Protecting a Greek SME From Ransomware on a Realistic Budget

Small and medium businesses are targeted by ransomware because attackers expect weaker defences and a strong urge to pay quickly. You do not need an enterprise budget to reduce the risk a lot. You need to do a few things well, in the right order.

Start here: the first few measures

1. Multi-factor authentication on email, remote access and administrator accounts. This removes a very common way in.
2. Backups you can restore. Keep one copy offline or immutable, and test a restore. This is the measure that lets you say no to the attackers.
3. Patching. Update operating systems, firewalls and VPN devices promptly. Exposed, unpatched systems are a favourite entry point.
4. Modern endpoint protection. Traditional antivirus misses a lot. Choose endpoint detection and response.
5. Email filtering. Most attacks begin with a phishing email, so use proper email protection.

Next: reduce what an attacker can reach

• Remove administrator rights from daily-use accounts.
• Close remote desktop access that is open to the internet, and use a VPN with MFA instead.
• Separate your network so that one infected computer cannot reach everything. A next-generation firewall helps.
• Keep an inventory of devices and software so that nothing is forgotten.

Then: get visibility and a plan

• Monitoring. Ransomware often runs at night and at weekends. A managed SOC gives you 24/7 coverage without hiring a team.
• An incident response plan, with a phone list. Our article on the first 24 hours after ransomware is a good template.
• Staff awareness. Short sessions and phishing simulations through security awareness training.

What can wait

Advanced tools you cannot staff, long policy documents nobody reads, and a collection of products that do not work together. It is better to have fewer controls that are managed than many that are not.

Think in services, not products

For a business without a security team, the cheapest option is often a managed service: someone else configures, watches and responds, for a monthly fee. It spreads cost over time and brings experience from many other customers.

Check your obligations

Depending on your sector, NIS2, DORA or GDPR may apply to you or to your customers. A data breach can require notification to the data protection authority within 72 hours. Ask your legal adviser what applies to you.

How Guardbyte can help

We build a plan for your size and budget, deploy the controls, and monitor them. Start with a conversation: book a meeting.