Teal MSP

10/19/2026

A completed checklist doesn't mean your business is secure. It simply means you were secure enough on the day someone checked the boxes. That's an uncomfortable thing to say in a room full of people who just spent months working tirelessly on an audit, but it's the truth.

Treating compliance as a finish line to cross is exactly how businesses end up breached a month after they pass an audit.

A framework tells you the minimum a regulator, a customer, or a cyber insurer expects.

It says absolutely nothing about which of those requirements matters the most for your specific:
- Vendors
- Data
- Attack surface

That sort of prioritization is a call that needs to be made by someone with many years of experience.

Of course, most small businesses don't have anyone whose job is to make that call.

Compliance is the floor. Someone still has to build the strategy tailored to your company, your vendors, your data, and your risk tolerance.

Do you have this senior leader in your organization? Read our latest article to find out: [link to LinkedIn article: How vCISO Services Turn Compliance Into Action]

completed checklist doesn't mean your business is secure. It simply means you were secure enough on the day someone checked the boxes. That's an uncomfortable thing to say in a room full of people who just spent months working tirelessly on an audit, but it's the truth.

Treating compliance as a finish line to cross is exactly how businesses end up breached a month after they pass an audit.

A framework tells you the minimum a regulator, a customer, or a cyber insurer expects.

It says absolutely nothing about which of those requirements matters the most for your specific:
- Vendors
- Data
- Attack surface

That sort of prioritization is a call that needs to be made by someone with many years of experience.

Of course, most small businesses don't have anyone whose job is to make that call.

Compliance is the floor. Someone still has to build the strategy tailored to your company, your vendors, your data, and your risk tolerance.

Do you have this senior leader in your organization? Read our latest article to find out: https://hubs.li/Q04BxBZP0

TL;DR: A vCISO gives growing and regulated organizations senior cybersecurity leadership without an expensive, six-figure hire. Their value is in turning compliance requirements into a risk-ranked security strategy that holds up between audits.

10/16/2026

Are you ready to make sure your systems are secure before the holidays bring new ? Be sure you start before the holiday break. Ransomware now typically pairs with data theft and public extortion. Attackers are targeting the systems your organization can't run without. And with fewer people watching your systems over the holidays, a small incident has a lot of time to become a large one.

👉Find out where your business is exposed before the holidays. Speak with a senior Teal advisor: https://hubs.li/Q04BpLmN0

10/14/2026

The 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU) goes up from $61 per device to $122 on October 14. If you’re still paying for it, what’s keeping you paying: Old software that won’t run on Windows 11? Maybe it's hardware that doesn't meet the technical requirements.

Regardless, if you don't have a concrete plan for migrating off of the temporary ESU, we recommend you spend some time on it before year 3 arrives because it'll cost you $244 per device, per month.

👉Here’s how to approach it: https://hubs.li/Q04B7Kc-0

Want help building out a strategy? Our senior managed IT services advisor is available to walk you through the process. Reach out today: https://hubs.li/Q04B7KbM0

Windows 10 ESU pricing doubles on October 14 from $61 per device to $122. See what it doesn’t cover and your four options for moving forward.

10/12/2026

On October 14, 10 ESU doubles from $61 to $122 per device. That means a business with 125 devices is paying $15,250 in Year 2 to patch PCs that Microsoft stopped supporting last year.

If you're still on ESU, now is a good time to make a plan to separate before year three, when the price jumps to $244/device.

👉Compare your four options: https://hubs.li/Q04zX3V00

Windows 10 ESU pricing doubles on October 14 from $61 per device to $122. See what it doesn’t cover and your four options for moving forward.

10/09/2026

IBM found that 96% of executives say adopting generative AI makes a breach likely within the next three years. Who in your organization owns what your AI tools can access? 👉Get lessons from the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident and how you can better manage AI in your organization: https://hubs.li/Q04zMyHF0

AI governance protects your data and operations. See lessons from the OpenAI–Hugging Face incident and frameworks for how to secure your AI.

10/09/2026

Gartner predicts over 40% of AI projects will be canceled by the end of 2027, mostly due to unclear value and weak controls. Reid Johnston, Teal CITO and cofounder, spends hours every week testing the latest features inside tools such as Claude.

In this article, he explores Claude's Chrome extension, using advanced features such as recording a skill, as well as how to avoid risk.

👉Read the full article: https://hubs.li/Q04zMngX0

See Claude's Chrome extension - an AI agent, browse sites on its own. Plus, new plugins, connectors, and automation your business can use.

10/08/2026

Ransomware or extortion showed up in 88% of small and midsize business breaches in 2025. At large organizations, on the other hand, it was just 39%. Attackers will always go where it's easiest to make a buck. If you don't have the right security in place, that looks like your organization.

👉 Get 7 security measures that will make you a harder target: https://hubs.li/Q04zD9l90

The FBI is warning small businesses about ransomware. Here's what ransomware protection should look like in small and midmarket businesses.

10/07/2026

Three cyberattacks hit between July 2025 and July 2026: St. Paul, Winona County, and more than 30 municipal water systems. can use lessons from each to strengthen their cybersecurity.

👉See what Minnesota nonprofits can take from these attacks: https://hubs.li/Q04zvNWP0

Explore the lessons lurking in recent Minnesota cyberattacks. Plus, how managed IT and a simple plan can strengthen nonprofit cybersecurity.

10/07/2026

in do a lot with small teams and tight budgets. Teal is proud to sponsor the of Minnesota's 2026 Evening of Dissent: Make it Count fundraising event this evening at the Uptown Theater.

👉 Learn more and reserve your spot: https://hubs.li/Q04zvNMl0

Explore Teal’s event calendar for exclusive insights on IT strategy, compliance, and Microsoft Copilot, crafted for modern SMB leadership.

10/06/2026

96% of victims last year were small and mid-sized businesses. That number breaks an assumption a lot of business owners still hold - which is that attackers chase big targets with the most data.

The truth is, they look for the easiest target.

Leave a door open, and they’re going to walk through.

That means a 40-person company that doesn’t have senior leadership who owns all of the security decisions is an open door.

Not the Fortune 500 company that has a security operations center, complete with a CISO calling the shots.

Unfortunately, most small and mid-sized businesses don't have anyone whose job is to rank risk for the company, own the security roadmap, and defend it to stakeholders.

The businesses that avoid becoming a part of next year's ransomware statistic aren't necessarily bigger.

They're just the ones that put someone with experience in charge of cybersecurity before an attacker has the chance to strike.

See how vCISO services can close that leadership void: https://hubs.ly/Q04zk4yC0

TL;DR: A vCISO gives growing and regulated organizations senior cybersecurity leadership without an expensive, six-figure hire. Their value is in turning compliance requirements into a risk-ranked security strategy that holds up between audits.