July 7, 2026

What Immutable Backup Means on Cyber Insurance Forms for West Michigan Businesses

This article has been written by Greg Johnson

Article Summary: Immutable backups are backup copies that nobody can change or delete during a fixed retention period, including administrators and attackers using stolen credentials. Cyber insurance carriers ask about them on renewal applications because ransomware operators routinely destroy backups before encrypting production systems. A backup sitting on your network under regular admin credentials does not qualify.


Cyber insurance applications include a question that catches a lot of small business owners off guard: “Do you maintain immutable, air-gapped, or offline backups of your critical business data?”


Carriers added that question to renewal forms because ransomware operators worked out that the fastest way to force a payout is to wipe the backups first and encrypt everything else after. CISA, the FBI, and the Internet Crime Complaint Center have all documented this pattern as one of the most common moves in current ransomware playbooks. A business whose backup copies can be deleted using the same admin credentials an attacker just stole has no recovery path other than paying the ransom.


This post covers what immutable backup means, three common backup setups that do not qualify, the questions to send your IT provider before you sign the form, and what to do if your honest answer is no.


Immutable backup, defined

An immutable backup is one that cannot be modified or deleted for a fixed period of time, including by you, by your IT provider, and by anyone using stolen admin credentials.


The stolen credentials piece is what carriers care about. Most backup systems can be wiped by anyone with admin access. Immutability means the backup platform itself enforces the lock at the storage layer, and no credentials, however privileged, can override it during the retention window. Some platforms call this object lock, write-once-read-many, or WORM storage. The terminology varies between vendors, but the underlying control is the sam.


Three common backup setups that do not qualify

Three setups come up regularly that don't satisfy the immutability question, even though business owners often assume they do.


A NAS or external drive in your office

A network-attached storage device sitting in your server room is reachable from your network by design. If ransomware spreads across your environment, it can reach the NAS. An attacker with domain admin credentials can wipe what's on it. An external drive that someone plugs in once a week and leaves connected has the same exposure.

These devices have a role in a broader backup strategy. On their own, they do not satisfy the immutability question.


Microsoft 365 retention treated as a backup

Microsoft 365 includes data retention features, and some businesses use them as their backup solution. They are not a backup in the sense the form is asking about. An attacker with global admin access to your tenant can delete data and purge retention holds.


Under Microsoft's shared responsibility model, customers retain responsibility for backup and protection of their own data, separate from what Microsoft provides at the platform level.


If your only protection for Microsoft 365 data is what Microsoft provides natively, the honest answer to the immutability question is no.


A cloud backup with immutability switched off

This is the most common gap. Many reputable backup platforms include immutability as a feature, but the setting is not always enabled by default. The capability exists, and someone needs to turn it on. Your business may be paying for a backup solution that looks credible on paper while the immutability toggle sits in the off position. You cannot tell from the outside without checking.


Three questions to send your IT provider before you sign the form

Copy these into an email and send them before you check the box.


Question one: “Are our backups immutable, and if so, how long is the immutability window?”


Carrier guidance has tightened in the past two years. Most insurers want a window of at least 14 days as a floor, with 30 days increasingly cited as the preferred minimum. Attackers sometimes sit in a network for weeks before triggering ransomware, which means a backup from yesterday may already be compromised. The window needs to be long enough to give you clean restore points from before the attacker arrived.


Question two: “If our domain admin account or Microsoft 365 global admin account were stolen tomorrow, could that account be used to delete our backups?”

The correct answer is no. If the answer is yes, or if your provider is not sure, your backups are not immutable in the way the form means.


Question three: “Can you send me a screenshot or vendor documentation showing that immutability is enabled on our account?”


A provider who can send something concrete has done the work. If they come back with verbal reassurance and nothing to show, treat that as a no until they can demonstrate otherwise.


What a qualifying setup looks like

For your backup to honestly satisfy the question on the form, a few things need to be true at the same time.


The backup platform needs immutability turned on, not only available as a feature. Several major vendors including Veeam, Datto, Rubrik, and Acronis offer the capability, along with most cloud storage providers that support S3-compatible object lock. A vendor name on the invoice does not, by itself, answer the question. The setting has to be turned on, scoped properly, and tied to credentials that aren't shared with the rest of your environment.


