The Small Business

Cyber Security Guy

Welcome to my blog and podcast, where I share brutally honest views, sharp opinions, and lived experience from four decades in the technology trenches. Whether you're here to read or tune in, expect no corporate fluff and no pulled punches.

Everything here is personal. These are my thoughts, not those of my employer, clients, or any poor soul professionally tied to me. If you’re offended, take it up with me, not them.

What you’ll get here (and on the podcast):

  • Straight-talking advice for small businesses that want to stay secure

  • Honest takes on cybersecurity trends, IT malpractice, and vendor nonsense

  • The occasional rant — and yes, the occasional expletive

  • War stories from the frontlines (names changed to protect the spectacularly guilty)

I've been doing this for over 40 years. I’ve seen genius, idiocy, and everything in between. Some of it makes headlines, and most of it should.

This blog and the podcast is where I unpack it all. Pull up a chair.

Man wearing glasses and a light gray sweater, smiling
EU Bans SIM Farms – Years Too Late, As Usual
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EU Bans SIM Farms – Years Too Late, As Usual

The EU has finally banned SIM farms — about five years after scammers used them to turn SMS networks into a cybercrime playground. Bravo. This industrial-scale abuse wasn’t exactly a secret, yet regulators somehow needed a multi-year nap before acting.

Businesses were battered, individuals scammed, networks flooded and now, just as criminals are moving onto bigger, nastier tricks, the ban lands with all the urgency of a snail on sedatives.

It’s the right move, just years too late. If this is what "proactive" cybersecurity looks like, we might all want to invest in stronger helmets.

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Breached (Part 4)
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

Breached (Part 4)

Think your MSP has your back? Think again. In Part 4 of Breached, we unpack the brutal truths most businesses only learn after the worst happens.

From useless logs to skyrocketing insurance, and a support ticket that nearly destroyed everything, this is the roadmap you wish you had before the call came. Ten hard lessons, zero fluff.

Why your MSP is there to sell, not protect. Why a good fractional CIO is worth their weight in gold. And why silence from your IT provider isn’t just dangerous—it might be deliberate. This isn’t theory. It’s survival. And you’d better be ready.

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The Soft Underbelly: How UK SMBs Are Screwing the Nation on Cybersecurity
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

The Soft Underbelly: How UK SMBs Are Screwing the Nation on Cybersecurity

Think you're too small to be a target? Think again. UK small businesses are now the top attack vector for state-backed hackers from Russia and China, and your half-baked cybersecurity is a red carpet to our critical infrastructure.

M&S, Harrods, and the Co-op didn’t get hit by chance, they got hit through you. If you’re in the supply chain without Cyber Essentials Plus, real EDR, or even basic patching, you’re not just vulnerable — you’re a national liability. Time to grow up or get out of the way.

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Breached (Part 3)
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

Breached (Part 3)

The breach was just the beginning. In Part 3 of Breached, the truth is out—and now come the consequences. The MSP tried to hide a misconfiguration. They failed.

Now the clients are calling, the regulators want answers, and the business owner is left holding the fallout. From a quiet boardroom to sleepless nights and rising insurance premiums, this is what happens when a cover-up gets exposed. Contracts are cancelled. Trust evaporates.

And the worst part? It all could have been prevented. If you've ever wondered what happens after the breach, this is the chapter that shows just how far it spreads.

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Retail Cyber Crisis Uncovered: How the Co‑op Hack Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
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Retail Cyber Crisis Uncovered: How the Co‑op Hack Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

The Co-op breach? Just the start. Behind every checkout is a ticking digital time bomb—and UK retailers keep hitting snooze.

From Harrods to M&S, data is being leaked, stolen, and casually ignored while executives issue vague apologies and blame “sophisticated attacks.”

Payroll provider Zellis is quietly at the centre of it all—again. Meanwhile, your personal info is floating in the dark web like last season’s clearance stock.

In this brutal deep dive, we expose the rot behind the logos, the failures behind the firewalls, and ask the only question that matters:

Which high street brand is next?

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Breached (Part 2)
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

Breached (Part 2)

What happens when your IT provider makes a mistake—and then tries to hide it? In Part 2 of Breached, a hidden support ticket, a missing firewall log, and over 400 unpatched vulnerabilities unravel a small business’s trust in the team meant to protect them.

The MSP said, “Don’t tell the client.” But she was accidentally copied in. What followed was seven days of denial, silence, and mounting pressure—until the truth was read aloud, word for word, in a boardroom gone cold. This isn’t about poor support. This is about betrayal, exposure… and what happens when you catch someone in the lie.

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The SMS Scam: Why Your 2FA Strategy is an Open Goal for Hackers
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The SMS Scam: Why Your 2FA Strategy is an Open Goal for Hackers

Still using SMS for 2FA? You’re not securing your business—you’re leaving the door wide open and waving attackers in. A live zero-day exploit for SS7—the ancient, insecure telecom protocol still propping up your text messages—is being sold right now for five grand. That’s all it takes to intercept your logins, steal your bank codes, and track your phone. No malware.

