Cybersecurity, at its simplest, means protecting your devices, accounts and data from people who shouldn’t have access to them — whether that’s a hacker, a scam email, or an employee accidentally clicking the wrong link.

For small businesses, it’s not about expensive enterprise software. It’s about a handful of basics done consistently:

• Use a password manager — and turn on two-factor authentication everywhere it’s offered, especially email and banking
• Keep software updated — most breaches exploit known, already-patched vulnerabilities
• Back up your data — and check the backup actually restores, not just that it runs
• Train your team to spot phishing — most attacks start with a convincing email, not a technical exploit
• Limit access — not everyone needs admin rights to everything

Cybersecurity searches are climbing fast right now, partly driven by AI-powered scams becoming more convincing. The good news: the basics above stop the vast majority of real-world attacks, regardless of how sophisticated the threat sounds in the news.