A Hard Lesson in Cybersecurity

By Jordan Polasek · July 24, 2026

As I sit down to write this post on July 24, 2026, I'm reminded of a particularly tough lesson one of my clients in the Houston area learned recently. They're a medium-sized business with a solid reputation, but they had a major wake-up call when it comes to cybersecurity.

The Incident

A few months ago, they suffered a ransomware attack that brought their entire operation to a grinding halt. The attackers demanded a hefty sum in exchange for the decryption key, and my client was faced with a difficult decision: pay up or risk losing critical data.

Fortunately, they had a decent backup system in place, which allowed them to restore most of their data. However, the attack still ended up costing them a significant amount of time and money - not to mention the stress and disruption it caused to their business.

The Lesson

The lesson here is simple: cybersecurity is not something you can afford to neglect. As a business owner in the Houston area, you need to take proactive steps to protect your business from cyber threats. This includes investing in robust security software, implementing strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, and ensuring that your employees are educated on cybersecurity best practices.

• Regularly update and patch your software to prevent exploitation of known vulnerabilities
• Use a reputable antivirus program and a firewall to block malicious traffic
• Limit access to sensitive data and systems to only those who need it

By taking these steps, you can significantly reduce the risk of a cyber attack and protect your business from the kind of disruption my client experienced. Don't wait until it's too late - take control of your cybersecurity today.