For many small and midsize businesses across Latin America, cybersecurity is no longer a future concern. It is a present operational risk.

Episode 368 of The 443: Security Simplified features WatchGuard’s Marc Laliberte and Corey Nachreiner in conversation with Paul Harris, CEO of BGLA and Futurity Corp, live from WatchGuard’s IMPACT Partner Conference in Tulum, Mexico. The discussion explores how cybersecurity challenges are evolving across Latin America, especially for SMBs navigating limited budgets, growing digital adoption, regulatory pressure, AI adoption, and persistent trust gaps with security providers.

The biggest takeaway is clear: cybersecurity maturity in LATAM is advancing, but SMBs need practical, trusted, and scalable security support to keep pace with modern threats.

Security Awareness Is Still One of LATAM’s Biggest Cybersecurity Gaps

One of the most pressing cybersecurity challenges in Latin America is still low security awareness.

As Harris explains in the episode, many people across the region are heavy users of technology and communications, but security awareness has not always kept pace with digital adoption. This is especially important in markets where mobile internet usage, digital transactions, and online services have grown rapidly.

That creates a dangerous imbalance. Businesses are using more digital services, sharing more data, and relying more heavily on connected systems, while many employees still lack the training to recognize phishing attempts, credential theft, weak password risks, or social engineering tactics.

This is not just a technical issue. It is a business resilience issue.

Cybersecurity awareness programs, employee education, and basic controls like multi-factor authentication can significantly reduce risk, especially for SMBs that may not have dedicated security teams.

Firewalls and Antivirus Are Not Enough for Modern SMB Cybersecurity

Many SMBs still believe that installing a firewall and maintaining an antivirus subscription means they are fully protected. Those tools matter, but they are no longer enough on their own.

Modern attacks increasingly target identities, users, and credentials. In the episode, Harris points to stolen credentials, weak passwords, and user-level attacks as examples of threats that have proven businesses wrong when they assume perimeter and endpoint protection alone can address every risk.

This is where MFA becomes one of the most valuable security investments an SMB can make. MFA helps reduce the impact of compromised credentials and adds a critical layer of protection when users make mistakes.

For MSPs, this creates a clear opportunity: help customers move from basic protection to layered security. That means combining network security, endpoint protection, identity security, monitoring, backups, and response into a more complete cybersecurity program.

Trust Is a Major Barrier Between SMBs and Security Providers

One of the most important themes from the episode was not about technology. It was about trust.

Harris explains that SMBs in LATAM can be hesitant to fully trust a security provider because doing so requires opening up their local networks, processes, devices, and systems. For many business owners, that can feel like losing control.

This mirrors the early days of cloud adoption, when companies were reluctant to move infrastructure outside their own walls. Over time, organizations learned that cloud services could improve scalability and resilience when managed properly. Cybersecurity services face a similar trust curve.

MSPs need to do more than sell products. They need to demonstrate value, prove reliability, and build long-term confidence with customers. That may include assessments, pilots, education sessions, transparent reporting, and ongoing support.

As Harris emphasizes, building trust is one of the most important factors in establishing long-term customer relationships. For MSPs, trust is not a soft benefit. It is the foundation for security adoption.

LATAM SMBs Face More Risk With Fewer Resources

The cybersecurity challenge for SMBs is also economic.

Harris notes that large corporations account for a major share of cybersecurity spending in LATAM, leaving SMBs with tighter budgets while still facing more attacks. That combination creates a difficult reality: SMBs have more risk, fewer resources, and less access to specialized cybersecurity talent.

Threat actors understand this. Smaller organizations are often targeted because they may have weaker defenses, fewer controls, and limited response capabilities.

This makes MSPs especially important in the region. MSPs can provide access to security expertise, managed services, and enterprise-grade protection in a way SMBs can actually operationalize.

For many businesses, the goal is not to build an internal security operations center. The goal is to get reliable protection, expert guidance, and faster response without adding unnecessary complexity.

AI Is Changing the Cybersecurity Conversation in LATAM

AI is also changing the cybersecurity conversation across Latin America, though Harris notes that the region may still be slightly behind the broader AI adoption curve. That could be an advantage if businesses use this moment to adopt AI carefully and with clear use cases.

AI can help security teams improve detection, analyze large volumes of information, summarize risks, and support compliance workflows. But it also introduces concerns around data exposure, confidentiality, prompt injection, and the risk of employees placing sensitive information into tools without fully understanding where that data goes.

The key is not to chase AI hype. It is to identify where AI can deliver measurable security and operational value.

For SMBs and MSPs, that means using AI where it is already embedded into trusted security platforms, applying it to practical workflows, and avoiding uncontrolled adoption of tools that may create new vulnerabilities.

MSPs Must Secure Themselves Too

MSPs are not just security providers. They are also potential targets.

Because MSPs manage critical services and customer environments, they carry significant responsibility. If an MSP is compromised, attackers may use that access to reach downstream customers.

That makes internal security, encrypted storage, immutable backups, strong access controls, and mature processes essential. Harris also highlights the value of frameworks like ISO 27001, especially as larger customers increasingly require stronger security governance from their providers.

For MSPs, security maturity is now a competitive differentiator. Customers want to know that their providers are not only protecting them, but also protecting themselves.

What Business Leaders in LATAM Should Prioritize Next

For SMB leaders in LATAM, the path forward does not need to start with complexity. It should start with the fundamentals.

Identify who is accountable for cybersecurity inside the business. Understand which systems and data matter most. Implement MFA. Improve employee awareness. Strengthen backups. Work with a trusted provider that can help manage risk across network, endpoint, identity, and cloud environments.

For MSPs, the message is equally clear: lead with trust, education, and outcomes. SMBs need security partners who can simplify complexity, reduce operational burden, and help them stay protected as threats evolve.

Cybersecurity in LATAM is not one-size-fits-all. Each country, market, and business has different levels of maturity, regulation, and budget. But across the region, one theme is consistent: SMBs need practical security that fits their reality.

That means layered protection, trusted expertise, and solutions designed to help businesses stay secure without slowing them down.

Listen to Episode 368 of The 443

Click here to listen to episode 368 of The 443: Security Simplified and learn how cybersecurity challenges are evolving for SMBs across Latin America.