What happens when one click brings your business to a standstill? In this episode of Be Locally Loved, Laura Capes Terry shares her firsthand experience of being hacked after clicking a link that appeared to come from a trusted contact. Within minutes, she lost access to email, social media, software, and multiple devices. What followed was days and weeks of stress, lost productivity, password resets, device wipes, and rebuilding.

Laura is joined by Greg Torosian, owner and president of TeamLogic IT of Round Rock, who has more than 25 years of technology leadership experience. Greg explains how attackers can exploit trusted relationships, SIM swapping, stolen credentials, and vulnerabilities across connected accounts and devices.

The conversation goes beyond what happened to Laura and focuses on what business owners can do before an attack happens. Greg walks through practical layers of protection, including multi-factor authentication, authenticator apps, password managers, software updates, mobile device management, email threat protection, and secure network connections.

For small businesses, cybersecurity isn't just about protecting data. A technology failure can mean lost time, lost productivity, lost access to critical systems, and potentially lost revenue. That makes prevention an important part of keeping local businesses—and the communities that depend on them—strong and resilient.

• Why even a message from a trusted contact can become the starting point of a cyberattack
• How a SIM swap can allow attackers to intercept SMS-based authentication codes
• Why authenticator apps or passkeys can provide stronger protection than SMS-based MFA
• Why you should never reuse the same password across multiple accounts
• How a password manager can securely organize passwords and help with account recovery
• Why storing passwords in a computer file or browser can create additional security risks
• Why keeping operating systems and apps updated is an important layer of protection
• How mobile device management and email threat protection can help identify and block malicious links
• Why businesses should consider layered security rather than relying on a single tool
• Why preventative cybersecurity measures can be far less disruptive than recovering from a compromise

Small business owners are busy building their businesses, serving customers, and supporting their communities. Cybersecurity can easily become something they put off until something goes wrong. But as Laura's experience demonstrates, recovering from an attack can consume significant time, create enormous stress, and disrupt the ability to operate.

This episode is especially valuable for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and anyone whose business depends heavily on technology. The message is practical: security doesn't have to mean doing everything at once, but it does require taking reasonable steps before an incident happens. Protecting the technology behind a local business is ultimately another way of protecting the people, customers, and communities that business serves.

Watch or listen to the full episode to hear Laura and Greg's conversation about cybersecurity, prevention, and the real cost of a business disruption.

Share this episode with a business owner or entrepreneur who needs to hear it, and subscribe to Be Locally Loved for more conversations about the people, businesses, and ideas helping communities thrive.