No warnings. Just game over. If your IT team or MSP still thinks SMS is ‘good enough’, this article is the slap they need. Read it. Then rip SMS out of your security stack before someone else does it for you.

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Breached (Part 1)
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

Breached (Part 1)

Katie Roberts thought it was just another Tuesday—until her personal phone rang at 11:27 a.m. The voice on the other end wasn’t a client. It was the National Crime Agency. Within minutes, her calm, structured world tilted on its axis. A cyber breach. Live. Real. Observed. And her business—the one she’d built from scratch—was now under threat. No plan. No warnings. Just a quiet office and a slow, sinking realisation that everything was about to change. What do you do when your worst-case scenario starts with a phone call? You listen. You freeze. And then… you start asking questions.

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Co-op’s Data Breach: Another Day, Another Cyberattack in UK Retail
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Co-op’s Data Breach: Another Day, Another Cyberattack in UK Retail

Co-op just confirmed a major data breach—but only after the hackers got sick of waiting and contacted the BBC themselves. Yes, really. It turns out customer data wasn’t just mishandled, it was gift-wrapped and forgotten like an expired loyalty card.

With Zellis—the same payroll firm linked to the BBC and BA MOVEit fiascos—once again in the mix, this breach isn’t just another blip.

It’s part of a growing pattern of retail cybersecurity disasters. And with legal and funeralcare data involved, the stakes are higher than most boardrooms seem willing to admit. So the real question is: who's next?

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Samsung's Galaxy Wormhole: Yet Another Lesson in 'Trust But Verify'
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

Samsung's Galaxy Wormhole: Yet Another Lesson in 'Trust But Verify'

Samsung has once again reminded us why blind trust is a cybersecurity death sentence. Researchers discovered a massive vulnerability in Galaxy devices' Secure Element — the hardware vault meant to protect your biometrics and encryption keys. Attackers could exploit this “inadvertent” flaw remotely, with Samsung quietly patching it months later and offering zero transparency.

No warnings. No device list. Just a silent fix and crossed fingers. If you own a Galaxy, you're now part of a grand experiment called cybersecurity roulette. Trust nothing. Verify everything. Then verify it again — especially when your vendor’s motto is basically “Oops, sorry!”

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The Largest DDoS Attack of 2025 Hit an Online Betting Site With 1Tbps. Shocked? You Shouldn't Be.
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

The Largest DDoS Attack of 2025 Hit an Online Betting Site With 1Tbps. Shocked? You Shouldn't Be.

Think 2025 would be the year we finally nailed DDoS protection? Think again. Some poor online betting site just got steamrolled by a 1Tbps brute-force attack — and the industry is clutching its pearls like it’s 2005. Guess what?

If you’re running a high-value, downtime-sensitive business without bulletproof DDoS mitigation, you’re basically waving a “please fuck up my day” flag at the internet. This wasn’t a sophisticated hack; it was raw, stupid power.

And it still worked. If your master plan is “hope and pray,” you deserve every packet flood coming your way. Dive into this raging breakdown of why businesses are still flailing when the digital shitstorm hits.

Spoiler: it's entirely their own bloody fault.

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The UK's Cyber Security and Resilience Bill: Protecting Our Digital Future – But Is It Enough?
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

The UK's Cyber Security and Resilience Bill: Protecting Our Digital Future – But Is It Enough?

The UK’s new Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is about to shake things up – hard. With fines of up to £100,000 per day for failing to report serious cyber incidents, the days of shrugging off IT failures are officially over.

Critical suppliers like MSPs are firmly in the government’s sights, and mandatory reporting within 24 hours means businesses must be ready to move fast. But is it enough?

Will this finally close the gaps attackers have exploited for years, or will it pile more pressure on already stretched organisations? One thing is clear: ignoring cyber security is no longer an option.

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M&S Ransomware Chaos: Scattered Spider Breaches Percy Pig's Safehouse
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M&S Ransomware Chaos: Scattered Spider Breaches Percy Pig's Safehouse

HACKERS HAVE TAKEN PERCY PIG HOSTAGE — and Marks & Spencer is fumbling the ransom call. In the most British cyber disaster yet, Scattered Spider cracked open M&S's network like a soggy trifle, stole their passwords, locked up their servers, and left Colin the Caterpillar trembling. Payments broken. Orders vanished. Cakes missing in action. Meanwhile, M&S says it's all just “minor disruption” — right, and the Blitz was a minor weather event. Dive into the unbelievable timeline of how Percy, Colin, and an entire retail giant got steamrolled by hackers who aren’t even old enough to remember dial-up.

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Paper Password Managers: Because What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

Paper Password Managers: Because What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Paper password managers. Charming relics of a simpler time... or a catastrophically bad idea in 2025?

At home? Fine. Lock it up tighter than your secret stash of biscuits.

At work? Absolutely fucking not.

Unless your business strategy includes "hoping Karen does not spill coffee on the master admin password" – get a proper password manager.

