To the Editor,
As the owner of a managed IT services firm based in Garfield Heights, I have spent the last several months watching a worrying trend turn into something I believe rises to the level of a public concern.
Since the start of 2026, computer compromises affecting professionals across Northeast Ohio — particularly in legal and medical offices — have increased sharply. These are not the random consumer infections we used to see. They are deliberate, targeted attacks aimed at the offices most likely to hold large quantities of personally identifiable information about everyday residents. When one of those computers falls, the damage extends far beyond the professional whose name is on the door.
What concerns me most is how many of the affected professionals are doing their work without any IT oversight at all. Free antivirus, an unpatched operating system, and a reused password are not a defense against the threats now operating in this region.
A short list of measures that materially reduce risk, and that any professional or homeowner can implement without a vendor: enable multi-factor authentication on every email and cloud account; replace consumer-grade or expired antivirus with a current, monitored, business-class product; install operating system, browser, and Office updates promptly; use unique passwords stored in a reputable password manager; verify that your backups exist and have been tested with an actual restore; and enable full-disk encryption on every laptop.
Finally, and most simply: be slow to click. Court notices, billing invoices, and password-reset emails are the three impersonations driving the majority of cases we have responded to this year.
For those who want a professional review of their systems rather than a self-assessment, our firm offers a comprehensive computer security assessment, available in-shop or remotely. But the business angle is secondary to the message. The threat is real, it is local, and the people most exposed are often those who do not yet know they are.
If you see something, say something — to us, to your IT provider, or to a trusted professional. The cost of asking is nothing. The cost of waiting can be considerable.
Respectfully,
Weldon
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