During the hectic holiday season last December, a mid-level accounts payable staffer at a medium-sized business received a text that appeared to come directly from her CEO. The message sounded urgent: she needed to pick up $3,000 worth of Apple gift cards for clients, scratch off the codes, and email them right away.

You wouldn’t drive a car without buckling your seatbelt, and you wouldn’t leave your office door unlocked overnight. So why leave your online accounts unprotected? Multi-factor authentication (MFA) acts as an extra safeguard for your digital life. Rather than relying solely on a password—which can be guessed, stolen, or phished—it requires an additional verification step.

In 2020, a Mississippi family experienced a terrifying incident. Their eight-year-old daughter woke up to hear a strange man’s voice in her bedroom – but it wasn’t her dad. A hacker had broken into their Ring camera and was talking to her through it, even mocking her and playing music until her parents ran in and disconnected the device.

AI is evolving at lightning speed – transforming the way we work and do business. But while the possibilities are thrilling, there’s a darker side to this story: cyber attackers have the same powerful tools at their fingertips. Below, we’re unmasking a few of the ghouls hiding in the shadows that you should be watching out for.

In Charlotte’s thriving business hub, where finance, healthcare, retail, and legal firms rely on digital systems, data loss can be catastrophic. A single incident—whether from a storm, ransomware, or hardware failure—can cost thousands in revenue, erode client trust, or even shutter a business.