Small business owners wear many hats, but cybersecurity has slowly become one of the largest and flashiest hats. Ooma created a cybersecurity guide for small business owners, presented in a detailed chart that tackles a problem most owners face, but few know how to navigate. They struggle to figure out which protections really matter and which investments are simply expensive noise. The stakes are real. The team’s data show that 67% of businesses report more cyberattacks in 2024, and more than 40% of attacks target small businesses specifically. The team’s core message is one of hope: the basics of cybersecurity are far simpler than the security industry makes them seem.

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What Owners Really Need

The team’s suggestions are organized into a clear checklist. Multi-factor authentication tops the list as the single most effective tactic small businesses should use. It requires a second verification step after the typical password. From there, the list includes automatic software updates to patch security updates, strong passwords, and regular data backups that are tested so ransomware can’t hold operations hostage.

The human layer gets equal consideration. Training staff to spot phishing emails, limiting system access to only those who need it, and managing company devices with the ability to remotely lock them or wipe misplaced phones and laptops are all important guidelines. Rounding out the list are secure Wi-Fi and router settings, email protections, vendor security reviews, asset inventories, and a written incident response plan that guides employees on how to respond rather than scrambling during a cyberattack.

The Steps You Can Skip

The guide stands out from other security content in this section. It doesn’t shy away from naming the protections most small businesses are oversold. They name a full in-house Security Operations Center, custom SIEM platforms, and overlapping tools as the most unnecessary. Biometric logins and enterprise-grade custom solutions are labeled as answers to problems that don’t exist at the scale of a small business. Cyber insurance was a solid maybe that could be useful, but no substitute for backups and multi-factor authentication.

Situations That Call for Advanced Security

The article doesn’t label cybersecurity as one-size-fits-all. They list businesses in the financial, legal, and health data sectors as needing advanced cybersecurity, which could include customer portals, telehealth systems, and e-commerce backends. Not only are these data types subject to privacy laws, but when these systems go down, businesses can pay a heavy toll, so stronger defenses are worth the investment.

The team’s overall message is that cybersecurity isn’t all-or-nothing. Small businesses should build a solid foundation and scale up only when risk and growth push them to do so. Some of the guide’s authoritative sources include the FTC, NIST, CISA, and SBA. The guide makes cybersecurity feel manageable for small businesses by focusing on practical steps instead of expensive extras. Strong passwords, backups, training, and multi-factor authentication create a reliable foundation. As risks grow, businesses can add advanced protections, but the smartest first move is mastering the basics.

The invisible digital infrastructure is all around us. It powers every bank login, online order, every text sent, and every social media update posted. Vast networks that many of us rarely think about make these actions possible. Access to the digital infrastructure shapes a population’s economic standing and it even keeps entire governments running smoothly. Therefore, it’s no surprise that some countries spend huge sums to stay competitive in the digital infrastructure sector and there are clear winners as we can see in Ooma’s new study.

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Think of this way: rather than roads and bridges, broadband networks, data centers, and cloud systems, the key to mobile connectivity is a country’s most valuable asset, which powers AI servers and social media. Advanced digital infrastructure correlates with higher GDP growth, higher productivity, a viable remote workforce, and a more digitally skilled workforce. These systems also allow faster access to government services, which can even be lifesaving since they offer quicker communication during emergencies like natural disasters.

The team’s study found 5 countries leading this digital infrastructure race. Sweden is in first place now with strong assets across the board, led by broadband subscriptions and business R&D spending. Israel is in second place with outsized venture capital relative to their GDP and heavy research funding into digital infrastructure. South Korea is in third, powered by ICT patents and top-tier broadband reach. Believe it or not, Estonia edges out the U.S. in fourth place. They’re a global digital pioneer with the most ICT investment as a share of GDP. The U.S. ranks #5, driven by digitally deliverable services and venture capital. The team used a points-based score across seven OECD measures, which include ICT investment, broadband, venture capital investment, M2M SIM cards, ICT patents, digital services trade, and business R&D.

These investments have a number of real-world impacts. In Estonia, they have nearly all their government services available online and a digital ID that can be used for everything from remote voting to public transport. Sweden has a highly developed e-commerce sector, universal household Internet connectivity, and, as a result, Stockholm is Europe’s financial hub. In Israel, the National Digital Agency and the Digital Israel initiative weave tech across education, government, and healthcare, transforming the country into a startup magnet. South Korea has one of the fastest Internet speeds globally and they dominate consumer electronics, competitive gaming, and semiconductors.

Countries investing in digital infrastructure are positioned to be world superpowers. Businesses in these countries benefit from fast communication and a digitally literate workforce. But seamless connectivity shouldn’t depend on geography. Every country and all people can benefit from a more digitally connected world, so the more countries that improve their digital infrastructure, the better. The leading countries on this chart can serve as role models while countries further down the list highlight areas for improvement and potential investment.

AI is embedded in workplaces worldwide by this point, and yet workers’ feelings about it vary dramatically. A study by Qualtrics examined how geography was related to feelings about AI in the workplace. They found that only 37% of workers globally believed that AI would improve their jobs. That average hides a 45-point difference between the most optimistic country, which is China, and the most skeptical, Japan.

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Nearly 80% of global companies report using AI in some capacity, and research indicates productivity gains, with lower-skilled workers benefiting the most. Even if this is the case, employee sentiment isn’t nearly as unified. The numbers the team shows here indicate a healthy level of AI skepticism. In fact, more than half of workers think AI will improve their lives in just 6 out of 32 countries studied. That means there are more skeptics than people excited about what AI will bring to the workplace. But why does optimism cluster in some regions while most remain skeptical?

Here are a few of the countries where optimism runs high:

• China – 62% of workers are optimistic
• Indonesia – 59%
• Peru – 57%
• South Africa – 53%
• Thailand – 52%

There is a mid-tier region with fewer optimistic workers, but still a healthy percentage. This includes Mexico, Brazil, India, Colombia, and Malaysia. Many of these countries have developing economies or a heavy state investment in AI infrastructure, as is the case in China. Workers in these places view AI as a tool to close skill gaps, raise wages, and improve living standards. These regional differences are easy to spot thanks to the map Qualtrics created, which color codes the level of optimism/skepticism.

At the other end of the spectrum, we find the highest number of skeptics in Western Europe and English-speaking countries. Here are the countries with the least faith in AI:

• United States – 31% of workers are optimistic
• Australia – 29%
• Great Britain – 26%
• Canada – 24%
• Japan – 17%
• Poland – 21%

The media narratives in these countries frame AI as a risk of automation-driven job loss, which shapes people’s perceptions even when AI adoption in their workplaces is the same as in optimistic locations. These nations are the same that rank lowest on the belief that AI will improve the job market.

Economic research suggests that AI tends to reshuffle tasks within a role rather than eliminate that job outright. New skills will be required to work with AI, and some positions will shift, but historically, new digital tools have created more roles than they’ve erased. The gap between the hard data and public sentiment in skeptical countries is definitely worth examining and tells a story.

As AI rolls out unevenly across the world’s workforce, it’s important for employers to understand where their employees actually stand on the issue. Beyond regional stereotypes or headline-driven assumptions, employers must look at facts like the data presented here to make thoughtful AI adoption decisions.