Best Cybersecurity Software for SMBs

TL;DR

Introduction

Digital threats are constantly evolving, and today’s small and midsize businesses (SMBs) face cyber risks that can disrupt operations, damage reputations, and drain financial resources. Whether safeguarding sensitive customer data or ensuring uninterrupted workflows, many SMBs now realize that choosing the right cybersecurity software is no longer optional. But with an expanding array of solutions on the market, pinpointing the offering that balances robust protection with operational practicality can be challenging. This listicle examines leading cybersecurity platforms designed for SMBs, clarifying which tools excel in key areas crucial to effective cyber defense.

Cybersecurity software for SMBs encompasses digital solutions specifically designed to identify, prevent, and respond to a range of cyber threats targeting small and midsize organizations. These tools employ a combination of advanced threat detection, real-time monitoring, endpoint protection, and automated response capabilities. Unlike enterprise-focused platforms, SMB solutions often prioritize ease of use, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, ensuring protection without overwhelming limited IT resources. Typical features include malware detection, firewall management, vulnerability assessments, backup and recovery, and compliance assistance.

Why is this important?

Implementing effective cybersecurity software is critical for SMBs aiming to safeguard digital assets, maintain compliance, and ensure business continuity.

Comprehensive Threat Detection: Provides continuous monitoring for malware, ransomware, phishing, and other evolving threats, reducing the risk of breaches.

Robust Endpoint Protection: Shields employee devices, servers, and mobile assets from unauthorized access or exploitation, minimizing points of vulnerability.

Data Backup and Recovery: Ensures that essential business data can be restored after cyber incidents, hardware failures, or accidental deletion, supporting operational resilience.

Compliance and Regulatory Support: Assists with meeting industry standards and legal requirements, helping SMBs avoid costly penalties and reputational harm.

How are we going to objectively analyse the providers?

Threat Detection

Threat detection evaluates how effectively a cybersecurity solution identifies and alerts users to potential security incidents, such as malware, phishing, or unauthorized access. Superior performance relies on speedy, accurate recognition of known and emerging threats, reducing false positives and negatives. Readers should assess detection methods, update frequency, and the ability to adapt to new threats, as strong threat detection is foundational for timely response and minimizing security breaches.

Endpoint Protection

Endpoint protection concerns safeguarding individual devices—such as computers, smartphones, and servers—against cyber threats. Effective solutions provide layered defenses, including antivirus, firewalls, and vulnerability management. Key factors include ease of deployment, scalability across diverse devices, and automatic updates. Assessing endpoint protection is crucial, as endpoints are frequent entry points for attacks, and robust protection helps prevent malware spread or data loss across company networks.

Data Backup

Data backup refers to the solution’s capacity to securely copy and restore business data. Reliable backup mechanisms are critical for minimizing downtime and data loss due to ransomware, accidental deletion, or hardware failure. Strong performance is marked by automated backups, flexible recovery options, and encrypted storage. Readers should consider backup frequency, storage locations, and recovery speed, as these impact business continuity during disruptive events.

Compliance Support

Compliance support measures how well the software assists SMBs in meeting regulatory requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS. Strong compliance capabilities include reporting tools, audit trails, and policy management features that simplify adherence to legal standards. Readers should look for solutions that provide clear compliance guidance, regular updates on changing regulations, and documentation, enabling organizations to avoid penalties and reduce risk.

Norton Small Business

Norton Small Business is a cybersecurity solution by Gen Digital tailored specifically for small businesses, delivering all-in-one protection that includes antivirus, firewall, backup, and monitoring tools. Its main differentiators are ease of use, 24/7 support, and coverage for up to 10 users with minimal IT expertise required.

Threat Detection

Threat detection capabilities rely on established Norton antivirus and firewall technologies, providing real-time protection against malware, ransomware, and network threats across multiple device types. However, it lacks advanced detection techniques such as EDR or AI-powered adaptive threat hunting common in enterprise solutions.

Endpoint Protection

Endpoint protection is comprehensive for small businesses, supporting Windows, macOS, and mobile devices with features like secure browsing, webcam protection, and vulnerability management. Scalability is limited, as the product is optimized for up to 10 devices and does not cater to more complex environments.

Data Backup

Data backup is built in, offering 250GB of cloud storage (or 500GB with Premium), supporting disaster recovery and data loss prevention. While sufficient for many small businesses, heavy data users may find the storage cap limiting and may need more granular restore or scheduling options.

Compliance Support

Compliance support is indirect, with features such as VPN, password management, and transaction monitoring enhancing basic data security practices. The product does not include specialized regulatory compliance management or reporting tools for standards like HIPAA or GDPR, potentially requiring additional solutions for full compliance.

