The 2025 Reality Check: Why State Hackers Want Your Small Business Network (And How to Stop Them for Free)

A Technical Guide to Hardening Edge Devices, AppLocker, and Windows Identity Against State-Sponsored Threats

If you still believe your organization is too small to be targeted by nation-state actors, 2025 will be a wake-up call. The landscape has shifted. You are no longer just a target for ransomware revenue; you are now viewed as a strategic “hop point” in a global geopolitical game.

Recent intelligence regarding Volt Typhoon, APT31, and LockBit 5.0 confirms a dangerous trend: adversaries are actively recruiting Small and Medium Business (SMB) infrastructure to serve as “Operational Relay Boxes” (ORBs) or to piggyback into the supply chains of critical infrastructure.

The good news? You don’t need a seven-figure budget to fight back. By using “Asymmetric Defense”, leveraging tools you likely already own, you can harden your environment against these advanced threats.

Here is your battle plan for 2025.