5 advanced cybersecurity solutions for SMBs

With the rise in frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks targeting SMBs, basic cybersecurity practices may not be sufficient for too long. SMBs can look into these advanced cybersecurity solutions to stay ahead of cybercriminals.

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5 advanced cybersecurity solutions for SMBs

Key takeaways

  • 68% of SMBs in Singapore believe that a serious cyber incident could end their business
  • In addition to basic security hygiene, SMBs can adopt advanced solutions such as firewalls, email and endpoint security solutions
  • Some providers offer managed security services, taking care of monitoring and unified threat management, so business owners can focus on day-to-day growth 

5 advanced cybersecurity solutions for SMBs

22 July 2022 | SMB, Digitalisation, Cybersecurity | 5 min read

Some small business owners today may be digitally savvy and aware of the dangers of cyber attacks. They may even be following basic cybersecurity practices that reduce the likelihood of a breach.

But considering the frequency and sophistication of cyber attacks targeting SMBs today, business owners need to go beyond these basic practices to avoid major disruptions to their growth. According to a Cisco study, 68% of SMBs in Singapore believe that a serious cyber incident could end their business since they lack the financial capacity to recover from an attack.

Business owners therefore need to think long-term and explore ways to stay proactive in countering cyber threats. Here are five advanced solutions that can help SMBs in the long run.

1. Firewall as a first line of defence

Firewalls have been a standard cybersecurity solution for years. A firewall tracks and filters incoming and outgoing traffic, allowing only authorised data to pass through. Firewalls protect a network by blocking unauthorised access and secure devices by separating secure internal networks from untrusted external ones. 

Using existing security rules based on IP addresses and other attributes, firewalls filter data packets and allow only trusted users access to a network. They can also block and act on rogue network traffic before it causes harm to a business network.  

Pro tip: Look for solutions that offer "stateful firewall" capabilities. These solutions examine additional attributes of data packets such as source, IP addresses, ports and applications. The attributes are compared to a database before being allowed to pass through the network. 

2. Endpoint security to secure all entry points into a network

At any given time, a business will have numerous endpoints that cyber criminals can exploit for entry into a network. Devices such as desktops and laptops in the office, mobile phones used by employees both in and out of the office maintain a connection to the internet and could be weak points in a network.

With the growth of wearables, connected devices and Internet of Things (IoT) in recent years, such endpoints are only going to increase in the future. This means it will only become more difficult for businesses to secure all such entry points that attackers could exploit for breaching the network.

To prevent attackers from exploiting such vulnerable points in the network, businesses can adopt specialised endpoint security solutions . These protect the devices from being breached by inspecting files, processes, and other malicious activity. Usually installed on the devices themselves, they also provide centralised management dashboards where administrators can check on devices that are connected to the network. 

In a survey conducted by CyberRisk Alliance's Business Intelligence Unit, 42% of respondents in Singapore cited an IoT device or network as the source of a breach, and 32% blamed an employee-owned endpoint device.  

3. Email security to protect against email-based attacks

Email continues to be a frequent target for cyber criminals, as most businesses still rely on this channel for communications. There are various types of cyberattacks that can be launched through email, including phishing, malware and Distributed Denial of Service.

These attacks generally work by tricking the recipient into taking an action – such as clicking a link which takes them to a page where they are asked to share sensitive data or downloads a malware which takes over the device. Once an employee's email is compromised, attackers can gain access to more sensitive data within a company.

Email security solutions employ a number of techniques to protect businesses against email-based attacks. These range from basic spam filtering to blocking emails from known bad IP addresses and using anti-malware to scan and neutralise malware attachments. Encryption is also an effective technique, where emails are secured and rendered unreadable by email servers, so that malicious actors are unable to intercept and decode the contents. 

Malware attacks are the most common threat faced by SMBs in Singapore, with 79% of respondents in a Cisco study saying they were affected, followed by phishing which affected 70% of SMBs in 2020.

4. Real-time intelligence on an organisation's cyberhealth

Even with all the cybersecurity solutions in place, you still need to be able to monitor the performance of these solutions, so that you can act quickly. Delays in being alerted to cyber threats can result in significant revenue disruption for small businesses. 

Monitoring your entire organisation's cyberhealth can help you be alerted to incidents on time so you can take immediate action. You don’t have to do it alone either – you can seek the help of managed security service providers with a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. Singtel Security-as-a-Service is one such option where you get a single view of the threat landscape across your organisation in one dashboard. It is capable of monitoring the performance of firewall, endpoint and email security applications and responding in the event of a cyberattack.

A study by market researcher Vanson Bourne  showed that organisations in Singapore took an average of 30 hours to contain and remedy security incidents, almost double the time across Asia-Pacific.

And yet, a Cisco study of SMBs also showed that 89% of businesses in Singapore faced serious impact on revenue if there was a downtime of more than an hour. 

5. Unified threat management

Sometimes, individual cybersecurity solutions may not be sufficient. With cyber criminals constantly improving their techniques, there may be threats that are completely new or which you may not have heard about. Managing disparate solutions for different types of attacks can also be cumbersome and put a strain on your budget.

This is where a unified cybersecurity solution can be useful. There are many solutions of this kind in the market, with most of them offering a single platform for management of email, VoiP and other key applications. Singtel Unified Threat Management is a fully managed, automated service that can protect your data, network and assets from threats. It can monitor active connections with a stateful firewall, scans for attacks inside encrypted packets and secure your web and email content 

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