Pros

• Extremely user-friendly, requiring no dedicated IT staff to deploy or manage, enabling fast and simple onboarding for SMBs.

• Comprehensive all-in-one protection package combines antivirus, firewall, VPN, and backup, reducing tool sprawl for small teams.

• 24/7 customer and technical support included, which is valuable for businesses without in-house cybersecurity expertise.

Cons

• Limited scalability, as it's designed for up to 10 devices and lacks features for medium-sized or complex organizations.

• Lacks advanced threat detection capabilities (e.g., EDR, AI-driven analytics) that some competitors offer for sophisticated threats.

• Does not provide built-in compliance reporting or industry-specific regulatory support, necessitating supplemental tools for certain requirements.

Best for: Norton Small Business is best suited for small businesses or startups (up to 10 users) seeking a hassle-free, unified cybersecurity package that covers basic endpoint, network, data, and online protection without requiring IT specialists. It's ideal for organizations aiming to balance security, simplicity, and affordability.

Score: 4.5/5

Bitdefender GravityZone

Bitdefender GravityZone is a multi-layered cybersecurity platform aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, offering unified threat prevention, detection, and compliance support. Its emphasis on advanced analytics and cloud management differentiates it as a comprehensive solution in the SMB security market.

Threat Detection

GravityZone features AI-driven threat detection with machine learning, heuristics, and sandboxing, consistently earning high marks in independent third-party lab tests and evolving with regular updates to stop both known and emerging threats.

Endpoint Protection

Endpoint protection is robust, leveraging risk management, behavioral analysis, application controls, network security, and integration across desktops, servers, and virtual machines for broad SMB deployment scalability.

Data Backup

Native data backup and disaster recovery are not core features in GravityZone, requiring SMBs to rely on third-party solutions or integrations for complete backup protection, which can be a drawback for those seeking an all-in-one platform.

Compliance Support

GravityZone includes built-in compliance and risk modules that map controls to regulations like GDPR and ISO 27001, providing real-time status, actionable workflows, and audit-ready reports to streamline SMB regulatory efforts.

Pros

• Exceptional threat detection with AI, machine learning, and advanced sandboxing helps protect against zero-day and targeted attacks.

• Centralized, cloud-based management simplifies administration for SMBs with limited IT resources and dispersed workforces.

• Built-in compliance reporting and control mapping help SMBs efficiently meet regulatory requirements and reduce audit prep time.

Cons

• No integrated native data backup or disaster recovery means users must deploy third-party backup tools alongside GravityZone.

• Mobile device management (MDM) is limited; full-featured MDM primarily available only with on-premises options.

• Some advanced capabilities (e.g., CSPM+) require extra licensing, potentially increasing the total cost for SMBs with broader needs.

Best for: Ideal for SMBs prioritizing robust threat prevention, endpoint control, and regulatory compliance who want centralized management, but do not require built-in backup. Best fit for organizations seeking defense-in-depth protection for hybrid or remote environments without complex IT teams.

Score: 4/5

CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity company specializing in AI-driven, cloud-native threat detection and endpoint protection, with a rising focus on the SMB market. Its Falcon platform is noted for robust security features and simplified, managed offerings tailored to organizations with limited IT resources.

Threat Detection

CrowdStrike’s AI-powered Falcon solution excels at detecting emerging threats in real time, offering proactive protection and integrated mobile threat detection for SMBs. The inclusion of managed detection and response partnerships further strengthens its threat identification for businesses lacking internal security expertise.

Endpoint Protection

Falcon Go and Enterprise provide out-of-the-box endpoint protection for desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, with lightweight agents and user-friendly management for SMBs. Integration with MSPs and mobile device support enhances endpoint coverage, though the platform is less customizable for complex SMB needs.

Data Backup

Data backup is not a core CrowdStrike offering, with no explicit tools or features dedicated to backup or recovery. Small businesses must rely on third-party solutions for backup and disaster recovery needs, as CrowdStrike focuses on prevention and threat mitigation rather than data preservation.

Compliance Support

CrowdStrike aids SMBs in achieving security-related compliance by providing strong endpoint monitoring and threat response, supporting regulatory mandates. However, it lacks dedicated compliance management modules, such as automated reporting or framework-specific guidance, requiring supplementary tools for comprehensive compliance workflows.

Pros

• Industry-leading AI-powered threat detection offers real-time, proactive security against modern attacks.

• Simplified, cloud-native platform enables quick deployment and low maintenance for SMBs with limited IT staff.

• Broad endpoint and mobile device protection, with integration options for MSP-managed detection and response.

Cons

• No built-in data backup or disaster recovery solution; requires separate services for data preservation.

