The Lighthouse IT Podcast

Hosted by Lighthouse IT Solutions

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150

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Sep 2026

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About the show

Take a listen to the #LighthouseITPodcast every other week as we discuss both cybersecurity and digital marketing news! It's time to stop dreaming IT. Let's start doing IT. #GetLITS

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60 recent

September 18, 2026Episode 833 min

The Shadow AI Reality Check - It's Already in Your Office

The Lighthouse IT Podcast - September 18th, 2026 The Shadow AI Reality Check - It's Already in Your Office In this Lighthouse IT Solutions podcast episode, we discuss a key SMB concern: “shadow AI” use by employees. We go over the fact that adoption is no longer the main issue; containment, direction, and policy are, citing a stat that over 80% of employees using LLMs at work admit they use personal accounts, and Matt reports that every client environment he checked showed some AI usage. Join us as we explain the security risks of pasting or uploading sensitive data (customer info, contracts, disciplinary actions, HIPAA/PII) into free tools where data may be retained and used for training. Banning AI seems to only drive it underground and increase liability. But we propose a framework: sanction an approved AI “front door,” implement guardrails (ZDR, no-training, separate storage, DLP/redaction, human-in-the-loop), create a short acceptable-use policy with transparency, and move toward governed integrations with business systems. Don't miss out on our discussions and more! https://hub.lighthousesol.com/blog/lighthouse-podcast-2/the-shadow-ai-reality-check-it-s-already-in-your-office-483 00:00 Horror Movie Kickoff 00:51 Barney and Clown Fears 01:53 Prime Watch Nostalgia 03:37 Coyote vs Acme Review 04:54 Welcome to Lighthouse IT 05:49 From AI Adoption to Policy 07:40 Shadow AI Is Everywhere 11:07 What Employees Upload 12:40 Free AI = You're the Product 14:03 Secure AI Guardrails 15:27 AI Training Guardrails 16:42 Why Bans Backfire 18:59 Prohibition Paradox Lessons 20:02 Build a Safe Front Door 21:12 Hatz Platform Overview 23:06 Human in the Loop 25:09 Acceptable Use Policy 26:25 Governed Integrations Future 28:11 AI as Operational Standard 30:37 Audits Resources Wrap Up

August 21, 2026Episode 733 min

Your Vendor's Vendor Can Burn You

The Lighthouse IT Podcast - August 21st, 2026 Your Vendor's Vendor Can Burn You In this episode of the #LighthouseITPodcast, Matt and Griff discuss how major cybersecurity incidents often stem from trusted vendors rather than direct breaches, comparing three recent cases: Ernst & Young, a Salesforce-related data theft wave, and Framework Laptops. They go through EY’s third-party IT support ticketing platform compromise, the 83-day delay between detection and disclosure, and exposed sensitive data, including Social Security numbers and tax documents, followed by a class action lawsuit and 24 months of identity monitoring. They then cover a social-engineering “vishing” campaign leading employees to approve malicious connected apps, affecting Salesforce customers, including Alcon (25M records), Questel (21M), and Luminus, with claims of up to 1B records across 40 companies! Finally, they highlight Framework’s vendor-based Metabase SQL injection zero-day (CVSS of 10.0!), noting only 17 minutes from discovery to disclosure and discussing practical steps like verifying IT calls, not approving unexpected MFA/app prompts, and asking vendors about incident response and disclosure timelines. Don't miss out on our discussions and more! https://hub.lighthousesol.com/blog/lighthouse-podcast-2/your-vendor-s-vendor-can-burn-you-474 00:00 Framework Laptop 13 Pro 02:47 Vendor Breach? 04:52 Third and Fourth Party Risk Explained 06:31 EY Breach Timeline 07:55 Stolen Data Fallout 11:11 Salesforce Wave Begins 12:24 Vishing App Approvals 14:18 Record Counts Ransom 16:20 Why Not Pay Ransom 17:16 Vendor Breach Reality Check 18:00 Framework Breach Timeline 18:57 What Data Was Exposed 19:38 Vendor Trust Lessons 21:54 EY / Saleforce vs Framework Contrast 24:22 Questions To Ask Vendors 27:31 MFA Fatigue And Vishing 28:26 Verify With Callbacks 30:07 Vendor Risk Tools Rising 32:21 Podcast Wrap Up

