Small businesses face high cybersecurity risks despite low-cost defense options

Small and medium businesses face significant cybersecurity risks, recording nearly four times as many confirmed breaches as large organizations according to the Verizon 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report. Despite this, many small business owners deprioritize security investments due to competing operational demands.

While most cyber attacks are survivable, they can still cause substantial financial strain. Data from Hiscox indicates that 56% of U.S. small businesses experienced at least one cyber attack between mid-2024 and mid-2025, though only 25% reported that such attacks threatened their business viability.

Experts suggest that many effective defenses are low-cost or free. For instance, multi-factor authentication (MFA) is considered a high-return control, yet JumpCloud reports that only 27% of businesses with 25 or fewer employees currently utilize it.