Simple Communications pushes SMBs to add cybersecurity to continuity plans

Simple Communications is using Cybersecurity Awareness Month to urge small and medium-sized businesses to treat cybersecurity as part of business continuity, citing Verizon data showing ransomware in 88% of SMB breaches. The company says the right mix of multifactor authentication, backups, patching and response planning can limit disruption when systems go down.

Why it matters: - Cybersecurity incidents can shut down operations, block access to files, expose customer data and disrupt communications. - For small and medium-sized businesses, those failures can quickly become a business-continuity problem, not just an IT issue. - Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report found ransomware in 88% of breaches affecting SMBs in its dataset. - The same report found ransomware in 44% of all breaches Verizon analyzed. - Credential abuse accounted for 22% of initial access vectors, while exploitation of vulnerabilities accounted for 20%.

What happened: - Simple Communications urged SMBs to build cybersecurity planning into continuity planning during Cybersecurity Awareness Month. - President Eric Peterson said every organization needs a plan to protect accounts, keep critical systems current, restore important data and communicate during a disruption. - The company said business owners should review whether multifactor authentication is enforced on key accounts, whether systems and network devices are kept current, whether backups can be restored successfully and whether employees know how to report suspicious activity.

The details: - CISA’s small-business guidance recommends multifactor authentication, system patching, tested backups and a written incident-response plan. - Simple Communications said organizations should assign clear responsibility for coordinating cybersecurity efforts and responding to incidents. - The company said networks, cloud applications, business phones and business data are tightly connected, so cybersecurity should be planned alongside day-to-day technology and communications needs. - A coordinated approach can help businesses identify gaps before a disruptive event occurs. - Simple Communications provides managed IT, networking, business phone and cybersecurity services for local organizations. - The company operates from Morris, Illinois, and Ottawa. - Simple Communications said it helps businesses coordinate essential technology and communications needs through one local provider.

Between the lines: - The message is less about buying more tools and more about operational readiness. - The Verizon findings strengthen the case for treating ransomware as a continuity risk, especially for smaller organizations with limited downtime tolerance. - Simple Communications is positioning integrated IT, phone and cybersecurity support as a way to reduce coordination gaps during an incident.

What's next: - Organizations are being pushed to review existing safeguards, test readiness and tighten response plans during Cybersecurity Awareness Month. - Businesses that have not recently checked backups, authentication settings or incident roles are being urged to do so before a disruption hits. - Simple Communications said stronger planning now can help reduce the impact of a future technology outage.

The bottom line: - Cybersecurity planning is now business-continuity planning for SMBs, and ransomware data shows why that shift matters now.