July 24, 2026Episode 752 min

One System to Rule Them All - Odoo

The Lighthouse IT Podcast - July 24th, 2026 How Odoo Changed Our Small Business for the Better - Replace Your Patchwork Suite of Tools In this episode of the #LighthouseITPodcast, Matt & Griff discuss why Lighthouse adopted Odoo, the “business operating system” that consolidates functions typically split across tools like accounting, CRM, marketing, helpdesk, portals, and inventory. We describe past struggles with disconnected systems, double data entry, integrations, and costly industry-specific platforms such as Freshdesk, Autotask, and Halo, plus rising costs with HubSpot and ActiveCampaign. After discovering Odoo through marketing and client research, we became a partner, migrated modules in stages, and saved about $20,000 in the first year by shutting down multiple subscriptions. Odoo’s modular apps, open-source flexibility (Community vs Enterprise), hosting options, upgrade cadence, and customization through development, including building client apps and an asset manager. Lighthouse’s Navigate team can guide your implementation, training, data migration, and process improvement! Don't miss out on our discussions and more! https://hub.lighthousesol.com/blog/lighthouse-podcast-2/one-system-to-rule-them-all-odoo-472 00:28 Learning Over Leisure 01:58 Why Talk Odoo Now 03:29 One System For Business 04:07 Hidden Gem Modules 05:23 Consolidation Beats Integrations 06:09 Early Tools of Lighthouse, SharePoint Era 07:43 Freshdesk Growing Pains 08:38 Autotask And Halo Limits 10:30 Marketing Stack Frustrations 14:09 Discovering Odoo 15:31 Odoo Partner Program And Savings 16:57 Replacing Tools with Odoo 19:23 Custom Development for Odoo 22:06 Flexibility Change The Workflow 23:48 Automation And Team Buy-In 25:29 Tool Sprawl And Pain Points 26:17 Build It In Odoo 29:01 Community Vs Enterprise 33:40 The Aha Moment 37:49 Navigate Partner Role 40:50 Costs ROI And Data Ownership 46:04 Getting Started In Stages 49:03 Training Resources And Wrap Up

June 26, 2026Episode 533 min

Building Business Resilience: The Disruption You Don't See Coming

The Lighthouse IT Podcast - June 26th, 2026 No AC, No Problem. Lessons from a Week Without Air Conditioning. In this episode of the #LighthouseITPodcast, we reflect on the rapidly changing business landscape and the importance of business resilience. While many businesses focus on cyber threats or technological failures, environmental surprises, such as an unexpected air conditioning failure during the hottest week of the year (like in our case), can test an organization’s resilience in unique ways. Don't miss out on our discussions and more! ⁠https://hub.lighthousesol.com/blog/lighthouse-podcast-2/building-business-resilience-the-disruption-you-don-t-see-coming-467 00:00 The He-Man Movie 00:25 Nostalgia and Box Office Worries 01:39 Humor vs Heroism Debate 02:42 Hot Topics Office Heat 03:27 Business Resiliency Defined 05:56 AC Failure Timeline Recap 07:55 Remote Work Playbook and Tools 13:23 Continuity vs Resilience Mindset 14:57 Threats and Operational Fragility 16:56 Uncontrollable disruptions 17:21 Power and internet risks 18:25 Cloud tradeoffs and security 19:46 Recovery continuity resilience 21:52 Team mobility playbook 22:52 Tailored resilience planning 24:13 Key person and automation 25:21 Single system and backups 27:02 Homework and real examples 29:58 Test disruptions and improve 30:36 Episode wrap and resources

