Verizon’s new Business Internet Secure bundle for small businesses taps Cisco and BlackBerry security services to help protect customers’ routers and connected devices.

Specifically, the internet security bundle uses Cisco Umbrella — the vendor’s cloud-delivered network security software — and its predictive technology to identify threats and prevent users from visiting malicious websites. The bundle also includes BlackBerry’s anti-virus software that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to predict and prevent threats. Additionally, small businesses can connect with a Verizon security tech expert for help with onboarding, setup, and end-user support.

A recent Verizon Business survey found 38% of small businesses moved to remote work because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This move increased businesses’ potential attack surface and made security a higher priority. In this new remote environment, employees use personal devices to access company networks via virtual private networks, which could expose sensitive information to potential cyberattacks.

The reliance on remote work, coupled with the fact only 21% of small to midsized businesses (SMBs) have implemented new technology to deal with security issues, highlights the risks for small businesses, said Aamir Hussain, SVP and chief product officer at Verizon Business, in a statement.

“Small businesses are making the same adjustments to remote work as larger enterprises, but with fewer internal technical resources to handle the transition,” Hussain said.

To support this transition, Verizon Business Internet Secure protects against threats at two points where attacks typically occur: employee devices with BlackBerry and the internet with Cisco Umbrella.

Even pre-pandemic, small businesses faced the same threats and potential damages from an attack, according to a Cisco security report based on a survey of almost 500 SMBs. The report also found that these companies take security preparedness every bit as seriously as their larger counterparts. And this matters because the security industry has traditionally been biased against SMBs, perpetuating the myth that they don’t prioritize cybersecurity, the report says.

“SMB executives, IT executives, security executives in these businesses have done their best to address the problem,” said Wolfgang Goerlich, advisory CISO at Cisco Duo in an earlier interview. What this means is that SMB IT and security leaders now have to ask themselves what’s next, he added. “Where do I go from here?”