Now more than ever, we rely on technology to run our businesses and our lives. When the “Internet goes down,” most businesses come to a standstill until they are back online, costing thousands in lost productivity and sales. A perfect example would be the AT&T outage that happened a few weeks ago, when an estimated 1.7 million customers, including small business owners, lost service.

Horror stories of people getting scammed out of hundreds or even thousands of dollars aren’t in short supply. As we scroll through the news app from the comfort of our couch, reading these accounts of how a stupid so-and-so opened an obviously suspicious attachment and a hacker drained their bank account, it’s easy to say things like “I’d never fall for that!” But would you?

The sobering truth is that, under the right conditions and with the right threat, anyone can fall victim to a financially devastating scam.

Tax season is around the corner, which means so are tax scams. Without fail, every year, individuals and business owners alike fall victim to tax scams, resulting in the loss of substantial amounts of money and sensitive personal data. According to the Better Business Bureau, taxpayers lost $5.7 billion due to tax scams and fraud in 2022 alone.

What you are about to read is a real story showing you how a business can be devastated by cybercriminals in the blink of an eye. Most importantly, I’ll share several ways this could have been avoided. Make sure to forward this to anyone who might be making online payments and, better yet, your entire staff.

Each year on February 1st, we celebrate Change Your Password Day. While it’s not a holiday that gets you off work, it serves as a good opportunity each year to do a quick check-in and make sure you’re using strong passwords that will keep your accounts protected.

Is your company looking to hire an IT firm? Unfortunately, unless you’re tech-savvy or experienced with IT contracts, there can be hidden costs that you wouldn’t expect or know to look for. While it can sound appealing to go for the cheapest firm, that decision can end up costing you more in the long run due to carve-outs and hidden fees in the contract.

Long gone are the days when phones were simple devices used to make calls. Today our phones are advanced, handheld supercomputers that can do everything from pay a bill to order lunch for delivery to edit videos and more.

But with more capabilities come more risks.

The year of 2023 marked a significant turning point for cyber-attacks with the introduction and wide proliferation of AI (artificial intelligence), now in the hands of people who wish to do you harm and who are actively using it to find faster and easier ways to rob you, extort you or simply burn your business to the ground.

Have you ever searched for a specific website but landed on a completely different one after misspelling a letter or two in the URL? This deceptive tactic is known as cybersquatting. This practice not only jeopardizes the online presence of businesses and individuals but also poses a significant challenge in the ever-evolving landscape of cyber security.

If you’re hoping to cut costs and boost profitability in 2024 without compromising productivity or efficiency, assessing the technology you use in day-to-day operations is one of the first areas in your business to examine.

We’ve created a road map that you can use to go step-by-step through your organization to determine if and where you can be saving money or utilizing new or better technology to improve operational efficiency.