According to the World Economic Forum, in 2025 cybersecurity total impact for the year is estimated as 11 trillion dollars. In 2026 it’s pushing $12 trillion dollars. For small businesses which constitutes roughly 45% of all cybercrime, the number totals between $5 and $6 trillion a year in lost revenue.
While the WEF is focused on increasing the safety regarding cybercrime, one of the primary strategies they are touting is digital wallets. While digital wallets may help mitigate some of the issues that cause cybercrime, there is a massive trade off in terms of privacy. This is not surprising, considering the “globalist” position of the WEF. For those of us in the U.S. who have expectations on our 4th Amendment rights, this is extremely troubling. The concept of financial institutions and even Big Brother having access to all our financial transactions in the name of safety puts a lot of trust in those institutions that they will not use that information for nefarious purposes. Who added “Safety” to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, anyway? Probably the same cabal touting “common sense gun control,” but I digress.
I believe that the real answer to combat cybercrime lies in educating users. Because human engineering is the primary attack vector for cybercrime, education is the most practical way to combat the growth in cybercrime without trading our privacy for safety. While the government and large corporations have the resources and expertise to do a decent job of this, most SMBs do not. Honestly, though, for business information safety is the goal (I just do want a digital wallet, TYVM).
But alas, there is good news on this front for SMBs. The cybersecurity training market is increasingly segmented by whom the solution is built for and how it is delivered, rather than just the features themselves. At the top end, many solutions target large enterprises with complex compliance needs and significant IT resources, offering highly customizable but often costly and administratively heavy programs. In the middle, there are solutions aimed at growing organizations that need a balance of usability and capability, though this segment is gradually shrinking as vendors move either upmarket or down-market. For smaller businesses, two dominant models have emerged: self-service solutions, which emphasize low cost, simplicity, and quick setup, and service-driven models, where training is delivered and managed externally—often bundled into broader IT or security services with automated reporting and minimal overhead. Alongside these are entry-level free resources for very small organizations and basic training features embedded within larger software platforms.
Overall, the market is shifting toward simpler, more automated, and service-oriented approaches, reflecting the reality that most smaller organizations lack the internal resources to manage complex cybersecurity programs on their own. So, if you run a small or mid-sized business, your excuses for ignoring the realities are dwindling.
Today, SMB cybersecurity training costs are fairly predictable and scale with how much management and automation you need: at the low end, free resources (government programs, templates) cost $0 but require internal effort and discipline; next, self-service SaaS platforms typically run about $1–$3 per user/month, offering automated training and phishing tests with minimal setup; and at the high end, fully managed programs can cost a few thousand to $10K+ annually, where a provider runs everything and delivers reporting and compliance support. The key decision point isn’t just budget—it’s internal capacity: if you have someone to manage training, low-cost tools work well; if you don’t, paying more for automation or managed services becomes worthwhile because the program gets executed consistently and delivers measurable risk reduction.
So, the big takeaway is that affordable solutions are out there. If you have the internal capacity and technical capability to do it yourself, they can be free. If not, ask your trusted IT expert to assist you in finding the right solution. And do this before your business becomes a statistic.
