Later Never Comes: You Can’t Put Off Cybersecurity with Eddie Clark

Welcome And Meet Eddie Clark

Welcome to Tech Diva Biz Talks, where we tune in, dive deep, and level up. I'm your host, Audrey Wiggins, aka the Tech Diva, brand strategist, marketing mind, and your guide through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. Let's talk tech. Tech Diva Nation, welcome back. I'm excited to introduce you to Eddie Clark. He is the founder and CEO of Solve It or Solve IT. It's a managed services and cybersecurity firm serving the Carolinas and the Northeast. With over 30 years in the IT space and a reputation for turning tech chaos into clarity, Eddie helps small businesses secure their systems, streamline operations, and sleep better at night, knowing that their employees and technology are working. You can find him at solvit.rocks. I love it, Eddie. That's really cool.

Hi, Audrey. Thank you for having me. Pleasure to be here with you today.

Yes, you are so welcome. Before we get going here, can you share with the Tech Diva Nation a fun fact, something that maybe most folks don't know or might be surprised to know?

Well, I manage to spend a lot of time, especially lately, traveling. I've got my my team and my business running. Um, that uh, you know, for the day-to-day stuff, they don't need me as much. So I'm able to work remotely and I'm trying to get that bucket list in, right?

Yes. Okay, so we're going take a quick break and we're gonna come back and we're gonna hear more about Eddie Clark. TechDeak of Biz Talks is brought to you by All Together Marketing, the branded marketing consultancy I've proudly led since 2007. We help entrepreneurs and organizations simplify their message, elevate their visibility, and use technology, including AI, in ways that actually support growth, not burnout, because smart marketing should always feel smart, human, and all together. Visit altogether.biz.

The Overlooked Risk Of Cyber Insurance

Eddie, what are the cybersecurity blind spots small businesses keep missing? And what makes those risks so easy to underestimate until it's almost too late?

I would say the thing that they're missing the most that most business owners perhaps don't think of is cyber uh security, liability insurance coverage and the impact that not paying attention to that every year can have on your business. It can shut you down. Cyber liability insurance coverage should be a last resort mechanism. Don't think you're safe because you have insurance. If you're not reviewing this process every year to make sure as your business grows, your insurance coverage needs to grow. And if you're not paying attention to that, you may not have the amount of coverage that you need if something were to happen like ransomware and it shuts down your business. The other thing to think about is what happens if an attack does get through, does impact your business, whether it's a business email compromise, a phishing campaign or credentials compromise, whatever it is that damages your business financially, you don't want to be in such a rush to restore your business operations that you destroy forensic evidence and give an insurance company a reason to deny your

What A Threat Assessment Should Show

claim.

For a business leader who hears the phrase IT threat assessment, what should that assessment really include and what should they be looking for in the results?

Right. That's a really good question. Um, you can ask 10 IT people and get 10 different answers to that question, right? So I'll talk a little bit about how we do it. Whenever we onboard a new client, our first priority is to get to know the client, get to know their people, get to know their business. And as part of our interview process, as we're moving through the first 90 days and getting to know the business, um, we learn about, you know, what are the most important functions or roles of the different applications and processes that you use. And then we we map a questionnaire, we have a whole series of questions that that map to a security framework that we ask you about your your people, your processes, and your technology. Those are the three pillars of a cybersecurity program. And so what we do from that is we establish a baseline assessment that helps us determine the risk. And then we apply dollar values to the amount of risk because business owners don't know IT. They shouldn't need to. But you can certainly understand if we come to say you have $25,000 worth of risky data sitting on that computer right there, and it's because your um your accounting person is downloading bank statements to do the reconciliation every month, but not following through and deleting those so that if that machine was compromised, you know, that that data could be very valuable to nefarious people on the dark web.

Absolutely. Now, what would you say to to someone, say you just mentioned about downloading bank statements? You said delete them, or should can they, is it okay to move them to a cloud server, say your your Dropbox or your Google Drive, or deleting them totally?

