Get Ready for NIS2: Your Compliance Checklist with Syneto and Orizon

NIS2 for SMEs: Checklist, Obligations, and Solutions with Syneto and Orizon | 2025 Guide

The NIS2 directive, in effect across Europe since January 17, 2023, and in Italy since October 2024, marks a turning point in cybersecurity for strategic sectors. Although initially designed for large enterprises, it has both direct and indirect impacts on SMEs, suppliers, and partners of critical companies.

The regulation sets specific deadlines between 2025 and 2026, mandates incident reporting within 24 hours, and requires the implementation of structured technical and organizational measures.

Compliance is not just a formal requirement — it’s a competitive advantage.

NIS2 Deadlines to Mark on Your Calendar

NIS2 outlines a phased timeline, and while many SMEs are not directly obligated, meeting these deadlines can become essential for maintaining business relationships with larger companies or participating in public tenders.

(Source: Cybersecurity 360)

Even if you haven’t registered your company yet, getting ahead of the deadlines helps you become familiar with the ACN platform and align your processes with future requirements.

Additionally, it may be useful to ask yourself the following questions:
Have I established a clearly defined incident reporting plan within the company?
Have I identified the critical assets and the most significant vulnerabilities?

Beyond NIS2: Other Regulations to Consider

Regulatory convergence means that compliance with one directive can support adherence to others. That’s why a unified strategy is essential.

In addition to NIS2, every SME should also take into account:

• Cyber Resilience Act (CRA): Security requirements for digital devices (effective from 2027).
• GDPR: Protection of personal data, with breach notification required within 72 hours.
• DORA: Obligations for ICT providers in the financial sector.
• Law 109/2021: Establishment of the ACN and national standards.

The Main Challenges for Italian SMEs

1. Supply Chain Risks:
   NIS2 requires monitoring the entire value chain, not just direct suppliers. An upstream anomaly can quickly cascade throughout the system.
   
2. Lack of a Structured Security Approach:
   According to the 2024 SME Cyber Index by Generali and Confindustria, the average cybersecurity maturity score is 52/100. Most SMEs lack a structured approach to security. For many small and medium-sized enterprises, cybersecurity and NIS2 topics are still not well understood.
   (Source: National Cybersecurity Agency)
   
3. Limited Knowledge and Scarce Resources:
   Dedicated teams or in-house technical expertise are often missing. Training and outsourcing become critical elements for achieving compliance.
   
4. Increasingly Complex IT Environments:
   Multicloud, remote work, and IoT all contribute to an expanded attack surface. This complexity makes effective security management more difficult and complicates compliance with requirements such as the 24-hour incident notification rule.

How Syneto and Orizon Simplify Your Compliance

Syneto offers an all-in-one IT platform that integrates:

• Data Protection
• Disaster Recovery
• Data Management
• Virtualization

Orizon specializes in:

• Risk assessments and audits aligned with NIS2, GDPR, and DORA directives
• Managed security services (SOC, EASM)
• Employee training and awareness programs
• IT policy and governance to build a secure, compliant environment

Together, Syneto and Orizon deliver a complete solution:

Secure infrastructure + strategic management = regulatory compliance.

NIS2 Requirements vs Technologies and Services

NIS2 Compliance Checklist for SMEs:
How to Start (and Stay) on the Right Track

Complying with NIS2 doesn’t just mean installing security solutions — it requires an integrated approach involving people, processes, and technologies.

Here’s a practical checklist with concrete suggestions to help you address each key area.

1. Implement a Fast Disaster Recovery Solution

Goal: Minimize downtime after an attack or system failure.

How to do it:

• Identify which critical systems need to be restored first and which data must be replicated and retained.
• Define an RTO (Recovery Time Objective) — the maximum acceptable time to restore a service (e.g., 15 minutes) without affecting business continuity.
  Also define an RPO (Recovery Point Objective) — the maximum acceptable age of the last valid backup (e.g., 1 hour).
• Schedule regular recovery tests to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan.

Practical Tip: By implementing a Syneto solution, you can restore your systems in just a few minutes thanks to Rapid Data Revival™ technology.

2. Protect Your Backups Against Ransomware

Goal: Ensure the integrity and accessibility of your backups.

How to do it:

Using technologies like Immutable Recovery Points™ and Logical Air-Gap from Syneto, backup copies remain secure, protected, and instantly available — significantly reducing the business impact of ransomware attacks.

Practical Tip: Automate backup integrity checks at least once a week.

3. Ensure Secure and Encrypted Data Replication

Goal: Ensure continuity and security even in distributed environments.

How to do it:

With Syneto’s Smart Replication technology, you can achieve secure and efficient data replication between Syneto systems, even over low-bandwidth public internet connections.

Practical Tip: Make sure replication targets are also protected by strong authentication systems.

4. Easily Manage IT Vendors and the Supply Chain

Goal: Reduce complexity and enhance supply chain security.

How to do it:

• Centralize data and policy management on a single platform, such as Syneto’s integrated solution, which not only simplifies operations but also reduces overall infrastructure risks and costs.
• Minimize the number of non-essential third-party vendors to limit attack surfaces.

Practical Tip: Request a security audit or assessment from every strategic vendor at least once a year.

5. Implement Strong User Authentication Measures

Goal: Prevent unauthorized access.

How to do it:

• Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all administrative and critical accounts.
• Consider adopting continuous authentication (CA) systems to monitor user behavior in real time.

Practical Tip: With built-in security features like MFA and CA, Syneto platforms help protect your business from unauthorized access, insider threats, and security breaches — ensuring strict identity verification at all times.

(Source: Whitepaper – Your Checklist for NIS2 Directive Compliance)

Prepare Today to Face Tomorrow

Waiting until the last minute to comply with NIS2 can expose your SME to several risks, including:

• Disruption of partnerships with more structured clients and suppliers
• Exclusion from public tenders and procurement opportunities
• Reputational and legal damage in the event of cybersecurity breaches

Investing today in digital resilience, integrated compliance, and ongoing training not only helps you avoid fines and reduce the cost of potential crisis management — it also supports your competitiveness by strengthening market trust in your company.

Don’t wait for the final deadline. Act now.
Contact us for a free consultation: together, Syneto and Orizon can help you turn compliance into a strategic advantage.