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What Is Level 1, 2 and 3 IT Support?
A plain-English guide to IT support tiers for executives and business leaders — what Level 1, 2 and 3 actually cover, who handles what, and the key questions to ask your IT provider before something goes wrong.
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Melbourne Businesses
Practical cybersecurity advice, Essential Eight guides, and IT tips written for business owners — not IT professionals. No jargon, just useful information.
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Featured Article
The Essential Eight: What Melbourne Small Businesses Actually Need to Know
The ACSC Essential Eight is the Australian government's recommended cybersecurity framework — and it's increasingly expected of private sector businesses by insurers, clients, and regulators. Here's what it means, what it costs, and where to start.
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What the 8 controls actually are — in plain English, not government-speak
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Which maturity level you need — ML1 vs ML2 vs ML3 explained
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Realistic cost and timeline — for a 20-person professional services firm
In this guide
- What is the Essential Eight?
- The three maturity levels
- The eight controls explained
- Who needs to comply?
- How to get started
- How long does it take?
- What does it cost?
All ArticlesCybersecurityMicrosoft 365Essential EightCloudSmall Business ITTechnical GuidesIndustry Guides
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What Is Managed IT Support?
A plain-English guide to managed IT support — what it is, how it works, what's included, and how it compares to break-fix IT. Written for Melbourne business owners who want straight answers, not jargon.
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IT Companies in Melbourne: How to Choose the Right One for Your Business
A plain-English buyer's guide for Melbourne SMBs. Covers the difference between MSPs and break-fix providers, what to look for, red flags, pricing, cybersecurity expectations, and how to switch providers without the pain.
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Top 5 Managed IT Services in Melbourne (2026)
An honest comparison of the five best managed IT service providers in Melbourne for SMBs — covering cybersecurity depth, industry specialisation, pricing approach, and who each provider suits best.
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How to Check if Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is Running
Five ways to verify MDE sensor status — sc query sense, Get-MpComputerStatus, registry checks, the Windows Security app, and the Defender portal. Covers passive mode and KB2461484.
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Why Melbourne Law Firms Are Being Targeted by BEC Attacks — and How to Stop Them
Business Email Compromise has cost Australian law firms millions. Here's how attackers compromise a firm's email, how trust account fraud happens, and the controls that stop it.
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Microsoft 365 Security Checklist for Australian Businesses (2025)
Most businesses are running M365 but very few have it configured securely. Here are the 10 security controls every Australian business should have in place.
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Is Your Melbourne Business Ready for the New Privacy Act Changes? (2025)
Australia's Privacy Act has been significantly strengthened. New penalties, tighter obligations, and stricter breach response requirements now affect most Melbourne SMBs.
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How Much Does Managed IT Support Cost in Melbourne? (2025 Guide)
Pricing varies from $30 to $200+ per user per month. We break down what drives the cost, what a fair price looks like, and what questions to ask before you sign anything.
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Application Control on Windows: How to Implement It Without Breaking Everything
Application control is one of the most effective Essential Eight controls — and one of the most feared. Here's how to implement it in phases without locking out legitimate software.
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MFA Isn't Enough on Its Own — Why You Also Need Conditional Access Policies
MFA stops most credential attacks, but sophisticated attackers bypass it. Conditional Access is the next layer — here's what policies every M365 tenant should have from day one.
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Tax Season Cyber Threats: How Accounting Firms Can Protect Client Data During the Busiest Period
Tax season is prime time for attacks targeting accounting firms — because attackers know staff are under pressure and less likely to pause before clicking. Here's how to stay protected.
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Is Your Business Phone System Holding You Back? Why Melbourne SMBs Are Switching to 3CX
Traditional phone systems lock you into per-call charges and hardware you own. 3CX runs on any device, integrates with Microsoft 365, and typically cuts phone costs by 40–60%.
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Ransomware Protection for Melbourne Accounting & Legal Firms (2025)
Accounting and legal firms are prime ransomware targets. Here's how attacks get in, what the regulatory consequences are, and the specific controls that stop them.
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What Are Domains? A Plain-English Guide for Melbourne Businesses
What is a domain name, how does DNS work, and what mistakes do Melbourne SMBs make with their domains? Everything you need to know — no jargon.
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Managed Services for WiFi Explained
What managed WiFi actually means, why consumer-grade routers create real security and reliability risks, how guest network segmentation works, and what to look for in a provider.