After you've done the process, do you ever really need to refer back to the statement or would the statement be available to you in the future to download again should you need it from the bank? Error on the side of caution, right? Delete it, just get rid of it, make it part of your process. Once you've once you've like, you know, you know, we have a shredder for for paper documents to get rid of. Just think about putting that statement, those statements through the shredder by deleting them. Do not leave them in your deleted items folder either. Empty that deleted items folder. So we help people think through their processes to make sure that they are operating in as safe a capacity as possible.

Okay.

Cloud Sharing And Shadow IT Risks

Keeping on cloud platforms. Yes. What um they have changed so much in recent years. How are they reshaping disaster recovery and incident response for businesses that need strong protection without enterprise-level budgets?

Oh, that is a great question. So cloud enables us to store our company data in various locations. That's a good thing from an operability standpoint, uh, from a data sharing standpoint, but it can be a disaster from a cybersecurity standpoint if proper security mechanisms aren't in place. We work with clients that deal with all sorts of different cloud platforms. And what we attempt to do is put products and services in place that build sort of a fence around their data, right? So we got a security perimeter that extends beyond a computer or four walls in a building. We have to do that in order to keep our clients' data safe. So we need to manage how data's coming in, how data's going out. And a lot of times what we find with clients when we're doing our audits is sometimes executive management may not know that their salespeople are storing price lists and intellectual property in Dropbox or somewhere that is not an approved platform and not a secured platform. That exposes the company to a lot of risk, both reputational and competitive risk. So getting your head around what your people need and supplying them with a secure way to meet that need is imperative. So don't make IT an afterthought. If you want to accomplish a thing, bring your IT people in to talk to you about it before you actually pull the trigger on it. Because cleanup on all three is much more expensive than planning it out from the beginning.

Oh my gosh, absolutely. And still staying with that Dropbox scenario, and we're not picking on Dropbox people. Right, no, not at all. Yeah, yeah,

Open Wi-Fi Dangers And Using VPNs

yeah. So as a solopreneur, a lot of times we're like really cutting the budget, okay. How much is this? How much is that? And they may be using free versions of different platforms. What's your advice on that?

You know, that is very common. Uh, we see it's all it was born in the cloud, right? So, and having come from IT, you know, I secured it from the beginning. Um, but what we see in client accounts, again, is you know, you do what you can to get by to get your get your business off the ground, but the last thing you want to do is do anything that puts that at risk. So, you know, there's some great security, easy security tips I I can recommend to clients. If you go to uh an open Wi-Fi like at Starbucks, and you think I'm just gonna sit here and zip my coffee and check email and you know, sign some contracts and work on some documents. Well, if your computer, even if you're not accessing a platform like Dropbox, uh your computer is behind the scenes um exchanging credentials with the Dropbox platform. And I'm not picking on Dropbox, but it's all the platforms, right? It's all of them. And so some a hacker could be sitting on that same unsecured Wi-Fi network with you and capturing your data. Believe it or not, I have seen this happen. I was at a Starbucks meeting with a security vendor, went to the restroom, I came out and I saw a hacker sitting there because I could I knew what was on his screen and it was a packet capture. And he's capturing credentials from people's computers that you know you may not even be using those things at the time, but your computer's communicating in the background. So one way to get around that is to get a VPN. And there are all sorts of VPNs out there that you can use, Nord VPN. Um, I I use uh uh what is it, SurfGuard, uh VPN or Surfshark, sorry, Surfshark VPN. Um I've used quite a few of them, but if you have it so that it it you turn it on be just as soon as you connect with an open network like that, that traffic is encrypted. And even if a hacker is sitting there collecting those packets, they won't be able to read them.

Wow, that's that's that's scary. So then it's not even safe then, say for instance, that we're using our laptop and then we have our phones, or we're connecting through the internet through our phone, so they can a hacker can still get through that without a VPN.

That is gonna be much more difficult if you're using the data plan on your cellular device. They would need to intercept that traffic somewhere further upstream. So that that's a slightly different scenario, a little more secure. Open Wi-Fi really is the message. Just try to avoid open Wi-Fi, the ones that you can join without using a password. Don't use those. In fact, Apple, some Apple equipment's gonna put up a warning for you that says, Hey, this is an open network, you really shouldn't do this. Read what's on your screen, it's there for a reason.

