Kaspersky launches low budget security hub for SMEs in Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) Region

Kaspersky has unveiled a free platform with tips and tricks for small businesses to help them quickly improve their organisation’s security. 

Known as Kaspersky Cybersecurity on a Budget, the platform provides a set of short but actionable recommendations relevant for any company, as well as specific, but still easy-to-follow tips for different verticals and business needs. This includes data and communication protection, secure use of various digital platforms, website security and much more.

Small businesses need to carefully balance their expenses to keep going as the pandemic continues, even after restrictions are lifted. According to a new Kaspersky report “How small businesses got through 2020-2021: Budget cuts, product launches, and new investment priorities”, in more than half (58%) of all businesses across the META region, financial difficulties seen during the past 12-months will likely become permanent, so business leaders will have to carefully choose what to spend money on.

Further research showed that this choice is often not in favour of cybersecurity. Almost half (48%) of small businesses across META struggle with funding for cybersecurity improvements even if they realise the importance of protection from cyberthreats. Kaspersky Cybersecurity on a Budget should encourage such companies to fill the gap or check their cybersecurity readiness while staying on budget.

In the main three sections of the platform, visitors can learn best practices around most general routines and processes in any business, such as how to safeguard client databases, reports and other important data; how to spend less on IT and how to organise a company’s internal and external communication.

In addition to the general recommendations, there are guidelines for specific business needs – for example, if a company operates in the healthcare sector or works with intellectual property or hires freelancers. All these aspects demand extra actions to protect data or meet the requirements of authorities. These ‘to-dos’ are given in an interactive format, where the user must answer a short question then get a tip, to help them quickly receive exactly the recommendation they need.

All of the advice is short but actionable, with instructions that can be implemented quickly and don’t require hard IT or cybersecurity skills. That means a business owner or any employee in the firm is able to use the hub. For those who want to dig deeper, the cards suggest links to dedicated Kaspersky blog posts.

“At Kaspersky, we are confident that by following basic rules, organisations can achieve an essential level of cyber protection in a short time and without additional resources. Be it a small construction company, a cafe or a marketing agency, the platform works for anyone,” says Executive Vice President Corporate Business Evgeniya Naumova at Kaspersky. “The pandemic hit small businesses hard so finance and resources may be limited today. This is one more argument towards investing a few minutes to read and a few hours to implement recommendations that will then help to keep your business protected.”