Brad's IT Services 

Picture this: it’s ten minutes before a client call and someone on your team realizes they need Zoom. They type “Zoom download” into Google, click the top result, and follow the prompts. The page looks right, the installer runs cleanly, and Zoom opens without a problem. But something else came along for the ride. That is malvertising, not a phishing email and not a suspicious link from a stranger but a paid ad sitting at the very top of a Google search, dressed up to look exa

The tap that shares more than you realize You download a new app, open it for the first time, and a pop-up appears: "Allow this app to access your contacts?" Most people tap "Allow" without a second thought. The app seems to need it for something, and it takes less effort to say yes than to wonder why. But that tap shares a lot more than most people expect. Your contacts list isn't just your information; it's a collection of names, phone numbers, email addresses, and sometime

A message arrives from someone you don't know; they have the wrong number and apologize. You reply because it seems harmless, and they turn out to be pleasant. Weeks of warm, unhurried conversation follow, with no agenda, no offer, and no pressure. Scammers call this approach "pig butchering," borrowing from an agricultural practice: fattening the pig before the slaughter. In fraud terms, that means spending weeks building a genuine-feeling relationship before any financial r

You arrive at the office with your coffee, ready to tackle the day. You sit down at your desk, wiggle your mouse, and . . . nothing. Your computer won't connect to the printer, your accounting software throws an error you've never seen before, and half your team is standing around because they can't access the files they need. You didn't change anything, click on a suspicious email, or install new software, so what happened? Most likely, Microsoft or Google changed something

Last Tuesday, the dental practice two blocks over had to turn patients away, but not because of staffing issues or a broken chair. Their entire computer system was locked by ransomware. Patient records, schedules, and billing – everything – was gone. They're on week two of rebuilding from paper backups. You probably heard about it. Maybe a customer even mentioned it to you. What's actually different about your business? The Question Your Customers Are Asking Most small busine

The pause that says everything You know the one: Someone across the table – a client, an insurer, an investor – asks you something like "who has access to your systems?" or "what happens to your data if something goes wrong?" and for just a moment, you go quiet. It is not a long pause, maybe two seconds, but everyone in the room feels it. That pause is not just awkward. It is doing damage. Not because anything is wrong with your IT, but because the person asking does not know

"Keep your data on-site where you can see it." It sounds safe. Familiar. Sensible. You can point to the server in the corner, touch the backup drive on the shelf, and think, “That's control.” But here's the truth: seeing your data doesn't protect it; it just means you'll be nearby when something goes wrong. Why "Local" Feels Safe but Isn't The old way made sense when everything happened in one place. The office was the center of operations, and the server room felt like

You've probably heard this before, maybe even said it yourself: "We'll just hire an expert when something breaks." It sounds reasonable enough. Why pay for ongoing IT support if you need help only every now and then, right? But here's the thing: Expertise doesn't work like a light switch you can flick on when it suits you. When you treat IT as something you deal with only when there's an emergency, you're already on the back foot. Let's look at why that mindset quietly costs

Have you ever sent a perfectly worded email to a client, supplier, or potential partner and never heard back? You followed up politely a few days later, but still nothing. You start to wonder if they're ignoring you, but there's a good chance they never even saw your email. No, it's not always spam filters being overly sensitive; it could be that your domain is missing a few small but important records called SPF , DKIM , and DMARC . These technical-sounding terms quietly

You've probably seen those text messages from Google with a code, the ones that pop up when you sign in from a new device or reset your password. They usually come from a sender called "Google," and because it looks familiar, most of us don't think twice when we see it. The catch is that scammers have figured out how to fake that sender name. Their messages look identical to the real thing and often land in the very same text thread as your genuine Google codes. That's what m

On October 14, 2025, Windows 10 stopped receiving security and reliability updates. Your PCs will still run, but new threats will no longer be patched. For a business, that means rising risk and tighter compliance scrutiny. Let's look at your options and what makes sense in practical terms. What does “end of support" really means There will be no more monthly security fixes or reliability patches. If a new exploit appears tomorrow, Windows 10 will not get an update. Auditors

Most adults have learned to ignore sketchy pop-ups, closing the tab, reading the warning, and moving on. Kids, on the other hand, haven't learned that instinct yet. When something flashes on the screen, they just want it to disappear so they can get back to YouTube or Roblox. That single click might seem harmless, but it can install unwanted software, change browser settings, and open the door for more pop-ups later. Let's look at why this happens and how to protect your hom

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