And update those browsers when they say update now.

Yeah, yeah.

Why Browsers Are Bad Password Vaults

And you know, one of one of the other things I can recommend to people is uh it's a bad idea to store your passwords inside of a browser. Um, that is super, super important. Um, they prompt you to store them. Would you like me? It's convenient. Would you like me to remember? Yes, absolutely it's convenient to say no, disable that. No, no, no, no, no. Don't do it. Get a password manager, a secure password vault or secure password manager that you can load on your computer, on your mobile phone, and have access to it from whatever devices you need to access your bank account or your the platforms that you use. You can manage your multi-factor authentication tokens inside of those, and sometimes they'll do autofill, it makes it easier to use. It's worth paying for that $10 a month, whatever it is. It's worth it.

Right. Okay, so now you you've got me down. I'm going down a rabbit hole now. Digital wallets. You said don't store the passwords in the browser. There's also credit card information in browsers and digital wallets. So there's two different things. I'll let you speak.

Yeah, digital wallets are good. secure password vaults are better. Um, you know, passkey, last pass. We use one uh for all of our clients called Bitwarden. Um, I really love Bitwarden from a management perspective. We can do a lot more things with it than you can with uh an end user sort of product like LastPass or KeyPass, the sort of freebie ones. But having all of your passwords in a password manager like that is super important, not in your browser. Browsers are very easily compromised.

Okay.

So that's a big no-no.

Okay. Now you you didn't say anything about the digital wallet. I want to get that piece out there.

So you're are you thinking about like the Apple or Google wallets on your mobile devices?

Yes.

Yeah, those are those are pretty safe. I I I use them as well. Um, and I've not had any trouble with those. I know of no uh exploits out there for those types of uh applications. So I think you're okay there. But uh the the password manager is an easy gotcha that a lot of people don't think about.

Okay. All right,

Audits Training And Phishing Simulations

great. Okay, so let's talk about the human side of risk. And we, you know, I think we've been talking about it all along a little bit here, but how can business owners tell when employees are unintentionally creating vulnerabilities through weak digital habits, shortcuts, or unauthorized tools?

It happens all the time. Um, a security audit will help identify unauthorized applications. Um, there are mechanisms that an IT provider can use. Uh, we can, you know, have software installed that sort of monitors these things. We can um do gateway filtering, uh, where we can see, you know, oh, hey, this user is going over and using this application. And then we can bring that back to the business owner and say, is this a legitimate application, something you want to approve or disapprove? And then we can actually lock them out of that if it's a company-owned machine. We actually offer a free assessment. Um, one of the things that that we do for our clients when we onboard them is we we send out a questionnaire, sort of like a baseline questionnaire. It's a 45-minute, it's not super hard questionnaire to all of the employees to establish that baseline. What is your knowledge of the threats? How do you identify threats? What's out there? And and so through this questionnaire, we kind of give them a grade that helps determine the level of risk they pose to the organization. And from that, we can determine, okay, this person needs training in this area. And we can then provide them training to help them raise their skill level. And then we fish them. So we send out uh fake, nefarious emails to them on a monthly basis and kind of figure out, okay, well, based on your training score and your risk level, we need to give a little more attention here. And so we help help our clients identify where those risks are and address it before it becomes a big

Why Co-Managed IT Keeps Teams Safe

problem.

Co-managed IT is coming up more and more in business conversations. Um, what is driving that shift and how does that model work in a way that actually supports internal teams instead of replacing them?