The backup credentials need to sit outside your regular administrative accounts. If the same login that manages your Microsoft 365 environment also controls your backup platform, a compromised admin account can reach both. A qualifying setup uses isolated credentials outside your day-to-day identity environment.


The retention window needs to be long enough. A 24-hour backup that overwrites itself daily does not help if an attacker has been in your environment for a week. CISA's #StopRansomware Guide lists immutable, tested backups as a baseline control, and most insurers now align with that position.


Restores also need to be tested. A backup nobody has tried to restore in the past 12 months is not something you can rely on when it matters. Most carriers now ask for the date of your last successful restore test, and they want to see one.


What to do if your honest answer is no

Declare what you have on the form, and use the renewal process as the reason to fix what isn't there.


The first step is to ask your IT provider whether immutability can be enabled on your existing platform. In many cases the platform already supports it, and turning it on is a configuration change rather than a new product purchase. If the platform supports it and nobody has switched it on, that conversation can usually be resolved in a few days.


If your provider does not know what you're asking, or cannot give a clear answer to the three questions above, that response is itself important information. This area needs attention before your next renewal date, even if other parts of your IT setup are handled well.


One thing to avoid: do not check yes on the form to dodge a premium hike. Cyber insurance applications function as warranty documents. If a forensic investigation after a claim finds your backups did not match what you declared, the carrier can rescind the policy. Coverage is then treated as if it never existed, and any prior payouts under the same policy term can be clawed back. Misrepresentation discovered after a claim is one of the most expensive mistakes a small business can make on an insurance form.


Checking no on the form will likely cost you something at renewal, either in premium or in coverage terms. That's a known cost, and it's manageable. Take the hit on the application, and use the months between now and your next renewal to close the gap.


Article FAQs

What does immutable backup mean, in plain English?

A backup that nobody can change or delete for a set period of time, even with administrator credentials. The storage platform enforces the lock at the system level, so user permissions cannot override it.


Is Microsoft 365's built-in retention a backup?

No. Native retention can be bypassed by a global admin or by anyone who steals one. Microsoft's shared responsibility model places backup of your data on the customer, separate from retention.


How long should the immutability window be?

Most insurers and security frameworks point to a minimum of 14 days. 30 days is increasingly the preferred floor, and some carriers want longer. A longer window gives you more confident recovery if an attacker has been inside your environment for an extended period.


Can my IT provider just turn immutability on?

Often, yes. If your backup platform supports the feature and it has not been enabled, this is a configuration change rather than a new purchase. Ask for written confirmation once it's done.


What happens if I check yes on the form when I shouldn't?

The carrier can rescind the policy after a claim, which voids coverage retroactively. Any prior payouts under the same policy term can also be clawed back. Misrepresentation is one of the most common reasons cyber claims are denied.

 

Article used with permission from The Technology Press.

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Should Michigan Employees Use Personal Devices for Work?

By Greg Johnson • October 2, 2026
Employees often use personal devices for work before the business has made a decision about it. They add work email to a phone, download a file to a home laptop, or sign into a company app from a computer shared with family. Once business data is stored on a personal device, you have less control over updates, installed apps, backups, and who else uses the device. You also need a way to remove company data when the employee leaves or the device is lost. Personal devices can be allowed, but the business should decide which devices, applications, and types of work are permitted. What BYOD includes Bring your own device, usually shortened to BYOD, means an employee uses a personally owned phone, tablet, or computer for work. That can include: Adding work email to a personal phone Signing into Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace Joining online meetings Opening customer or company files Using a business messaging app Accessing accounting, CRM, or project management software Downloading documents to a personal computer Depending on the application, business information may remain in the cloud or be downloaded to the device as messages, attachments, cached data, or files. What you cannot fully control on a personal device Your IT team can set and monitor security on company-owned devices. With personal devices, employees choose which apps to install, when to update the operating system, who else uses the device, and where files are backed up.

