MDR · 5 MIN READ · SCOUT SCHOLES · SEP 19, 2025 · TAGS: Guidance
TL;DR
- Technical myths create dangerous vulnerabilities, and those false beliefs leave organizations exposed to attacks that bypass these single-layer protections.
- Small businesses are prime targets; they’re not invisible.
- Human responsibility goes beyond IT departments. It makes cybersecurity everyone’s responsibility and a top priority for the entire company, not just for individual teams.
When cybersecurity professionals gather on Reddit to discuss the biggest misconceptions in their field, the frustration is palpable. These myths are causing real-world damage, leaving businesses vulnerable to devastating attacks and individuals exposed to identity theft.
Let’s dive into the cybersecurity myths Reddit’s security community keeps encountering, and why believing them could be inviting hackers through your front door.
The HTTPS fallacy: When that green lock becomes a false prophet
The myth: “If I see HTTPS and the padlock icon, the website is completely secure.”
The reality: HTTPS only encrypts the connection between your browser and the server—that’s it. As one cybersecurity professional put it: “Yes, this protects the data in transit, but it does nothing to protect the site.”
It won’t stop SQL injections, cross-site scripting, or other web-based attacks. Scammers now routinely obtain SSL certificates for malicious websites, knowing users trust the padlock icon.
What to do: Look beyond the padlock. Verify website legitimacy through multiple indicators and remain cautious with sensitive information regardless of SSL status.
The small business invisibility cloak doesn’t exist
The myth: “My business is too small to be targeted by hackers.”
The reality: Small businesses aren’t flying under the radar—they’re in hackers’ sweet spot. The Verizon 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report revealed that small businesses accounted for 3,049 of data breaches, and large businesses only racked up 982 breaches. Why struggle to hack Walmart when you can easily access a poorly secured local shop?
Reddit users see this daily: small WordPress sites hit with ransomware, local restaurants losing customer data, and family shops becoming fraud victims.
Bad actors love small businesses because they often have weaker security infrastructure, limited cybersecurity budgets, lack of dedicated IT personnel, valuable customer data, and less sophisticated backup systems…or any combination of these limiting factors.
What to do: Invest in basic cybersecurity measures proportional to your risk—not enterprise-level solutions, but take security seriously from day one.
The “we’ll fix it later” time bomb
The myth: “We’ll address that security vulnerability in the next update/version.”
The reality: As one Reddit user stated: “It’s a critical security vulnerability on a public-facing website, we will fix it in 2.0.” “Later” often becomes “never,” and cyber criminals don’t wait for your development schedule. This creates false control while leaving the door wide open.
What to do: Implement vulnerability management that prioritizes security fixes based on risk, not convenience. Critical vulnerabilities should trigger emergency patches.
The password rotation controversy
The myth: “Regular password changes every 30-90 days make us more secure.”
The reality: Strong passwords, password managers, and multi-factor authentication work better than frequent password changes. As one Redditor noted: “People love cherry-picking the parts of NIST guidance they want to do while ignoring the harder parts.”
Frequent changes often lead to weaker passwords (Password123 becomes Password124) and user frustration.
What to do: Focus on password strength and uniqueness first, implement multi-factor authentication wherever possible, and use password managers.
The cloud security mirage
The myth: “My application resides in [insert large cloud provider here], so our security is top notch/bank grade.”
The reality: That’s great—until someone finds your S3 bucket full of customer data with public read permissions. Cloud providers secure the infrastructure, but you’re responsible for securing your applications, data, and configurations. Misconfigured cloud storage has leaked billions of records.
What to do: Understand your cloud provider’s shared responsibility model. Invest in cloud security training and regularly audit your configurations.
The “I have nothing worth stealing” delusion
The myth: “I don’t have anything valuable that hackers would want.”
The reality: Data collection is a multibillion-dollar industry. Your personal information, combined with others’, creates valuable datasets for cybercriminals. Even social media access lets hackers impersonate you and scam your contacts. Your data can be weaponized through identity theft and targeted phishing.
What to do: Follow great security practices for every account, even seemingly unimportant ones. Make security a habit.
The antivirus silver bullet fantasy
The myth: “We have antivirus software, so we’re protected from cyber threats.”
The reality: Antivirus is essential but far from sufficient. Modern threats—phishing, social engineering, and zero-day attacks—often bypass traditional antivirus. Any org can be breached despite having antivirus on all devices when an employee’s email is compromised through phishing, for example.
What to do: Implement defense in depth with multiple security layers: endpoint protection, email filtering, network monitoring, employee training, and backup systems.
The “it’s only IT’s job” myth
The myth: “Cybersecurity is the IT department’s responsibility.”
The reality: Human error causes most breaches—74% involved a human element including social engineering, errors, or misuse. The most sophisticated security systems can be defeated by one employee clicking a malicious link or sharing credentials over the phone.
Also, if we’re being honest, that mindset doesn’t work for any team in a successful business, so it wouldn’t make sense to think that way about your SecOps teams, either.
What to do: Make cybersecurity everyone’s responsibility with clear policies, regular training, and awareness programs that build a culture of security.
The Mac/Linux immunity myth
The myth: “Macs and Linux systems don’t get malware, so we don’t need security measures.”
The reality: These systems aren’t immune. Research found that 71% of iOS apps were leaking secrets, with plaintext credentials exposed in app code. If you’re connected to the internet, you’re a target. No OS gets a free pass.
What to do: Implement appropriate security measures regardless of operating system (…duh).
The strong password panacea
The myth: “A strong password is all I need to protect my accounts.”
The reality: Strong passwords are critical, but insufficient alone. They can be compromised through phishing, social engineering, or brute-force attacks. Even strong passwords become useless if you reuse it across sites and one gets breached.
What to do: Use unique, strong passwords for every account and enable multi-factor authentication for maximum security. And we understand remembering all those passwords can suck–that’s what a good password manager is for.
The “we’ve never been breached” overconfidence
The myth: “We’ve never experienced a security incident, so our current measures must be working.”
The reality: Hacking is a silent crime—criminals want to remain unnoticed as long as possible. Many organizations discover breaches months or years later. The absence of known incidents might indicate weak detection capabilities, not strong security.
What to do: Implement monitoring and detection systems (pssst, that’s Expel), conduct regular security assessments, and assume you will eventually face an attack.
Building real security
Cybersecurity myths create false security, leaving businesses exposed to significant risks. At minimum, your org’s IT and SecOps teams should:
- Assume you’re a target regardless of size or industry.
- Implement multiple security layers rather than relying on single solutions.
- Make cybersecurity everyone’s responsibility with proper training and policies.
- Plan for incidents rather than hoping they won’t happen.
- Stay informed about evolving threats and update defenses accordingly.
- Regularly test and assess your environment to identify vulnerabilities before attackers do.
The cost of prevention is always lower than recovery. The average data breach can cost millions of dollars, including detection, escalation, notification, lost business, reputation damage, fines, and legal fees.
Remember: In cybersecurity, paranoia isn’t a bug—it’s a feature. Stay skeptical, stay secure, and don’t believe the myths that could leave you exposed.
