North Branch Tech

Welcome to the team, Rick!

You focus on growing your business. We'll handle the IT stuff. We're quick, friendly, skilled, and we're LOCAL in Montpelier, VT.

Sean has been down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this week for the 2026 ITEXPO! 🌴

While we’re proudly-local in Central Vermont, cybersecurity is a global challenge. We’re staying ahead of the curve to bring the best industry innovations back home. 🛡️💻

#TECHSUPERSHOW #CyberSecurity

Just re-sharing this once again! Our move to our new location is SOON. We want to make sure our wonderful clients still know where to find us, so in addition to having signs up in our current office, we'll also be posting updates here. Looking forward to being up on the hill!

All of us at North Branch Tech wish all of you a happy and healthy 2026! Thank you so much for keeping us successful. We appreciate you!

Exploring Package Tracking Smishing Scams | Huntress Smishing (or SMS phishing) is far more frequent during the holidays. Learn to recognize the signs of a smish and how to avoid falling victim to one.

You’ve heard of phishing, but what about smishing? Smishing is like phishing, but with SMS. Scammers send fake texts to trick you into clicking harmful links or sharing sensitive info.

Huntress, breaks down a common scam-package tracking fraud. Find out how to protect yourself here: oal.lu/tAJRc

Exciting news! With expanding our team, we'll also be moving into an office space that is roughly twice the size of our current office space. Our move-in day is January 30th, but our new office location should be ready for in-shop appointments on February 2nd, 2026! We'll see you up on the hill!

Micron to exit consumer memory business amid global supply shortage Memory chipmaker Micron Technology said on Wednesday it will exit its consumer business, as it doubles down on advanced memory chips used in artificial intelligence data centers amid a global supply s...

This is a huge deal for consumers of anything IT. Expect the prices of RAM and SSD storage to climb noticeably higher, as Micron is one of only three producers of RAM and now they will no longer be selling their RAM or SSDs to consumers.
www.reuters.com/business/mic...

All of us at North Branch Tech are wishing you, your friends, and family all a safe, wonderful, and happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful for you!
#Thanksgiving #Thankful

All of us at North Branch Tech wish everyone has fantastic turkey day next week, including safe travels and cherished moments with friends and family!

So, bye-bye, says my IT guy
Windows 10 goes away and the time flew on by
And them good ol' boys still running 7 and '95
Singin', "This'll be the day that it dies
This'll be the day that it dies"

As this week wraps up, our Level II Tech, Chris, has now officially been with North Branch Tech for 4 years! Chris is known for his attention detail with all things tech, always seeing both the small and large picture when helping any of our wonderful clients! Thank you for 4 full years with NBTech!

We have a client who is a HUGE fan of pinball! I was impressed with Gemini's ability to generate this NBTech-themed pinball machine!

Anker’s recent power bank recall involves over 481,000 units Stop using the recalled power banks immediately and properly dispose of them.

Just a heads up, everyone! There's a recall on some Anker power banks because certain models seem to enjoy exploding and catching on fire. Whoops. If you own one of these models, be sure to bring it to a recycling center that can properly dispose of it.
www.theverge.com/news/781072/...

Happy 4th of JulAI? everyone? We hope everyone has a safe and fantastic 4th of July weekend! Let's also take the time to laugh at how bad and nonsensical AI slop can be! (Generated moments ago with Gemini— ugh)

‼️⚠️WIDESPREAD PHISHING EMAIL ALERT⚠️‼️
Please be aware of a malicious email that has been rapidly circulating around the internet. This email is NOT to be trusted. Do not reply to it, do not click on any links in this email, and do not open the attachments. www.makeuseof.com/delete-this-...

Our incredible Operations Manager and Co-Owner, Jen Sweeney has been a full time North Branch Techie for SIX full years now! She OWNS that word 'Operations' and keeps us all headed in the right direction! Congrats, Jen, on six years at North Branch Tech, and thank you for all that you do!

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a time to gather as a family, reflect on the past and look to the future. Discover ways to celebrate this African American cultural tradition of music, food and freedom. 