That's a great question. Back in the day, it was a replacement scenario, right? Not anymore. We all know how quickly technology changes. It used to be every six months there would be, you know, some major change. Now it's almost daily. And uh, and so you know, internal IT teams have a trouble keep have trouble keeping up with all that. Organizations like ours that live, eat, and breed this stuff all day, every day. We've got a security operations center that sits behind us 24-7, ready to pounce on something when it's found, if if our automated remediation plans don't do the trick. But it's very difficult to stay current with with all of that. So internal IT teams just have they struggle with this. They struggle with projects, they struggle because there's so much on their plate. Used to be one IT person could handle everything for a 50-person company, start to finish, but those days are pretty much gone. Uh, unfortunately, some companies find that out when it's too late. Either um, you know, the operating system patches haven't been happening or the application updates have not been happening. I mean, you see the little pop-ups on your computer and people delay and deny, and you know, I want to put that off. I'm busy at on time right now. Well, that leads to security holes. Um, so what we do is uh we say, leave your computers on at night. We do all that stuff in the middle of the night so it doesn't interfere with your work day and yet it keeps you safe. Um, that is something that small IT teams don't have time to do or don't have time to manage. And so we we tend to take that off their plate. Um and we do sort of a gap analysis when we're onboarding a new co-managed client to determine where those holes are, and then we formulate a plan of attack with the IT team. We get their buy-in and then we go to it, and then we report back to those clients once a quarter. Here's what we see as the report card, and here's how it's improved. What are you seeing from your end? And where else can we help you with some gap fill?

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From Teen PC Fixer To CEO

Let's get back into some more questions. You started fixing PCs as a teenager in a Charlotte Mall. What do those early days teach you about technology and people that still shapes how you lead today?

My interest in computers goes back before that job in the mall. Um, I I remember uh I'm gonna date myself here. In my homeroom class in junior high school, we had a giant computer. It was huge and it took punch cards. That was, yeah, I'm really dating myself now. Um, but that's kind of sparked my interest. And and I went home and I talked to my dad, and he bought me a TRS 80 computer to play with, and it had a cassette tape deck, and that's how you loaded the operating systems. You had to put your operating system tape in and press play, and it would load the OS. Anyway, that's how I really first got started. And then a couple years later, uh, I was old enough to work, and uh I went to the leading edge computer store at South Park Mall in Charlotte and applied for a job and got it. And I really didn't know that much about computers, but I learned a lot on the job there, and it just kind of sparked my interest on and on and on all through high school. And in college, I worked at the the Urban Institute of through the Urban Institute of Charlotte at a technology uh business and development center and just kind of sprouted out from there.

You've built Solve IT or Solve It into a multi-state managed services and cybersecurity firm. What has been the key to growing the business without losing that human-first approach?

Wow. Uh well, uh, you've always got to put people first, whether they're clients, whether they're employees, or whether they're vendors. You know, the relationships are really what can make or break a business. And uh, this is just my opinion, but I think that's where private equity falls down because they're only focused on the bottom line and they forget that humans are involved. Um, that's why I would never ever sell to private equity because I see that as sort of the ruination of a business, because it begins to trample relationships. So, you know, as we are taking on new clients, uh as we're onboarding new employees, or as we're getting to know new vendors, it is that relationship that really drives everything. And I think for a business leader to keep that top of mind

People-First IT Leadership And Growth

is something that for me, that's what has helped us grow.

Awesome. A lot of small businesses think DIY security is good enough, quote unquote, right? Until something goes wrong. What are the hidden costs of taking that approach for too long?

Yeah, so we used to be able to buy antivirus

The Hidden Costs Of DIY Security

software and you'd pay a license fee for it for a year and then you wouldn't think about it until renewal time came. Not anymore. Um, you know, as we've discussed, the threat landscape changes almost daily now. So we got to keep building bigger fences. And if you don't stay on top of it, which most business owners, you have a hard enough time staying on top of your business flow. You don't have enough time to do the IT piece of it as well. So partnering with a firm that has a good grasp on a cybersecurity program development for you is vital.

From ransomware to downtime to compliance pressure, business owners are being hit from all sides. What do you wish more leaders understood about the connection between IT strategy and business stability?

