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The writing has been on the wall for some time — spear-phishing campaigns are growing in both volume and sophistication. With AI in the hands of bad actors, these attacks will only become more personalized and harder to spot. This is exactly why employee training is no longer optional. No one is immune from what is quickly becoming the daily reality of doing business. Let me share something that happened to me recently that illustrates just how targeted these attacks have bec

As I continue building out my company, I have become increasingly intentional about the tools I bring into my workflow. Open source tools in particular have become a cornerstone of how I operate, and here is why.

Beyond the Scam Call: Human Trafficking, Fear, and Forced Labor. The product these operations sell to their victims isn't crypto or investment returns. It's manufactured trust.

Privacy · Digital Literacy A reminder that what you post, say, and write — especially in private messages — has consequences you may not see coming. Let me be upfront: I use Facebook and Instagram for my business. Both are public-facing, and I'll be honest — I hate that I'm on them. But I understand why so many of us feel we have no choice. That's exactly why I think it's worth saying clearly what these platforms are and what they are not. Meta — the parent company of Faceboo

Analysis of KB5079473 | March 10, 2026 This month's Patch Tuesday patched two publicly disclosed zero-day vulnerabilities — meaning details about both flaws were already out in the open before Microsoft had a fix ready. Neither has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild yet, but the public disclosure alone raises the risk level considerably, since it gives attackers a roadmap. CVE-2026-21262: SQL Server Elevation of Privilege The first and more serious of the two is

Today was an interesting day. It was all about leveraging automation to help promote my ideas using a framework called POSSE — a big shoutout to my Professor Michael Felix for bringing this concept to my attention. POSSE stands for Publish on your Own Site, Syndicate Everywhere.  The concept is simple: when I publish a post on my company website, it automatically gets shared across all of my platforms simultaneously. LinkedIn company page, personal profile, Facebook, Instagra

AI is everywhere. Some people are debating whether it’s the greatest innovation of our lifetime. Others are warning it’s the beginning of the end of humanity. Today, I’m not going down either rabbit hole. Instead, I want to talk about something much more practical. As a small business owner, I’ve recently received a wave of cold emails promising: “10–60 qualified leads per month” “Double-digit high-intent prospects” “Fully automated AI sales funnels” “All for a small monthly

For small businesses, especially teams with limited IT resources, choosing the right technology isn’t just about cost—it’s about control, security, and agility. Open source software can be a powerful solution , offering transparency, flexibility, and often stronger security than proprietary alternatives. Why Open Source Can Be Safer One common misconception is that “free software” is automatically less secure. In reality, open source tools are often more resilient  because th

Ransomware in 2026 doesn’t look like it did even a year ago. The biggest shift isn’t just more attacks  — it’s faster  attacks. Cybercriminals are now using AI to scan companies automatically, looking for weak passwords, exposed systems, or outdated software. Once they find an opening, attacks happen in hours instead of weeks . That means the old idea of “we’ll catch it before damage is done” no longer holds up. According to cybersecurity research published in late 2025, the

Apple rarely raises its voice. When it does, it’s worth paying attention. Right now, Apple is warning that a critical security flaw puts roughly half of all active iPhones — an estimated 800 million devices — at risk if users fail to update immediately. This is not a niche issue, and it’s not limited to outdated phones or careless users. It affects modern devices, everyday people, and ordinary usage patterns. From Ironjaw’s perspective, this is one of the clearest examples y

In today’s digital economy, cyber incidents aren’t a matter of “if,” but “when.” Cyber insurance exists to help businesses recover from data breaches, ransomware attacks , and other cyber threats—and to transfer part of the financial risk of those events. But it’s important to understand both its protections and its limits. What Cyber Insurance Does Cover Cyber insurance (often called cyber liability insurance) is designed to protect companies from financial losses related to

Even in late 2025, compromised login credentials remain a lucrative commodity on criminal marketplaces — especially because password reuse is still commonplace among consumers and employees. That means cybercriminals still make real money  exploiting old breaches and vulnerable accounts. According to the latest research by Digital Shadows, over 15 billion stolen credentials are circulating on the dark we b and underground forums — pulled from hundreds of thousands of data b

Why I Shifted to LibreOffice For a long time, I chose the tools everyone else chose. Google Docs. Microsoft Word. Cloud-first platforms wrapped in convenience, familiarity, and the promise of seamless collaboration. These tools were never presented as a choice, really — they were simply there , embedded into work, school, and daily life. To question them felt unnecessary, even inconvenient. But over time, convenience began to feel less like a benefit and more like a dependenc

In a world where our communications are constantly monitored, exploring decentralized, encrypted tools  has become more than a curiosity—it’s a necessity. I’ve recently been diving into Meshtastic , a community-driven mesh network system. It lets users send encrypted messages via local transponders—no cell towers required. For me, the appeal is clear: a private, closed communication loop with family and friends, free from prying eyes. I haven’t joined the network fully yet, b

Today I received an interesting  message via LinkedIn — it was framed as a job opportunity. Something immediately felt off. The individual claimed to represent a company, yet they weren’t listed as an employee of that company on LinkedIn, and I couldn’t find the business presence either. That raised a red flag. Instead of clicking the link they sent, I copied and pasted it into a free analysis tool, VirusTotal . The results came back clean — but even then, I wasn’t convinced.

I recently came across a post shared by Andy Greenberg from Wired Magazine  about Phreeli , a new kind of cell phone company that’s flipping the script on data collection. Unlike most providers today, whose mission seems to be gathering as much information about you as possible, Phreeli is taking a radically different approach. At the core of their service, they collect only the bare minimum required by U.S. law  — essentially just your postal code. For payments, they use a d

OpenAI Confirms Data Exposure: A Reminder That Privacy Risks Are Real OpenAI recently confirmed an exposure of personal data linked to a third-party analytics tool, Mixpanel. This integration granted unintended access to user account information — not a catastrophic breach, but a serious reminder of what’s at stake. Anytime we rely on platforms that store our conversations, questions, and ideas, we have to assume that data can  be accessed, mishandled, or leaked. AI companies

Excellent storytelling on how a group of teenagers managed to breach Microsoft, Epic Games, and even U.S. military networks — all under the name “Xbox Underground.” What’s wild is that much of this incident could have been prevented if just one employee hadn’t reused their passwords. A simple lapse opened the door to a massive compromise. Video credit: The Fern. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/how-a-group-of-kids-outsmarted-microsoft-and-paid-the-price/vi-AA1J8DCn?o