IT help for everyone, from the office manager to the IT pro.
Clear, fact-checked answers for small offices, town halls, and community banks. Whether you got stuck looking after the computers or you're the only IT person in the building, start with the basics or dig into the technical deep dives.
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Start with the basics, or jump straight to the technical deep dives.
Tech basics
Plain-English help for anyone who looks after the office computers: scams, passwords, backups, and Wi-Fi.
22 articlesAudits & compliance
Getting ready for CJIS, LEADS, and bank exams: what auditors ask for and how to have it ready.
14 articlesActive Directory
How office logins and user accounts are managed behind the scenes, plus server upgrades and cleanup.
13 articlesPhones & PBX
Keeping office phone systems patched, secure, and safe from scammers running up the bill.
9 articlesNetworks
Firewalls, Wi-Fi, remote access, and the building systems that quietly share your network.
39 articlesUseful tools
Free and low-cost utilities worth keeping in the toolkit, and what each one is good for.
14 articlesUseful scripts
Ready-to-run scripts for IT pros. Read and test before you run anything.
6 articlesField notes
Shorter write-ups, lessons learned, and the odd war story.
26 articles
Latest articles
New guides as they're written and fact-checked. See all articles.
- Phones & PBXSecurity alert
FreeSWITCH phone systems need version 1.11.3 now — CVE-2026-116779 is being exploited
A critical FreeSWITCH flaw that allows command execution through SIP text messages is on CISA's exploited list. Here's who is affected and what to do.
- NetworksSecurity alert
VMware ESX logging flaw is on CISA's exploited list: patch the whole advisory, because it also fixes critical bugs
CVE-2026-41709 is a low-severity ESX flaw, but CISA lists it as exploited. The same Broadcom advisory fixes critical vCenter and ESX flaws. Here is what to check and install.
- Field notes
Field note: a fake CEO email, a clean purge, and the leftover hybrid connectors it turned up
A CEO-impersonation email reached five people at a small Microsoft 365 shop. The purge had gotchas, and the message trace exposed connectors to a dead Exchange server.
- Tech basicsSecurity alert
Update WordPress to 7.1.4 or your branch's latest release: a flaw in the update process is being exploited
CISA added a WordPress core flaw to its exploited list on November 3. Sites that update normally are protected once on a fixed release, and auto-updates should deliver it.
- Field notes
Field note: the laptop that hung on every boot device, and the dead M.2 behind it
A work laptop hung in Windows, in recovery, on a USB installer, and in Clonezilla. The BIOS still opened, so it looked fixable. The M.2 drive had died and taken the PCIe bus with it.
- Field notes
Field note: replacing a public folder with a shared mailbox, without changing the address
A public folder's contents went out to a PST and into a new shared mailbox, and the old address moved across with it. Here's the order that worked and what to check before you start.
- NetworksSecurity alert
Cisco ASA and FTD firewalls: an exploited VPN flaw can force reboots, and the fix is a software update
CVE-2026-76418 lets an unauthenticated attacker crash Cisco ASA and FTD firewalls that use secondary authentication on the SSL VPN. It is exploited now. Here is how to check and what to install.
Free printable
“We got hacked, now what?” one-page wall sheet
The first steps to take, what not to do, and who to call, on one page you can tape up by the office computer. Enter your email, click the link in the confirmation email, and the download is right there. You'll also get new plain-English guides and scam alerts. No spam, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
New to IT? Start here.
A free, step-by-step path through the basics: how computers and networks work, staying secure, building a home lab, and breaking into the field.
AI, explained without the hype
Plain-English guides to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot: how they work, where they get things wrong, what never to paste in, and how to use them safely at work.
Free: CJIS audit evidence checklist
A printable list of everything the auditor is likely to ask for, from network diagrams to training records.