Emergency IT support and ransomware response in Tampa
An office of twenty people that can't log in is losing money by the minute, and a ransomware note is worse the longer it sits. Call any hour, and a technician starts working remotely while you're still on the phone.
When it can't wait
- Nobody can log in, or every file has a strange extension and a ransom note
- The server, internet or phones are down for the whole office
- Someone clicked a link and entered their password, and now email is sending itself
- A vendor or customer says they got a fake invoice from you
- A failed update or storm outage left systems that won't come back up
- Files are missing and nobody is sure the backup was running
What to do before the technician is on it
- Disconnect, don't shut down. Pull the network cable or turn off Wi-Fi on affected machines. Leave them powered on so logs and memory survive.
- Stop the spread. If you can, unplug the switch that connects the affected machines to the server. Tell staff to stop opening email until they hear otherwise.
- Reset from a clean device. Change the affected person's email password from a phone, and revoke their active sessions if you know how.
- Call your cyber insurer. Most policies require notice within a short window and some require you to use their approved responders. Have the policy number handy.
Emergencies we handle
Ransomware and malware
Containment, identifying the strain, deciding whether restore is possible from backup, and rebuilding what isn't.
Compromised email accounts
Kicking the attacker out, removing forwarding rules they planted, and finding out what they read and sent.
Outages
Dead servers, failed firewalls, internet circuits that dropped, and the domain controller that won't boot after a storm.
Lost or deleted data
Recovery from backups, from Microsoft 365 retention, or from the disk itself when nothing else exists.
Locked-out accounts
Admin passwords nobody knows, expired certificates and MFA devices that walked out with a former employee.
After the incident
A written account of what happened, what was exposed and what changes so it doesn't happen again. See cybersecurity.
What affects the price
- Time of the call. Nights, weekends and holidays cost more than business hours.
- Remote work versus an on-site visit, and how many machines are involved.
- Whether a usable backup exists. Rebuilding from nothing is the expensive path.
- Whether you're an existing managed client, since response is included in most plans.
You get a written quote for your job or your monthly plan before anything is billed.
Why IT emergencies cluster in Tampa Bay
Summer afternoons here bring lightning that takes out firewalls and switches, and a tropical storm can leave an office dark for days with a server still humming on a dying UPS. The other pattern is seasonal phishing: title companies in closing season and medical practices at year-end billing are hit with wire-fraud and credential emails timed to when staff are busiest.
The 2024 storm season put a lot of Tampa Bay offices underwater or without power for a week or more, and the businesses that kept running were the ones whose files and phones already lived outside the building. A disaster recovery plan is the difference between an emergency call and a quiet week working from home.
Common questions
Does someone really answer at night?
Yes. The support line is answered around the clock, and outage and security calls are worked immediately rather than queued for morning.
Should we pay the ransom?
Not before you know whether your backups can restore the data, and not without talking to your cyber insurer and, in many cases, law enforcement. Paying doesn't guarantee a working key.
Can you help if we're not a client?
Yes. Emergency work for non-clients is billed by the hour and quoted on the call. Many businesses become managed clients afterward because the incident showed where the gaps were.
Do we have to report a breach?
Florida's Information Protection Act requires notifying affected individuals within 30 days when personal information is exposed, and HIPAA has its own rules for health records. The technician will help you figure out whether a notification is triggered and point you to counsel for the legal side.
Related services
- CybersecurityMonitored endpoint protection, email filtering, MFA and staff training.
- Backup and disaster recoveryTested backups and a plan to run the business when the office is closed by a storm.
- Managed IT and helpdeskFlat-fee IT department for 5 to 100 people: helpdesk, monitoring, patching, vendors.
Areas we serve
Outage and ransomware response across Tampa and these nearby communities: