Your team logs in one morning to find your scheduling system unavailable. There’s no breach notification, just locked files and a message explaining that access will be restored after payment. The entry point turns out to be an old remote access tool that was never removed after a software change.
Running a small or mid-sized business (SMB) today means navigating an environment where technology evolves faster than most teams can finish a quarterly roadmap. One month, you’re upgrading a billing system; the next, you’re figuring out why an AI chatbot suddenly matters to your workflow.
Thanksgiving is a season of gratitude, generosity, and, for businesses, a boost in sales. But along with the hustle and holiday cheer comes a heightened risk of scams that take advantage of busy operations. Between seasonal hires, increased transaction volume, and year-end pressures, fraudsters see an opportunity to strike.
When you think about cybersecurity, it’s easy to picture complex software and high-tech tools. But in most small and medium businesses (SMBs), the first line of defense isn’t a piece of hardware — it’s the people who notice when something doesn’t look right.
Even in good times, scammers circle around generosity. But during the holidays, when giving increases and emotions run high, they truly pounce.
A few years ago, a massive telefunding fraud was shut down after authorities discovered that the perpetrators had made 1.3 billion deceptive donation calls and collected over $110 million from unsuspecting donors.
Every year, there’s a new flood of apps, gadgets and “game-changing” technology. Most of it feels more like a distraction than a breakthrough. But this year, a few simple tools actually lived up to the hype – saving small business owners time, money and the occasional headache.
Last December, an accounts payable clerk at a midsize company got an urgent text from her “CEO”: Buy $3,000 worth of Apple gift cards for clients, scratch the backs and e-mail the codes. It sounded odd, but the request came from the boss’s name, and it was peak holiday chaos.
Every October, Cybersecurity Awareness Month highlights the importance of protecting digital systems — but many small businesses brush it off, assuming they're too insignificant to be targeted. That mindset is risky. Smaller operations often lack dedicated security staff or the budget for robust defenses, making them prime targets for cybercriminals who exploit weak passwords, unpatched software, and untrained employees.
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which makes it the perfect time to step back and look at how your business is protecting itself from today’s biggest digital threats. Here’s the reality: Most cyberattacks don’t happen because of some elite hacker. They happen because of sloppy everyday habits – like an employee clicking a bad link, skipping an update or reusing a password that’s already been stolen in another breach…
In 2020, a family in Mississippi woke up to a nightmare. Their eight-year-old daughter heard a man’s voice coming from her bedroom, but it wasn’t her father. A hacker had gained access to their Ring camera and was speaking to her through the device….