OneDrive or SharePoint? Where Your Michigan Business Files Should Live

By Greg Johnson • September 14, 2026
If your business runs on Microsoft 365, you've got two places to store files: OneDrive and SharePoint. Most people are never told the difference, so files end up wherever is easiest, spread across OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and the desktop. That's how you end up with the everyday headaches: a file nobody can find, a document only one person can open, and a scramble to recover someone's work after they leave. The rule for where things should go is simple once you know what each one is for. What each one is for OneDrive is your own space. Think of it as the cloud version of the My Documents folder on your computer: your work files, private to you unless you choose to share them. It's the right place for drafts and anything only you need. SharePoint is the team's space. It's built for files with shared ownership, the documents your team, department, or the whole business works on together. Microsoft's own advice is straightforward: if you're working on something by yourself, save it to OneDrive; if you're working as a team, save it where the team works. Where Teams fits in Microsoft Teams confuses this for a lot of people, because it looks like a third place to keep files. In reality, when you upload a file to a Teams channel, it's stored in that team's SharePoint site. The Files tab in Teams is just a view into SharePoint. So if your team works in Teams, your shared files are already in SharePoint, whether you realized it or not. That's a good thing. It means the files have shared ownership and don't belong to one person's account. So where should your files live? Here's the rule that keeps things simple: If it's your own draft or something only you need, keep it in OneDrive. If the team needs it, more than one person works on it, or it's a client or project file, put it in SharePoint (or the Teams channel for that work, which is the same thing). Don't leave important shared files sitting only on someone's desktop or only in their personal OneDrive. Sharing files the right way Where a file lives also changes how you share it. When you share a file from your OneDrive, you're sending people into your personal space, usually with a link tied to your account. That works, but the link depends on you. If you leave, or the file moves, those links can stop working, and whoever relied on them is stuck. In SharePoint or a Teams channel, the right people already have access, because the files belong to the team rather than to you. You can point a colleague to the folder and they're in, with no one-off links to manage. It's also worth sharing a link instead of emailing a copy. When everyone opens the same file in OneDrive or SharePoint, they're all looking at the current version, and you avoid ending up with five slightly different copies attached to five different emails. Why this matters Putting files in the right place saves you real trouble later. Take what happens when someone leaves. Their personal OneDrive isn't shared by default, so any important work kept only there can be hard to reach. Microsoft holds a deleted user's OneDrive for 30 days by default and gives their manager access, but that turns into a rush against the clock. Files kept in SharePoint stay with the team no matter who comes or goes. It also makes files easier to find. When the team's documents live in one shared SharePoint library, people know where to look, instead of hunting through inboxes and personal drives. And it helps you recover from mistakes. Both OneDrive and SharePoint keep older versions of your files and a recycle bin, so if a document gets overwritten or ransomware scrambles your files, you can roll back to a clean copy instead of starting over: How to get it right Put shared work in SharePoint or Teams. Anything the team works on together belongs in a shared library. Keep it out of one person's OneDrive. Keep OneDrive for your own files. Drafts and personal work are fine there. Just don't let it become the only home for something the team needs. Get files off local desktops. A file saved only on a laptop isn't backed up, isn't shared, and is gone if the laptop is lost. Move important files into OneDrive or SharePoint. You can still work from your computer the way you always have: the OneDrive app keeps a copy on the device for offline use and saves your changes to the cloud automatically. Agree where things go. A simple, shared rule, like "client files live in the client's SharePoint folder," saves endless confusion later. Use version history when you need it. If a file gets changed or deleted by mistake, you or your IT provider can restore an earlier version rather than redoing the work. Frequently Asked Questions What's the key difference between OneDrive and SharePoint? OneDrive is for your own work files. SharePoint is for files your team shares.  Where do files in a Teams channel get stored? In SharePoint. Every team has a SharePoint site behind it, and the Files tab in a channel is a view into that site. Uploading a file to Teams is the same as putting it in SharePoint. Should I keep work files on my computer's desktop? Try not to, for anything important. A file only on your desktop isn't shared or backed up, and it's gone if the device is lost or breaks. Save it to OneDrive or SharePoint instead, where it's protected and reachable. What happens to files in someone's OneDrive when they leave? By default, Microsoft keeps a deleted user's OneDrive for 30 days and gives their manager access, and that window can be extended if it's set up in advance. It's recoverable, but it's far easier if shared work was in SharePoint to begin with. Can I get back a file that was deleted or changed by mistake? Usually, yes. OneDrive and SharePoint both keep a recycle bin and older versions of files, so you can restore a deleted file or roll back to an earlier version. Your IT provider can help if you can't find it. Article used with permission from The Technology Press.

Why Michigan Businesses Should Scroll Past the First Result on Google

By Greg Johnson • August 28, 2026
 When you search Google for a program to download or a website to log into, the first thing you see is usually an ad. It sits at the top, marked "Sponsored," and most people click it without a second thought, because the top result is normally what you wanted. Scammers count on that. They buy ads on the names of trusted companies and popular software, so their fake site appears right at the top, above the real one, and you click it thinking it's the official page. How the scam works The trick is called malvertising, short for malicious advertising. A scammer buys a search ad for a term people trust, like the name of your bank, a Microsoft login, or a common program such as a PDF reader or a video player. The ad looks normal, with the real brand name and a web address that looks right. When someone clicks it, they land on a page built to look exactly like the real one. Sometimes that page asks you to log in and hands your username and password straight to the scammer. Other times it offers the software you were after, and the download installs malware instead of the real program. Why these ads are so easy to fall for These ads are convincing. They sit above the real result, so they're the first thing you see. They use the real company's name and a web address that looks right. And they show up on a search you started yourself, so they don't feel as suspicious as a random email or text would. Attackers have also gotten good at hiding from the checks meant to stop them. They show a clean, harmless page to the ad reviewers and the real, malicious page to everyone else, so the ad can pass review and still do damage. How common is this? Very. In its 2025 Ads Safety Report , Google said it blocked or removed more than 8.3 billion ads that broke its rules, suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts, and took down 602 million ads tied to scams. Google also noted that criminals are now using AI to make fake ads faster. Security researchers have found scam search ads pretending to be well-known programs like VLC, 7-Zip, and CCleaner, and even Google's own apps, with downloads that installed password-stealing malware. These show up on the everyday searches your team runs. What this means for your business For a business, the risk comes up in two everyday situations: downloading software, and logging in. When someone downloads software, they search for a tool, click the top ad, and install something that steals the passwords and logins saved in their browser. When someone logs in, they search for "Microsoft 365 login" or their bank, click the ad rather than the official link, and type their username and password straight into a fake page. In both cases, the problem is info-stealing malware. Once it's on a machine, it can steal saved passwords, browser cookies, and session tokens, which can get an attacker into accounts even when multi-factor authentication is switched on. How to protect your team Scroll past the sponsored results. The ads sit at the top, marked "Sponsored" or "Ad." The real website is usually just below, in the normal results. Don't download software from an ad. Type the maker's web address yourself, or search and use the normal result, then download from the official site. Bookmark the sites you log into. For your bank, Microsoft 365, and other important accounts, use a saved bookmark instead of searching each time. Keep devices and browsers updated. Turn on automatic updates so a bad download is less likely to work. Tell your team this is a thing. Most people have no idea the top result can be a trap and, once they know, they stop clicking it. Frequently Asked Questions Aren't ads at the top of Google checked and safe? Google reviews ads and removes billions that break its rules, but scammers still slip through by showing reviewers a clean page and everyone else the malicious one. A "Sponsored" label doesn't mean the site is safe. What is malvertising? Malvertising is short for malicious advertising: scammers buy online ads, often on trusted brand names, to send people to fake sites that steal logins or install malware.

How do I download software safely?

Go to the maker's official website by typing the address yourself, or search and use the normal (non-ad) result. Don't download from a sponsored ad, and don't trust a download that arrives through one. What should I do if someone clicked a scam ad? If they only visited the page, close it and don't enter anything. If they typed a password, change it and turn on MFA. If they downloaded and ran a file, disconnect the device and have your IT provider check it for info-stealing malware. Does an ad blocker help? It can. A reputable ad blocker hides many sponsored results, which takes the fake links off the page before anyone can click them. It isn't a complete fix, so keep the habits above too. Article used with permission from The Technology Press.
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Should Michigan Employees Use Personal Devices for Work?

By Greg Johnson • October 2, 2026
Employees often use personal devices for work before the business has made a decision about it. They add work email to a phone, download a file to a home laptop, or sign into a company app from a computer shared with family. Once business data is stored on a personal device, you have less control over updates, installed apps, backups, and who else uses the device. You also need a way to remove company data when the employee leaves or the device is lost. Personal devices can be allowed, but the business should decide which devices, applications, and types of work are permitted. What BYOD includes Bring your own device, usually shortened to BYOD, means an employee uses a personally owned phone, tablet, or computer for work. That can include: Adding work email to a personal phone Signing into Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace Joining online meetings Opening customer or company files Using a business messaging app Accessing accounting, CRM, or project management software Downloading documents to a personal computer Depending on the application, business information may remain in the cloud or be downloaded to the device as messages, attachments, cached data, or files. What you cannot fully control on a personal device Your IT team can set and monitor security on company-owned devices. With personal devices, employees choose which apps to install, when to update the operating system, who else uses the device, and where files are backed up.

OneDrive or SharePoint? Where Your Michigan Business Files Should Live

By Greg Johnson • September 14, 2026
If your business runs on Microsoft 365, you've got two places to store files: OneDrive and SharePoint. Most people are never told the difference, so files end up wherever is easiest, spread across OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and the desktop. That's how you end up with the everyday headaches: a file nobody can find, a document only one person can open, and a scramble to recover someone's work after they leave. The rule for where things should go is simple once you know what each one is for. What each one is for OneDrive is your own space. Think of it as the cloud version of the My Documents folder on your computer: your work files, private to you unless you choose to share them. It's the right place for drafts and anything only you need. SharePoint is the team's space. It's built for files with shared ownership, the documents your team, department, or the whole business works on together. Microsoft's own advice is straightforward: if you're working on something by yourself, save it to OneDrive; if you're working as a team, save it where the team works. Where Teams fits in Microsoft Teams confuses this for a lot of people, because it looks like a third place to keep files. In reality, when you upload a file to a Teams channel, it's stored in that team's SharePoint site. The Files tab in Teams is just a view into SharePoint. So if your team works in Teams, your shared files are already in SharePoint, whether you realized it or not. That's a good thing. It means the files have shared ownership and don't belong to one person's account. So where should your files live? Here's the rule that keeps things simple: If it's your own draft or something only you need, keep it in OneDrive. If the team needs it, more than one person works on it, or it's a client or project file, put it in SharePoint (or the Teams channel for that work, which is the same thing). Don't leave important shared files sitting only on someone's desktop or only in their personal OneDrive. Sharing files the right way Where a file lives also changes how you share it. When you share a file from your OneDrive, you're sending people into your personal space, usually with a link tied to your account. That works, but the link depends on you. If you leave, or the file moves, those links can stop working, and whoever relied on them is stuck. In SharePoint or a Teams channel, the right people already have access, because the files belong to the team rather than to you. You can point a colleague to the folder and they're in, with no one-off links to manage. It's also worth sharing a link instead of emailing a copy. When everyone opens the same file in OneDrive or SharePoint, they're all looking at the current version, and you avoid ending up with five slightly different copies attached to five different emails. Why this matters Putting files in the right place saves you real trouble later. Take what happens when someone leaves. Their personal OneDrive isn't shared by default, so any important work kept only there can be hard to reach. Microsoft holds a deleted user's OneDrive for 30 days by default and gives their manager access, but that turns into a rush against the clock. Files kept in SharePoint stay with the team no matter who comes or goes. It also makes files easier to find. When the team's documents live in one shared SharePoint library, people know where to look, instead of hunting through inboxes and personal drives. And it helps you recover from mistakes. Both OneDrive and SharePoint keep older versions of your files and a recycle bin, so if a document gets overwritten or ransomware scrambles your files, you can roll back to a clean copy instead of starting over: How to get it right Put shared work in SharePoint or Teams. Anything the team works on together belongs in a shared library. Keep it out of one person's OneDrive. Keep OneDrive for your own files. Drafts and personal work are fine there. Just don't let it become the only home for something the team needs. Get files off local desktops. A file saved only on a laptop isn't backed up, isn't shared, and is gone if the laptop is lost. Move important files into OneDrive or SharePoint. You can still work from your computer the way you always have: the OneDrive app keeps a copy on the device for offline use and saves your changes to the cloud automatically. Agree where things go. A simple, shared rule, like "client files live in the client's SharePoint folder," saves endless confusion later. Use version history when you need it. If a file gets changed or deleted by mistake, you or your IT provider can restore an earlier version rather than redoing the work. Frequently Asked Questions What's the key difference between OneDrive and SharePoint? OneDrive is for your own work files. SharePoint is for files your team shares.  Where do files in a Teams channel get stored? In SharePoint. Every team has a SharePoint site behind it, and the Files tab in a channel is a view into that site. Uploading a file to Teams is the same as putting it in SharePoint. Should I keep work files on my computer's desktop? Try not to, for anything important. A file only on your desktop isn't shared or backed up, and it's gone if the device is lost or breaks. Save it to OneDrive or SharePoint instead, where it's protected and reachable. What happens to files in someone's OneDrive when they leave? By default, Microsoft keeps a deleted user's OneDrive for 30 days and gives their manager access, and that window can be extended if it's set up in advance. It's recoverable, but it's far easier if shared work was in SharePoint to begin with. Can I get back a file that was deleted or changed by mistake? Usually, yes. OneDrive and SharePoint both keep a recycle bin and older versions of files, so you can restore a deleted file or roll back to an earlier version. Your IT provider can help if you can't find it. Article used with permission from The Technology Press.

