Top 5 IT Risks for SMBs
Kalamazoo, MI | August 6, 2025
Here’s a question: Do you know which IT risks your company is facing?
Hackers have a laundry list of ways to exploit weaknesses in your IT system, and they’ll try all of them if they want access to your accounts. Luckily, we at Omega know how to defend against all of them.
Today, I’m sharing 5 IT risks that ruin SMBs and how you can manage them safely.
But First: How Likely is a Cybersecurity Attack?
Everyone knows that cybersecurity is essential to protect people from hackers. But here’s a question: What cybersecurity challenges should you really be watching out for?
Every week, it feels like there’s some new cybersecurity breach in the news—and that’s not an exaggeration. In July alone, millions of users had their sensitive data leaked or stolen due to cybersecurity weaknesses.
You may have heard of a few of them:
McDonald’s Job Applicant Breach. 64 million applicants to McDonalds had their names, emails, phone numbers, and resumes exposed.
Anne Arundel Ransomware Attack. 1.9 million patients had their medical information exposed.
Tea Data Breach. 13,000 users had their photo IDs or verification photos leaked, along with 1.1 million private messages.
But I know what you’re thinking: these are major corporations, they were probably targeted by sophisticated hackers. Right?
Well, not really.
Each one of these breaches was the result of glaring security flaws that could have easily been addressed:
McDonald’s was breached because their chatbot used a default password (like “123456”).
Tea was breached because they made their personal files available to the public.
Anne Arundel was likely breached due to a leaked username and password.
Most cybersecurity failures are just like these three. Hackers aren’t what the media tells you: superintelligent programmers with cutting-edge technology. Instead, the reality is far worse: most hackers are just regular people with a little tech skill and a lot of time.
And these hackers don’t just target the biggest fish in the pond. Hackers know that only about 14% of SMBs have a cyber security plan in place, which is probably why 43% of attacks target small businesses.
1. Phishing and Social Engineering Attacks
Phishing is the big bad of the cybersecurity world. If you don’t already know, phishing is a type of hack where the hacker pretends to be someone else in order to get valuable information from someone. And believe it or not, phishing accounts for 90% of cyberattacks in the world.
So, why is phishing so powerful? Well, because it’s constantly evolving.
Phishing is a powerful type of social engineering, meaning that it relies on human error instead of system errors. As long as your cybersecurity relies on humans, phishing will always be a threat.
The three most popular forms of phishing are:
Email Phishing. This is like the classic “Nigerian Prince” scam. When email phishing, a scammer contacts you (and usually many others) with an email request for your personal information. Usually, they’ll pretend to be a service you use frequently (like Amazon) or a government service (like the IRS).
Spear Phishing. Spear phishing has a very high success rate, and it’s one of the most dangerous phishing attacks. In spear phishing, a fraudster targets individuals and pretends to be someone they know, such as a CEO at their workplace. Then, they’ll trick the victim into sending over sensitive company information.
Smishing. You’ve probably received a few of these already. Smishing is just like email phishing, but in the form of a text message. Smishing is on the rise recently, so look out for suspicious texts that ask you to click a link.
The Fix: Look for the Signs
Most phishing scams have telltale signs that you should look out for:
The message asks you to click a link
The greeting is strangely generic
The sender requests personal information
There’s a sense of urgency or threats in the message
There are spelling and grammar errors
Because just one compromised account can infect an entire business’s network, it’s essential that employees at SMBs are all trained to look out for phishing attempts. If you don’t have an in-house IT department to help you, reach out to a managed service provider like us to run cybersecurity drills like false phishing attempts.
2. Ransomware Attacks
Ransomware hacks are when a hacker steals company info and threatens to delete or leak it unless a ransom is paid.
Ransomware attacks are on the rise globally. In fact, they’ve become so popular that there are Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) platforms that just about anyone can use. That’s right—in the same way you might download a Subscription-as-as-Service (SaaS) app like Netflix or Spotify, hackers can download ransomware apps.
The Fix: Securely Backup Your Data
Ransomware functions by stealing the data a company needs in order to function. So, the easiest way to prevent a ransomware attack is just to keep a secure backup.
By keeping a secure backup of critical information from your main system, you can fall back on it in case your systems are ever compromised.
3. Outdated & Unpatched Software
It might feel like something on your phone or computer is always trying to update. And it can be annoying—but don’t fight it.
Outdated software is a breeding ground for cybersecurity risks. In fact, rapidly advancing cybersecurity risks often causes software to become outdated in the first place.
The highest-risk software to leave outdated are usually:
Operating systems such as Windows or Mac
CMS platforms like WordPress or Squarespace
Business software like SAP or Epic
The Fix: Shut Down Your Computer Weekly
Many employees put their computer in “sleep” mode at the end of the day. And that’s totally fine. The problem only arises when your computer can’t shut down to update.
The best way to prevent your software from going out of date is by making sure to shut your computer down 1-2 times per week. That way, your software can update at a healthy pace.
4. Weak Password Policies
In a secure digital workplace, every single employee should have strong, unique passwords for every single account. Most of the time, though, that doesn’t happen.
And that’s just what hackers want.
Hackers only need access to one account in order to compromise an entire security system. If anyone has a simple password like “123456” or “password”, a hacker could guess it in moments.
The Fix: Use a Password Manager
Let’s face it: memorizing strong, unique passwords for every account just isn’t practical for most people. That’s where password managers come in.
Password managers are a secure way to store your passwords on your computer. They encrypt your passwords and store them in one central place. That way, they’re completely safe and you only have to memorize login information for one thing: the password manager, itself.
Some strong password managers are:
1Password
Bitwarden
Dashlane
Keeper
5. Lack of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Multi-Factor Authentication skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic. When so many people switched to working from home, it became much more difficult to detect when someone was hacked. Today, the same is true.
Without MFA, hackers know they can freely access vital company information with just a simple username and password. And as we discussed before, it’s a lot easier for a hacker to get that information than you might think.
The Fix: Use MFA Everywhere You Can
It may seem annoying at first, but MFA can be the last line of defense between you and a hacker. And luckily, today’s MFA apps are much easier to use than ever before. In fact, some even work with wearable devices, such as the Apple Watch.
Some MFA apps we recommend are:
Google Authenticator
Microsoft Authenticator
Duo Mobile
2FAS
When to Get Help from a Managed Service Provider
To recap, you can hugely improve your SMB’s cybersecurity with just 5 fixes:
- Phishing Awareness
- Data Backups to Fight Ransomware
- Fully Updated Software
- Strong Passwords & A Password Manager
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
If you take each of these steps, you can greatly reduce your IT risks.
But unfortunately, you can never eliminate them.
Cybersecurity is always changing because cybercrime is always adapting. While the tips we offered above will help you stay secure, the best way to protect your business is by working with cybersecurity professionals. That’s just one reason why managed service providers like us at Omega exist—to keep our clients safe.
For more information about our managed security services, click here to contact the Omega team!
About the Author: Stevie A.
As Content & Education Specialist at Omega, Stevie specializes in making technical topics approachable for everyone. With 4 years of experience as an award-winning tutor, and nearly 3 years of experience in tech as a writer and web designer, Stevie brings educational depth and digital expertise to the role. Stevie’s passion is for analyzing big ideas and sharing them with others in simple and engaging ways. Outside of work, you can find Stevie reading, attending local theater, and singing at Shakespeare’s karaoke night.