A recent NinjaOne report, “7 SMB Cybersecurity Statistics You Need to Know in 2025,” offers a sobering look at how exposed small and mid‑sized businesses (SMBs) are in today’s threat landscape. Their findings emphasize that cyberattacks are no longer just a concern for large enterprises — SMBs are in the crosshairs, often with far fewer defenses in place.
Key Findings from the NinjaOne Report
- 94% of SMBs experienced at least one cyberattack in the past year.
- 78% believe a major cyber incident could put them out of business.
- Phishing and credential theft are responsible for about 73% of breaches.
- Over 29,000 new CVEs (vulnerabilities) were published in 2024, with thousands rated “critical.”
- Ransom payments averaged $2.73 million in 2024.
- Cloud misconfigurations and supply chain attacks are among the fastest‑growing threat vectors.
The Hidden Costs of Inaction
It’s easy to see cybersecurity as a cost center — something to defer or downplay when budgets are tight. But deferring protection often leads to even larger hidden costs:
- Downtime & disruption — even a few hours offline can ripple into lost revenue and customer dissatisfaction.
- Reputational harm — post‑breach trust erosion can be long‑lasting.
- Technical debt & patch lag — unaddressed vulnerabilities pile up rapidly.
- Regulatory or contractual risk — breaches may trigger fines or lost contracts.
- Opportunity cost — energy spent firefighting could be used for innovation.
Why SMBs Need a Technical Partner, Not Just Tools
Many SMBs try to bridge this gap by buying cybersecurity tools or “security add‑ons.” But deploying tools without strategy, oversight, and best practices is like buying a fire hose and leaving it unconnected to a water supply. A capable technical partner can provide value that goes beyond tools:
- Holistic architecture & design — build security into your roadmap, not bolt it on later.
- Continuous monitoring & threat detection — maintain vigilance through alerts and response.
- Vulnerability and patch management — prioritize and remediate new threats efficiently.
- User awareness & training — reinforce safe habits and mitigate phishing risk.
- Scalable operations — let your team focus on growth, not firefighting.
- Incident response readiness — recover quickly and minimize impact if a breach occurs.
What SMB Leaders Should Do Today
- Conduct a cybersecurity risk audit to understand exposure.
- Establish clear responsibility for cybersecurity and governance.
- Adopt least privilege and implement MFA.
- Implement continuous patching & vulnerability scanning.
- Layer defenses & detect early via monitoring and alerting.
- Train your people on phishing and data security.
- Engage a technical partner who understands your business and can scale with you.
Final Thought
The NinjaOne report underscores a truth many SMBs hope isn’t real: you’re already a target. Threats will continue growing, CVEs will accumulate, and attackers will exploit gaps wherever they find them. As your business scales, your technology and security posture must scale alongside it. Doing so without a technical partner is like climbing a mountain without ropes — you may succeed, but the risk and cost of recovery are far higher than most leaders realize. If your team is ready to protect what you’ve built and scale with confidence, Pantheon Global IT can help.
