If you’re a small business using one of the “Big 3” cloud platforms — Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or AWS — you might think you’re playing it safe. But in 2025, that assumption may actually increase your risk.
Here’s why:
You’re Collateral Damage in a Cyber War
Nation-state actors aren’t targeting your 8-person company directly. They’re aiming at billion-dollar giants — defense contractors, Fortune 500s, critical infrastructure — many of whom use the same cloud providers you do.
But when those cyberattacks hit, you’re standing in the blast radius.
If a state-sponsored group targets Microsoft and you’re using Office365:
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Your mailbox latency goes up.
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Your OneDrive sync fails.
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Your Teams login is suddenly “under review.”
You’re not the target, but you’re definitely in the way.
Obscurity Is a Layer of Defense
A local or regional provider isn’t interesting to a nation-state attacker.
Their systems aren’t widely documented, reverse-engineered, or plugged into global botnets. They don’t have billions of devices phoning home. That makes you harder to find and less valuable to exploit.
Most automated attacks and “script kiddies” target mass-market platforms with:
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Known IP ranges
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Public-facing login portals
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Predictable app signatures
Using a smaller, custom or boutique hosting platform?
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Your email server may not be on any blacklist.
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Your login page isn’t scraping Azure AD.
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Your web fingerprint is weird enough to ignore.
And that’s a good thing.
Local Doesn’t Mean Less Secure — It Means Less Exposed
Smaller providers often:
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Know exactly where your data lives
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Don’t overextend their infrastructure
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Offer direct support instead of AI chat queues
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Can firewall, monitor, and tune systems just for you
It’s not about “beating Microsoft’s budget.” It’s about not being caught in Microsoft’s blast radius.
If you’re a small business looking to stay secure, sometimes the smaller pond is the smarter place to swim.
Rethink your cloud strategy. Go local. Stay obscure. Be harder to hit.