Tech Tips

Photographer: Ellicia | Source: Unsplash A small business does not need an enterprise security department or dedicated security staff to make meaningful progress. It does need a short list of controls that someone owns, checks, and tests. This small-business cybersecurity checklist focuses on the basics that protect access, reduce data loss, and make recovery less chaotic. It also includes two items many checklists underplay: knowing who owns your data and proving that your backups can be restored. The goal is not to build a perfect security program. The goal is to make the biggest vulnerabilities less likely and less damaging. Start with the accounts that control everything else Your email account is usually the first account to protect. Whoever controls it may be able to reset passwords for your website, cloud storage, social profiles, accounting tools, and other services. Make a list of your highest-impact accounts: Primary email Domain registrar and DNS provider Website and hostin...

Photographer: Nabil Saleh | Source: Unsplash Quick Summary Nine PBS, a public TV station, lost access to decades of programming when its storage vendor shut down and stopped responding. The data was probably still there, but the station couldn’t access it due to a dispute over control. The incident uncovers a basic data backup - definition: keeping independent, recoverable copies of important information. The takeaway: even if you pay your bills and use cloud services, you might lose access if your vendor disappears. What’s at Stake for a Small Business Website pages, blog posts, product info, and images Photos, videos, logos, and PDFs (menus, brochures, spec sheets) Customer records, invoices, and financial files Contracts and compliance documents, including GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulations Email lists and marketing materials Domain, DNS, and key account logins Reports and historical records you need for taxes or audits Business information stored across SaaS applications and other ...

Introduction If you’re about to spend four figures on a new phone or laptop, pause. For most people, the “latest and greatest” delivers tiny gains at massive markups. And if what you really want is a device that feels fast, lasts all day, and doesn’t stress you out—there’s a smarter move: buy refurbished . Refurbished tech (when it’s done right) delivers 90–95% of the real-world experience for a fraction of the price. It’s also one of the easiest ways to save money without “downgrading your life”—especially if you’re willing to buy used computers that have been professionally checked and warrantied. If you want a quick win before you buy anything, start here: these tips to speed up your iPhone and Mac without buying new hardware often make an “old” device feel surprisingly new again. This guide breaks down why the upgrade treadmill exists, what “refurbished” actually means, how to buy safely, and where the biggest savings usually are (including refurbished laptops online ). Why you ...

Photographer: Triyansh Gill | Source: Unsplash Remember that feeling when your favorite TV show got cancelled? Well, Windows 10 just got the axe. Microsoft officially pulled the plug on October 14, 2025, which means no more security patches, no more updates, and definitely no more help when things go sideways. It's like being that person still using Internet Explorer in 2023—technically possible, but probably not your best life choice. So what's a Windows 10 user to do? Don't panic (yet). Let's walk through your options without the corporate jargon and fear-mongering that usually comes with these announcements. Why You Actually Need to Care About This I know, I know. Your Windows 10 machine is humming along just fine, thank you very much. But here's the thing: keeping an unsupported operating system is like leaving your front door unlocked because "nothing bad has happened yet." Security becomes a nightmare. Every day that passes without patches is a...

Photographer: Immo Wegmann | Source: Unsplash ​Last week, a YouTuber with 300,000 subscribers sent a desperate message at 2 AM. The YouTuber, who had been diligently creating content for seven years and had amassed a following of 300,000 subscribers, was in a state of panic. "I just lost everything. Seven years of footage. All my project files. Client work. Everything. I don't know what to do," they lamented. Their entire external drive had been locked by malicious software called ransomware, making all their files inaccessible. The hackers behind the attack demanded a hefty sum of $15,000 to unlock the drive, a demand the YouTuber couldn't afford. Here's what makes this story so haunting: They thought they were being careful. They had an external drive. They backed up regularly. They did what they thought was right. But they still lost everything. As a creator or small business owner, you have the power to prevent catastrophic data loss. You're not at the...

Photographer: Adi Goldstein | Source: Unsplash Photographer: Adi Goldstein | Source: Unsplash As a small business owner, staying on top of cybersecurity is critical but can feel overwhelming with all the technical jargon and best practices. In this post, I want to provide some straightforward and actionable tips you can implement to protect your business from internet threats better. Start with your Internet Connection Believe it or not, how you connect to the internet could expose you if not set up securely. Ensure your business WiFi network uses WPA2 or WPA3 encryption at a minimum. Look into setting up a firewall to monitor and control incoming and outgoing traffic. Consider using a VPN (virtual private network) for all your employees' devices to encrypt data sent over public networks. Use Strong, Unique Passwords Create complex, unique passwords for all your online accounts and change them every 90 days. Avoid using personal information that could be easy for hackers to guess...

Introduction: A person using a mobile phone and laptop It's important to choose a method for saving your photos that is both reliable and secure. Hard drives can fail, and cloud storage services can experience downtime or security breaches. To minimize the risk of losing your photos, it's a good idea to use a combination of methods for storing your photos. For example, you might save a copy of your photos to your computer's hard drive, and then upload a copy to a cloud storage service. This way, if one of the copies is lost or damaged, you still have the other copy as a backup. It's also a good idea to periodically check that your backups are working properly, and to test that you can access them when you need to. Chapter 1: Organizing Your Photos Digital photos can quickly accumulate and become difficult to manage if you don't have a system in place for organizing them. One simple and effective method is to create folders on your computer and organize your phot...