Free Guide • Trusted Professionals • SMB & Nonprofit

Cybersecurity for Trusted Professionals

A practical e‑guide built on Operation Cyber Shield (OCS) to secure your firm’s data airspace on a budget. Plain English. Actionable steps. No fluff.

Introduction

Trusted professionals-law firms, accounting practices, wealth advisors, boutique medical, specialized consultants-hold the exact data criminals want: identity, financial, legal, and health information. You don’t need enterprise spend to be hard to hack. You need a clear plan you can actually run.

This guide uses a military‑inspired model focused on priorities, not vendor FOMO. If a control doesn’t reduce risk for your size, it’s out. If it does, we implement it simply and verify it works.

The OCS Model

Detection

Radar & Early Warning. Spot threats early-through people, alerts, and light scanning.

Defense

Interceptor Squadron. Block attacks with MFA, right‑sized perimeter, and fast patching.

Resilience

Hardened Command Bunker. Offline backups, practiced recovery, and simple playbooks.

Quick Wins (Day 0–7)

Turn These On Now

  • MFA on email, accounting, and file share (Microsoft 365/Google Workspace/QuickBooks).
  • Login & location alerts for admin/financial accounts.
  • Auto‑updates for browsers and office apps; schedule OS patches.
  • Password manager + unique passwords for admins and partners.

Backups & Access

  • Back up client data to two targets: cloud and offline/immutable.
  • Remove access for ex‑employees and stale vendors today.
  • Separate guest Wi‑Fi from office systems; change default router creds.
  • Print a one‑page incident checklist and keep it at reception.

Do this next: Schedule a 30‑minute “OCS stand‑up” each month: review alerts, patch status, and verify a backup restore.

Detection (Radar & Early Warning)

You can’t fight what you can’t see. Keep it light, consistent, and staff‑friendly.

Human Radar

  • Quarterly 20‑minute phishing awareness refresh for all staff.
  • “Report Suspicious” mailbox or Teams/Slack channel.
  • Post a 5‑item “Email sanity checklist” at every desk.

System Signals

  • Enable risky login alerts for Microsoft/Google admins.
  • Run a basic vuln scan quarterly; fix top 5 items in 14 days.
  • Turn on file‑share anomaly alerts (unusual download bursts).

Do this next: Add a recurring 10‑minute agenda item: “Any weird emails?” Force the conversation.

Defense (Interceptor Squadron)

Right‑size controls to your firm; don’t buy a battleship for a pond.

Access & Perimeter

  • MFA everywhere, especially email and remote access.
  • Use a reputable software firewall + VPN for < 25 users.
  • Disable unused remote desktop; restrict admin accounts.

Hygiene & Hardening

  • Patch monthly; emergency patch within 7 days for criticals.
  • EDR/AV on endpoints; confirm it actually alerts someone.
  • Encrypt laptops/phones; enable device‑wipe for lost devices.

Do this next: Create a 3‑row register: Systems → Owner → Patch/Backup Status. Review monthly.

Resilience (Hardened Command Bunker)

Assume breach. The win is fast recovery and client trust intact.

Backups That Survive

  • 3‑2‑1 rule: three copies, two media, one offline/immutable.
  • Snapshot critical data daily; retain 30–90 days.
  • Store recovery credentials physically sealed and documented.
  • Air-gapped/immutable copy with both signature and heuristic/behavioral malware scans on backups before any restore.
  • Zero‑day resilience: stage restores in an isolated sandbox, validate with EDR and threat intel, then promote to production.

Practice to Win

  • Quarterly tabletop: phishing, ransomware, lost laptop.
  • Annual restore test: prove you can bring a file back fast.
  • After‑action notes: what broke, who fixes, by when.

Do this next: Time a restore this week. Under 10 minutes for a single file is the bar.

Playbooks

Phishing / Suspicious Email

  1. Isolate device (disconnect Wi‑Fi). Do not click further.
  2. Capture evidence: headers, raw email, URLs, and attachments.
  3. Reset account password + revoke sessions; check OAuth tokens and mail‑forwarding rules.
  4. Submit URL/file safely: VirusTotal, urlscan.io.
  5. Block sender/domain; update email security policy; notify staff if broad phish.

AI assist: paste headers (no PII) into ChatGPT to summarize anomalies and draft a training example for staff.

Business Email Compromise (BEC)

  1. Freeze related financial actions; verify any payment changes via known phone numbers.
  2. Force password reset + MFA re‑registration for impacted users; invalidate app passwords.
  3. Review inbox rules, delegates, and consented apps; remove unknown entries.
  4. Search for similar messages; warn anyone who replied.
  5. File an IC3 report if money moved; contact the bank’s fraud team immediately.
  6. Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for your domain to make it difficult for attackers to spoof your email system and impersonate your organization.

AI assist: have ChatGPT draft client notifications, an internal incident brief, and a post‑mortem checklist tailored to your tools.

Ransomware

  1. Contain: disconnect affected systems; disable SMB shares; block C2 egress.
  2. Triage: identify patient‑zero; scope via EDR logs; preserve volatile evidence.
  3. Recover: restore from scanned immutable/air‑gapped backups into a sandbox; rotate credentials before production.
  4. Legal/Regulatory: coordinate counsel; consider notification duties; track chain‑of‑custody.
  5. Lessons: update allowlists, tighten admin access, verify backup immutability windows.

AI assist: ask ChatGPT for a prioritized recovery plan from a short system description; generate a calm client/staff script.

Data Exfiltration / Account Takeover

  1. Rotate credentials; revoke tokens; invalidate API keys; check logs for large/odd downloads.
  2. Check exposed creds with Have I Been Pwned.
  3. Enable geo‑IP and impossible‑travel alerts in Microsoft/Google admin centers.
  4. Notify affected clients if required; provide mitigation guidance.
  5. Subscribe to a reputable dark web monitoring service that can safely detect stolen credentials and alert you if your organization's information appears for sale or trade online.

AI assist: summarize log snippets and request likely exfiltration paths to review; draft a client FAQ.

Lost / Stolen Device

  1. Remote‑wipe via MDM; mark device as lost; disable sign‑ins.
  2. Rotate credentials for email, VPN, finance; check session tokens.
  3. Document incident; update asset register; verify encryption policy compliance.

AI assist: use ChatGPT to generate a 1‑page MDM‑specific checklist for reception/non‑IT staff.

Third‑Party Breach / Vendor Incident

  1. Identify systems/data affected; obtain written statement and timelines from the vendor.
  2. Apply compensating controls; consider temporary access limits or token revocation.
  3. Update client communications and your risk register; schedule a follow‑up review.

AI assist: draft due‑diligence questions and a concise leadership brief listing risks, mitigations, and options.

Helpful references: CISA KEV, CISA Tools.

Budget Tiers

$0–$100 / month

  • Built‑in MFA, password manager, auto‑updates.
  • Cloud drive + manual offline backup.
  • Quarterly phishing refresher; basic scan.

$100–$500 / month

  • EDR + centralized alerts.
  • Automated snapshot backups with immutability.
  • Lightweight monitoring for login anomalies.

$500–$2k / month

  • Managed detection & response (right‑sized).
  • Quarterly tabletop + annual recovery test facilitation.
  • Vendor risk reviews for key platforms.

Checklist & Drills

Monthly

  • Patch status reviewed; exceptions noted.
  • Backup restore spot‑check completed.
  • Access changes approved and logged.

Quarterly / Annual

  • Tabletop exercise run and documented.
  • Full restore test passed (< 60 minutes).
  • Policy refresh + staff refresher training.

Resources

Tip: keep your own private “run book” with links and screenshots tailored to your stack.