• Compliance support is indirect, without comprehensive reporting or audit-specific features in the platform.

• Some SMBs with complex or highly customized environments may find limited flexibility in Falcon Go.

Best for: CrowdStrike is best suited for SMBs seeking industry-standard endpoint protection and advanced threat detection with minimal IT management overhead, especially those operating with distributed or mobile devices and looking for easy integration with managed security service providers.

Score: 3.5/5

SentinelOne

SentinelOne is a cybersecurity software company specializing in AI-driven endpoint protection and threat detection for businesses. Its autonomous platform is recognized for advanced threat prevention and remediation, positioning SentinelOne as a leading choice for SMBs seeking enterprise-grade security solutions.

Threat Detection

SentinelOne delivers advanced AI/ML-powered threat detection capable of identifying both known and unknown threats. Independent evaluations, such as MITRE ATT&CK, consistently report exceptional detection accuracy, while automated response features reduce manual effort for SMBs.

Endpoint Protection

The platform offers unified endpoint protection for a wide range of devices, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and mobile endpoints. Features like one-click rollback for ransomware recovery, behavioral AI, and integrated firewall controls create a robust, layered defense well-suited to SMB scale and complexity.

Data Backup

SentinelOne includes a ransomware rollback feature that restores system states and some files after an attack. However, it lacks comprehensive, traditional data backup or offsite storage options, necessitating integration with separate backup services for full data protection.

Compliance Support

Compliance support is facilitated through visibility, automated analytics, and real-time forensics. SentinelOne aids but does not fully manage compliance requirements, meaning SMBs may need additional tools for frameworks like GDPR or HIPAA, although it streamlines aspects of incident response and auditing.

Pros

• AI-powered threat detection yields high accuracy and fast, autonomous responses to emerging threats.

• Unique one-click rollback feature enables rapid recovery from ransomware attacks, minimizing downtime.

• Centralized, cloud-native management simplifies deployment and oversight for SMBs and managed service providers.

Cons

• Lacks native, full-featured data backup or offsite storage—reliant on third-party solutions for full backup needs.

• Offers compliance facilitation but does not provide end-to-end compliance management for strict regulatory standards.

• Advanced feature set may require initial setup expertise; smallest SMBs may require MSP support to realize full benefit.

Best for: SentinelOne is best for SMBs needing automated, enterprise-quality endpoint protection and threat detection with minimal IT overhead—especially those seeking rapid ransomware recovery, centralized device management, and scalable protection across diverse operating systems and cloud environments.

Score: 4.1/5

Kaspersky Small Office

Kaspersky Small Office Security (KSOS) delivers comprehensive cybersecurity tailored for small and medium businesses, specializing in endpoint protection across devices and integrated data safety features. Recognized for superior threat detection, KSOS is positioned as a user-friendly yet robust solution for organizations with limited IT resources.

Threat Detection

KSOS recorded a 100% detection rate against zero-day malware and prevalent threats in 2024 AV-TEST evaluations, earning a 97% top-three placement in independent security tests. Its protection includes real-time scanning, ransomware rollback, and minimal false positives, but lacks advanced enterprise threat hunting capabilities.

Endpoint Protection

KSOS offers multi-platform endpoint protection—including Windows, Mac, and Android—with real-time antivirus, vulnerability scanning, and low system performance impact. Designed for ease of use, it suits SMBs with limited IT support, though it doesn't feature centralized management or robust scalability for larger environments.

Data Backup

Built-in data backup and file encryption features help SMBs prevent data loss, with automated secure backups and ransomware rollback. While suitable for basic needs, the backup functionality remains less sophisticated than dedicated backup solutions and may not suffice for complex regulatory retention demands.

Compliance Support

KSOS contributes to compliance through encrypted storage, secure payment modules, and vulnerability scans, aligning with basic principles like GDPR. However, it does not offer detailed compliance reporting, audit trails, or fully integrated frameworks needed for highly regulated sectors.

Pros

• Exceptional threat detection and protection rates, validated by independent security lab results and awards.

• User-friendly deployment and multi-platform support, minimizing IT overhead for small businesses.

• Includes built-in data encryption and automated ransomware recovery to reduce risk of data compromise.

Cons

• Lacks enterprise-grade advanced threat hunting and endpoint detection and response features.

• Data backup is less advanced compared to standalone backup platforms, limiting retention and restoration options.

• Limited compliance-specific tools and reporting, which may be insufficient for heavily regulated industries.

Best for: KSOS is best suited for small businesses (with up to 25 endpoints) seeking comprehensive, easy-to-manage security without the need for a specialized IT security team, particularly where detection accuracy and basic compliance support are more critical than advanced management or audit requirements.

Score: 4.3/5