Small and medium-sized businesses often assume they’re too insignificant to be targeted by cyberattacks. The reality tells a different story — but with the right measures in place, your business doesn’t have to be an easy target.
Why SMBs are prime targets
Cybercriminals are opportunists. They don’t go after the biggest company — they go after the easiest target. And SMBs often fit that description perfectly:
- No dedicated security team
- IT is handled on the side or outsourced to a generalist
- Security budget is limited or non-existent
- The “it won’t happen to us” mindset is widespread
Yet SMBs hold plenty of valuable data: customer records, financial information, intellectual property, and access credentials to larger partner networks. And since the revised Swiss Data Protection Act (nDSG) took effect, data breaches now carry real regulatory consequences.
Reason 1: Gain visibility — you can’t protect what you can’t see
The first step is knowing what’s actually running on your network. Many SMBs lack a complete picture of:
- Which systems are exposed to the internet
- Which software versions are running on their servers
- Which services are open and potentially vulnerable
An automated vulnerability scan creates this visibility in minutes. Not as a one-off exercise, but on a regular basis — because your infrastructure is constantly changing.
Reason 2: Automation over manpower
You don’t need a 10-person security team. Modern vulnerability management platforms automate what used to be manual and expensive:
- Automated scans for known vulnerabilities (CVEs)
- Prioritization based on actual risk, not just CVSS scores
- Clear reports with actionable remediation steps
- Trend tracking to see whether your security posture is improving
What a security analyst would take days to do manually, a modern scanner handles in hours — on a recurring schedule, without anyone having to remember to run it.
Reason 3: Prioritize patching instead of trying to do everything at once
The most common patching mistake: trying to fix everything at once and ending up fixing nothing. A better approach:
- Critical vulnerabilities on internet-facing systems — immediately
- High-severity vulnerabilities on internal systems — within one week
- Medium and low findings — during the next maintenance window
A good vulnerability scanner delivers exactly this kind of prioritization and tells you which 5 out of 100 findings to address first.
Reason 4: Compliance is no longer a nice-to-have
Since September 1, 2023, the revised Swiss Data Protection Act (nDSG) has been in effect. What many don’t realize:
- Data breaches must be reported to the Swiss data protection authority (EDÖB)
- Companies must demonstrate that they have taken appropriate technical measures
- Fines of up to CHF 250,000 are possible — and they target individuals personally, not the company
Regular vulnerability scanning is one of the simplest ways to demonstrate that you take your duty of care seriously. Documented scan reports show: we actively assess, we prioritize, we remediate.
Reason 5: The cost of an attack vs. the cost of prevention
A ransomware attack costs a Swiss SMB on average:
- CHF 100,000 – 500,000 in direct costs (downtime, recovery, potential ransom payment)
- Weeks of limited operations
- Reputational damage that’s hard to quantify
- Regulatory consequences if customer data is affected
Compare that with the cost of regular vulnerability management: CHF 100-500 per month. That’s less than most companies spend on coffee.
The math is simple: prevention is always cheaper than response. Always.
Conclusion: Five steps you can take today
- Build an inventory: What systems do you have? What’s exposed to the internet?
- Run your first scan: See what an attacker sees
- Tackle the quick wins: Default passwords, unnecessary services, missing patches
- Establish a routine: Automate weekly or monthly scans
- Document everything: Keep scan reports on file for compliance evidence
Cybersecurity isn’t a project with an end date. It’s an ongoing process. But taking the first step is easier than you think.
