Small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) generally believe that they are too small or insignificant to be targeted by sophisticated cybercriminals. However, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore recently revealed that almost 40% of cyberattacks in Singapore specifically targeted the weaker defences of unprepared SMBs.

Today’s employees are becoming accustomed to splitting their work between the home and office. This mix has caused significant challenges for small businesses that do not have the resources or expertise to set up comprehensive cybersecurity policies.

Generally, SMBs have relied on outdated and inefficient technologies to identify and react to potential breaches. A survey conducted by Chubb Asia Pacific found that in 12% of cybersecurity incidents, SMBs were not even aware of breaches that had taken place within their company. These incidents only become more difficult to deal with when workforces are spread across the country and working from personal devices and unsecured WiFi networks.

For businesses to remain safe and efficient in a work environment that increasingly relies on digital tools for communication and collaboration, it is important to find a simple and cost-efficient way to apply a layer of security over their organisations.

Security-as-a-Service allows SMBs to close the cybersecurity skills gap by subscribing to a suite of integrated, managed services that can help them stay ahead of cybercriminals. These fully integrated services exist on top of their existing stack of technologies and are almost universally compatible with the tools and software that are already in use during remote work.

The three crucial components of the service come together to help SMBs build resilience and facilitate safe business practices regardless of work location.

Most companies that are concerned with cybersecurity risks usually install some form of antivirus software on their employees’ devices to protect them from worms and Trojan horses. However, as employees work from home, the attack surface is significantly expanded as malicious “bots” can travel from device to device through the internet and silently attack a computer with the weakest security settings. Singtel’s Unified Threat Management constantly inspects all applications within a company’s network and enforces security protocols so that weak links in the security chain are identified and fixed quickly.

Employees working remotely might not have consistent access to technical support teams and are therefore more likely to unknowingly compromise system security by changing computer settings or visiting infected websites. Endpoint protection allows all devices to be secured even in a work-from-home environment. Any potential threat can be detected and remediated immediately, making it difficult for malicious software to spread to other parts of the organisation’s infrastructure. 

Cybersecurity efforts are only as effective as their weakest link and the widespread use of email communication means that company data is usually at the mercy of email service providers. To close this gap, email security adds a layer of identity-based encryption to ensure that the senders and intended recipients of emails are the only members with access to that information. In addition to this, the solution prevents employees from receiving constant ransomware and phishing emails that they have to evaluate themselves.

With remote work continuing to shape Singapore’s business environment, closing security gaps has never been more important. With Singtel’s comprehensive Security-as-a-Service, it has never been easier.