For most small businesses the practical starting point is Microsoft Defender for Business, or Microsoft 365 Business Premium if you also want email, device and identity protection in the same license, plus multi-factor authentication on every login (Cisco Duo’s free edition covers up to 10 users). If nobody watches security alerts at night, add a 24/7 managed service: Huntress if you work with a managed IT provider, Sophos MDR for broad coverage through a partner, or Arctic Wolf if you are a midsize company that wants to outsource security entirely. CrowdStrike and SentinelOne are the strongest picks when you want to run top-tier endpoint protection yourself, while ThreatDown, ESET and Bitdefender suit very small teams on tighter budgets. Whoever you choose, ask how the vendor tests and rolls out updates, what its analysts do when they find an attack at 2 a.m., and what incident response costs.
How much does cybersecurity cost for a small business?
Endpoint protection with detection and response typically costs about $3 to $20 per user or device a month. Published prices include Microsoft Defender for Business at $3 per user a month, Huntress managed EDR at $8.99 per endpoint a month, CrowdStrike Falcon Go at $59.99 per device a year (EDR starts with Falcon Enterprise at $184.99) and SentinelOne Singularity Complete at $179.99 per endpoint a year. Multi-factor authentication runs from free to $9 per user a month with Cisco Duo. Fully managed 24/7 services such as Arctic Wolf, Sophos MDR and CrowdStrike Falcon Complete are quoted individually.
What is the difference between EDR and MDR?
EDR (endpoint detection and response) is software that records activity on each computer, flags suspicious behavior and lets someone isolate an infected machine. MDR (managed detection and response) adds people: the vendor’s analysts watch those alerts around the clock and respond for you. A small business without its own security staff usually needs MDR, or an IT provider who supplies it, because an alert nobody reads at 2 a.m. does not stop ransomware.
What security basics should every small business have?
CISA’s four cybersecurity essentials for businesses are: train staff to spot phishing and think before they click; require strong passwords (at least 16 characters or a five-to-seven-word passphrase, unique for every account and kept in a password manager); require multi-factor authentication, preferably phishing-resistant methods such as security keys rather than text-message codes; and keep software updated, with automatic updates turned on and internet-facing systems patched first.
