https://biztechmagazine.com/ en https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/ransomware-moving-faster-smbs-can-respond We are approaching 10 years since ransomware gangs pivoted from targeting individual computers to focusing on extorting businesses for big paydays. Over that period, many have begun to target smaller, less well-defended targets. Small businesses are more than twice as likely than enterprises (88% versus 39%) to face a ransomware attack, according to Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigation Report. In The State of Ransomware 2025 survey from Sophos, we tracked some of the impacts affecting small and midsized businesses. Click the banner to sign up for our newsletter and receive more business… Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:23:22 -0400 Chester Wisniewski https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/ransomware-moving-faster-smbs-can-respond https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/microsoft-supports-solutions-help-financial-institutions-police-their-ai-work Financial services organizations are rapidly exploring artificial intelligence to improve customer experience, streamline operations and enhance fraud detection. However, these gains come with significant risks. Sensitive financial data may be inadvertently exposed to AI systems, unauthorized users could gain access to AI environments, and manipulated inputs may alter outputs in ways that introduce compliance or reputational risk. These concerns are amplified in financial services, where institutions must comply with stringent regulations such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Sarbanes–… Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:37:49 -0400 BizTech Staff https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/microsoft-supports-solutions-help-financial-institutions-police-their-ai-work https://biztechmagazine.com/magazine/issue/2026/3/spring-2026 Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:21:27 -0400 https://biztechmagazine.com/magazine/issue/2026/3/spring-2026 https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/modernize-your-legacy-crm-meet-financial-services-demands As customer expectations evolve in financial services, institutions must balance personalized experiences with strict regulatory requirements and risk management. The question for IT leaders is no longer whether to modernize systems, it’s how quickly they can do so without disrupting operations. Customer relationship management platforms should serve as a centralized source of truth for client interactions, financial products and compliance workflows. However, many financial organizations still rely on outdated systems that create data silos across departments, slow onboarding processes and… Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:39:19 -0400 BizTech Staff https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/modernize-your-legacy-crm-meet-financial-services-demands https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/cyber-resilience-practice-where-small-businesses-should-focus-now When people talk about cybersecurity, small businesses are often portrayed as either unprepared or overwhelmed. In my experience, neither is true. What is true is that the threat landscape has become more intense and more indiscriminate. Small businesses are being targeted more often, and attackers are no longer just looking for high-profile enterprises. They’re looking for easy entry points. That can feel intimidating. But it doesn’t mean small businesses need to chase every security tool. The most successful organizations I work with are focused on cyber resilience: reducing risk, preparing… Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:02:57 -0400 Gerald Youngblood https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/cyber-resilience-practice-where-small-businesses-should-focus-now https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/what-cybersecurity-platformization The cyberdefense landscape has grown increasingly complex for years as security tools proliferate. A 2025 report from IBM and Palo Alto Networks found that, on average, organizations are managing 83 security solutions from 29 vendors. As new vulnerabilities emerge, so have a rush of new point solutions designed to address them, says Curtis Dukes, executive vice president and general manager of security best practices at the Center for Internet Security. While more tools might seem to promise greater security, the reality is attackers often exploit the “gaps between the tools,” says Frank… Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:40:32 -0400 Phil Goldstein https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/what-cybersecurity-platformization https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/ai-leadership-guide-small-businesses-build-ai-strategy-and-governance Small businesses across industries recognize the promise of artificial intelligence, but many organizations stumble on basic hurdles because they lack a clear AI strategy. An effective strategy can help organizations avoid problems such as poor data quality, a lack of AI literacy among employees and poor governance, all of which frequently stall projects. When senior leaders set direction, align resources and govern AI, they can more effectively execute a top-down transformation that places AI at the center of strategic change.  What Is AI Leadership? It’s helpful to imagine AI… Wed, 08 Apr 2026 16:52:39 -0400 Nathan Eddy https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/ai-leadership-guide-small-businesses-build-ai-strategy-and-governance https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/federated-machine-learning-gives-enterprises-competitive-ai-advantage-perfcon Historically, machine learning models have been trained by consolidating data from multiple sources into a centralized cloud server or data center and then training the model based on the combined data. This approach can streamline ML model training but “may also create significant privacy risks and potential vulnerabilities if the central data repository is compromised,” as a Google blog post notes. A range of organizations, especially in highly regulated industries such as healthcare and finance, are turning to a solution that has existed for many years but is growing in prominence:… Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:17:20 -0400 Phil Goldstein https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/federated-machine-learning-gives-enterprises-competitive-ai-advantage-perfcon https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/four-tech-areas-startups-should-not-overlook Startups often face pressure to move fast, but neglecting IT best practices early on can lead to long-term issues; for example, misconfigured devices can result in time-consuming fixes later. Likewise, haphazardly managed licensing can lead to overlapping or underutilized software purchases. These mistakes may be trivial for a large enterprise, but for startups, every cent and every minute counts. Here are four areas of technology that every startup should prioritize: 1. Infrastructure Must Scale With the Business Navigating infrastructure requirements and implementation can be a headache for… Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:57:32 -0400 Alexis Nattee, Kyle Van De Voorde https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/four-tech-areas-startups-should-not-overlook https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/biometric-authentication-enterprise-iam-passkeys-and-path-passwordless-perfcon Enterprises have long relied on multifactor authentication (MFA) that combines something users know, such as a password, with a second factor, including SMS codes, time-based one-time passwords or push notifications. While these methods improve security compared with passwords alone, they remain vulnerable to phishing and social engineering attacks that can trick users into revealing both factors. Biometric authentication introduces a different model by adding a fingerprint reader or face recognition into the authentication process. When integrated with modern identity and access management (… Tue, 07 Apr 2026 12:12:02 -0400 Nathan Eddy https://biztechmagazine.com/article/2026/04/biometric-authentication-enterprise-iam-passkeys-and-path-passwordless-perfcon