Essential Cybersecurity Tips for small businesses. Simple, affordable and effective (chapter 2)

Essential Cybersecurity Tips for Small Businesses: Simple, Affordable, and Effective

Why Cybersecurity Matters for Small Businesses

Small businesses are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals because they often lack robust defenses. A single breach can lead to data loss, reputational damage, regulatory fines, and significant downtime. The good news is that you don’t need an enterprise budget to implement strong protections—many effective measures are low-cost or even free.

Common Threats to Watch Out For

Phishing attacks – deceptive emails or messages designed to steal login credentials or install malware.
Malware and ransomware – malicious software that can encrypt your files or hijack your systems until you pay a ransom.
Weak passwords – easy-to-guess or reused passwords are an open door for attackers.
Unpatched software – outdated operating systems and applications often contain known vulnerabilities.
Insecure Wi-Fi – an unprotected wireless network can let outsiders snoop on your traffic.

Simple, Affordable Cybersecurity Tips

1. Use Strong, Unique Passwords and a Password Manager

Create passwords at least 12 characters long, mixing letters, numbers, and symbols.
Avoid reuse: each account—email, banking, admin panels—should have its own password.
Adopt a free or low-cost password manager (e.g., Bitwarden, LastPass) to generate and store credentials securely.

2. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

MFA adds a second step to login (e.g., a code sent to your phone), making it exponentially harder for attackers to gain access even if they know a password. Many cloud services, email providers, and admin dashboards support MFA at no extra cost.

3. Keep Software and Firmware Up to Date

Enable automatic updates for your operating system (Windows, macOS) and key applications (office suites, browsers).
Check for firmware updates on network devices—routers, firewalls, and printers—through their admin interfaces.
Schedule a weekly “update review” to install patches you might have missed.

4. Secure Your Network and Devices

Wi-Fi encryption: use WPA3 if available, or at least WPA2 with a strong passphrase.
Guest networks: keep customer or visitor traffic separate from your internal network.
Firewalls: use the built-in firewall on your router or a free software firewall on each computer.
Device lockdown: enable screen locks and auto-lock policies on laptops and mobile devices.

5. Back Up Your Data Regularly

Backups are your last line of defense against ransomware and hardware failures. Implement a 3-2-1 strategy:

Keep at least three copies of your data (working copy + two backups).
Use two different media types (cloud storage + external hard drive).
Store one backup offsite (e.g., cloud backup service or a drive stored in a secure location).

Automate backups with built-in OS tools (Windows File History, macOS Time Machine) or affordable services (Backblaze, Acronis).

6. Train Your Team on Security Basics

Conduct a short monthly briefing on phishing awareness: how to spot suspicious emails, links, and attachments.
Share simple guidelines: “Don’t click unknown links,” “Verify requests for sensitive data,” and “Report unusual system behavior immediately.”
Use free resources and quizzes from reputable sources (e.g., Cyber Aware, Google Phishing Quiz).

7. Leverage Affordable Security Tools

Several low-cost or free tools can bolster your defenses:

Antivirus/anti-malware: Windows Defender (built-in), Avast Free, or Malwarebytes.
Network monitoring: Fing for basic device discovery and network health checks.
Email filtering: configure built-in spam filters in Gmail or Microsoft 365.
Vulnerability scanning: use a free scanner like OpenVAS or services like Qualys Community Edition for annual checks.

Building a Simple Incident Response Plan

Even with the best defenses, incidents can happen. A lightweight response plan ensures you can act quickly:

Identify: define who will detect and report potential security events (e.g., a designated “security champion” on your team).
Contain: have a checklist to isolate affected systems (disconnect from network, disable compromised accounts).
Eradicate: guide on removing malware or unauthorized access (run antivirus scans, reset passwords, apply patches).
Recover: restore data from backups and bring systems back online in a controlled manner.
Review: conduct a brief post-mortem to learn and improve your plan.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity doesn’t have to be complex or expensive. By adopting these simple, low-cost measures—strong passwords, MFA, regular updates, secure networks, routine backups, team training, and affordable tools—you can dramatically reduce your risk. Invest a little time now to protect your business, preserve your customers’ trust, and avoid costly interruptions down the road.

Ready to strengthen your defenses? Start with one tip today, and build your security posture step by step. Your business—and your peace of mind—will thank you.

Digital Businesses (chapter1)

Do You Have, Manage, or Plan to Create a Digital Project or Company?

Hello! My name is Ruymán Borges Rodríguez. I have been a digital mentor for small business owners, served as CTO for two digital projects over several years, and acted as the technology liaison between the offline and online divisions of several companies now generating seven-figure annual revenues (in euros), such as Dormitorum and Modular Vivendi. I am currently co-founder of a tourism startup set to launch soon, and I continue to manage my own digital assets.

