Directive Blogs

The world of cybersecurity is in constant flux, demanding that organizations continually reassess their defensive strategies. A traditional focus solely on preventing breaches, while important, is proving insufficient in the face of sophisticated and persistent threats. As highlighted in a recent Illumio podcast episode, "Trust & Resilience: The New Frontlines of Cybersecurity," the very foundation of digital interaction—trust—has ironically become a primary vulnerability exploited by attackers. This necessitates a fundamental shift in perspective. 

If you're like many small and medium-sized business owners, you're juggling countless online passwords… for email, banking, software, supplier portals, and more. It's overwhelming! This often leads to using simple or repeated passwords, which unfortunately opens the door to cyber threats like data breaches, a serious risk for any business. Thankfully, there's a straightforward solution: a password manager.

Security should be at the top of any business owner’s list of priorities. While cybersecurity often gets the spotlight, physical security is just as critical; after all, if someone can walk in and steal your equipment, all the firewalls in the world won’t help you. Fortunately, technology has made it easier than ever to protect your business from physical threats. Here are some physical security technologies small businesses can use to keep their assets safe.

We all know companies collect a lot of data. After all, your business is no exception to this rule, and you likely collect significant consumer data to facilitate operations. But if you get the itch to protect your personal privacy (and you should), there are ways to limit how much advertisers, criminals, and other companies can gain access to. Here are just a couple of ways.

Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is a common approach for businesses that want to take advantage of mobile technology to kickstart productivity. Instead of supplying each individual employee with company-owned devices, businesses allow employees to use their own devices for work-related purposes. While this is great on the budget, it’s only really effective (and safe) if the employee prioritizes security on their devices; otherwise, it’s a liability.

Phishing and email-based attacks are now the #1 method cybercriminals use to infiltrate business networks. These deceptive tactics are growing more sophisticated by the day—tricking employees into clicking malicious links, downloading harmful attachments, or handing over sensitive data.

No matter how advanced your IT infrastructure is, it only takes one uninformed click to compromise your entire system.

Every year, new malware, ransomware, and general cyber-nonsense emerge from the depths of the internet, evolving like a villain in a sci-fi movie. One moment, you’re minding your own business, and the next, your company’s data is held hostage and someone is demanding you pay them in Bitcoin.

Antivirus is a staple security solution for businesses and everyday PC users, but have you ever considered how it works? By thinking through some of the details, you might gain a greater understanding of how antivirus works, what it does, and why you need to keep it updated. Today, we’re going to discuss just that, starting from square one.

The Android operating system periodically receives updates and patches detailed in online publications called Android Security Bulletins. In the March 2025 edition, Google announced that 43 malicious bugs had been resolved, two of which were zero-day vulnerabilities.

Let’s talk about how to implement these fixes and why this is a practice that should reach every aspect of your business’ IT.

It should come as no surprise that cybersecurity is a big challenge for businesses and individuals alike. The problem: life pretty much revolves around being online these days, so there’s no avoiding it. Therefore, it’s your responsibility to ensure that any data you collect from your customers, employees, and other key stakeholders in your business is well-protected, otherwise you will face severe consequences.

We will always reinforce how critical it is for everyone in any workplace to have a grasp of cybersecurity best practices, regardless of their role or responsibilities. However, based on a survey conducted by UK-based cybersecurity firm Ramsac, this baseline is not being met by a long shot.

Why do we say this? Simple: this survey revealed that one in three adults failed a cybersecurity test designed for 11-year-olds.

We’ve all had to confirm we’re not a computer when attempting to log into an account. This is the core purpose of what once was called CAPTCHA… the Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. However, it seems surprising that computers don’t easily overcome these simple-seeming tests.

Let’s dig into why these simple tests actually are effective at differentiating between human users and automated bots.

In the United States, tax season is prime time for hackers to take advantage of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. They do this through all kinds of nefarious activities, such as phishing attacks conducted through text messages and emails claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service. If you want to avoid getting scammed this tax season, be sure to keep the following tips in mind to stay safe while you conduct your typical tax routines.

Despite some of the headlines that we saw last year, it wasn’t all bad news regarding ransomware. Critically, 2024 saw ransomware payments plummet by hundreds of millions of dollars… despite many large-scale attacks and one record-breaking whaling payment of $75 million by one victim.

This is undeniably great to hear… but with that in mind, we cannot let ourselves slip into complacency.

If you are going to take away any information about cybersecurity, these four facts are the most important. More importantly, taking them seriously will likely help you and your business stay out of serious danger, avoid data loss, and prevent massive unexpected loss in revenue.

Windows 10 is rapidly reaching the end of its secure lifetime, with support scheduled to end on October 14, 2025. While this doesn’t mean that the OS will no longer be available to use, it does mean that it will no longer be able to be safely and securely used—a critically important distinction.

That is, however, unless you pay for the Windows 10 Extended Security Updates… but is this a feasible or maintainable strategy for businesses?

Text messages are great. They’re a quick and effective means for us all to communicate. 

Unfortunately, this does bring some downsides, too… namely, they’re a relatively simple means for a scammer to spread their attacks. Let’s discuss why this is so dangerous and how you can identify and avoid these threats.

Running a business is already confusing enough without worrying about security at all times. Whether you’re a small business owner or a multi-level enterprise, security is just as important for all the same reasons. Today, we want to share a couple of security strategies you can implement today to feel better about the current state of your infrastructure moving forward.

Phishing is a common trick where hackers pretend to be someone you trust to steal your personal information. For example, they might send an email that looks like it's from your bank, asking you to verify your account details. Here's why it's so effective.

Phishing is the most common way hackers “get you,” so /to speak, but have you ever wondered why it’s so effective? Today, we want to explore the reasons why phishing schemes are so enticing to even the most security-conscious individuals out there. You might be surprised to know that even security professionals can fall prey to these types of attacks, and for very good reasons.