August Insights – The Rise of QR Code Attacks, Protecting Your Team From Burnout, and Introducing The 365 Promise
Happy August, friends.
Before we get into it, we have something we’re excited to share! Today we’re announcing the 365 Promise, our written commitment to stay proudly owned and led right here on the prairies.
I hope you enjoy this month’s selection along with our big announcement.
Thanks, as always, for being part of the story!
Michael
The 365 Promise
The 365 Promise is our written commitment to stay proudly owned and led right here on the prairies. Across our industry, local IT companies are increasingly being bought up by larger firms from away, and when that happens, the people and service a business counted on tend to change right along with the ownership. We decided to go the other way. We’ve put it in writing, directly in our client agreements, that 365 Technologies will stay locally owned and led, and if we ever break that promise, our clients are free to leave.
Local isn’t just where we are. It’s who we are, guaranteed.
Read more about the 365 Promise
Cybersecurity / Technology Articles
In the first quarter of 2026, 8.3 billion email-based phishing attacks were dedected and of those, QR code phishing was the fastest growing methods and plain malicious attachments fell to only about 5% of attacks. When a QR code is embedded in an email, it drives you off your monitored work computer and onto your phone and nearly all of these attacks aim at your login credentials. Cyber attack methods continue to change and evolve and it’s important to stay up to date on the latest trends.
As email phishing evolves, malicious attachments decline and QR codes surge
In late July, two of the biggest AI labs disclosed that their own models had broken out of controlled test environments and reached real company systems without being directed to. OpenAI’s model escaped its sandbox and hacked the AI platform Hugging Face, and days later Anthropic revealed that three of its Claude models had gained unauthorized access to the production systems of three real organizations after a misconfiguration left them connected to the open internet, even though the models had been told they had no internet access. The takeaway: assume anything reachable from the outside will eventually be probed, tighten what is exposed, and vault your credentials so one small opening cannot cascade into a full breach.
How OpenAI Lost Control of an AI Model—and What Needs to Change
Leadership & Personal Growth
When you’ve got a room full of smart people who are excited about an idea, it can be surprisingly difficult to be the person who says, “Before we run with this, what are we missing?” I’ve been in that position plenty of times with 365Tech, and I’ll admit, it can feel like you’re killing the energy in the room. Experience has taught me that excitement and a good idea aren’t always enough. Taking the time to challenge our assumptions, look for the holes and hear the concerns before we commit has led to some of our best decisions. And when we haven’t done that? Those are usually the ones we learn from. This story is a great lesson that slowing down isn’t the same as standing still.
Leadership Lessons From A Near-Disastrous Business Stunt
There are a lot of things employees carry at work that never show up on a task list. Stress, competing priorities, being the person others rely on, or simply having too much on their plate can all add up quietly. As leaders, we aren’t always going to see that unless we make a point of checking in. Those conversations matter, not only to help prevent burnout, but to understand where someone might need more support before things become overwhelming. A good reminder that workload isn’t always something you can measure by looking at a list of tasks.
The Invisible Work Draining Your Best Employees
Partner Spotlight – HaloPSA
We recently shared that 365 made the move from ConnectWise to HaloPSA, and I wanted to give a little more context on why. I originally implemented ConnectWise myself years ago, and it served us well for a long time, but as 365Tech grew, so did what we needed from the platform. Moving to HaloPSA gave us an opportunity to modernize the way we manage tickets and support our clients, but one of the best parts of this transition for me was how little I had to be involved. This time around, our team took the lead, managed the migration and did an incredible job getting us across the finish line. It was a pretty great reminder of how much our team has grown, and we’re excited about what HaloPSA will allow us to do next.
HaloPSA
Events
August 19 – FortWhyte Alive Annual Golf Classic