Security Hardening: Essential Cyber Resilience for SMBs

The past several years have seen some positive developments in global cybersecurity, with many Latin American organizations making significant investments to bolster their defenses against cyberthreats. More sophisticated solutions, more guidelines available, and a more collaborative cybersecurity environment have all contributed toward a digital landscape enhancement. Yet, against the backdrop of these encouraging developments, a disparity in cyber resilience between small and large companies has been widening.

While larger corporations are showing steady progress in improving their cyber defenses, their smaller counterparts are struggling to keep up. Many larger enterprises are equipped with cutting-edge security solutions and dedicated personnel; meanwhile, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) often lack the necessary resources, resulting in a yawning gap in their cyber resilience. According to a recent Kaspersky study, 72% of SMBs in the region have suffered at least one cybersecurity incident in the last two years.

In fact, 16% of these businesses admit there are many areas where they lack the skills and tools necessary to manage their own security, leaving them in a vulnerable position. This limitation forces them to rethink their protection strategies and seek solutions that don’t rely solely on large budgets or specialized teams. Given this context, small businesses must learn to use every opportunity to mitigate potential cybersecurity risks with the resources they already have, and that’s where security hardening can turn the tide and help avert potential threats by basically configuring organizations’ systems and networks in the right way.

So what is security hardening? Security hardening is shorthand for a range of techniques and procedures designed to protect a company's infrastructure by reducing its attack surface. It´s like your car, every now and then you go to the dealership, they connect a diagnostic box to the electronic system and this box checks several indicators such as fuel consumption, engine performance, component lifespan, failures, personal adjustments, among others; a good professional will help you save money and get better performance, and your car will last longer.

In other words, it’s about maximizing the security of existing systems without necessarily resorting to extra protection solutions, using strategies that can help organizations, especially those with limited or no dedicated cybersecurity resources, to minimize their exposure to potential attacks. First, these strategies include taking steps to reduce the risk of unauthorized access to company systems and data, which requires the enforcement of a strict password policy that defines how secure passwords should be created, how often they should be updated, and which storage tools are most appropriate to rule out unsafe practices.

Organizations should also manage access to their corporate networks and define the level of permissions for each user. It is essential to apply the principle of least privilege, which means that employees should only have access to the systems necessary to perform their specific tasks. If a breach occurs, this approach limits attackers’ lateral movement within the network and reduces potential damage. Another useful tip is to regularly audit all corporate accounts and their permissions, revoking unnecessary ones in case of employees’ dismissals or moves to a different department.

Another crucial strategy is to keep the main operating systems, applications, and other software essential to the company’s infrastructure up to date. This eliminates known vulnerabilities that attackers may exploit to compromise the entire network. Because software development is continually advancing, systems can quickly become obsolete or even develop vulnerabilities that increase their exposure to cyberattacks. Updates and patches not only fix bugs and improve performance, but also close critical security gaps. Cybercriminals actively monitor unpatched vulnerabilities, knowing that many organizations delay or skip updates, an oversight that can give them an open door to unauthorized access. Some vulnerabilities remain exploitable for years, making unpatched systems predictable targets that can lead to ransomware infections, data breaches, and other major security incidents.

Regular data backups are another fundamental practice for ensuring data integrity in case of a potential cyberattack, including ransomware or wipers. Backups prevent information loss and help maintain business continuity, minimize downtime, and reduce operational and financial impact. Scheduling automated data copies makes the process more efficient, although manual backups remain useful for additional control. It is important to regularly verify the integrity of these copies and perform restoration tests in a controlled environment to ensure recovery is possible and efficient. Creating multiple backups of critical data and diversifying storage locations, including physical or external devices, provides additional protection and supports compliance and risk management objectives. Finally, encrypting stored data reduces the risks of critical data loss, protects sensitive information, and decreases potential disruption to business processes.

Last but not least, organizations have to adopt a systematic approach to cyber education by regularly assessing employees’ level of cyber literacy and providing ongoing training to address knowledge gaps. Such training should include the basics of information security, best practices for data management, as well as typical attack scenarios, particularly social engineering techniques. Incorporating simulated phishing exercises is also an effective way to assess and reinforce learning over time. Since 41% of cyber incidents in Latin American companies are caused by human error, ongoing awareness efforts are essential to reduce the risks of attacks that exploit the human factor.

Altogether, these security hardening techniques represent an effective strategy for reducing an organization's attack surface. By implementing them, ideally together with the deployment of intrusion detection and prevention systems, as well as installation of endpoint protection solutions, corporations can significantly minimize potential vulnerabilities, prevent unauthorized access, and proactively strengthen their defenses against cyber threats.