Business Analyst Harps on Strategic Action Plan to Protect SMEs from Cyber Risks

By Tosin Clegg

Prisca Amajuoyi, a Nigerian business analyst and agile product owner, has harped on the need for SMEs to adopt strategic cybersecurity measures to protect against rising cyber risks.

Disclosing this in a media statement recently, she noted the growing vulnerability of SMEs to cyberattacks, stressing that weak defences and low awareness make them prime targets for cybercriminals.

Amajuoyi asserts, “Small firms thrive on agility, but that agility becomes their Achilles’ heel when cybersecurity isn’t built in from day one.”

Her study, Digital Transformation in SMEs: Identify Cybersecurity Risks and Developing Effective Mitigation Strategies, outlines a roadmap for business protection: assessing risks, training staff, deploying baseline measures, and scaling with AI-driven detection.

She added in her statement that as SMEs, which account for over 90% of businesses worldwide and employ more than half of the workforce in emerging markets, face increasing risks as they adopt digital tools like e-commerce, cloud platforms, and mobile payments.

Cyberattacks including phishing, malware, and ransomware now disproportionately affect small business owners.

Drawing from her comparative research, Theoretical Perspectives on Risk Management Strategies in Financial Markets: African and U.S Approaches, Amajuoyi explained that while U.S. firms benefit from strict frameworks, African SMEs face heightened threats due to regulatory gaps, limited resources, and outdated infrastructure.

“Just as African markets once adapted global financial models, SMEs must now adapt cybersecurity frameworks to their own vulnerabilities,” she asserted.

The financial impact is alarming. Cybersecurity Ventures projected global cybercrime costs to hit $10.5 trillion in 2025, rising to $12.2 trillion annually by 2031. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance reports scammers siphoned away over $1 trillion globally in the past year, with losses in some countries exceeding 3% of GDP.

The July 2025 Global Threat Intelligence Report by Check Point Software Technologies showed that Africa recorded an average of 3,374 weekly cyberattacks per organisation, the highest worldwide. In Nigeria, the figure nearly doubles at 6,100, representing a 67% year-on-year surge.

Despite the risks, many SMEs venture online without cybersecurity literacy or adequate safeguards. Amajuoyi cited the case of a Lagos-based fashion retailer that lost nearly N2 million in a spoofed email scam.

She stressed in her statement that while digital adoption fuels growth, every innovation also opens new vulnerabilities.

“Digital transformation without security is like building on sand, growth may be rapid, but it is unstable and easily swept away,” she cautioned.

Amajuoyi added that underfunding cybersecurity remains a major weakness for SMEs. Referencing Bruce Schneier’s reminder that “security is not a product, but a process,” she noted that many businesses treat security as an afterthought, leaving them exposed to escalating global threats.