Approximately one in six Canadian businesses was affected by a cybersecurity incident in 2024. For SMEs, the figure is even more concerning: nearly three-quarters of SME executives in Canada reported at least one incident in recent surveys. Yet, only 47% of Canadian SMEs feel prepared to face a cyberattack. If your SME is based in Montreal, here are the five most common threats to be aware of and concrete steps you can take to protect yourself.
Quick answer: The 5 most common threats to SMEs in Montreal in 2026 are phishing, ransomware, credential theft, unpatched vulnerabilities, and AI attacks. Protection involves MFA, backups, and training.
1. Phishing: the most frequent and effective threat
Phishing remains by far the number one threat to SMEs in 2025-2026. According to theCanadian Centre for Cyber Security's 2025-2026 National Cyber Threat Assessment, 60% of successful attacks begin with a fraudulent email. The reason is simple: it's the path of least resistance. Rather than trying to breach your technical defenses, a cybercriminal directly targets your employees.
What makes the threat particularly serious in 2026 is the widespread use of generative AI to create convincing, error-free, personalized emails that are difficult to distinguish from genuine ones. An untrained employee has a good chance of falling for it.
Recommended protection against phishing
How to protect yourself: Regular employee training, phishing simulations, advanced email filtering (Microsoft Defender for Office 365), and multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all accounts.
2. Ransomware: total paralysis in a few hours
Canada saw a 35% in ransomware attacks in 2024 compared to the previous year. Ransomware encrypts all your files and demands a ransom for their recovery. For a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME), this often means a complete shutdown of operations for several days, significant financial losses, and damage to its reputation with customers.
SMEs are prime targets because they have fewer resources dedicated to cybersecurity than large companies, but they hold data valuable enough to justify an attack.
Recommended ransomware protection
How to protect yourself: Regular backups tested and stored offline, advanced endpoint protection (EDR/XDR), systematic updates, and network segmentation to limit propagation.
3. Corporate Email Compromise (BEC)
Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud is a sophisticated form of phishing where the perpetrator impersonates an executive, supplier, or partner to trigger a fraudulent wire transfer or gain unauthorized access. In Canada, losses related to BEC fraud reached $67.3 million in 2024, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
This type of attack specifically targets employees who have the authority to make payments or change bank details. An email seemingly from the CEO requesting an urgent transfer "outside of normal procedures" is a classic red flag.
How to thwart BEC fraud
How to protect yourself: Double validation procedures for any transfer or change of bank details, training of financial teams, and systematic verification by telephone for any unusual request.
4. Incorrect cloud configurations
With the rapid adoption of cloud environments (Microsoft 365, Azure, OneDrive, SharePoint), misconfigurations have become one of the most frequent causes of data leaks. Files shared publicly by mistake, overly broad permissions, or poorly secured administrator accounts can expose sensitive data without the need for any external attack.
The problem is often invisible: no one knows that the data is exposed until an incident occurs or an audit reveals it.
How to protect yourself: Regular audit of cloud permissions and configurations, conditional access policies, review of external shares, and training of administrators on Microsoft 365 best practices.
5. Compromised passwords and the absence of MFA
Billions of username and password combinations circulate on the dark web as a result of data breaches in recent years. Cybercriminals use automated tools to test these combinations across hundreds of services simultaneously, a technique known as credential stuffing. If an employee reuses the same password across multiple services, a single breach can compromise several of your company's accounts.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is the most effective protection against this type of attack. Even if a password is compromised, the attacker cannot access the account without the second factor. Yet, many SMEs still haven't enabled MFA on all their critical accounts.
How to protect yourself: Mandatory MFA on Microsoft 365, email, VPN access, and all critical tools. Password manager for the entire team. Suspicious login alerts enabled.
Where do you start if you don't have a dedicated IT team?
If your SME doesn't have an internal cybersecurity resource, the recommended starting point is an audit of your current environment. This audit will provide a clear picture of your level of protection, identify priority gaps, and define a realistic action plan within your budget.
The most impactful measures to implement first are generally:
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These four measures do not require a large budget but drastically reduce your exposure to the most common threats.
Frequently asked questions about cybersecurity for SMEs in Montreal
What is the average cost of a cybersecurity incident for an SME?
The average cost of a data breach in Canada in 2025 was $6.98 million, according to IBM, but this figure includes large companies. For SMEs, direct costs (recovery, potential ransom, lost productivity) generally range from $50,000 to $500,000, not including reputational damage and customer loss.
Where do you start if you've never invested in cybersecurity?
The four most impactful measures to implement first are: enabling MFA on all Microsoft 365 accounts, implementing tested backups stored off-site, training employees on phishing, and keeping all devices up to date. These four actions cover the majority of the most common attack vectors.
Is cybersecurity mandatory for SMEs in Quebec?
Quebec's Law 25 on the protection of personal information imposes obligations on businesses that handle personal data: adequate security measures, incident reporting, and the appointment of a data protection officer. A small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) that experiences a data breach and lacks the required safeguards is subject to sanctions from the Commission d'accès à l'information (Access to Information Commission).
OKTO Solutions supports SMEs in Montreal and Quebec in implementing cybersecurity tailored to their specific needs. Explore our cybersecurity services for SMEs or contact us for an initial, no-obligation consultation.
To learn more, see Microsoft Defender for Small Businesses available on Microsoft Learn.