What actually threatens a Roswell business
Cybersecurity for a small business is mostly about a few common attacks done well by criminals. The ones we see most are fake invoices and changed bank details, stolen Microsoft 365 logins, and ransomware that gets in through a malicious link or a machine that missed its updates. Georgians filed 25,936 complaints with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025, and the losses they reported came to roughly $535 million. Payment diversion scams, which the FBI calls business email compromise, rank near the top of those reports for dollars lost.
Roswell's business mix makes these attacks a good fit for criminals:
- Medical and dental practices, the city's largest business group, hold patient records protected by HIPAA and are popular ransomware targets.
- Real estate, title and law offices move closing funds and settlement payments, which is exactly what wire fraud is designed to steal.
- Accounting, insurance and wealth firms keep tax returns, policy data and account numbers.
- Restaurants and shops take card payments and often share one network between the register, the office PC and the guest Wi-Fi.
- Builders and distributors pay suppliers and subcontractors large sums based on emailed invoices.
The protections we put in place
- Multifactor sign-in for mailboxes, remote connections and all administrator logins, using phone prompts staff barely notice.
- Email filtering to stop phishing messages, forged senders and harmful attachments, with a button staff can use to report anything odd.
- Endpoint detection and response (EDR) installed on each PC and server. It watches for ransomware-like behavior, such as mass file changes, and cuts off the affected machine.
- People reviewing alerts. Warnings go to our team, who investigate and act, rather than piling up unread.
- Patching of systems and apps on a set schedule, with exceptions written down.
- Clean accounts. Accounts for leavers shut off promptly, administrator access kept to a few people and shared passwords moved into a password manager.
- Network separation so card terminals, cameras and guest Wi-Fi can't reach your files or accounting system.
- Short staff training plus practice phishing emails, so people learn what a fake looks like.
Card payments and the historic district
Many Canton Street restaurants and boutiques were set up quickly with whatever the internet provider supplied. The register, the owner's laptop and customer Wi-Fi often share one network. That makes it easier for a problem on one device to reach the others and harder to meet the card industry's security rules. We split those into separate networks, lock down the router and keep the POS system patched in line with the vendor's guidance.
If something goes wrong
No set of tools stops every attack. When a mailbox is taken over or a laptop is infected, we cut it off, trace what it touched, rebuild from clean copies and advise on whether your insurer, bank, clients or patients need to be told. A written incident plan, agreed in advance, makes those first hours far less chaotic.
Insurance and HIPAA
Cyber insurers now ask detailed questions at renewal: Is MFA on everywhere? Do you run endpoint detection? Can backups be deleted by an attacker? We help you answer honestly and fix what's missing first. For medical and dental offices, we handle the Security Rule's technical side, such as access control, encryption, audit logs and backups, and write it up for the practice's risk analysis.
Where we begin
A security review covers your Microsoft 365 settings and sign-in history, device protection, firewall, backups and admin accounts. You get a short report in plain language, ranked by risk. High-value changes such as switching on MFA and shutting off outdated login protocols usually land within 14 days. From then on we check alerts and accounts monthly and report on security at every quarterly check-in.
Questions about cybersecurity
Isn't antivirus enough for a small office?
Not today. Antivirus spots malware it already knows. It does little against a criminal logging in with a stolen password, a well-made phishing page or fresh ransomware strains, which is where MFA, filtering and EDR come in.
Can you help a restaurant or shop with card security?
Yes. We separate your payment devices from guest and office Wi-Fi, secure the router and keep systems updated. Your card processor still sets the specific compliance steps, and we help you follow them.
