Across the web, it’s easy to find countless articles on vulnerability management. This is the process of continuous assessment, identification, management, and updating of a business’ cybersecurity practices, and it’s a process that a lot of companies undertake to protect themselves against the evolving cybercrime landscape.
The problem, however, is that a lot of these companies can be classified as ‘large businesses’ – in other words, businesses that have the budget to operate a full-time vulnerability management plan. In fact, according to a recent study, 36% of small businesses aren’t concerned about the threat of cyber attacks, while more than half only have the most basic of cybersecurity measures in place. However, for SMEs, vulnerability management is a must for survival in the future.
SMEs in the ‘Cyber-Scope’
The problem with highly publicized cyber breaches – such as the Yahoo accounts exposure in 2016 or the Facebook data leak in 2021 – is that they give the impression that large-scale cyber breaches are mainly reserved for large companies.
However, according to recent studies, nearly 50% of all cyber breaches impact SMEs with less than 1,000 employees, while over 73% of small business owners stated that they experienced a data breach in 2023. With fewer security measures and finances to formulate a strong defence, SMEs are constantly in the scope of cyber attackers – a situation that is not helped by the ‘out-of-sight, out-of-mind’ consensus that is held by the 36% mentioned earlier.
This is just one of the reasons why vulnerability management is so important for SMEs, but there are plenty of others. Below, we’re going to look into five of the most significant reasons for SME vulnerability management, and why more SMEs should integrate it into their operations.
1. It Can Help Build Trust in Customers: Cyber breaches are not something that can be recovered from easily. The public consensus on cybersecurity, for instance, is that it’s a key business attribute that will ultimately determine whether or not they interact with a business in the first place. With more internet users choosing to delete personal information from Google in an effort to halt the spread of their data, the problem surrounding data brokerage – and data collection in general – is evidently recognized to a far greater extent than it was a decade ago.
For SMEs that collect data and subsequently lose it in a data breach, a reputational backlash is to be expected, with customers switching to more trustworthy brands with a solid cybersecurity system. With this in mind, not only will vulnerability management help to avoid this happening, but it will also help to build trust in customers, making them see how serious a business is about their data and what they are doing to protect it.
2. It Works to Keep Up With New, Threatening Tech: The cybercrime landscape is not getting any weaker. With new technologies like AI assisting hackers in infiltrating secured systems, simply obtaining and sticking to a basic cybersecurity plan is not enough anymore. The attacks are going to get more complex and innovative, and this can only be fought using strong cybersecurity measures that are continuously monitored.
Growth is a crucial component of an organization, after all. With cyber criminals growing their methods, tactics, and technology, vulnerability management works to enhance a security posture and grow the security framework in line with the threats being faced. Working together with other security teams is another good way to achieve this. By spreading the workload and hiring various cybersecurity teams, it becomes easier to recognize where the vulnerabilities are and strengthen vulnerability management through more focused, ‘microscoped’ remediation.
3. It Helps to Keep a Business Proactive: One of the key issues in the world of cybersecurity is that a great deal of businesses look to patch their security features after an attack. This is an unnecessary risk. As we mentioned before, the fallout from any cyber breach can be massive – whether that’s the backlash from customers or the loss in finances due to operational downtime – and many won’t even get the chance to initiate a patching program before they go out of business.
Through vulnerability management, however, SMEs can have an open dialogue with their IT teams and work to identify both new and old vulnerabilities that may be targeted. This is another key point to note. Under a basic cybersecurity program, many businesses will execute a patch on new vulnerabilities rather than existing ones. Through consistent monitoring, SMEs have the chance to burn down backlogs and further reduce vulnerability.
4. It’s More Cost-Effective: Many business owners believe cybersecurity is an unnecessary expense. Indeed, plenty of SMEs won’t contemplate vulnerability management because they think it will negatively impact their budget, but this is wrong for two key reasons. For one thing, as we’ve already been discussing, it can be crucial to protect a business more effectively. Secondly, rather than spending money, vulnerability management can offer several cost-saving advantages.
Because it helps to bring structure and cohesiveness to a cybersecurity plan, it works to reduce the debt that comes with patching vulnerabilities retrospectively. Not to mention, because it gets rid of ‘ad hoc patching’, it avoids the problem of missed patches and the compound costs that can occur as a result. With stakeholders also more likely to support SMEs with a strong, detailed vulnerability management initiative, this is a process that can ultimately save businesses money in the long run.
5. It’s the Best Way to Remain Compliant: Lastly, vulnerability management is the best way to achieve compliance excellence. Many businesses out there will be treating compliance as a checklist, but this can easily lead to failed audits and potential fines. Not every principle can be achieved with a simple tick in a box, of course.
With a robust policy that ensures vulnerabilities are effectively remediated, an organisations can make themselves less susceptible to incidents that threaten their compliance and incur associated penalties. Whether an SME is operating under GDPR, HIPAA, CCPA, or any regulatory framework, it’s essential to quickly identify priority actions that must be taken to maintain compliance, while also protecting the business in the process.