Proactive security, protective monitoring, security operations – all pretty much means the same thing in terms of cyber, at least in the corporate world and the larger, more sensitive Government organisations.  I’ve been involved with the design and commissioning of security operations centres for a long time.  I designed the first for the FCO, under contract to HP, ran the security team for the Identity and Passport Service which included a security operations centre, amongst others.  But the one thing I knew, was that it was too complex and expensive for an SME, even though it would bring them great benefits.

I’ve been talking and posting a lot recently about this subject because I think it’s extremely important and hasn’t, in the past, resonated with SME owners and management simply because it was considered by many to be purely in the province of the corporate world and was way too expensive for an SME to even consider.  Well, that cost issue is no longer the case and there is a system, which we use to provide a managed service for SMEs, that is very affordable.  So that leaves us to consider whether it is something that an SME would consider as an essential element of their cyber defences, now that it is affordable.

Typically, an SME would generally want such a solution that balances strong security coverage with affordability, simplicity, and minimal disruption to daily operations.  Here’s what I think they would like to include if they could afford it.

1. Comprehensive Threat Visibility

• Log collection from key systems (servers, endpoints, cloud services, firewalls, applications).
• Real-time monitoring for suspicious activities (e.g., failed logins, privilege escalation, data exfiltration).
• Ability to spot both external attacks (phishing, malware) and insider threats.

• Actionable Alerts, Not Noise

• Intelligent alert prioritisation to avoid alert fatigue.
  • Context-rich notifications so the SME knows what happened, why it matters, and what to do next.
  • Possibly AI-driven correlation of events to detect patterns.

•  Ease of Use & Low Overhead

• Simple dashboards that non-experts can navigate, or more likely, a managed service as an SME will have little or no resource to give to this.
• Minimal in-house expertise required to operate.
• Fast onboarding and configuration.
•  Reporting

• Reports that are east to read, management focused and not full of jargon.
• Audit trails for investigations.

• Incident Response Integration

• Clear escalation paths (automated and manual).
• Integration with existing tools (ticketing systems, email, Slack/Teams).
• Ability to block malicious IPs or disable compromised accounts quickly.

• Affordability & Scalability

• Pricing that fits SME budgets (no enterprise-only costs).
• Scales up with business growth without a full rip-and-replace.
• Easy and flexible deployment.
• Coverage regardless of where your staff work, in the office, remote or on the move.

• Resilience & Reliability

• Works even if parts of the infrastructure are down.
• Secure storage and backup of monitoring data.
• Regular updates to threat detection rules.

In short: An SME doesn’t just want raw data — they want reassurance, clarity, and quick guidance so they can protect their systems without hiring a large security team.  And that’s what we are offering, assurance.  There’s no such thing as 100% security, so if you’re looking for that, then we can’t help you.  Using this system our managed service plays the percentages by monitoring your defences, telling you in no uncertain terms where your defences aren’t up to the job, alerting you to problems and providing advice and guidance on how to fix stuff.

So, what exactly are we offering.  Well, it’s a 24/7 service which provides a manned interface between you and us, on the end of the phone or by email in working hours, and an automated response service in silent hours.  Doing it that way you don’t have to pay for expensive night shifts.  The staff on duty don’t just monitor your systems but provide advice and guidance as well, giving you a cyber security resource on tap.

Specifically, we are covering off:

Email Security – Stay ahead of potential email threats with our user-friendly, API-based active protection.

Endpoint Security – Safeguard laptops and desktops against cyber threats like malware and ransomware.

Cloud Data – Enable cloud data protection for secure collaboration with external users.

Secure Browsing – Keep your browser secure with a provided extension, protecting you from viruses and malicious sites.

Awareness Training – Empower employees to be the first line of defence against the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats.

Phishing Simulation – Regularly simulate cyber-attacks, including phishing emails, to identify vulnerabilities and educate staff to the dangers of Phishing.

External Risk – Obtain actionable insights on external threats by scanning your digital footprint and exposed vulnerabilities. This includes regular scanning of the dark web looking for compromised email addresses and credentials.

Insurance – Mitigate the cyber risk associated with evolving threats through tailored coverage at the right price (optional; aligning your premiums with your security posture can lower those costs).

Here are some questions to ask yourself and if you answer yes to most of them, then you might be a fit for this service:

• Do you employ around 1-250 staff members?
• Does falling victim to cybercrime worry you?
• Could you continue to operate your business without your IT systems?
• Is a recent cyber scan of your public domain on your radar?
• Are you aware of the constantly evolving cyber threats and tactics?
• Does your business need protection against these advancing cyber threats?
• Are you looking for coverage under a cyber insurance policy?

Keep your eye out for a webinar that we will shortly be doing which will provide a full demo of the system, or if you prefer, contact us and we will give you a one-to-one demo, with no obligation.  You can follow this with a totally free 14-day trial covering your whole estate, again with no obligation.

If you wanted this system, you might still think it’s too expensive for you, well, it’s only £14 per user per month, so if you only have 10 IT users amongst your staff, that would be £140 per month on a rolling 30-day contract i.e. you can quit with just 30 days’ notice.