Why Michigan Businesses Should Scroll Past the First Result on Google

By Greg Johnson • August 28, 2026
 When you search Google for a program to download or a website to log into, the first thing you see is usually an ad. It sits at the top, marked "Sponsored," and most people click it without a second thought, because the top result is normally what you wanted. Scammers count on that. They buy ads on the names of trusted companies and popular software, so their fake site appears right at the top, above the real one, and you click it thinking it's the official page. How the scam works The trick is called malvertising, short for malicious advertising. A scammer buys a search ad for a term people trust, like the name of your bank, a Microsoft login, or a common program such as a PDF reader or a video player. The ad looks normal, with the real brand name and a web address that looks right. When someone clicks it, they land on a page built to look exactly like the real one. Sometimes that page asks you to log in and hands your username and password straight to the scammer. Other times it offers the software you were after, and the download installs malware instead of the real program. Why these ads are so easy to fall for These ads are convincing. They sit above the real result, so they're the first thing you see. They use the real company's name and a web address that looks right. And they show up on a search you started yourself, so they don't feel as suspicious as a random email or text would. Attackers have also gotten good at hiding from the checks meant to stop them. They show a clean, harmless page to the ad reviewers and the real, malicious page to everyone else, so the ad can pass review and still do damage. How common is this? Very. In its 2025 Ads Safety Report , Google said it blocked or removed more than 8.3 billion ads that broke its rules, suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts, and took down 602 million ads tied to scams. Google also noted that criminals are now using AI to make fake ads faster. Security researchers have found scam search ads pretending to be well-known programs like VLC, 7-Zip, and CCleaner, and even Google's own apps, with downloads that installed password-stealing malware. These show up on the everyday searches your team runs. What this means for your business For a business, the risk comes up in two everyday situations: downloading software, and logging in. When someone downloads software, they search for a tool, click the top ad, and install something that steals the passwords and logins saved in their browser. When someone logs in, they search for "Microsoft 365 login" or their bank, click the ad rather than the official link, and type their username and password straight into a fake page. In both cases, the problem is info-stealing malware. Once it's on a machine, it can steal saved passwords, browser cookies, and session tokens, which can get an attacker into accounts even when multi-factor authentication is switched on. How to protect your team Scroll past the sponsored results. The ads sit at the top, marked "Sponsored" or "Ad." The real website is usually just below, in the normal results. Don't download software from an ad. Type the maker's web address yourself, or search and use the normal result, then download from the official site. Bookmark the sites you log into. For your bank, Microsoft 365, and other important accounts, use a saved bookmark instead of searching each time. Keep devices and browsers updated. Turn on automatic updates so a bad download is less likely to work. Tell your team this is a thing. Most people have no idea the top result can be a trap and, once they know, they stop clicking it. Frequently Asked Questions Aren't ads at the top of Google checked and safe? Google reviews ads and removes billions that break its rules, but scammers still slip through by showing reviewers a clean page and everyone else the malicious one. A "Sponsored" label doesn't mean the site is safe. What is malvertising? Malvertising is short for malicious advertising: scammers buy online ads, often on trusted brand names, to send people to fake sites that steal logins or install malware.

How do I download software safely?

Go to the maker's official website by typing the address yourself, or search and use the normal (non-ad) result. Don't download from a sponsored ad, and don't trust a download that arrives through one. What should I do if someone clicked a scam ad? If they only visited the page, close it and don't enter anything. If they typed a password, change it and turn on MFA. If they downloaded and ran a file, disconnect the device and have your IT provider check it for info-stealing malware. Does an ad blocker help? It can. A reputable ad blocker hides many sponsored results, which takes the fake links off the page before anyone can click them. It isn't a complete fix, so keep the habits above too. Article used with permission from The Technology Press.
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