May 28, 2026Episode 439 min

Canvas Breach: Lessons in Cybersecurity

The Lighthouse IT Podcast - May 29th, 2026 What Happens When 275 Million Users Depend on One Platform? In this episode of the Lighthouse IT Solutions podcast, Matt and Griffin discuss the April Canvas (Instructure) breach claimed by ShinyHunters, involving about 3.65 TB of exfiltrated data affecting roughly 275 million users across about 9,000 institutions, including names, emails, student IDs, and private messages. They recap a timeline of detection, public disclosure, a second disruption during finals week with a ransom note replacing the login page, and reports of a ransom agreement around May 11, followed by fallout, including a class action lawsuit and a Homeland Security investigation. This emphasizes the risks of vendor concentration, the need for incident-response planning, third-party risk management, backups, MFA, segmentation, and encryption at rest, and we advise impacted users to change passwords, enable MFA, and watch for targeted phishing using stolen context. Don't miss out on our discussions and more! https://hub.lighthousesol.com/blog/lighthouse-podcast-2/canvas-breach-lessons-in-cybersecurity-466 01:28 What Canvas Is 02:07 Breach Scale And Data 03:08 ShinyHunters Background 04:49 Extortion And Finals Week 07:11 Timeline And Ransom Payment 10:30 Repeat Attacks And Security 13:03 Private Messages Fallout 15:29 Will Hackers Delete Data 17:43 What Was Not Compromised 18:37 How They Got In 19:20 Canvas Accountability Gap 19:37 Paying ShinyHunters 21:54 Vendor Concentration Risk 26:12 Transparency And PR 27:00 Patch Or Negotiate 29:42 Third Party Risk 30:45 Backups And Encryption 34:07 If You Were Affected 35:54 Wrap Up And Where To Watch

April 3, 2026Episode 356 min

Open Source for Business: Pros, Cons, Security, and When It’s Worth It

The Lighthouse IT Podcast - April 3rd, 2026 In this episode of the Lighthouse IT Solutions podcast, Matt and Griff discuss the open source movement and how it compares to proprietary software. They explain what open source means, highlight common examples (Linux, Firefox, VLC, WordPress, Android), and outline key benefits such as lower cost, flexibility, transparency, and the “many eyes” security advantage, while noting real-world risks like supply-chain social engineering. They cover licensing basics and why support is often sold separately (e.g., Red Hat), then review downsides including weaker support, learning curves, hidden labor costs, project abandonment, forks, and licensing changes. They share how Lighthouse has expanded its use of open source, especially Odoo and related ecosystems, to reduce costs, increase control, and improve resilience amid frequent vendor acquisitions in their industry, and they encourage businesses to research options and consider paid support tiers. Don't miss out on our discussions and more! ⁠ https://hub.lighthousesol.com/blog/lighthouse-podcast-2/open-source-for-business-461 00:00 Weekend Movie Banter 00:29 Talking Animals Debate 01:34 Podcast Intro and AI Callback 02:12 Why Open Source Matters 02:46 Open Source Everywhere 03:52 What Open Source Means 05:10 Licensing and Proprietary 07:47 Biggest Pros Cost Freedom 11:56 Security and Many Eyes 13:03 Supply Chain Risks 16:34 Customization and Forking 19:44 Odoo and OCA Ecosystem 22:06 Open Source Downsides 22:23 Support and Documentation 25:13 Complexity Getting Easier 28:33 Hidden Costs of Free 29:20 Free Puppy (Cat) Analogy 30:28 Abandonment and Fork Risks 33:05 Licensing Changes Shock 33:54 Why Lighthouse Uses Open Source 37:17 Cost Control and Security 39:26 Vendor Volatility and Ownership 43:03 Advice for Small Businesses 46:40 Data Portability and ROI 50:32 Wrap Up and Subscribe 54:27 MacBook Neo Side Chat 56:46 Final Goodbye

