Posts
OpenAI Pauses Astra Over Autonomous Hacking Risk: What It Means for SMBs
In August 2026, OpenAI did something no AI company had done before: it paused development on its own unreleased model, Astra, because internal testing showed the system might be capable of finding and exploiting unknown security vulnerabilities entirely on its own — no human guiding it step by step. You don’t need to follow AI…
Insider Threat Awareness Month: What It Really Looks Like for SMBs
Say the words “insider threat” and most people picture the same scene: a disgruntled employee, storming out the door with a USB drive full of stolen files. It makes for a dramatic headline. It’s also not the version most businesses actually deal with. September is National Insider Threat Awareness Month, and it’s a good moment…
CVE-2026-55040: SharePoint Authentication Bypass
Last month, we covered a SharePoint exploit chain that lets attackers take over a server without a password. This time, let’s zoom in on the vulnerability that makes the entire chain possible in the first place: CVE-2026-55040, an authentication bypass that’s now confirmed under active attack. If you read our earlier piece on the SharePoint…
SharePoint Exploit Chain 2026: What the Unauthenticated RCE Flaw Means
A hacker used to need something from you to get in. A stolen password. A click on the wrong link. A weak spot an employee accidentally left open. That’s no longer a safe assumption. In August 2026, security researchers disclosed a way to fully compromise on-premises Microsoft SharePoint servers without any of that. No credentials.…
5 Signs Your Business Needs a vCISO
Most businesses don’t wake up one day and decide they need a vCISO. It’s usually a slower realization — a compliance deadline that got met by luck rather than process, a client’s security questionnaire that raised questions nobody could confidently answer, or simply the nagging sense that “good enough” cybersecurity isn’t actually good enough anymore.…
PolinRider Supply Chain Attack Explained for SMBs
Here’s a sentence that sounds like it has nothing to do with your business: North Korean hackers have planted more than 100 malicious packages across major open-source software platforms. Here’s why it actually does — almost every piece of software your business relies on, from your website to your accounting tools to your customer portal,…
Medusa Ransomware Targets Healthcare: What SMBs Should Know
Security researchers reported earlier this year that operators linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group have started using Medusa ransomware in attacks against U.S. healthcare and nonprofit organizations. If that sentence sounds like it belongs in a spy thriller rather than a conversation about your business’s IT budget, we understand — but the underlying lesson applies…
vCISO vs Fractional CISO: What’s the Difference?
If you’ve been researching security leadership options for your business, you’ve likely noticed two terms that seem to describe the same thing: vCISO and fractional CISO. You’re not imagining it — they’re used interchangeably across the industry, and the confusion is common enough that it’s worth clearing up once and for all. vCISO and Fractional…
What Does a vCISO Do?
If you’ve spent any time researching cybersecurity for your business, you’ve probably run into the term vCISO and wondered exactly what it means — and whether it applies to a company your size. The short answer is yes, and the role is simpler than the acronym makes it sound. A vCISO, or virtual Chief Information…
VPN Security Risks for Small Businesses: What You Need to Know in 2026
Remote work changed everything about how businesses think about security. Before hybrid and remote work became standard, most of a company’s data and activity stayed inside a defined physical network. Today, employees log in from home offices, coffee shops, hotel rooms, and everywhere in between. Virtual private networks — VPNs — became the technology businesses…