When most companies talk about cybersecurity, remediation is typically the message: “If (or when) something goes wrong, we’ll help you clean it up.” But by the time a breach is discovered and remedied, the damage is usually done—data is lost and systems have been compromised.

This is why prevention should be the priority for small businesses.

According to recent reports, once an attacker gets into a network it takes only 48 minutes for them to move laterally, jumping from one compromised system or account to others. Within an hour, bad actors can begin accessing sensitive data, applications, and devices across your entire business.

And because most small businesses don’t have a security team watching the network 24/7, it takes time to detect suspicious activity—hours or even days. By then, it’s too late. Attackers have already had days if not weeks to steal, corrupt, or destroy your company’s data.

Instead of focusing solely on remediation, the smarter strategy for your small business is to slow attackers down, prevent their movement, and stop threats before they spread.

Three Ways for Your Small Business to Prevent Cybersecurity Issues

1. Stop lateral movement with an Active Directory defense.

One of the first things attackers do after compromising a system is try to access your Active Directory, which is the system managing users and devices across your network.

Once inside, they can map out your entire environment and see all connected devices.

Using AI, Symantec has pioneered a way to fight back: by generating fake Active Directory data that creates so much noise that it’s nearly impossible for bad actors to move laterally. The noise obfuscates the data and keeps hackers from finding the real systems and credentials they need, essentially trapping them in a maze.

This layer of defense is one of the most effective ways to block attackers from spreading across your network.

2. Control applications with a positive security model.

Another common tactic bad actors use is called “living off the land.” Instead of introducing new malicious tools, attackers use trusted applications already in your system, like PowerShell, command line tools, or even Excel to deliver malware or move laterally.

To prevent this from happening, we recommend application control. This allows only pre-approved software to run on your systems. You and your team whitelist everything you permit to run in the network.

Application control is especially helpful for businesses in industries like retail or manufacturing—where computers are used for a limited set of tasks—because nothing outside the whitelist runs, drastically reducing risk. The challenge of application control is that it may be difficult to set up or feel restrictive and inconvenient in office environments.

3. Consider adaptive protection as a practical middleground.

Adaptive protection offers a more flexible approach than application control. With adaptive protection, you install an agent that monitors endpoint behavior, allowing your systems to perform a three-month lookback to analyze which applications are truly being used. From there, you can shut down unnecessary applications across the company or introduce restrictions by department.

For example, your operations team may need PowerShell to run reports. You can then allow it for them, but disable it for other groups who don’t use it. This way, users experience no disruption, and chances are minimized that bad actors can exploit your network.

Adaptive protection is also scalable: You can implement it gradually, locking down more systems month by month. Over time it becomes a strong security model—one that’s much more difficult for attackers to bypass.

Be Proactive, Not Reactive

Done well, cybersecurity requires ongoing, proactive attention. Anytime you’re reviewing your security practices—or especially if you’ve had a recent scare—take the opportunity to ensure your tools are not just installed but also properly configured and tailored to your business needs.

For small businesses without 24/7 monitoring, the goal should be simple: Make it as difficult as possible for attackers to move laterally, and reduce the window of opportunity they have to cause damage.

That’s where Atlantic Data Systems comes in. If you think your network is more vulnerable than it should be—or if you’re interested in cost-effective, easy ways to strengthen your defenses—let’s talk.

We’ll help you confirm if the tools in question are enabled on your endpoints, and we’ll determine if there are additional policy settings within these tools that would strengthen your security. Additionally, we can:

  • Review Adaptive Protection to see if you might want to segment users into groups
  • Review settings and make sure all endpoints are covered by these tools
  • See if additional applications could be blocked without interfering with your team’s productivity.

Just email our team today to get started. We’d love to hear from you!