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11/10/2025 (c)Larisa Breton All Rights Reserved. No portion of this blog may be copied or re-used without the author's written permission. To improve your small business' cybersecurity, you have to start somewhere. To go from zero to one, you need to use cybersecurity controls . But what are they, are they super technical, do you need to understand IT to do them? Nope. Read on. You're a SHERO - a Small Business Harnessing and Empowered by Real-life Opportunity . SHEROs, you c

10/31/2025 (c)Larisa Breton All Rights Reserved. No portion of this blog may be copied or re-used without the author's written permission. All of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, I've been posting 3 easy tips across a few categories of cybersecurity. Today, on the 31st - Halloween - I'm being less specific, and posting from the heart. The scariest thing that can happen on Halloween is that you get brought down by a cybersecurity problem that could have been avoided. Easily avoi

Spooky Cybersecurity Awareness October! 10/9/2025 (c)Larisa Breton All Rights Reserved - No portion of this content may be copied or reproduced without express permission & attribution. Some hackers try to connect to your Wi-Fi without permission. The FBI warns this can lead to spying or ransomware attacks. You are a SHERO  — S mall-business H arnessing & E mpowered by R eal-life O pportunity — and guarding your inbox is your first line of defense. Try these simple tips: Turn

Spooky Cybersecurity Awareness October! 10/9/2025 (c)Larisa Breton All Rights Reserved - No portion of this content may be copied or reproduced without express permission & attribution. According to LastPass’s 2024 Password Safety Report, 50% of small businesses admit to sharing passwords between employees, increasing vulnerability to ransomware and data breaches. You are a SHERO  — S mall-business H arnessing & E mpowered by R eal-life O pportunity — and guarding your inbox

Spooky Cybersecurity Awareness October! 10/9/2025 (c)Larisa Breton All Rights Reserved - No portion of this content may be copied or reproduced without express permission & attribution. Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks accounted for $2.7 billion in losses last year, reports the FBI. In these scams, hackers impersonate executives or vendors to trick staff into wiring money or revealing sensitive info. You are a SHERO  — S mall-business H arnessing & E mpowered by R eal-

Spooky Cybersecurity Awareness October! 10/10/2025 (c)Larisa Breton All Rights Reserved - No portion of this content may be copied or reproduced without express permission & attribution. Unpatched software vulnerabilities are exploited in 60% of ransomware attacks, says the 2025 Varonis Cybersecurity Report. Keeping software updated closes easy hacker entry points! You are a SHERO  — S mall-business H arnessing & E mpowered by R eal-life O pportunity — and ensuring YOU stay i

Spooky Cybersecurity Awareness October! 10/10/2025 (c)Larisa Breton All Rights Reserved - No portion of this content may be copied or reproduced without express permission & attribution. Having backups isn’t enough — you must ensure they actually work. IDC reports that 25% of backup restores fail when tested due to corruption or incomplete files. So to put the math another way, if you took the effort to perform backups but you're only 75% sure they're going to save your busin

Spooky Cybersecurity Awareness October! 10/10/2025 (c)Larisa Breton All Rights Reserved - No portion of this content may be copied or reproduced without express permission & attribution. Sharing your business Wi-Fi with guests or customers can expose you to cyber risks. According to the National Cyber Security Alliance, having a separate guest Wi-Fi reduces the chance of a cyberattack. You are a SHERO  — S mall-business H arnessing & E mpowered by R eal-life O pportunity — an

Spooky Cybersecurity Awareness October! 10/10/2025 (c)Larisa Breton All Rights Reserved - No portion of this content may be copied or reproduced without express permission & attribution. Microsoft’s security report shows that enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) blocks 99.9% of account compromise attacks. Despite this, a surprising number of small businesses don’t enable MFA on their critical accounts such as (drumroll) EMAIL. You are a SHERO  — S mall-business H arness

Spooky Cybersecurity Awareness October! 10/9/2025 (c)Larisa Breton All Rights Reserved - No portion of this content may be copied or reproduced without express permission & attribution. Email remains the primary entry point for cyberattacks. According to Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, 95% of cyber breaches start with phishing emails. The smallest businesses are especially vulnerable because of less mature email security controls. The problem isn't that you

Spooky Cybersecurity Month! 10/8/2025 (c) Larisa Breton. No part of this content may be copied or quoted without attribution. Ransomware Monday: Avoid Dodgy Emails, Prevent Ransomware Phishing emails cause 95% of cybersecurity incidents, says Verizon’s 2024 Data Breach Report. Ransomware attacks via phishing increased 200% over three years, especially against small businesses. You are a SHERO  — S mall-business H arnessing & E mpowered by R eal-life O pportunity — and securin

Spooky Cybersecurity Month! 10/5/2025 (c) Larisa Breton. No part of this content may be copied or quoted without attribution. Backup Friday: Why Backups Are a Small Biz’s Best Defense Ransomware attackers often demand ransom, but the real danger (I mean, besides going out of business) is losing your data. The good news is, the 2024 Sophos State of Ransomware Report says businesses with data backups had a 70% chance of recovering without paying a ransom. You are a SHERO — S

Spooky Cybersecurity Month! 10/1/2025 (c) Larisa Breton. No part of this content may be copied or quoted without attribution. Poorly protected Wi-Fi networks are one of the easiest ways hackers get in and mess your small biz up. The National Cyber Security Alliance reports that over 40% of cyberattacks on small businesses exploit weak Wi-Fi security. No Wi-Fi, no do. You are a SHERO — S mall-business H arnessing & E mpowered by R eal-life O pportunity — and securing your Wi-

10/2/2025 (c)Larisa Breton All Rights Reserved. Quoting from this material must contain attribution, and may not be re-used without author permission.. Break away from the crowd, make it harder to be hacked, and use these 3 steps to protect your passwords - a small business cybersecurity Must-Do. SplashData's 2024 Worst Passwords report reveals that over 40% of small business accounts still use weak passwords like “123456” or “password.” These guessable passwords make it easy

Spooky Cybersecurity Month! 10/1/2025 (c) Larisa Breton. No part of this content may be copied or quoted without attribution. It seems like the entire business world's goal is to terrify itself -- and you -- about cybersecurity this month. They're using Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) to sell security products that don't work on your systems and you can't afford anyway. You're no stranger to FUD. You probably felt all that when you decided to start your own business when..