Plain Talk Cyber

Plain Talk Cyber Information security management for small & medium businesses. Certified vCISO, AI Employee Configuration & Design. Third-party risk management. Malware removal.

Incident Response. Awareness training.

Your inbox pings, your team panics, and half the tickets go nowhere.We use one rule to stop chasing every alert: Fix the...
06/06/2026

Your inbox pings, your team panics, and half the tickets go nowhere.

We use one rule to stop chasing every alert: Fix the First Reachable Thing.

Take a week of vendor advisories and circle only what’s reachable from the internet or email/identity—and has a known patch or mitigation.

Then we write one owner sentence:
“We fix/mitigate this within __ days because attackers can reach it __.”

That turns vulnerability management into a prioritized workflow, not a spreadsheet graveyard.

Visit our website for a plain-English vulnerability workflow + subscribe to the newsletter.

If you can log in, so can an attacker—especially through your browser’s password autofill and saved sessions.We’re seein...
06/06/2026

If you can log in, so can an attacker—especially through your browser’s password autofill and saved sessions.

We’re seeing emerging threats hide in convenience features: “save password” prompts that turn into saved credentials, password autofill on shared/devices, and long-lived browser sessions that keep access open longer than your risk appetite.

Owner fix (10 minutes):
Disable autofill/saved passwords for high-risk apps on shared or personal “maybe it’s shared” computers.
Review saved passwords and delete anything unused.
Check browser extension permissions (and remove the ones you don’t recognize).
Shorten browser session lifetimes for email and finance.
Add MFA re-prompt on every new device/location (and make sure it’s enforced, not just “once”).

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“We’ll figure it out when it hits” — until the call comes in, and nobody knows who owns isolating accounts.When ransomwa...
06/06/2026

“We’ll figure it out when it hits” — until the call comes in, and nobody knows who owns isolating accounts.

When ransomware starts, speed matters. We set this up once with a simple RACI-style incident response map:
• Approve isolating accounts
• Authorize cutting cloud access
• Decide customer notifications
• Contact your cyber insurer
• Approve restore from backups
• Confirm systems are safe to return

No debating in the middle of the crisis. Just clear sign-offs so the right people act in the first minutes.

Visit website for the incident response ownership map + subscribe to the newsletter for the next plain-English playbook.

“Guest accounts means we can’t be breached.”That line gets business owners in trouble.We see it in the pattern: a “limit...
06/06/2026

“Guest accounts means we can’t be breached.”

That line gets business owners in trouble.
We see it in the pattern: a “limited” user, a shared link, and then attackers pivot through weak external sharing settings or an OAuth-connected app.

Reality check we want you to remember: even if devices and permissions look constrained, connected apps and link-based access can still open the door.

Quick owner fix (no tech jargon):
Audit your Google/Microsoft external sharing settings.
Revoke connected apps you don’t recognize.
Set third-party access to expire automatically and require re-approval monthly.

Subscribe to Plain Talk Cyber for the exact checklist.

That security questionnaire gap?We’ve seen it: a vendor sends a 20-page questionnaire, someone fills it in from memory, ...
06/06/2026

That security questionnaire gap?

We’ve seen it: a vendor sends a 20-page questionnaire, someone fills it in from memory, and compliance ends up “mostly yes”… until a follow-up asks for proof.

Here’s our 10-minute “find your gap” method: grab the questionnaire and map each question to evidence you already have.

Worked example: “Describe your vulnerability management process”

Fill-in-the-blank answer:
We receive vulnerability reports from ________.
We assess risk using ________.
We remediate within ________ (with exception handling for ________).
We verify fixes by ________ (and track status in ________).

For quick wins, we typically attach:
MFA enforcement screenshot
Vulnerability scan report + remediation status
Backup restore test result

Want the questionnaire-to-evidence mapping template? Subscribe to Plain Talk Cyber’s newsletter.

We just audited an SMB that said “we’re covered.” Then we picked 5 internet-facing doors and asked one question for each...
06/06/2026

We just audited an SMB that said “we’re covered.” Then we picked 5 internet-facing doors and asked one question for each.

Is it patched to a supported version, and what compensating control is covering the gap today?

In 30 days, the “inventory” was real—but the patching wasn’t.

VPN portal, web login, email gateway, remote admin, public file upload.
One door was “known,” not “fixed.” Another was patched… but only because a compensating control was doing the heavy lifting.

That’s what vulnerability management looks like in the real world: not a spreadsheet, but proof that known risks have an accountable path to remediation (or a documented, tested workaround).

Want the plain-English door coverage scorecard? Visit our website for the article + subscribe to the newsletter.

Your incident response plan is only as real as your contracts.We’re seeing ransom gangs pressure SMBs through “data-leak...
06/06/2026

Your incident response plan is only as real as your contracts.

We’re seeing ransom gangs pressure SMBs through “data-leak negotiations” tied to stolen credentials and outsourced IT access. The problem isn’t the attack—it’s that your MSP/admin rights may still be usable while you’re scrambling.

In writing, define:
- Who can approve shutdown and forensics in hour one
- How third-party admin access is revoked immediately
- The first 60 minutes: disable remote access + rotate OAuth/API tokens
- A decision tree for legal/breach notifications

If you can’t point to it fast, it’s “wishful” when the clock starts.

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“The 5-minute ‘contain or wait?’ decision tree for business leaders”That sinking feeling when we spot signs of compromis...
06/05/2026

“The 5-minute ‘contain or wait?’ decision tree for business leaders”

That sinking feeling when we spot signs of compromise—then realize we can’t prove the full scope yet.

Here’s the branch we recommend:
(A) Contain identity access first: revoke sessions, and reset only the privileged accounts you can confirm are involved.
(B) Preserve evidence: export key logs while systems are still “as-is” (before anyone starts cleaning up).
(C) Decide on customer notification based on impact to customer-facing systems—so you stop spread without freezing the whole business.

Visit website for the incident response decision tree + subscribe to the newsletter for the next plain-English playbook.

We’ve seen ransomware hit, and the first panic isn’t the encryption—it’s the “which button restores the folder?” moment....
06/05/2026

We’ve seen ransomware hit, and the first panic isn’t the encryption—it’s the “which button restores the folder?” moment.

Open your cloud backup/recovery page (Microsoft 365 retention/restore or Google Drive/Workspace recovery) and answer in plain English:

What gets restored (email? Teams? SharePoint/Drive?)
Where it comes from (the retention/recovery source)
How many clicks it takes to restore a folder

If you can’t name the exact restore path under 60 seconds, that’s a gap to fix today.

Our practical fix: write a one-page “restore runbook” and schedule a monthly timed drill so it’s muscle memory—before you need it.

Visit website for articles.

The vCISO’s first 30 days isn’t paperwork—it’s stopping “shadow security.”We see it every time: MFA settings that vary b...
06/05/2026

The vCISO’s first 30 days isn’t paperwork—it’s stopping “shadow security.”

We see it every time: MFA settings that vary by department, backup jobs nobody can explain, and vulnerability exceptions that live in a spreadsheet no one owns.

A virtual CISO builds a single, living map across every cloud and SaaS tool—then sets a rule so nothing is used to store or transfer data until it has:
- a clear owner
- the right logging level
- a verified recovery check

That’s how you stop accidental exposure before it spreads.

Subscribe to newsletter for the one-page “shadow security” inventory template.

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