Smarter Cybersecurity Spending
How small businesses can protect what matters without overspending.
What are the biggest cybersecurity vulnerabilities you see among small and midsize businesses, and why are they often overlooked?
The biggest vulnerability we see is still people. Phishing emails, stolen passwords and simple mistakes continue to be some of the easiest ways for attackers to get into a business. We also see companies running outdated systems, giving employees more access than they need or assuming that because they are a smaller company, they aren’t a target.
--Dave Roberts, CEO and co-founder, radius180
We see human error as one of the biggest cybersecurity vulnerabilities facing businesses of all sizes. One click on a convincing link can put a business at risk, and AI is making those messages harder to recognize.
This is often overlooked because people are busy and assume their technology will protect them. That’s why ongoing employee education is so important. Along with strong security measures, employees need to know what to look for, when to pause and who to ask for help. Creating an environment where people feel comfortable reporting concerns is just as important. Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility.
--Kym Leiby, chief revenue, commercial, risk and compliance officer, Lerepco IT Group
For companies that can’t afford multimillion-dollar cybersecurity budgets, what are the most cost-effective steps they should take to protect themselves?
Believe it or not, some cybercriminals prefer small and midsize business for this very reason. Just know that if you do not have a multimillion-dollar budget you can still take meaningful steps to protect your business. We encourage businesses to start with the basics: enable multifactor authentication, use strong, unique passwords, keep software updated and maintain secure backups that are regularly tested.
Ongoing employee education is also essential, along with limiting access to only what each employee needs. Have a clear plan for who to contact and what to do if something happens. The goal is to spend wisely, understand where your greatest risks are and consistently follow through on the protections you put in place.
--Kym Leiby
You don’t need a multimillion-dollar cybersecurity budget to significantly reduce your risk. Start with the basics and do them consistently. Require multifactor authentication, keep computers and software patched, use modern endpoint and email security, regularly train employees to recognize phishing attempts, and make sure critical data is backed up and can actually be recovered.
--Dave Roberts
How should smaller businesses prioritize their cybersecurity spending—what protections should come first, and where might they be wasting money?
I would prioritize spending around the areas where businesses face the most risk: protecting identities and passwords, securing email, protecting computers and devices, keeping systems patched, backing up critical data and educating employees.
Where companies sometimes waste money is buying individual security products without having an overall strategy or anyone actively managing them. Having five different security tools doesn’t necessarily make you more secure if they’re poorly configured or nobody is paying attention to the alerts. I would rather see a business invest in a smaller number of well-managed security protections than simply keep adding products.
--Dave Roberts
Start by protecting the accounts, systems and data your business depends on: multifactor authentication, timely software updates, ongoing employee education and secure backups you know you can restore.
Businesses can waste money on overlapping tools, features they never use or security products that no one is properly managing. More tools don’t automatically mean better protection. Every investment should address a clear risk and have someone responsible for making sure it works. It’s about spending wisely to protect your people, your customers and your ability to keep operating.
--Kym Leiby
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Published (and copyrighted) in South Jersey Biz, Volume 16, Issue 10 (October 2026).
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