When the economy zigzags, leaders scrutinize every line item. That’s healthy. But there’s one place where “cut now, fix later” backfires fast: cybersecurity. Whether business is booming or you’re tightening the belt, cybercriminals are still working—automating, phishing, and exploiting gaps 24/7.
In 2024 alone, victims reported $16.6 billion in cybercrime losses to the FBI—an all-time high. That’s a 33% jump from 2023. Attackers didn’t slow down when markets did; they doubled down on what pays.
“We’re too small to be a target” is an expensive myth
Many small and midsize businesses (SMBs) still believe they fly under the radar. The data says otherwise:
- Verizon’s analysis of 30k+ incidents shows no substantial difference between large and small organizations in common web-app attack patterns. Small firms face the same tactics and outcomes—stolen credentials, brute force, and vulnerability exploits. (Verizon)
- Roughly one-third of all breaches now involve ransomware or other extortion techniques—affecting 92% of industries—and the human element plays a role in 68% of breaches. That combination doesn’t discriminate by company size. (Verizon)
- In a 2024 Vanson Bourne study of SMBs, 94% have experienced at least one cyberattack (ever) and 56% faced at least one in the last year; 78% worry a severe attack could put them out of business. (ConnectWise)
Bottom line: being “small” doesn’t reduce your risk; it reduces your margin for error.
Why attackers keep winning (regardless of the business cycle)
Cybercrime obeys return-on-investment, not interest rates. Verizon notes financially motivated actors stick to the techniques that yield the best ROI—and they’re getting faster. In phishing exercises, the median time to click after opening an email is 21 seconds and to submit credentials is under a minute. Meanwhile, BEC (business email compromise) incidents show a median transaction of about $50,000—more than enough to hurt an SMB. (Verizon)
Attackers also surged through vulnerabilities: the “ways-in” analysis shows exploitation of vulnerabilities nearly tripled (up 180%) in 2023’s caseload, heavily fueling ransomware/extortion campaigns. (Verizon)
And they’re adapting to AI. IBM’s 2025 Cost of a Data Breach report found the global average breach cost at $4.4M, and highlighted a widening AI oversight gap: 97% of organizations with AI-related incidents lacked proper AI access controls. That governance gap is catnip for adversaries. (IBM)
The economic lens: cutting security rarely saves money
When budgets tighten, security tools, monitoring, and training can look “optional.” The evidence says otherwise:
- Reported losses are compounding (again: $16.6B in 2024). Even if your firm never sees a seven-figure impact, the median BEC hit (~$50k) or a week of downtime can erase any short-term savings from cutting controls. (Verizon)
- Ransomware and extortion (together ~32% of breaches) bring high business interruption costs that often aren’t fully reflected in official loss figures. (The FBI notes ransomware loss tallies undercount due to unreported indirect costs.) (Verizon)
Security spend is insurance against bad outcomes and a revenue enabler: sales cycles accelerate when you can answer security questionnaires confidently; cyber insurance underwriting improves with strong controls; and customers stay when incidents are prevented or contained quickly.
What “resilient protections” actually look like for SMBs
At PremierePC, we design for practical resilience: controls that stop the top attack paths first, are affordable, and are monitored. Here’s what that stack typically includes—and why:
- Identity & email security first
- Phishing-resistant MFA (on all external apps and remote access), modern conditional access, and continuous credential hygiene.
- Business email compromise is a top driver of losses; harden inboxes and payment workflows, add out-of-band approvals for bank changes, and monitor for post-login abuse (not just logins). Verizon puts BEC’s median loss around $50k—which often starts from a single phish. (Verizon)
- Patch & protect your public-facing apps
- Given the 180% rise in vulnerability exploitation, prioritize automated patching, managed virtual patching (WAF rules/IPS), and asset discovery so nothing “rogue” sits unpatched on the internet. (Verizon)
- Backups + rapid recovery
- Offline/immutable backups, routine restore tests, and documented runbooks. Downtime is where ransomware hurts most, even when ransoms aren’t paid. (FBI data shows overall losses keep rising; the fastest path to resilience is the ability to restore operations quickly.)
- 24×7 monitoring and response
- Tools don’t stop attacks by themselves. You need telemetry (EDR/XDR), alert triage, and human response. Many SMBs have tools but lack coverage nights/weekends—precisely when adversaries move. Verizon’s data shows speed matters. (Verizon)
- Guardrails for AI and third-party risk
- Inventory AI use (“shadow AI” included), restrict model access and data exposure, and review vendor security posture. IBM’s 2025 data ties unguarded AI to higher breach likelihood and cost. (IBM)
- People: training, process, and drills
- Security awareness that’s realistic and frequent, plus tabletop exercises for BEC and ransomware scenarios. Verizon observed the human element in 68% of breaches—training and process discipline change outcomes. (Verizon)
Don’t fall into the “criminals don’t want what we have” trap
Attackers monetize anything: credentials, invoices, payroll files, customer lists, IP, or your access into a larger partner’s network. Verizon’s dataset shows stolen credentials in ~31% of breaches over the last decade, and web apps remain a straightforward path in for both small and large organizations. If you can be billed, paid, impersonated, or extorted, you’re valuable. (Verizon)
How PremierePC helps—without bloat or surprises
We specialize in right-sized, “all-you-need” security for SMBs:
- Predictable pricing that bundles the essentials (identity/email protection, endpoint security, patching, backups, monitoring, and user training) with 24×7 response.
- Compliance-ready documentation (runbooks, incident response plans, and standard operating procedures) that shorten audits and security questionnaires.
- Quarterly risk reviews so you always know where you stand—and what improvement delivers the biggest risk reduction per dollar.
If you’re considering cuts, let’s review them together. We’ll show you what’s safe to pause—and what creates outsized risk. Often, we can reduce cost by eliminating overlapping tools while improving coverage.
A final word for this economy
Security is not a luxury line item—it’s operating hygiene. The FBI’s 2024 numbers and industry breach data show attackers aren’t waiting for a better market; they’re already here, scaling what works. Smart leaders don’t spend more than necessary—but they also don’t under-insure the risk that can halt revenue tomorrow. (Verizon)
Ready to pressure-test your defenses?
PremierePC can run a concise risk assessment focused on the top breach pathways (phishing/BEC, credential abuse, unpatched systems, and backup/recovery). You’ll get a prioritized plan and a clear, bundled quote—no fluff, no surprises.
Sources: Verizon 2024 DBIR; IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2025; FBI IC3 2024 Internet Crime Report; ConnectWise/Vanson Bourne State of SMB Cybersecurity 2024. (Verizon, IBM, ConnectWise)