Small offices rarely call about "cybersecurity." They call because something went wrong, or nearly did:
- "The Wi-Fi drops every afternoon in the back office."
- "Someone almost paid a fake invoice that looked like it came from our supplier."
- "We all share one password, and it's on a sticky note."
- "Our insurance renewal asks if we have MFA. I don't know what that is."
- "An employee left three months ago and still has the door code."
Each of these has a simple, affordable fix. The trouble is usually that nobody owns the problem.
What good looks like
Every account is protected by multi-factor authentication. Passwords live in a password manager, not on paper. Backups run on their own and are actually tested. Your firewall is updated and watched. Guests, staff, cameras and card machines sit on separate networks. Laptops are encrypted and updated without anyone remembering to do it. When someone leaves, their email, files and app access are switched off the same day. And when something breaks, you have one number to call.
How we do it
1. Remote review. We're fully digital, so we start with a screen-share and a few read-only admin logins and list what you have: devices, accounts, network gear, and who can access what.
2. Quick wins first. Multi-factor authentication on email and banking, a password manager for the team, and email authentication on your domain so criminals can't easily send mail pretending to be you. These alone close most of the common gaps. Our small business cybersecurity checklist covers the rest.
3. Backups you can trust. Copies on site and off site, run automatically, with a restore test so you know they work before you need them.
4. Firewall and network. A business-grade firewall, kept up to date, with separate networks for staff, guests and devices like cameras and payment terminals.
5. Office Wi-Fi planned by floor. Older buildings in the ByWard Market and the Glebe have thick walls that swallow signal; open-plan offices in Kanata and Nepean have other quirks. We plan mesh Wi-Fi around your actual floor plan and configure it remotely; any cabling or mounting is a quick job for a local installer. Our prompt to plan your office Wi-Fi and network shows what we look at.
6. Ready for outages. After the 2022 derecho and the Rogers outage the same summer, many Ottawa offices learned what a day without power or internet costs. Battery backup for key equipment and a backup internet connection keep the essentials running.
7. Access control. Who can see what, in every app: admin rights kept to the few who need them, shared logins replaced with named accounts, and cloud-managed door systems tied to the same staff list.
8. Managed devices and support. Updates, encryption and security software handled centrally, plus fast remote help when someone's stuck. We're fully digital: no waiting for a technician to drive across town.
9. A short team routine. Ten minutes on spotting fake invoices and phishing goes a long way. See our simple cybersecurity routine for a small office.
Canadian rules worth knowing
Under PIPEDA, if a breach puts people at real risk of significant harm, you must report it to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and tell the people affected, and you must keep a record of every breach for two years. Quebec's Law 25 has similar rules for Quebec residents. If you sell to the federal government, buyers may ask about standards such as CyberSecure Canada. We help you put the right basics in place and keep the records that make those conversations easy.
Why one team makes your security stronger
Most security gaps appear between suppliers. A web developer changes your DNS and breaks email. A marketing tool gets a shared admin password. An ex-employee keeps CRM access because nobody told the CRM company.
At 1 Club the team securing your network is the same team that built your website, manages your domain, set up your Microsoft 365 and runs your CRM. So a website move never takes your email down with it. Email authentication protects your brand from spoofing and keeps your own newsletters out of spam. And when someone leaves, one request removes their email, files, CRM seat, laptop and app access together. From the logo to the firewall, there's no gap for anyone to slip through.
Three ways to start
1. Free, this week. Work through the cybersecurity checklist and build your device and renewals sheet. If your team uses AI tools, add an AI use policy.
2. Done with you. We assess your set-up and give you a short, ordered fix list. Your team or current provider carries it out, with us on call for questions.
3. Done for you. We take over day-to-day IT: security, backups, network, devices, access and support, with a plain monthly summary of what we did.