The consequences of even the smallest of cyberattacks can be devastating, particularly for growing businesses.

In fact, according to research from the Ponemon Institute, last year the average cost of a malware-related attack was $1,027,053 for SMBs. On top of the expenses related to damage or theft of IT assets, SMBs reportedly spent another $1,207,965 due to disruption to normal business operations.

Thankfully, cybersecurity tools and practices have advanced alongside today's ever-evolving risk landscape. Gone are the days of limited, expensive cybersecurity options, or only large enterprises having access to the best products. Thanks to technologies such as cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence and machine learning, for instance, SMBs have affordable access to a variety of proactive, automated cybersecurity solutions that can help their IT teams quickly identify and mitigate threats before it's too late.

In addition to the variety of technological cybersecurity tools available to SMBs, there are additional, resourceful tactics growing companies can employ to more effectively defend their most critical business assets, including:

Hiring an in-house team: While it's certainly a more expensive option (i.e. not only are you paying for in-house staff's time and service, you're also paying for their equipment and benefits), hiring your own in-house cybersecurity team offers dozens of benefits. First and foremost is having total priority and access to an IT team any time there is a security incident. Also, in-house teams can't help but be very familiar with their organization's unique needs, risks and processes, allowing them to react to potential threats faster and more seamlessly than an external team might.

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