Is Your Small Business Ready for the AI Cybersecurity Era? 5 Practical Protection Tips

Anthropic made headlines when it announced Claude Mythos, an advanced artificial intelligence model capable of identifying software vulnerabilities at unprecedented speed. Early access was limited to a small group of major technology firms, but “it will not be long before such capabilities proliferate, potentially beyond actors who are committed to deploying them safely,” according to a statement from Anthropic. 

These concerns about Mythos highlight a broader reality of the AI era: Artificial intelligence is helping cybercriminals discover and exploit software weaknesses faster than ever, leaving businesses with less time to respond. What once took hackers days or weeks can now be done almost instantaneously, which means AI-assisted attacks will soon become more common and frequent. Fortunately, the same AI capabilities that empower bad actors can also help business owners identify potential vulnerabilities in their operations and be better prepared to defend against cyberattacks.

As U.S. Chamber of Commerce CTO Bill Jewell recently said in an interview with The Call, this reality represents “a structural change for security programs,” and small businesses should be “acting with urgency” to address it. Here’s what you need to know about the impact of AI on cybersecurity and how to protect your company in the short and long term.

[Read more: Ransomware Attacks: How to Protect Your Business] 

Practical cyber protection tips for small businesses

While the rise of AI-powered cyber threats may sound intimidating, many of the most effective defenses are still rooted in strong cybersecurity fundamentals, said Jewell. 

“You want to implement security best practices,” he told The Call.

Basic security best practices matter now more than ever, Jewell advises. Small businesses should make sure they are managing who has access to what information and using modern authentication processes like passkeys. They should be training their employees to avoid phishing scams or more sophisticated social engineering attempts. 

“You want to have great access management. You want to have great network segmentation. You want to be able to detect and respond to threats quickly,” said Jewell. “That … has not changed. Maybe the speed of it has.”

These practical strategies can help small businesses strengthen their defenses, even on a limited budget.

Prioritize patch management and testing

Because AI makes it possible to identify and exploit vulnerabilities shortly after they’re discovered, businesses can’t afford to delay software updates. It’s critical to have a regular AI-driven security testing schedule to identify gaps before a real-world crisis occurs.

Turn on automatic updates for all software programs and devices where possible, and don’t delay patching any issues found by security scans. Additionally, consider phasing out any unsupported or outdated systems that no longer receive security updates.

It’s also critical to have a regular security testing schedule that leverages some of these AI tools to help identify gaps before a real-world crisis occurs.

“It is no longer OK to do a once-a-year or once-a-quarter security test,” said Jewell. “It's just got to be a continuous thing, and the more we can use AI tools to do that, the better.”

[Read more: Cybersecurity Simplified: Practical Protection For Small Business] 

Evaluate your vendors and third-party software carefully

Small businesses increasingly rely on cloud providers, payroll platforms, POS systems, and managed IT services — all of which can introduce their own cybersecurity risks. Always ask providers about their patching practices, incident response procedures, and support for tools like multi-factor authentication or passkeys before signing a contract with them.

“It's not good enough for [you] to be strong,” Jewell noted. “[Your vendors] have to be strong, too, and so [you] need to make smart decisions about who [you] work with.”

Reduce your attack surface

In cybersecurity, your “attack surface” is all the possible entry points attackers can target: systems, devices, accounts, and applications. To reduce this surface, regularly review and remove unused software and accounts from your tech stack and limit administrator privileges.

Jewell also advised small businesses to avoid hanging onto any sensitive data they no longer need.

“If you can't afford to protect all the data you have, you probably want to have … conversations about how much data you even need to be holding,” Jewell said.

Use AI-powered security tools to scan your own code

As cybercriminals adopt AI tools, small businesses should start using them defensively, too. Companies that develop software or maintain custom applications can use AI-powered scanning tools to identify vulnerabilities during the development process, ideally before code is ever deployed. 

“We need to be … using AI-based or LLM-based scans to make sure that we're deploying the same technologies on our own code [and] finding the vulnerabilities … as we're writing it,” advised Jewell.

AI-driven cybersecurity platforms can also help monitor networks, detect suspicious activity, and respond to threats faster. This gives small businesses more visibility into potential attacks without hiring a massive security team.

“A lot of vendors that do this have really good capabilities today, and they're just going to get better at using AI to detect and respond to threats in near-real time,” Jewell added.

[Read more: How AI Monitoring Tools Can Benefit SMBs] 

Have an incident response plan before you need one

According to a December 2025 report by Guardz, only 34% of SMBs have a formal incident response plan, meaning most small businesses aren’t prepared to act quickly and minimize damage when — not if — a cyberattack occurs. Your plan should identify who to contact during an incident, how to isolate affected systems, how to restore backups, and how to communicate with employees, clients/customers, and other stakeholders.

“People in security and technology roles need to be having honest conversations with their leadership teams … about what [they] need now,” Jewell advised. “Understand what your own risk tolerances and threat model look like.” 

Jewell noted that every plan will be different based on the specific needs of a business, whether it is securing sensitive data or keeping critical operational systems online 24/7. 

“Know what matters most and make sure your plans reflect that,” he added.

Keep calm and prioritize protecting your most valuable business assets

AI-powered cyberattacks are quickly becoming a ubiquitous business risk, and small companies can no longer assume they are too small to be targeted. But you don’t need a huge cybersecurity budget to defend yourself. Instead, focus your resources on the systems and data that matter most, such as customer information, financial systems, and operational technology, so that you’re better positioned to manage risk and recover quickly when an incident occurs.

Ultimately, said Jewell, there’s no need for panic, but small businesses shouldn’t ignore the looming threat of AI-driven cyberattacks.

“We all need to be level-headed about this, but we need to be acting with a lot of urgency and seriousness,” said Jewell. “We'll see more and more about these types of [threats], and there's no getting away from it. If you're not asking these questions today, you're likely to find yourself a little behind.”

CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.

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