5 Endpoint Security Mistakes SMEs Make (And How To Fix Them)

Laptops, desktops, mobile phones, tablets, phone systems… these are all critical endpoints for our day to day working. We are absolutely reliant on them, yet businesses often overlook endpoints when it comes to their cyber security strategy. According to recent studies, SMEs are increasingly being targeted by cybercriminals due to perceived vulnerabilities, and not protecting your endpoints can leave you as an easy target. In this article, we’ll look at the 5 common endpoint security mistakes SMEs make and give you some pointers on how to fix them.

#1 Ignoring Mobile Device Security

Multi-device working and especially mobile phones are essential for modern business, but they can be a huge security risk if not managed properly. Imagine an employee loses their phone which has access to company emails and files. If that device isn't secured sufficiently, it could lead to a significant data breach. The consequences of which can range from financial losses to reputational damage, and even legal implications if sensitive data is exposed. And it’s not just physical damage or loss that’s an issue. In Q1 2025, over one million mobile phishing and social engineering attacks targeted enterprise users, highlighting the growing threat to mobile devices.

Solution: Implementing a mobile device management (MDM) solution like Microsoft Intune. This helps you enforce security policies across all mobile devices, ensuring they are up to date and secure. Intune also has a remote wipe feature for is a device is lost, damaged or stolen, allowing you to clear all company data from the device if needed.

#2 Lack of Employee Training on Device Security

As with all aspects of your cybersecurity, your employees play a crucial role in maintaining endpoint security. Without proper training on your business’s cybersecurity protocols, what to look out for, and how to report anything they suspect is malicious, they might inadvertently compromise device security. Without the necessary knowledge and understanding, an employee easily click on a phishing email or use a weak password. This can lead to malware infections, data breaches, and significant downtime. Nearly 70% of organisations in 2024 reported that their employees lacked fundamental security awareness, emphasising the need for comprehensive training programs.

Solution: Conducting regular training sessions focused on endpoint security best practices is essential here. This includes recognising phishing attempts, using strong passwords, and keeping software updated. Platforms like Huntress can assist with ongoing threat detection and response training. Don’t forget to include cybersecurity training as part of your onboarding scheme for new employees as well.

#3 Failing to Monitor Endpoint Activity

Continuous monitoring of endpoint activity is essential for early detection of suspicious behaviour. After all, the only thing worse than realising you’ve had a data breach, is realising you had a data breach ages ago and didn’t yet notice or respond! Without continuous monitoring of your environment, threats can go unnoticed until significant damage has been done to your business. We saw this in April 2025 with the M&S cyber attack. They were originally breached in February, but M&S didn’t notice until months later when they began receiving customer and employee complaints about systems not working properly. The impact of the attack has been ongoing for months and has caused significant financial losses.

Solution: Implementing an endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution. If you work with an IT partner, they may have a managed detection and response (MDR) solution available as part of their offering, so it’s worth checking. MDR and EDR solutions allow you to monitor endpoint activity in real-time and respond promptly to any threats. Regularly reviewing activity logs and setting up alerts for unusual behaviour are also essential.

#4 Inadequate User Access Controls

Granting excessive access privileges to users can increase the risk of insider threats and accidental data exposure. For example, if a new employee has global admin access to all company information and malicious intent, they could easily access and share confidential information, change security policies, reset passwords and lock other users out causing a data breach and a logistical nightmare! Employees don’t need malicious intent though for this to be dangerous. Unnecessary access controls can make the scope and speed of a cyber attack much worse as the hacker will gain access to everything at once.

Solution: Applying the principle of least privilege. Ensure users only have access to the data and systems necessary for their roles. Additionally, ensure that all system administrators have separate user and administration accounts – this means that if their regular account is compromised, the capabilities of what the hacker can do without the admin access is limited. Tools like Microsoft Intune can help enforce these policies and ensure compliance across your organisation.

#5 Ignoring Remote Workers and BYOD Policies

In 2025, 73% of remote employees used personal devices for work, many of which lacked enterprise-grade protection. This resonates with us as we often see organisations that have brilliant in office security setups, but completely overlook remote working and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies. As we all know, unsecured devices and networks can be gateways for cyber attacks. From mixing personal and work environments on phones, using unofficial channels of communication like whatsapp, to accessing sensitive data on public wifi, the number of gateways into a business via personal devices and remote working is endless.

Solution: Developing and enforcing remote work and BYOD policies is key here. The same robust level of security for your office environment and workers, needs to be applied to your remote workers too. Using tools like Microsoft Intune to manage and secure all devices accessing company data, can really help and make the process of implementing and monitoring the policies much more manageable.

We hope you found this article useful. If you’d like to lean on our expertise and understand how we can help your business with its cybersecurity, please get in touch.