When something online is labeled as “free,” it’s tempting to give it a try. After all, who doesn’t like saving money? But in cybersecurity, free often comes with hidden costs, and sometimes those costs are higher than you could ever imagine.

Imagine getting an email from your own company telling you to transfer money to a vendor. It looks legitimate, the signature matches, and it uses the right company logo. But it didn’t come from you at all. That’s email spoofing, and it’s happening to small businesses every day.

A recent investigation by KrebsOnSecurity uncovered more than 1,200 online gaming websites tied to a scam network. These sites are made to look polished and legitimate. They offer free credits or bonus payouts, but once someone deposits cryptocurrency to claim a prize, the site disappears—and the money is gone.

Remote work has opened up incredible flexibility and access to talent, but it’s also made it easier than ever for bad actors to slip through the cracks.

When people think about disaster recovery, they often imagine natural disasters, power outages, or some kind of doomsday scenario. But for small businesses, the real threats are usually quieter, and a lot more common.

Picture this: you walk into your office, fire up your computer... and—surprise!—you’re locked out, your data encrypted, and a single message flashes: "Pay us or lose everything." This nightmare is all too real in 2025. A fresh Sophos survey - highlighted by ChannelVision Magazine - found that nearly 50% of companies end up paying the ransom just to get back online.

It’s not high-tech. It’s not dramatic. But it works.

It usually starts small.

Not every security risk starts with a hacker.

VPNs get talked about a lot, sometimes as a privacy tool, sometimes as a workaround, and sometimes as a magic fix-all. The truth is, a properly set up VPN is a critical piece of business infrastructure. If your company has remote workers, multiple locations, or access requirements that go beyond a single office, a VPN isn’t a luxury, it’s part of doing business securely.

When many people think “cybersecurity,” they think antivirus software, and maybe a little window  that says “threat blocked.” That might’ve been enough a decade ago. But these days, that just doesn’t cut it.

Look, I get it. You're running a small business, and cybersecurity feels like one more thing on an already overwhelming to-do list. Between managing employees, keeping customers happy, and trying to turn a profit, who has time to worry about "vulnerability scanning"?