Oh, IT should never be an afterthought. Uh IT pretty much intersects with every pillar of a business HR, accounting, um, sales, marketing, every Aspect of operations. IT overlaps with all of those those pillar groups. So IT should not be an afterthought when there's something you want to accomplish with anything that has a power button. There's risk involved in everything. So we've got to mitigate risk. We've got to ensure that that there's that we have uh smart goals. You know, they're they're achievable. Um, they are they fall within a budget, and they're the time frame that you allocate to achieve those goals is is something that is realistic. I see so many people make the mistake. Hey, we we tried to do this. Can you come in and clean it up? Well, again, cleanup on aisle three is really expensive. So yeah, it's better to get ahead of that because if you go out and spend a lot of money on hardware or software to do a thing, and then you expect IT to come in and clean up afterwards, it's gonna be it's gonna cost a lot. So just think that through and talk with your IT partner before you make any decisions.

Great advice. Great advice. We're gonna take one more announcement and we'll be right back with our Tech Diva Rapid Five.

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Cybersecurity Threat Assessment

Most small businesses don't know how exposed they are until it's too late. Solve IT's free threat assessment gives you clarity without the commitment. Visit solveit.com/test- drive. Okay, Eddie.

Rapid Five Cybersecurity Lightning Round

Take me every rapid five. Now, when we play this, you have to be quick. So I'm gonna ask you five quick questions. I know, I know, I'm right. I know. This is the one time I let the word try get in the game. And uh sometimes it's hard. Five quick questions, five quick answers. You ready?

I'm ready.

All right. What is one cybersecurity myth you wish business owners would stop believing immediately? Uh the set it and forget it syndrome.

Cybersecurity is not something you could just plug in or pay for and then move on. It's something that requires constant attention.

What is the first thing you check when a company says we think something's wrong with our network?

Oh, uh the first thing I check is the firewall connection to the internet.

Which creates more risk today? Weak passwords, careless clicking, or employees using unauthorized apps?

Oh, goodness. Um, there are so many things. Uh, out of those three, I would say probably weak passwords is is the highest, but not by much.

So give me the second one. What's the second one?

Unauthorized applications because they're touching your data, and if they're not safe, then there's a lot of risk there.

All right. What is one tech habit every business owner should adopt this week? Learn one thing new every week. Finish this sentence.

A business knows its tech is in good hands when when you can sleep well at night and when your IT provider can sleep well at night.

I know because you're going to be a little bit more.

That's a two-way street. That's a two-way street. Because I tell you all the time, I'm like, listen, I like to sleep well at night too. And if I think there's risk to your data, that's not gonna happen for me. So uh it's it's on both of us to make that happen.

Oh my god, that's awesome. Okay, Eddie, you are good sport. Thank you so much. Okay, I'm going to say we get this little close-out area here. Okay.

Later Never Comes Final Wake-Up Call

If there's one thing you want business owners to take away from this conversation, what would you say to the ones who still think cybersecurity is something they can deal with later?

Later never comes. Later never happens. I hear it all the time. You know what? I'll get get around to that later. I'll get around to it later. And I heard this growing up too. My father owned a printing business, and uh he used to make little round stickers that said T-U-I-T to it. And he would say it's around to it. So he would he would put a sticker on something if it was one of those things that we were going to get around to but never did, to point out the fact that you never get around to it. And it's so true.

That's right. Someday we'll do this, or one day I'll do do that. Yeah, absolutely. This has been such a practical and timely conversation, Eddie. Thank you again for for joining me and breaking down cybersecurity IT leadership and risk in a way that business owners can truly understand and act on. And to our listeners, if this episode gave you something to think about, be sure to share it with a fellow business owner or or team leader who needs it. You've been listening to Tech Diva Biz Talks, where we talk tech, business, and the strategies that help you move smarter. That's it for today's Tech Diva Biz Talks. Hope you caught a gem or two. If you did, share it, review it, and most of all, put it into action. Until next time, tune in, level up, and talk tech.

Blooper Reel

Blooper time with Tech Diva. What is one? Uh-oh. I messed up the rapid fire. (The phon e is not on mute.)

That's okay. We can pick it right back up.

Look, now I'm like, uhhhhh.

Ran. Rans. I can't say it. Okay. From ransom. I still can't get it out. Ransomware. Yeah, yeah. I'm trying to say ransomware. Okay.