March 6, 2026Episode 233 min

Harnessing AI for SMBs: We Have the Technology

The Lighthouse IT Podcast - March 6th, 2026 In this Lighthouse IT Solutions podcast episode, we discuss why small businesses may benefit from AI faster than large corporations, focusing on what large language models (LLMs) are, how chatbots work beyond “a fancy Google,” and why AI can hallucinate or overly agree with users. We explain tokenization and context, then contrast chatbots with agents that can take actions via tools and APIs, such as automating invoicing and other back-office workflows. Our conversation really highlights major risks like data privacy, shadow AI, hallucinations, and prompt injection, urging businesses to implement AI with a security-first mindset and human auditing. Start with repetitive, rule-based tasks, measuring ROI, and not “automating a mess.” Don't miss out on our discussions and more! https://hub.lighthousesol.com/blog/lighthouse-podcast-2/harnessing-ai-for-smbs-we-have-the-technology-456 And if you are ready to explore AI for your business? Reach out to us or attend one of our upcoming AI Summits! https://www.lighthousesol.com/ai Or, if you are ready to roll out AI to your business, we can set up a secure AI platform tailored to your needs. https://content.lighthousesol.com/secure-ai-chat-platform Take the leap into AI, and unlock new potential for your business growth! 00:00 Cold Open 01:18 Why Everyone Talks AI 03:38 AI Advantage for SMBs 06:30 Rethinking Growth With Automation 07:56 Chatbots vs Agents Explained 08:35 How LLMs Actually Work 10:19 Context Tokens and RAG 13:12 Agents Taking Real Actions 14:41 Data Privacy and Shadow AI 16:32 Hallucinations and Prompt Injection 17:59 When AI Agrees Too Much 18:52 Prompting for Accuracy 19:49 Real World Automation Wins 21:38 Avoid the AI Gold Rush 23:09 Partner Up for Security 24:16 Standardize Before Automating 25:19 Start With Robot Work 26:58 Augment Humans, Not Replace 29:02 Sales Outreach Done Right 30:26 AI Summits and Training 31:53 Secure Platform and Office Hours 32:56 Closing Thoughts and Next Steps

February 6, 2026Episode 138 min

Why Are Computers Suddenly So Expensive? And What SMBs Can Do About It

The Lighthouse IT Podcast - February 6th, 2026 Welcome back to an exciting new season of the Lighthouse IT Solutions podcast! As we embark on this journey, we bring with us a series of changes and insights into the ever-evolving landscape of technology. Dive into the transformations in our podcast format, the technology trends shaping the industry, and how you can prepare for the inevitable shifts in the market. (Like why your tech is pricier than ever!) Don't miss out on our discussions and more! https://hub.lighthousesol.com/blog/lighthouse-podcast-2/why-are-computers-suddenly-so-expensive-and-what-smbs-can-do-about-it-452

December 26, 2025Episode 2356 min

The Lighthouse IT Solutions Podcast 2025 Year-in-Review!

The Lighthouse IT Podcast - December 26th, 2025 In this final 2025 episode of the Lighthouse IT Solutions Podcast, Matt and Griff reflect on the year. They break down the biggest tech stories, security shocks, and industry shifts that shaped the year, and what they mean to us, our clients, and business owners in general, heading into 2026. Highlights we cover: Valve’s 2026 “Trinity” vision: Steam Machine, Steam Controller, and Steam Frame The Louvre Heist and security Major outages like AWS and Cloudflare Doomscrolling Sora 2 and the state of AI-generated media How Google wasn’t forced to sell Chrome AI bot traffic surpassing human web use The end of AOL dial-up Instagram content became indexable 23andMe’s bankruptcy and data privacy implications Microsoft’s 50th anniversary Nintendo Switch 2 launch Skype shutting down The return of Pebble OS and watches (Repebble) UnitedHealth’s breach that impacted 100M people DeepSeek’s open-source R1 model Windows 10 reached End-of-Life Slate Auto trucks coming in 2026 Odoo today and what Odoo v19 will do Hatz AI, our secure AI chat platform zTech joining Lighthouse IT Solutions Don't miss out on these interesting discussions and more! Read the full show notes over at: https://hub.lighthousesol.com/blog/lighthouse-podcast-2/the-lighthouse-it-solutions-podcast-2025-year-in-review-450

December 12, 2025Episode 2249 min

Valve’s 2026 Trinity, Opus 4.5, AI Inventors, and the AI Spy Game

The Lighthouse IT Podcast - December 12th, 2025 This week, Matt and Griff cover: 🧊 Valve's Gaming Trinity: Frame, Machine, and Controller Walk Into 2026 📝 AI Can Invent, But Humans Get the Patents (And the Lawsuits) 🤖 Anthropic's Opus 4.5: Smarter, Cheaper, and More Effort-Conscious 💻 Anthropic Disrupts First Fully AI‑Orchestrated, China‑Linked Cyber‑Espionage Campaign Don't miss out on these interesting discussions and more! Read the full show notes over at: ⁠https://hub.lighthousesol.com/blog/lighthouse-podcast-2/valves-2026-trinity-opus-4-5-ai-inventors-and-the-ai-spy-game-449