Technology Advisor Blog



How to Tell If an Email Is a Scam

Posted by Linda Hanson on 8/12/26, 1:08 PM

Not long ago, a scam email was easy to spot. Poor grammar, generic greetings, or suspicious links that looked nothing like the brand they were pretending to be. Most people learned to recognize them and felt reasonably confident in their ability to delete them before any damage was done, but that confidence is now a liability.

Phishing emails in 2026 are professionally written, visually convincing, and increasingly personalized. They reference your name, your company, your colleagues, and sometimes details about your business that feel like they could only come from someone who knows you. They arrive from addresses that look almost identical to the real thing, and create urgency that makes you want to act before you think.

 In a recent workshop hosted by Ekaru, Ann Westerheim and Linda joined Lincoln Vierhus to break down exactly how Business Email Compromise and phishing attacks work and why they are so effective against small businesses in greater Boston. You can watch the full workshop here. 

One of the clearest takeaways from that conversation was this: the emails that cause the most damage are not the obvious ones, but the ones that look completely legitimate right up until the moment they are not.

So how do you actually tell the difference?

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Tags: phishing, email security, cybersecurity, managed IT services in Boston, business email compromise, small business it support, it support boston





Gift Cards-An Easy Gift Solution but Proceed with Caution

Posted by Sarah Carroll on 11/13/25, 10:40 AM

Coordinating a Wishlist for the holidays with your friends, family and loved ones can be challenging. Especially when no two people are the same. In a lot of cases, whether you utilize your time management right during the season or not, (it’s completely understandable if you don’t, it’s a stressful time in the work-life balance realm), sometimes the best gift, when you don’t know what to get, is a gift card.

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Tags: phishing, email security, lifecycle, cybersecurity, Fraud, Cybersecurity Awareness Training, Gift Card Scams





Combatting Business eMail Compromise Risks

Posted by Ann Westerheim on 11/22/21, 2:28 PM

An old scam that keeps reinventing itself with new victims. Don’t become a victim! 

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Tags: email security, cybersecurity, security awareness training





Don't Click on that eMail Security Warning Message!

Posted by Ann Westerheim on 1/21/19, 1:53 PM

We do a lot of cybersecurity training at Ekaru and one of things we tell people is to "THINK BEFORE YOU CLICK".  But what do we need to look out for?

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Tags: email security, cybersecurity





Sending an email to more than just a few recipients? DON'T hit the send key before reading this....

Posted by Ann Westerheim on 4/16/18, 3:54 PM

You need to send an important update or invitation to all your clients and you're ready to hit the "send" key.  Don't!  

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Tags: eMail, email security





Beware of Phishing attempt to "Authenticate your Account"

Posted by Ann Westerheim on 7/25/17, 9:12 AM

Stay alert when reading through your email.  Our Cybersecurity advice focuses on "layers" of security, and even with all the technology in place to protect you, the "bad actors" will always resort to new tricks.  End user education and vigilance are key.

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Tags: phishing, email security, cybersecurity





Why did that Spam message get through my filter?

Posted by Ann Westerheim on 3/7/13, 8:43 AM

One of the services we provide to our clients is spam filtering.  The goal is to stop the spam BEFORE it gets to the mail server so it doesn't wind up on the users' desktop, laptop, iPad, smart phone, etc....  Each month when we do the reporting and roll up the numbers, it's amazing how much volume there is. Overall, around 80% of all email traffic is flagged as spam.  For some of our clients, this means blocking out tens of thousands of messages a month.  I looked at our own domain yesterday, and in February, over 10,000 messages were blocked or quarantined, including 348 emails containing viruses.  

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Tags: eMail, spam filtering, email security, spam





Beware! Flight Information Phishing Emails

Posted by Ann Westerheim on 12/8/11, 8:21 AM

This is the time of year when many people travel.  We have received a lot of questions recently about the latest email security threat:  a new wave of "phishing" emails that are based on flight information notifications. 

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Tags: phishing, email security





eMail Security - Sending Encrypted eMail

Posted by Ann Westerheim on 5/27/11, 11:15 AM

Although email typically has a layer of security protection in the form of a password, users need to be aware that emails sent "in the clear" (not encrypted), CAN be intercepted and read by other parties using available tools.

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Tags: email security, Encryption





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