Billion-dollar corporations can afford sophisticated defenses against cyber threats, but small businesses and nonprofits remain dangerously exposed. Yet the industry clings to an antiquated, cost-prohibitive model that turns essential cybersecurity into a luxury few can access.

Cybercrime Doesn’t Just Target Big Business

According to the US Small Business Administration, 43% of cyberattacks are aimed at small businesses (SMBs), but only 14% are prepared to protect themselves. Nonprofits, small and medium healthcare enterprises (SMEs), and religious organizations face the same risks as Fortune 500 companies but lack the resources to combat them.

An Imbalance in the System

Industry-leading cybersecurity providers like Accenture and Presidio focus on high-budget corporations to maximize profit, while niche MSPs only offer partial solutions that still expose vulnerabilities. A generic IT provider might offer some semblance of protection, but they lack the experience of a full-fledged cybersecurity company when an attack occurs. The industry doesn’t provide SMBs and nonprofits with adequate defenses against cybercrime.

Bringing Cybersecurity to a Forgotten Market

Is it possible for SMBs and nonprofits to achieve enterprise-grade protections without the price tag? Emerging leaders like Dave Trader hope to bridge the gap between affordability and security for underserved businesses with a new Managed Service Provider (MSP)+ model. This way, companies like Trader’s XO Cyber promote the core belief that “Cybersecurity isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.”

An MSP is a third-party company that manages IT infrastructure and other business functions, serving to improve IT services and save in the long term. An MSP+ model offers the following key features:

  • Fully Integrated Cybersecurity-as-a-Service: This approach covers 22 critical domains to ensure that an SMB or nonprofit’s infrastructure has no weak points.
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Driven Threat Detection: AI technology eliminates alert fatigue by focusing on actionable intelligence, boosting a cybersecurity system’s capabilities.
  • End-to-End Protection: This approach adapts to threats in real-time, meeting a business’s needs proactively.

A New Status Quo

This new methodology for cybersecurity protections serves a market otherwise ignored by the broader industry. Nonprofits are empowered to protect donor data as they operate under strict budgets, and SMBs avoid financial ruin in the wake of data breaches, ransomware, and compliance failures. Religious organizations can protect sensitive community records, healthcare SMEs can meet stringent compliance requirements and ensure confidentiality, and educational institutions can secure hybrid learning environments against cybercrime.

Full-service cybersecurity for SMBs, nonprofits, and others challenges the industry’s unaffordable and inaccessible model. Like electricity or clean water, it can be an essential service rather than an optional expense.

“Cybersecurity shouldn’t be [a system where] whoever has the biggest wallet can afford the biggest protection,” Trader said in an interview. “It’s a public service.”

Cybersecurity as a Right

Cybersecurity as a right is new and impactful, driving positive industry change in a once stagnant environment. SMBs and nonprofits can now assess their vulnerabilities and implement effective security strategies for combating cybercrime. Teams can be educated on the most common cyber threats and prevention tactics while having confidence in the systems they rely on.

Claim a free assessment from XO Cyber by sending “FREE” to the company email.