Let me guess: you know you should invest more in cybersecurity, but there are competing priorities. Staff, rent, marketing, equipment - security feels like it can wait.

I get it. Most small businesses don’t have a dedicated security budget, let alone a security team. But waiting until you’re breached is a lot more expensive than prevention.

Here’s how to get the most security bang for your limited buck.

The Free Stuff First

Before you spend anything, make sure you’re using what you already have:

Microsoft 365 / Google Workspace security features. If you’re paying for Business Premium or Workspace Enterprise, you’re paying for security features whether you use them or not. Enable:

• MFA (free, massive impact)
• Anti-phishing policies
• Conditional access
• Audit logging
• Data loss prevention (basic)

This alone gets you further than many businesses spending thousands on separate tools.

Windows security features. Built into modern Windows:

• Windows Defender (decent antivirus, free)
• BitLocker encryption
• Windows Firewall
• Controlled folder access (ransomware protection)

Free DNS filtering. Cloudflare Gateway is free for up to 50 users. It blocks access to known malicious websites at the network level. 30 minutes to set up, ongoing protection.

ACSC resources. The Australian Cyber Security Centre publishes free guides, self-assessment tools, and threat intelligence. It’s your tax dollars at work - use it.

Where to Spend Your First $5,000

If you have a small budget to invest, here’s where I’d put it:

1. Password manager ($1,500-2,000/year for 20 users)

Why: Weak and reused passwords are still a leading cause of breaches. A business password manager fixes this comprehensively.

Options: 1Password Business ($11/user/month), Bitwarden Teams ($5/user/month)

2. Backup solution with ransomware protection ($1,000-2,000/year)

Why: If ransomware hits, proper backups are the difference between inconvenience and catastrophe.

Options: Acronis Cyber Protect, Veeam + cloud storage

3. Security assessment (~$2,000-5,000 one-time)

Why: You don’t know what you don’t know. A professional assessment identifies your biggest gaps so you fix the right things.

Look for: Essential Eight gap assessment, vulnerability scan, practical recommendations

4. Basic security awareness training ($500-1,500/year)

Why: People are your biggest vulnerability. Targeted training reduces successful phishing.

Options: KnowBe4 (from ~$10/user/year), Proofpoint Security Awareness

The Priority Order

If you can only do one thing at a time, here’s the sequence:

1. MFA everywhere (free if you use existing tools) Nothing else gives you this much protection for zero cost. If attackers get passwords, they still can’t get in.

2. Patch religiously (free, just requires discipline) Many successful attacks exploit vulnerabilities with available patches. Enable automatic updates wherever possible.

3. Backup properly ($50-150/month) When everything else fails, backups are your recovery. Ensure they’re isolated from your main network.

4. Password manager ($50-150/month) Once the critical controls are in place, fix the password problem systematically.

5. Endpoint protection (often included in what you pay for) Make sure Microsoft Defender or equivalent is actually enabled and configured. Upgrade to business-grade if needed.

6. Training (ongoing) Build security awareness into your culture. Doesn’t have to be expensive - even monthly email tips help.

What Can Wait

Some security investments are valuable but not urgent for most SMBs:

SIEM/Security monitoring - Unless you have someone to watch the dashboards, this is money wasted.

Advanced threat protection - The built-in stuff is often good enough for small business.

Penetration testing - Useful, but fix the obvious issues first. No point paying someone to tell you that MFA isn’t enabled.

Security awareness platforms with all the bells and whistles - Basic training is better than none. Fancy gamification can wait.

Zero trust architecture - Sounds great, but it’s a significant investment in both technology and process change. Get the basics right first.

DIY vs. Getting Help

Do yourself:

• Enabling MFA
• Configuring built-in security features
• Basic security policies
• Update management
• User training (basic)

Consider help for:

• Security assessments
• Incident response planning
• Complex configurations
• Compliance requirements
• When you’re stuck

The cost of a consultant for a few hours is often less than the cost of getting it wrong yourself.

The Budget Conversation

When you need to justify security spending to leadership (or yourself), frame it in terms of risk:

What’s the cost of a breach? Average small business cyber incident: ~$46,000 (ACSC data). But that’s an average - some are much worse. Add lost business, damaged reputation, management distraction.

What’s the cost of ransomware downtime? How much revenue do you lose per day of being unable to operate? Multiply by expected recovery time (often 1-2 weeks).

What’s the cost of losing a major client? If a breach causes you to lose a key customer relationship, what’s that worth over time?

Security spending isn’t really spending - it’s insurance and risk reduction. The question is how much risk you’re willing to accept.

The Honest Truth

Perfect security is impossible, especially on a tight budget. You’re not trying to stop nation-state attackers with unlimited resources. You’re trying to not be the easiest target on the block.

Attackers are largely opportunistic. They’re looking for businesses with:

• No MFA (easy credential access)
• Unpatched systems (known vulnerabilities)
• No backup protection (ransomware will work)
• Untrained staff (phishing will succeed)

Fix those four things and you’re ahead of most small businesses. You don’t need expensive tools or dedicated staff - you need to implement the basics consistently.

Every business has limited resources. The question is whether you allocate some of those resources to security before an incident forces you to, or after.

Before is cheaper. I promise.