Let me show you how I’ve enabled digital—and not-so-digital—projects to leverage technology and the cloud for success.

Let’s get started!

What Does a Digital Project Need?

A few years ago, someone said, “From now on, every company is a technology company, whether they know it or not.” What they meant was that, like it or not, your business uses some form of technology, directly or indirectly—whether you’re engaging customers through social media and digital marketing, managing inventory with software, or something else entirely.

Knowing that technology is a tool you can leverage… have you examined all the areas of technology that could benefit your business model?

If You Answered “Yes”

Are you maximizing each of these areas?
Do you monitor them?
How much time do you dedicate to them?
Do you follow an established schedule?
Which tools do you use?

These and many other questions should have clear answers that you know and control.

If You Answered “No”

Then you’re missing out on all the advantages that have emerged over the past two decades—advantages your competitors (especially the most successful ones) are already exploiting, sometimes directly against you.

Information is power; misinformation is a winding, random road with an unknown destination. Don’t be a weather vane in the wind. Hoist a “technological sail” and seize the helm of your business. Choose your destination. Become a digital captain.

If you’re in the “No” camp, don’t worry—through this series of posts on my blog, I will guide you on the digital discovery journey you need to progress (or survive) in this digital world. As you already know, every business is a technology company, whether its owners realize it or not.

What Is a Microservice?

In software terms, a microservice is, in plain language, a function (or set of functions) that returns a value important to the company, service, or application that invokes it. Generally, it processes a segment of code that’s vital for the complete puzzle to fit together. For example, if you have a web application that sends messages, those messages typically go through an email-sending microservice. The same applies to contact form submissions on your website: how does your application handle them? Where are they sent? Which protocols are used? Where is it configured? What happens if an email doesn’t arrive or lands in the spam folder?

Each microservice can raise dozens of questions—but I won’t delve into that here. I simply want you to know that ALL internet applications use microservices to some extent. Essentially, the internet is a network of interconnected services and microservices. When a service focuses on a single task, it earns the “micro” prefix—usually a sign that the developer followed best practices used by professional or veteran programmers. You may also encounter monolithic services that handle many tasks; if well-designed, they’re effectively a LEGO set composed of multiple microservices.

Why Microservices Matter

Why am I making such a fuss about microservices? Because they matter—a lot. They ensure that programs, tasks, and complex functionalities are handled in separate threads, unaffected by the availability or load of other microservices.

Imagine that when you take photos on your smartphone, they’re uploaded to a cloud folder. The upload itself is handled by a microservice. Now imagine they must be compressed before uploading. You have an initial copy operation, a compression process, and another service that copies the compressed file to its final destination. There’s also cleanup of any temporary data, whether in memory or on disk. You see where I’m going… For you to enjoy a seamless mobile experience, others have built an intricate machinery of services, each composed of small, “intelligent” puzzle pieces.

After this technical deep dive, the key takeaway is that you can achieve almost anything in your business by layering enough interconnected microservices to work for you 24/7, 365 days a year.

A Bakery … or Any Business

Yes, all of this sounds great, but perhaps you run a bakery…

Fair enough—but do you only sell in your bakery? Do you accept orders online? Which system do you use to receive them? Do you post photos on Instagram? Do you maintain a blog about your products, your region, its customs, your potential customers, and their interests? Do you do anything beyond opening the doors, baking bread, and selling it?

Consider a wholesale bakery that doesn’t serve the public directly but sells bread to other businesses. It has a production facility, a logistics network for deliveries, and a digital customer-service and ordering system—all managed through an interconnected application. From managing delivery fleets to ordering raw materials and tracking inventory to ensure timely restocking—based on seasonal demand—you oversee everything from a centralized control and monitoring tool. Plus, it integrates multiple sales and distribution points and franchises across the region. That’s potential. I made it up, but it’s entirely plausible.

Okay, maybe that level of complexity isn’t for you—you just want to sell more bread than you do now (and by “bread,” we could substitute “beer,” “magazines,” “books,” “consulting services,” “personal training,” or whatever your business offers).

Key Areas for Any Business

Direct Advertising
Social Media
SEO (how well your content ranks in search engines)

We’ll discuss these points in an upcoming chapter.

Stay Updated

If you’d like to stay up to date on this and other posts, follow me on social media:

Facebook → HERE
LinkedIn → HERE

Contact Me

If you think I can help with your digital business and need a consultant, don’t hesitate to get in touch. I work with both startup and non-startup clients to digitalize and grow their technology and revenue without losing their minds.

You can also email me at info@ruymanborges.com.

Soon, I will launch a no-spam newsletter that truly adds value, along with a subscription to specialized, easy-to-digest content for non-technical audiences to benefit from over two decades of my online experience and more than three decades of IT expertise.

