SPECIAL EDITION BLOG POST: Santa, Shopping, and Smishing: A Guide to Avoiding Cyber-Scams this Holiday Season  

Santa’s elves may be putting in overtime hours right now, but no one is working harder than cyber criminals!  Phishing scams in particular tend to increase around the holidays as scammers exploit the rise in online shopping, charitable giving, and holiday-related communication.   Just how big is this problem?  According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center report from 2021, non-payment … Read More

Congratulations! Small and Medium Sized Businesses are Trending

We live in an era where people are busy, time is limited, and instant gratification is almost an expectation. If you were given a list of 1,000 potential clients and knew that the first 100 on the list met your ideal client profile and had budget and need of your services, who would you go after first? Would you go … Read More

Technology and Local Government Agencies

Local government agencies increasingly use technology to improve their services, enhance communication, and increase efficiency. Limited budgets force leaders to review every line item and get creative on how best to stretch dollars. Ironically, while the budgets for cities, towns, and school districts remain stagnant (or outright shrink), citizen’s reliance on these agencies has increased in recent years. So how … Read More

8 Cybersecurity Must Haves for Every Organization

I recently heard someone say, “Personal data is personal data, and it’s worth something to someone.” In today’s digital world, your data is your most valuable asset.  Organizations have a moral and legal obligation to protect customer data and an obligation to themselves and their employees to secure sales, marketing, and financial documents. “Cybersecurity protection” has become one of those … Read More

Local Legends: Why Municipal Governments are The Best (and The Worst)

Local governments are the most important government agency when examining citizens’ daily lives. They are also essential to the profitability of local businesses (which is why all of you business leaders need to keep reading). Does your business require employees? Does it need customers? Are you in need of advertising and marketing opportunities with your target demographic? Chances are, your … Read More

Case Study – P@s$w0rds at the U.S. Department of the Interior

Your password has expired. To change your password, press CTRL + ALT + DELETE and then click “change a password”  New Password: Password1234!  Confirm New Password: Password1234!  New Password: Password789!!  Confirm New Password: Password789!!  New Password: ThisIsStupid!@#  Confirm New Password: ThisIsStupid!@#  At this point, your head is about to explode. Do passwords really matter that much?   YES. Password strength and … Read More

Let Me Get The Door

Have you ever held the door for someone only to realize later you should have let it slam in their face? Metaphorically speaking, of course. Cybercriminals exploit “open doors” as the entry point for theirattacks and countless companies are keeping the doors WIDE OPEN. “People who have no weaknesses are terrible; there is no way of taking advantage of them.” … Read More

How Did This Happen?

It’s 6:03am and you receive an email, Teams message, and text message alerting you to an emergency meeting of all company leadership at 7:00am in the office. You arrive on time but remain caffeine deficient as your first cup of coffee has yet to be consumed. Once everyone is seated, looking far more disheveled than usual, the CEO shares that … Read More

Data Rich and Resource Poor: The Most Exploited Industry

If a hacker wanted to locate ALL the following information from a single source, where would they attack? If you guessed “a school database” you would be correct. Schools, both publicly funded and private, collect and retain a significant amount of data. For years, social media has been the focus of concern and debate among parents and educators for good … Read More

Cyberattacks and Pickleball: A Study of Rapid Increase

What do pickleball and cybercrime have in common?   According to statistics released by USA Pickleball, the number of Americans participating in the sport rose 85% from 2021 to 2023 making it the fastest growing sport in the US. During this same two-year period, data breaches increased 72% making cybercrime the fastest growing crime in the US. While the rapid increase … Read More