My good friend Victor Monga recently wrote a piece entitled “We Don’t Need Cybersecurity Until We’re Told To” – The SMB Cybersecurity Catch-22“.
One line caught me by surprised: “We don’t need cybersecurity unless it’s required by regulation or compliance.”
That’s not a strategy.
That’s a gamble.
And for small business owners, it’s the most dangerous kind of risk.
The kind you don’t realize you’re taking.
But here’s the thing:
Regulations don’t protect your business.
Compliance doesn’t stop ransomware.
And audits don’t bring back the customers who walked away when they saw your name in a data breach headline.
Let’s get real.
Cybersecurity isn’t about checking a box.
It’s about protecting what you’ve built.
It’s about preparing for a day you hope never comes.
But that someone out there is already planning how to exploit your lack of planning.
If you’re waiting for a regulation to tell you it’s time to act,
You’re already behind.
Your adversaries and cyberattacks don’t wait for laws to be passed.
They don’t pause to ask if you’re covered by FTC Safeguards or PCI-DSS.
They exploit the gap between what you think you need
And what it actually takes to stay secure.
Hiding behind “It was not required by law” won’t stop an adversary.
Nor saying “It wasn’t required by compliance”.
Adversaries will not stop or give you a second chance just because you are not ready.
This is the Catch-22 of small business.
You don’t need cybersecurity.
Until the day your systems go dark.
Your files are locked.
Your data is for sale.
And your competitors are watching.
And by then,
It’s not about whether you’re in compliance.
It’s about whether your business survives.
This isn’t a scare tactic.
It’s risk management.
It’s leadership.
It’s what separates the resilient from the exposed.
You insure your building.
You insure your cars.
Why not protect your digital infrastructure, the heart of your company?
Because here’s the truth:
Regulators will show up after the breach.
Your customers? They’ll be gone.
And your reputation? In the mud, tarnished forever.
You don’t get a second chance.
So don’t wait.
Don’t wait to be told.
Don’t wait to be forced.
Own your risk.
Lead with clarity.
And treat cybersecurity not as a regulation to follow.
But as a responsibility to everything you’ve built.
If any of this made you pause,
Let’s talk.
Quietly. Privately.
Before your business becomes someone else’s lesson.
