Background: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) occupy a central role in employment generation, innovation, and economic dynamism, yet they remain disproportionately exposed to cyber risk because of constrained resources, limited formal governance, fragmented technical infrastructures, and rapidly evolving regulatory demands (World Bank, 2015; Gherghina et al., 2020; Heidt et al., 2019). The digitalization of SME operations, supply chain connectivity, cloud dependence, and growing exposure to disclosure and compliance pressures have transformed cybersecurity from a purely technical issue into a strategic, organizational, and relational concern (Proudfoot et al., 2024; Wallis & Dorey, 2024).

Objective: This article develops an integrated conceptual framework explaining how SMEs can build cybersecurity resilience through the interaction of internal capabilities, socio-technical alignment, relational governance, institutional legitimacy, and adaptive compliance under emerging regulatory regimes.

Methodology: A qualitative theory-building design was employed using integrative literature synthesis and conceptual analysis grounded in design-oriented reasoning. The study draws on the resource-based view, dynamic capabilities, socio-technical systems theory, relational governance, signaling theory, and institutional theory to interpret the cybersecurity challenges and strategic options facing SMEs (Barney, 1991; Teece et al., 1997; Bostrom & Heinen, 1977; Poppo & Zenger, 2002; Connelly et al., 2011; DiMaggio & Powell, 1983). The research logic follows a problem-centered, framework-development approach informed by action-oriented and design science perspectives (Castro et al., 2025).

Results: The analysis shows that SME cybersecurity resilience depends not merely on technology adoption but on the orchestration of managerial cognition, governance formalization, trust-based collaboration, risk disclosure, regulatory interpretation, secure data management, and continuous learning. The study identifies six interdependent pillars of resilience: strategic capability formation, socio-technical integration, adaptive governance, ecosystem trust, regulatory readiness, and intelligent security augmentation. It further demonstrates that compliance-driven security is insufficient unless translated into operational routines, organizational culture, and partner-level coordination.

Conclusion: Cybersecurity in SMEs should be understood as a dynamic organizational capability and a source of competitive legitimacy rather than as a narrow cost center. The article contributes a multi-theoretical framework and offers implications for SME leaders, policymakers, technology providers, and researchers concerned with digital resilience, responsible innovation, and long-term competitiveness.