Maybe, maybe a sealed "break glass" password for your CRM or M365 admin account. And I mean sealed like you are guarding the Crown Jewels.

Want the full sarcastic (and slightly sweary) breakdown?

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Are You Trusting Your Car with Your Business Data? You Might Want to Rethink That
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Are You Trusting Your Car with Your Business Data? You Might Want to Rethink That

Your phone plugs in. Your data leaks out. Welcome to the real risk hiding behind every shiny infotainment screen. UK cyber security experts are warning that modern vehicles, especially those loaded with erm “foreign” tech could be silent spies in your driveway.

Sensitive emails, call logs, even your location history could be hoovered up the moment you hit "connect." Still trusting your MG, Tesla, or BMW without a second thought?

You might want to rethink that. Your dashboard is not just a dashboard. It is a potential threat. Are you ready to unplug?

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How Legacy Systems Are Quietly Killing Small Business Cybersecurity
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

How Legacy Systems Are Quietly Killing Small Business Cybersecurity

Still clinging to that dusty old server from 2012? So are the hackers. Legacy systems are not just outdated — they are a neon sign flashing “easy target” above your business.

Whether you run a small law firm, an accountancy practice, or any small business handling client data, ignoring your ageing IT is a fast track to fines, breaches, and reputational disaster.

DPP Law learned this the hard way with a £60,000 fine. Will you be next?

Find out why modernising your systems is no longer optional — and how a little cyber hygiene today could save your firm tomorrow.

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CVE and CVSS: The Rotten Heart of Cybersecurity We Almost Let Die (and Maybe Should Have)
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

CVE and CVSS: The Rotten Heart of Cybersecurity We Almost Let Die (and Maybe Should Have)

In April 2025, the global cybersecurity world almost lost CVE — the bedrock of vulnerability tracking — not to hackers, but to sheer bureaucratic incompetence. While politicians played games and cyber defenders were told to look the other way, the fragile, outdated systems of CVE and CVSS staggered toward collapse.

We didn’t fix them. We barely taped them back together. This isn’t just a story of near-miss disaster — it’s a full-blown indictment of cybersecurity's rotting foundations. If we do not burn it all down and rebuild, the next collapse won’t be a warning. It will be the end.

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Cybersecurity Is Not Optional: How a £60K Fine Just Woke Up Small Law Firms
Cyber Security for Small Businesses Noel Bradford Cyber Security for Small Businesses Noel Bradford

Cybersecurity Is Not Optional: How a £60K Fine Just Woke Up Small Law Firms

Think your law firm is too small for hackers to bother with? DPP Law thought so too—right up until they faced a £60,000 fine and a public shaming after a catastrophic cyber attack. A single unsecured admin account was all it took to unleash chaos.

No MFA, no breach reporting, no chance. If you are still relying on luck instead of basic cyber hygiene, you are playing a dangerous game with your clients’ trust—and your firm’s future. Cyber Essentials is the starting line, not the victory lap. How much will you lose before you wake up?

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Windows 11 Let Hackers Gain Admin in 300ms.
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

Windows 11 Let Hackers Gain Admin in 300ms.

Think Windows 11 was secure? Think again. A critical flaw let attackers hijack full admin control in just 300 milliseconds using a tired old trick – DLL hijacking. Microsoft called it “Important” (because, sure, SYSTEM access is casual now), but for the rest of us, it was a neon sign saying “Hack me.”

Find out how your phone link feature became a hacker’s dream, why millions were left exposed for six months, and why patching yesterday might still not save you. How many ticking time bombs are hiding in Windows 11? Are you ready for the next one?

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Why Your Android Phone Will Now Reboot Itself Every 3 Days (And Why That’s a Good Thing)
Noel Bradford Noel Bradford

Why Your Android Phone Will Now Reboot Itself Every 3 Days (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

Google is stepping up Android security by introducing an automatic reboot feature. If your phone remains idle for three days after a critical update, it will now reboot itself to apply the patch and enhance your protection. This smart move helps close the vulnerability window users often leave open by ignoring reboot prompts.

Designed to be seamless and non-intrusive, the feature ensures devices are updated without disrupting daily use.

While not mandatory across all manufacturers yet, it signals a strong shift towards making mobile cybersecurity automatic, effortless, and unavoidable — exactly what modern users need in today’s fast-evolving threat landscape.

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⚠️ Full Disclaimer

This is my personal blog. The views, opinions, and content shared here are mine and mine alone. They do not reflect or represent the views, beliefs, or policies of:

  • My employer

  • Any current or past clients, suppliers, or partners

  • Any other organisation I’m affiliated with in any capacity

Nothing here should be taken as formal advice — legal, technical, financial, or otherwise. If you’re making decisions for your business, always seek professional advice tailored to your situation.

Where I mention products, services, or companies, that’s based purely on my own experience and opinions — I’m not being paid to promote anything. If that ever changes, I’ll make it clear.

In short: This is my personal space to share my personal views. No one else is responsible for what’s written here — so if you have a problem with something, take it up with me, not my employer.