Ransomware: The SMB Nightmare That Won’t Go Away

Ransomware has been the #1 cyber threat to small and mid-sized businesses for the past five years—and 2025 shows no signs of slowing down. Criminal groups are targeting organizations under 250 employees because they know defenses are often weaker, and downtime can be devastating.

The good news? With the right checklist, you can dramatically reduce your risk and improve recovery speed.

What This Means for Your Business

  • Every SMB is a target. Attackers don’t discriminate by size.

  • Downtime costs more than ransom. For most SMBs, even 24 hours offline equals thousands in lost revenue.

  • Cyber insurance is raising the bar. Insurers now require documented controls before issuing policies.

The 7-Step SMB Ransomware Checklist

  1. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Everywhere – especially for email, remote access, and admin accounts.

  2. Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) – replaces traditional antivirus with behavior-based detection.

  3. Immutable Backups – cloud backups that can’t be encrypted or deleted by attackers.

  4. Patch & Update Regularly – monthly updates for OS, applications, and firewalls.

  5. Email Filtering & Security Awareness – stop phishing before it reaches users.

  6. Incident Response Plan – who to call, what to isolate, and how to communicate during an attack.

  7. Tabletop Exercises – quarterly rehearsals so your team knows what to do under stress.

Costs, Timelines, and Risks

Implementing these steps doesn’t require enterprise-level budgets. With managed IT and cybersecurity services, SMBs can often achieve this checklist for less than the cost of one ransomware payout.

The risk of doing nothing? Paying six figures in ransom, losing customer trust, and potentially shutting down operations.

Next Steps

✅ Already have cybersecurity in place? Use this checklist to compare.
❌ Starting from scratch? Our Cybersecurity Services help SMBs implement these exact controls quickly and affordably.

👉 Book a free 15-minute consultation to see where your business stands today.