“You cannot protect, or budget for, what you cannot see.”
Josh Wilmoth, President and CEO, CTTS
Fall finally showed up in Central Texas. The mornings in Georgetown are crisp, the evenings in Round Rock are made for a porch and a cup of coffee, and for a few weeks the air conditioner gets a well earned rest. I hope you are getting outside and enjoying it.
Now let me ruin your coffee, but only a little, because the news from the past month deserves your attention.
Researchers reported this month that attackers are now using AI agents to do much of the hard work of breaking in. In one campaign, a single hacker reportedly used autonomous AI agents against more than 1,200 websites and compromised over 100 organizations, at an estimated cost of about $50 per successful break in. Another group paid roughly $5,000 in AI usage fees to run an attack that once would have taken a team of skilled people. Check Point Research also reported that ransomware affiliates used AI agents to go after 62 organizations, mostly through remote access systems and credentials that had already been compromised.
Read that last part again. Credentials that had already been compromised.
Nikkei, one of the largest news organizations in the world, disclosed a breach this month that started with stolen login credentials. Technology company PingCAP reported that an attacker used stolen service account credentials to sit inside its systems for nearly a month. None of these started with a movie style hacker typing furiously in a dark room. They started with a login that nobody was watching.
Why This is a Budget Story, Too
Here is the part I want every owner and executive director to hear. The cost of staying secure keeps rising, and it will keep rising, because the threats are evolving at the speed of software. Attackers use AI to move faster than any human team can follow. The only fair fight is to answer AI with AI. That is why the security tools we manage for you watch for unusual behavior around the clock instead of waiting for someone to notice on Monday morning.
But better tools only help if you know what you are paying for and who has access to it. And that is where I see good businesses quietly lose money and take on risk.
When you have 10 users, keeping track of every license is easy. You know everybody, and you know what they use. When you grow to 25, 50, or 100 users, it quietly becomes a part of someone’s full time job. People change roles. Someone leaves. A project ends and the software stays. Microsoft raised prices on many of its plans this summer, so every unused seat now costs more than it did a year ago. Industry research on software spending consistently finds that close to half of purchased licenses go unused.
Every one of those forgotten seats is two problems at once. It is money leaving your bank account, and it is an open door that an attacker, or an AI agent working for one, would love to find.
The Three Step Plan
You do not need a big project. You need a rhythm.
First, get a baseline. We review every license, every admin account, and every subscription, and match each one to a real person who really uses it.
Second, close the gaps. Old accounts get removed, extra licenses get dropped, and access gets trimmed to what each person actually needs.
Third, make it a habit. Review it again on a schedule so it never drifts back.
You already have the tools for this. Jenny Jones, our inside sales account manager, builds access and license checkpoints into your quarterly business review. And when you want a deeper conversation about AI, budgeting for 2027, or the line of business applications that run your day, our Chief Technology Officer, Kurt Rinear, offers vCIO services for exactly that.
Three Questions for Your Next Leadership Meeting
When did we last compare what we pay for against what we actually use?
Can we name every person with administrator access, and does each one still need it?
Do we have a regular review on the calendar, or do we only look when something goes wrong?
If the answers come quickly, you are ahead of most. If you hesitate, that is normal, and it is exactly why a recurring review exists.
What I Am Thankful For
Thanksgiving is here, and I have been doing some reflecting on 2026. I am thankful for the clients who have trusted us with the systems that keep their businesses running. I am thankful for a team here at CTTS that answers the phone and finishes what it starts. And I am thankful for the chance to serve businesses in Georgetown, Round Rock, Austin, Cedar Park, Leander, and across Central Texas for 24 years.
I hope you get time with family, a full plate, and at least one good nap. You have earned it.
Let us make sure your technology is not the thing that costs you sleep this holiday season. Schedule a free strategy session with CTTS. Visit CTTSonline.com or call us at (512) 388-5559.
Josh Wilmoth
President and CEO, CTTS
P.S. I told our helpdesk team that an access review is a lot like college football. Everyone is on the roster, but nobody remembers the player who graduated in 2019 and still has a locker.
Contact CTTS today for IT support and managed services in Austin, TX. Let us handle your IT so you can focus on growing your business. Visit CTTSonline.com or call us at (512) 388-5559 to get started!