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Chicago-based Forward Technologies delivers IT support and cyber security to businesses in the Chicago area and nationwide.

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We Finally Got Everyone Using MFA. Now It’s Changing

October 2, 2026 by Edward Silha

A clean cartoon showing the evolution of Microsoft authentication from password, to password plus SMS code, to a passkey using Windows Hello with fingerprint, face, or PIN authentication.For years, the security advice was simple: turn on multifactor authentication.

IT people repeated it endlessly. Microsoft pushed it. Insurance companies started requiring it. Cybersecurity audits looked for it. Eventually, most businesses got the message.

Users learned the routine. Enter the password. Wait for the text message. Type in the 6-digit code. Get back to work.

Now Microsoft is changing all of that. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog, Cybersecurity Tagged With: credential theft, cybersecurity, FIDO2, identity security, MFA, Microsoft, Microsoft 365, Microsoft 365 security, Microsoft Authenticator, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Entra ID, Multifactor Authentication, passkeys, passwordless authentication, phishing, phishing-resistant MFA, QR code phishing, small business security, SMS Authentication, voice authentication, Windows Hello

When Hidden AI Meets Quantum Doom: The New Enterprise Security Crossroads

August 14, 2025 by Edward Silha

Abstract graphic of AI code streams merging with digital locks, symbolizing AI governance and quantum-safe encryptionWhy Shadow AI Slips Past Security

Shadow AI is already inside. The tools sit in browsers and sidebars. Employees paste snippets of code, customer notes, even legal language into chatbots that were never vetted. The answers look helpful. The risk hides in the copy and paste. Data leaves the building without a ticket. Logs do not show it. Policies never saw it. By the time a leak becomes visible, the trail is cold.

IT leaders keep asking the same question. How do you govern what you cannot see? You start by naming it. Shadow AI covers any AI use that bypasses purchase, security review, or monitoring. That includes SaaS chat tools, browser extensions, model endpoints wired into internal scripts, and clever “personal assistants” someone installed on a work laptop. Each of those entry points can move sensitive information to third parties. Some keep prompts. Others store outputs. Many train on uploaded files. You cannot make a clean audit if you do not control any of that. [Read more…]

Filed Under: AI, Blog, Cybersecurity Tagged With: AI governance, AI risk management, data leakage, data security, harvest-now decrypt-later, hybrid key exchange, identity-first security, least privilege, MFA, post-quantum cryptography, PQC, quantum computing, quantum threats, shadow AI, SSO, TLS, zero trust

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STE 500B
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