Technology and resources for the 1930s

The Future (and Present) Is Technological

What Do I Think Is Coming Next?

Good things, when brief, are doubly good, so I’ll summarize it like this:

Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence
Inteli…

Okay, I think you’ve got the point with just one, but just in case. Actually, each item on the list has its own description, but artificial intelligence will ultimately control these areas as well:

Cybersecurity

Within the next 10 to 12 years, no human will be able to manage cybersecurity in real time if we’re serious. At best, we can advise, but not orchestrate a defense quickly enough.

Augmented Reality

I wonder how many years it will be before it’s no longer called “augmented reality,” but something more everyday—like a data interface or data layer. Over the coming years, we’ll start seeing it much more often: HUDs in vehicles (increasingly common), smart glasses (which will cease to be called “glasses” and “smart” sooner than we think), and home offices (with remote work so widespread that we’ll stop calling it “remote” or “offices” once it becomes the norm).

Automations

Almost all online processes have layers of automation. The companies and projects that integrate these mechanisms earliest will be best prepared, with lower costs and greater flexibility in adapting to technological changes. For them (and for you), the future will be “plug & play” in technological terms. (More on this “simplicity” below.)

Your Reality as a Digital Business Owner

Okay, now we arrive at the part that interests you (or should): what will affect you—the average business owner, whether more or less tech-savvy.

You’ve been using artificial intelligence and cybersecurity tools for years, almost without realizing it. I could give many examples, but I’ll focus on two of the most well-known: Google’s machine-learning search algorithm (RankBrain) and reCAPTCHA (a lightweight filter for bot traffic that also protects contact forms, subscriptions, online payments, etc.). To be honest, reCAPTCHA isn’t a highly complex cybersecurity solution, but as an ultra-simple fix to a rampant problem, it works. In both AI and cybersecurity, simplicity often wins.

People want simplicity.
Simplicity wins.
Let’s be simple.

So, with that background on a technology we’ve used for years, here’s what most businesses should already have implemented yesterday:

Tips for a Project This Decade

Prepare to decentralize your structure. Be modular both offline and online. Create a “puzzlerian” architecture to adapt, grow, and organize your project more effectively—a principle long used in code development and applicable to any business.
Optimize operations, reduce costs, and automate or delegate (when possible) each piece of your organizational “puzzle.”
Divide your staff into specialized teams.
Modularize your digital structure into interconnected microservices, each performing a single function.
Create multiple customer acquisition channels to diversify your cash flow and revenue streams.
Prepare for “quiet hiring” and promotion: reward those who take on responsibilities beyond their roles—those aspiring to higher positions—secure top talent, and attract candidates who demonstrate experience rather than relying on resumes. That era is over, though some regions still lag behind this trend. Let go of underachievers—those who do the bare minimum and lack ambition.

Points 1 and 2 directly relate to adopting (or initially implementing) artificial intelligence and cybersecurity in your organization. Points 3 and 4 will secure human resources and stabilize your operations, enabling growth in a rapidly changing world. Large corporations may grow their bank balances, but the number of employees performing the same tasks will shrink until they disappear. Meanwhile, financial systems will continue to evolve and automate.

The Achilles’ Heel in Cybersecurity

Contrary to what many believe, the weakest link in digital security is the human factor. Does “phishing” ring a bell?

Phishing refers to social-engineering techniques used to steal data or access sensitive information through deception. Methods range from spoofed emails to alarming SMS messages that mimic public services or reputable companies.

The best defense is staying informed. Learn what phishing is, which techniques are currently used (and any new ones that emerge), and keep up with recent incidents in your region.

Most organizations deploy brute-force protection (like reCAPTCHA—a simple yet effective solution; two-factor authentication; etc.), along with DDoS protection, peer-to-peer encryption, anti-malware tools, antivirus software, and more. As long as the human factor holds up, technology has your back. But if you still have doubts, apply my earlier advice, train your team to detect phishing, and enforce organizational control of sensitive information—you’ll be safer than most.

And What About Money?

Money is simply a store of value, subject to the whims of markets (Wall Street and other exchanges), central banks (the Fed, ECB, etc.), and ultimately the flow of large investment capital. This refers to fiat currencies. Cryptocurrencies are another story—also influenced by markets but far more volatile.

So when we talk about money, that’s one thing; economics, another; and value… well, that depends.

What truly matters is the value of wealth (by which I mean any asset that holds value). To me, the primary form of value is energy in its various forms and the means to create, transform, and transport it. If something can’t perform those tasks or relate to them, it falls outside financial value.

As for crypto, blockchain, and related topics… I’ll cover them in another post. And AI is a vast subject we’ll unpack in future articles. Keep me in your feed to stay updated. I don’t have a fixed posting schedule, so articles will surprise you when they appear—but I’ll make sure they’re worth your time.

Live long and prosper!