Guillermo Aquino

Identity theft knows no limits and every year the IRS warn taxpayers to avoid unethical tax return preparers, known as ghost preparers. Ghosting is a form of identity theft that usually occurs on a dead person for monetary gain. Cyber criminals can often get away with ghosting because it can be months after a person dies before entities like credit reporting agencies, the Social Security Administration, and the IRS receive, share or register death records. Many of us have heard of being “ghosted” after a death, but have you ever been ghosted by your tax preparer?

Unfortunately, many have, and they’re often met with serious consequences. …

There was a time when unexpected events would shut down the world for days or even weeks? Not anymore. Technology has helped create options for people to stay connected through less than ideal conditions. This new social reality, unfortunately, means new attack opportunities for hackers, who have already found ways to use the coronavirus in scams and phishing attempts to steal your usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, money and time.

Employees working remotely can create all sorts of cybersecurity issues, especially when things are a bit chaotic. By doing risky things like logging in from insecure WiFi networks or swapping data unsafely between personal and work devices, remote workers can provide bad actors with the openings that get them right through a company’s cybersecurity defenses. …

A question I often get is “Why do I need to be on a managed IT plan? Can’t I just pay you to come out and fix things when they’re broken?” While that’s a legitimate question if we were talking about your washing machine or car, that’s definitely NOT the right approach to a critical and dynamic IT system that your company depends on; you DEFINITELY don’t want to wait until something “breaks” before you try and fix a problem. One virus or hacker attack or one slip-up can cause permanent data loss, extended downtime, a violation of data-breach laws, bad PR, loss of customers and sales, and a host of other expensive problems.…