IT security fundamentals and practical advice for Canadian businesses. Covers firewalls, endpoint protection, identity management, and compliance.
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace were both rebranded in October 2020, but at the time of writing they’re still widely known as Office 365 and G Suite respectively. We’ll use the new names throughout this post as the transition is already underway, but if you see the old names in vendor documentation, they refer to the same products. If […]
Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace: A Practical Guide Read More »
Phishing is responsible for the majority of ransomware infections, business email compromise, and credential theft affecting small businesses. It works not because people are careless, but because modern phishing attacks are well-crafted and difficult to distinguish from legitimate communications. The good news is that recognition can be taught. Staff who know what to look for
Phishing Attacks: How to Spot Them and Train Your Staff Read More »
If everyone on your network (staff laptops, guest devices, smart TVs, security cameras, and the office thermostat) shares the same connection with no separation between them, you have a flat network. It works, but it creates unnecessary risk and performance problems that are easy to avoid. VLANs are the solution. What is a VLAN? A
VLANs Explained: Segmenting Your Business Network Read More »
It’s one of the most common misconceptions in small business IT: “We’re fine, we have RAID.” RAID is a valuable technology, but it doesn’t do what most people think it does. Treating it as a substitute for backup is a mistake that has caused real data loss for real businesses. What RAID Actually Does RAID
RAID is Not a Backup: What People Get Wrong About Data Protection Read More »
Most small businesses find out about network problems the same way: a staff member reports that something isn’t working. By that point, the issue has already been affecting productivity for some time, and diagnosing it starts from zero. Network monitoring flips that around. Rather than reacting to problems, you have visibility into your infrastructure that
Network Monitoring Tools: PRTG, Zabbix and Beyond Read More »
Businesses spend considerable money on firewalls, antivirus software, and security hardware. Then someone clicks a link in a phishing email, and none of it matters. This isn’t a criticism of the people involved; it’s a reflection of how attackers actually work. Technical security controls are well understood and increasingly difficult to breach directly. Targeting people
The Biggest Security Threat Sits In Your Chair Read More »
“Move to the cloud” has become standard advice for small businesses, but it’s not always clear what that actually means. Cloud hosting covers everything from storing files in OneDrive to running virtual servers in a data centre, and the right choice depends entirely on what you’re trying to do. What Cloud Hosting Actually Means At
What is Cloud Hosting and Which Type Does Your Business Need? Read More »
WiFi standards advance every few years, and the naming convention hasn’t always made it easy to track what’s actually changed. The Wi-Fi Alliance recently simplified things by introducing numbered generation names, which means the latest standard (802.11ax) is now officially called WiFi 6. Here’s what that means for your business. A Quick History of WiFi Generations
WiFi 6: What It Means for Your Business Network Read More »
Backup is one of those things every business knows it should have and many don’t get right. The most common failure isn’t skipping backup entirely; it’s having a backup strategy that sounds reasonable until something actually goes wrong. Choosing between on-premises, cloud, and hybrid backup isn’t just a technical decision. It involves recovery time, cost,
On-Premises, Cloud or Hybrid Backup: Which is Right for You? Read More »
Firewall is one of those words that gets thrown around in IT conversations without much explanation. Most people know it has something to do with security, but fewer understand what it actually does, or why the firewall built into a consumer router isn’t the same thing as a proper business firewall. What a Firewall Does
What is a Firewall and Do You Actually Need One? Read More »