You wouldn’t bring a plastic knife to a gunfight.
But that’s exactly what most small businesses are doing every day when it comes to cybersecurity.
They install antivirus. Check.
They set up a firewall. Check.
And they move on, convinced they’ve done what they needed to do.
They think the job is done.
But it’s not just incomplete.
It’s dangerous.
People believe antivirus and a firewall are enough because they’re familiar. Because the words sound technical. Because, for years, we were told that’s all we needed. But that kind of thinking is antiquated. A lot has changed since those days.
It became shorthand for “I’m protected.”
It feels like protection.
It looks like protection.
But the reality?
It’s a relic.
Cyber threats have evolved into modern, organized, industrialized crime. And we’re still throwing decade old software at it, hoping it will hold.
That’s not risk management.
That’s wishful thinking.
Antivirus and firewalls were built for a time when threats were simple. You could stop malware with a signature file. You could block attacks at the edge of your network.
But today?
There is no perimeter.
There is no boundary.
Your data lives in the cloud, on phones, inside apps you didn’t build, and across partners you don’t control. And your people, your team, they are both your biggest asset, and your biggest risk.
One wrong click.
One reused password.
One compromised inbox.
That’s all it takes.
Antivirus and firewalls are essential.
But they’re not enough. Not anymore.
Used alone, they create a dangerous illusion.
It’s like putting a “Beware of Dog” sign in front of a house with no locks and no dog.
It might fool someone.
But it won’t stop someone who knows what they’re doing.
And here’s the real mistake:
Small businesses think they’re too small to be a target.
They’re not.
They think attacks are loud and obvious.
They’re not.
They think insurance will clean up the mess.
It won’t.
Today, cybersecurity is about visibility.
It’s about speed.
It’s about resilience.
Do you know where your data lives?
Can you detect a breach before your customers do?
Do your people know how to respond?
Antivirus and firewalls won’t answer those questions.
They were never meant to.
Every security failure starts small.
A missed update.
A weak password.
An unmonitored inbox.
Then comes the email you didn’t expect.
The wire transfer that vanishes.
The call from a client:
“Why is your website pointing to a crypto scam?”
By the time you realize your basic defenses didn’t catch it, the damage may already be underway.
Security isn’t a product.
It’s a lifestyle.
The real risk?
It’s not that you’ll be targeted.
It’s that you’ll assume you’re protected.
And when that assumption is wrong?
It’s not just your network at risk.
It’s your business.
If that made you pause, even for a moment, don’t let the moment pass.
Let’s talk about what real security looks like.
