NIS2 Top-7 Quick Wins for SMEs in 2026

Q: What comes first?

MFA + backup. These 2 prevent 80% of all serious incidents in SMEs.

Q: What does implementation cost?

Software costs EUR 0-2k (included in Microsoft 365 E3+). Personnel effort 25-40 person-days initially. Total EUR 5-15k for externalization.

Q: Is this sufficient for NIS2 compliance?

No, these are 7 of 22 mandatory building blocks. The NIS2 Kit contains the complete plan.

April 27, 2026· Category: NIS2· As of: 2026-05-02· Reading time: ~5 min

Practitioner note: This is not legal advice. For specific situations, consult a qualified attorney or compliance officer.

TL;DR

Seven measures that cover roughly 80% of NIS2 risk in 25-40 person-days
Start with MFA + backup: these two prevent 80% of severe incidents in SMEs
Tooling cost: EUR 0-2,000 (mostly included in Microsoft 365 E3+)
External effort: EUR 5,000-15,000 if the work is outsourced
Coverage: 7 of 22 mandatory NIS2 building blocks - a fast start, not the finish line

1. Enable MFA everywhere

Microsoft 365, Salesforce, AWS, Azure, every admin account. Authenticator apps are free; FIDO2 keys cost EUR 25-60 per user.

Effort: 4-8 hours. Impact: 99% reduction in account takeover.

2. Backup 3-2-1 plus immutable

3 copies, 2 media types, 1 off-site, plus immutable storage against ransomware (Veeam Hardened Repository, S3 Object Lock).

Effort: 2-3 days. Impact: ransomware recovery time drops from weeks to hours.

3. Document patch cycles

Critical <72h, high <1 week, medium <1 month. Tools: WSUS, Microsoft Defender, Tanium.

Effort: 1 day setup. Impact: -85% vulnerability window.

4. Phishing training and tests

Quarterly phishing simulations plus mandatory e-learning modules (KnowBe4, SoSafe).

Effort: 2-4 person-days per year. Impact: click-through rates fall from 22% to 4% within 12 months.

5. Supplier inventory

Per supplier: criticality, DPA in place, ISO 27001 status, last audit. Prioritize the top 20.

Effort: 3-5 person-days initial. Impact: Section 30(2) no. 4 covered.

6. Incident-response plan and tabletop

Crisis team, escalation, communications. Run a tabletop with the crisis team once a year.

Effort: 5 person-days initial + 1 person-day per year. Impact: response time roughly halved.

7. Asset inventory and classification

Hardware, software, data, cloud services. Tools: Lansweeper, Snipe-IT.

Effort: 5-10 person-days initial. Impact: prerequisite for risk management.

Summary

These seven measures are the highest-yield steps for SMEs. They map cleanly to Section 30 BSIG and produce visible audit evidence. Once these are in place, the next layer is governance (policies, board reporting, supplier audits) - the NIS2 Kit covers all 22 building blocks.

View NIS2 Kit →

Frequently Asked Questions

What comes first?