Happy Friday! Here’s what’s on deck this week: why computer prices have gone haywire and what we’re doing about it, two support tickets that turned out to be phishing, a reminder about your team’s security score, and a five-minute AI project you can actually use.
Thank you for reading. Stay safe out there.
– Brad Otto
Tip of the week
Why Computer Prices Are So High Right Now — and What We’re Doing About It
If you’ve priced out a new computer lately, you probably had some sticker shock. Here’s what’s driving it.
The AI boom has eaten the world’s chip supply. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have shifted their factory lines toward high-margin High-Bandwidth Memory for enterprise AI servers, which has starved the consumer market of standard RAM and flash storage. Memory and storage prices are up 300% to 500%:
• 32GB DDR5 RAM kit: ~$100–$125 → $350–$560+
• 64GB DDR5 kit: ~$220 → over $1,200
• 1TB NVMe SSD: ~$90 → $200
• 4TB NVMe SSD: ~$210 → $650
CPUs have held relatively steady by comparison, up only about 5–10%. But memory now accounts for as much as 40% of a computer’s total parts cost, compared to the traditional 15% — and that’s what’s distorting the price of the whole machine.
What we’re doing about it: we’re working with distributors carrying systems one to two generations behind current — stock the manufacturers didn’t sell and offloaded en masse — along with quality refurbished units. Every machine we sell through these distributors comes with a 3-year advanced replacement warranty, refurbished or not.
A lot of companies are simply holding onto their hardware longer right now, and honestly that’s a reasonable call. But if you need a machine, we’ll always work to get you the best price we can. Email support@p3ctech.com for a quote.
Cybersecurity news
Two Tickets, Same Week, Same Lesson
In a single week we received two support tickets from two different clients, both asking us to unblock a site our web filtering had stopped.
Ticket one: a user at a manufacturing client asked us to allow a domain so they could “use ChatGPT.” The domain was a lookalike — something along the lines of openai-backup[.]one — not an OpenAI property at all.
Ticket two: a user at a transportation client asked us to allow a link because they were “trying to reset my email password and getting an error when I click the link.” That link led to a fake Microsoft 365 password expiration page.
Both were phishing. Both users believed they were doing exactly what their job required. And understandably, both were frustrated that security had gotten in the way of their work.
We take that frustration seriously. Security and usability pull against each other, and we work hard to balance the two — we never want to be the reason your team can’t get their job done.
But when those two things collide, we keep security up, even when it means generating a ticket. In both of these cases the block did exactly what it was supposed to do: it stopped a real phishing page from reaching a real person who was seconds away from handing over their credentials. So please, keep sending those tickets our way. We are always glad to review a blocked site with you, and we would much rather have that conversation than clean up a compromised account.
Missed a past issue of The Friday Firewall? You can catch up on previous tips and security news any time.
Working with P3C
Your Team Has a Security Score. Do You Know What It Is?
Did you know our security training program is one of the best ways to keep your staff current on the scams actually circulating right now?
Every person enrolled gets an Employee Security Score (E.S.S.). Get tricked by a simulated phishing email and your score goes down. Take your regular training and it goes up. Simple as that.
Our top clients use the E.S.S. as one of their standing company goals, and they can do that because it’s a real, measurable number that represents how well their staff are educating themselves to protect the company.
Want to see how it works? Watch Brad Otto walk through the training portal →
Not on a proactive IT plan with us and want to learn how this program can turn your staff into human firewalls? Drop us a note at support@p3ctech.com.
The AI and Automation Minute
Build Your Company a Homepage in Five Minutes
Here’s something you can build with the AI tool of your choice in about the time it takes to pour a cup of coffee: a branded homepage for your staff that lives locally on every computer.
Tell your AI engine you want a single HTML page with your company logo (upload it right in the prompt), plus the sections your people actually use — a search bar that runs a Google search, links to HR policies, a button to reach IT support, the websites the whole company touches daily, webmail, a company directory, and more.
Got one you like? We can help you deploy that file out to every computer in the company, then point each browser’s homepage straight at it.
The bonus: it loads instantly because it’s sitting on the device itself — no internet required to open it — and every staff member gets the same consistent starting point.
More at ai.p3ctech.com, including our free AI Acceptable Use Policy download, the book Beyond the Prompt, and upcoming P3C AI and automation events.
You’re receiving this because you’re a valued P3C client or partner.