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How to Disable Office 365 Autodiscover for Exchange Self-Hosted
Autodiscover redirect loops and client misconfiguration are common when running Exchange on-premises alongside Microsoft 365. Five methods to suppress Autodiscover for your domain.
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Why Does OneDrive Keep Duplicating Files?
OneDrive creating duplicate files with -Copy or (1) suffixes? Sync conflicts, offline edits, and known client bugs explained — with PowerShell to find and clean up duplicates.
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How to Sync a SharePoint Site with OneDrive
Step-by-step guide to syncing SharePoint document libraries to your desktop via OneDrive. Covers known sync errors, file-count limits, and SharePoint vs OneDrive differences.
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How to View All Installed Software Using Command Prompt
Four methods to list installed programs on Windows — WMIC, Get-Package, registry query, and exporting to CSV. Useful for auditing, asset management, and troubleshooting.
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Common Ports for Windows Services
Quick reference for RDP, SMB, LDAP, DNS, Kerberos, WinRM, and more — with Test-NetConnection commands to check connectivity from the command line.
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TPM Has Malfunctioned — Error 80090016 Keyset Does Not Exist
The NTE_BAD_KEYSET error (0x80090016) usually means TPM keys for a service are corrupt or the TPM was reset. Covers diagnosis for Windows Hello, BitLocker, and Azure AD join scenarios.
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Group Policy Settings for BitLocker Startup Options Are in Conflict
BitLocker refusing to enable because of a GPO conflict? How to diagnose the conflicting settings with gpresult and resolve them correctly.
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Access to Removable Drives Not Protected by BitLocker
How to enforce BitLocker To Go on USB and removable drives via Group Policy or Intune — so unencrypted drives are blocked at write access, not just flagged.
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Download Maps Manager Delayed Start — Red in Server 2016
The MapsBroker service showing as red with Delayed Start on Windows Server 2016 is harmless but noisy. How to disable it cleanly via PowerShell or GPO.
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Disabling SIP ALG on a FortiGate Firewall
SIP ALG on FortiGate is enabled by default and frequently causes one-way audio, dropped calls, and registration failures with hosted VoIP. How to disable it via CLI.
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How to Find the Fortinet PSK
The FortiGate PSK (pre-shared key) for SSL VPN or IPsec tunnels can be retrieved from the CLI or exported via config — even when masked in the GUI.
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Cannot Access FortiGate Web GUI Admin Interface
Locked out of the FortiGate admin interface? Console cable, trusted host misconfiguration, admin timeout, and the maintainer account method — every recovery path covered.
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Linux Exim Cheatsheet
Quick-reference commands for managing the Exim mail queue on Linux — view, flush, delete, test routing, inspect headers, and read logs. Covers cPanel/WHM environments.
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How to Extend a User Profile Disk
Step-by-step guide to resizing a UPD (.vhdx) for Remote Desktop Services or Citrix — using Resize-VHD in PowerShell and extending the partition inside the disk.
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How to Find a User Profile Disk from the Registry
Map a user's SID to their UVHD file path and UPD mount point using registry keys — useful when troubleshooting profile load failures in RDS environments.
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How to Disable Revocation Check for SSTP VPN
SSTP VPN failing because the client can't reach the CRL endpoint? The NoCertRevocationCheck registry key disables the check — set it via registry or GPO.
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Quick 7 Steps: Setting Up Your VPN on Your Computer
End-user guide for connecting to a corporate VPN — Windows built-in VPN, pre-shared key vs certificate auth, split tunnelling, and common connection problems.
Free Resources
Practical tools and checklists for Melbourne businesses — no sign-up required.
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Essential Eight Self-Assessment Checklist
A plain-English checklist to assess your current Essential Eight maturity level. Work through it yourself or share it with your IT team.
Request a copy →🔐
Microsoft 365 Security Hardening Guide
The 12 M365 configuration changes that have the biggest impact on security — with step-by-step instructions for each.
Request a copy →📈
IT Budget Planning Template
A simple spreadsheet to help you plan and forecast your business IT costs — licences, hardware refresh, support, and security.
Request a copy →🌐
What Are Domains? Complete Guide
DNS explained, domain vs hosting, how to choose a .com.au, common mistakes Melbourne businesses make, and a domain health checklist.
Read the guide →⚠️
Incident Response Quick Reference Card
A one-page reference card for what to do if your business is hit by ransomware, a phishing attack, or a data breach.
Request a copy →Supporting Melbourne Businesses Since 2007
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