique)

7. Firewall and antivirus: which combination never fails?

Traditional antivirus software is like a traffic warden: it fines those who have already run a red light. Next-generation firewalls (NGFW) are like radar: they stop attacks before they arrive.

Combine CrowdStrike Falcon Go (endpoint) with pfSense or Sophos XG (firewall) and you create two layers that communicate with each other.

Additionally, segment the network: guest Wi-Fi should never be on the same VLAN as the servers.

A coffee shop in São Paulo did just that and prevented "Free WiFi" from becoming a gateway to the point of sale.

8. Cryptography: when does secrecy become a shield?

Imagine your data as letters inside a safe.

Even if they rob the safe, without the combination it's just dead weight.

Full-disk encryption (BitLocker, FileVault) and encryption in transit (TLS 1.3) turn any interception into noise.

A digital cash-in-transit company in Joinville encrypted all PDF contracts with a unique password for each client.

When the director's laptop was stolen at the airport, the thieves sold a useless brick.

9. Access policies: who really needs to see everything?

Principle of least privilege: the marketing intern does not need access to the finance department.

Use Azure AD or Google Workspace with groups. Revisit permissions every 90 days – people leave, but access remains.

A furniture factory in Bento Gonçalves reduced 78% of unauthorized accesses simply by implementing "just-in-time" management via Privileged Access Management.

The employee requests access, approves it in 3 minutes, uses it, and then automatically loses it.

10. Response plan: What if the worst happens tomorrow?

Companies using the tested plan recover 41 days faster (IBM).

Create a 3-page playbook: who calls whom, which passwords to change first, and a ready-to-use text for clients.

Rehearsing once a year costs a morning; not rehearsing costs the business.

Cybersecurity for Small Businesses: Frequently Asked Questions

Question	Short and practical answer
How much does it cost to start truly protecting yourself?	R$ 287/month for an 8-person company (MFA + backup, cloud + basic EDR).
Does cyber insurance replace prevention?	No. Insurance covers the damage; prevention avoids the trauma and the increase in premiums.
Does working remotely at the mother's house increase the risk?	Yes, but a corporate VPN (WireGuard or Tailscale) resolves 94% of the problems.
Is it worth outsourcing everything to an MSSP company?	For those who earn above R$ 80 thousand/month, yes – fixed costs trade headaches for peaceful sleep.
Can I use free tools forever?	Up to 10 collaborators, yes. Above that number, the cost of the free tool is your time – which is more valuable.

Protecting your business isn't a matter of size, it's a matter of priority.

Start today with one of the 10 practices above and, in 30 days, you'll be among the top 20% Brazilian SMEs that sleep soundly.

Useful links:

• IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2025 Report
• Cybersecurity Guide for SMEs – Gov.br
• Free tools tested for 2025 – Kaspersky Small Office