Happy Friday, and happy Halloween weekend! This week, Tales from the Hacked sets sail with Episode 3, plus a quick tip you can use today, the latest cybersecurity news worth knowing, and a Halloween treat in our AI and Automation Minute.
Thank you for reading. Stay safe out there.
– Brad Otto
👻 Featured: Tales from the Hacked
Episode 3: The Stowaway
Remember the story from Issue #10 about the fractional CFO whose email was quietly being watched? An attacker hid in his inbox, waited for the perfect moment, then called him pretending to be his new client’s IT support and talked his way onto his laptop. It’s now Episode 3 of Tales from the Hacked, hosted by an undead sea captain who knows a thing or two about unwanted passengers.
Tales from the Hacked is a video series started by P3C Technologies to educate users on real cybersecurity stories seen in the wild, at our clients and elsewhere. The stories are real, but the names have been changed or omitted to protect the innocent.
AI was used in the production of this video, and we had fun making it. It’s not meant to be perfect, just a fun way to present scary topics. People pay attention when it’s fun, and these are lessons worth paying attention to.
Stay vigilant, stay safe, and most importantly, sit back and don’t move your mouse.
Tip of the Week
Before You Bag It: Hibernate It or Shut It Down
Closing the lid usually just puts your laptop to sleep, and on many newer laptops “sleep” isn’t really asleep. The laptop can wake itself up in your bag to check email and run updates. Once it’s running, its fans try to push hot air out. But zipped inside a bag, there’s nowhere for that air to go, so the laptop keeps breathing its own hot exhaust right back in. It gets hotter and hotter, and that heat can damage the laptop, especially the battery. Before your laptop goes in the bag, hibernate it or shut it down. On a Windows laptop, click Start, then the power icon, then Hibernate or Shut down. If you don’t see Hibernate, contact us and we’ll turn it on for you. If your laptop ever comes out of your bag warm, that’s your sign it never actually went to sleep.
IT Vocab of the Week
Motherboard (a.k.a. “mobo” or “mainboard”)
The motherboard is the main circuit board inside every computer. Every other part plugs into it, and it lets them all talk to each other.
The kitchen analogy: Think of the motherboard as the kitchen itself, the room where all the work happens. The processor (CPU) is the chef. The memory (RAM) is the countertop, where the chef keeps whatever they’re working on right now. Storage is the pantry and fridge, where everything is kept until it’s needed. The power supply is the gas and electric hookups. The graphics card is a specialty appliance plugged in for a specific job.
If the kitchen floods, it doesn’t matter how good the chef is, because nobody’s cooking dinner. When a motherboard fails, the whole computer goes down, even if every other part is fine. And replacing one is a lot like remodeling a kitchen: it’s a big, involved job. On an older computer, a dead motherboard is often the sign that it’s time for a new machine rather than a repair.
Cybersecurity News
They Didn’t Click: How One Team Stopped a Fake “Protected Message”
A vendor’s hacked email account sent our client a convincing Microsoft “protected message,” complete with the sender’s real signature. The button led to a fake document portal built to steal passwords. Two people on the team noticed something was off. They didn’t click, called the vendor at a number they already trusted, and asked us first. That pause stopped the attack cold. See the screenshots, the red flags, and what to do if one lands in your inbox.
Working With P3C
Is Your Phone System a Mystery Box in the Closet?
A lot of offices have one: an old phone system tucked away in a closet that nobody remembers setting up and nobody knows how to fix. It works until it doesn’t. When it fails, the person who installed it is long gone, replacement parts are hard to find, and your phones are down while you search for someone who can help. Meanwhile, the phone bill keeps coming, often with lines you no longer use and charges no one can explain. Send us your phone bill and tell us what’s in that closet. We’ll review both, explain what you’re actually paying for, and lay out your options, whether that means cleaning up the bill, keeping what you have, or moving to a modern system your team can manage from a computer or cell phone. No pressure, just a clear picture. Email your bill to support@p3ctech.com to get started.
The AI and Automation Minute
Happy Halloween from P3C! 🎃
Because it’s Halloween, we made you a little greeting card video. It’s a spooky little tale about what NOT to do when an email says “Congratulations, you’ve won a free gift card!” Spoiler: there’s no gift card. One click, and the real prize is your computer, and something spooky happens to it. We made this video with AI, so think of it as a fun little treat, not a perfect one. Grab some candy, press play, and remember: if a prize email seems too good to be true, it is.
Product of the Week
Paleblue USB-C Rechargeable Batteries
Tired of buying batteries for the wireless mouse, keyboard, and TV remote? Paleblue batteries recharge right through a USB-C port built into each battery. No special charger needed. Plug them into one of the Anker charging bricks we featured in Issue #8, and the included cable charges four at a time. A little light on each battery tells you when it’s full. They hold a steady 1.5 volts from full until nearly empty, so your devices don’t get sluggish as the batteries run down. Each one is rated for 1,000+ recharges. Brad uses them every day. Available in AA and AAA.
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