This year marks the fourth anniversary since Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day in Texas that all slaves were proclaimed free, nearly 3 years after Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation: https://nmaahc.si.edu/Juneteenth

16 Billion Apple, Facebook, Google And Other Passwords Leaked — Act Now Change all your account passwords now — don’t wait: 16 billion credentials are confirmed as having been leaked.

‼️MASSIVE PASSWORD BREACH!!‼️

Be safe, not sorry! Update your passwords now, and determine a schedule for updating them periodically. Also, be sure to have MFA enabled wherever possible for added security!

www.forbes.com/sites/daveyw...

Yes. AI is actually terrifying. It can be helpful with certain things, but what it actually means is that data harvesting is now jacked up on the strongest steroids it has ever had and cybersecurity needs to be taken way more seriously than ever before.

www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/securit...

⚠️PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT⚠️

This scam has been making its rounds! Be aware, spread awareness, and don't be a victim!

ConnectWise Confirms ScreenConnect Cyberattack, Says Systems Now Secure: Exclusive ConnectWise did not disclose information about when the data breach occurred, as well as the number of MSPs or end users impacted by the breach.

‼️Another Cybersecurity breach for ScreenConnect‼️
"ConnectWise recently learned of suspicious activity within our environment that we believe was tied to a sophisticated nation state actor, which affected a very small number of ScreenConnect customers"

www.crn.com/news/channel...

We value education! …and since so many of these free courses offered by Harvard include courses in cybersecurity, we'd like to remind (or perhaps inform!) everyone that these free courses exist! Check them out!
https://pll.harvard.edu/catalog/free

AI is creeping into every space of our lives, experts caution - Poynter From viral shrimp messiahs to fake news popes, AI is warping how we see the world — and what we believe

It's important to understand the limitations and proper use of AI. Understand that AI is a huge source of blatant misinformation and you should never share private info with any AI model. There's more information in the following article:

www.poynter.org/fact-checkin...

North Branch Tech is closed today in observance of Memorial Day. We are grateful for those who have served our nation, and for those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms. We remember and honor them today.
🇺🇸 #MemorialDay #ThankYou 🇺🇸

89 million Steam account details just got leaked, so now's a good time to change your password We're still not sure how it even happened.

‼️DATA BREACH ALERT‼️
If you use the PC gaming platform known as Steam, it'll be a great idea to update your password as roughly two thirds of all Steam accounts would be affected by this! Be safe, not sorry!

More details at the link:
www.xda-developers.com/89-million-s...

#Cybersecurity

The Death of Affordable Computing | Tariffs Impact & Investigation YouTube video by Gamers Nexus

Consumers are the ones who pay for tariffs. If you've got time to spare, there's an in-depth video by Gamers Nexus with creator Steve Burke meeting with reps from companies that create and resell tech. This video shows the impact tariffs have on the prices you pay. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W_m...

PSA: Got a weird email from Google? Read this before opening. A new phishing email attack has surfaced, and these messages are somehow authenticated by Google. But how is that possible?

‼️‼️EMAIL PHISHING ALERT ‼️‼️

"Johnson noted that the email was sent from no-reply*accounts.google.com and that it was actually signed by accounts*google*com. He also noted that Gmail didn’t show any warnings in the email." (@ and . replaced with *)

www.androidauthority.com/google-phish...

⏰ Time is ticking!

Windows 10 end-of-life is October 14th, 2025!

➡️ Contact North Branch Tech to find out if your current device is ready for Windows 11. If so, our expert team can seamlessly handle the upgrade for you.

Stay secure & up-to-date!

#Windows10 #Windows11 #UpgradeNow

Why We Need Proactive Security in the Age of AI New study shows that artificial intelligence creates bigger threats to credential security, making traditional migration tools less effective.

With AI, the threat actors have tools more powerful than anything they have had before. AI can automate stealing login credentials, including sensitive data, putting you at financial risk. Proactive 24×7 cybersecurity is your best defense.

www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks...

#Cybersecurity