Glossary
What these terms mean, and how WolfTech actually uses them.
Plain language
Terms we get asked about
Each entry is a definition, a concrete example, and one note on how WolfTech handles it for Dayton-area clients.
- Managed IT Managed IT means an outside team runs your day-to-day technology: monitoring, help desk, patching, backups, and vendor coordination. You keep one partner instead of a pile of one-off contractors.
- MSP An MSP is a company that provides managed IT under a monthly agreement. The point is proactive work (watching, patching, backing up) instead of only showing up after something is already down.
- EDR EDR is software on laptops, desktops, and servers that looks for suspicious behavior, not just known viruses. When it sees ransomware-style activity or a stolen-tool attack, it can isolate the machine and alert the people watching it.
- Phishing Phishing is a fake message (email, text, or a look-alike login page) built to steal a password, a one-time code, or a wire instruction. Modern phishing often bypasses the spam folder and looks like Microsoft, a bank, or your own IT team.
- Ransomware Ransomware is malware that encrypts files and demands payment to unlock them. Current crews also steal a copy of the data first and threaten to publish it if you refuse.
- MFA MFA means a password is not enough. Sign-in also requires something you have (a phone prompt, a hardware key) or something you are (a biometric). It is the single cheapest control that stops most stolen-password attacks.
- Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365 is Microsoft's cloud bundle for email (Exchange Online), file sharing (OneDrive and SharePoint), Teams, Office apps, and the identity system (Entra ID) that ties it together.
- Copilot Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant inside Microsoft 365 and Windows. It can draft mail, summarize meetings, and answer questions against files the user is already allowed to see. It is only as safe as the permissions and tenant settings underneath it.
- Shadow AI Shadow AI is staff using ChatGPT, Copilot, or other AI tools on their own, often on a personal account, because the company never issued a sanctioned option. The work gets done. The data (client files, payroll, legal) may now live in a tool nobody approved.
- Email security Email security is the filter and policy layer in front of the inbox: spam, phishing, impersonation, malware in attachments, and outbound rules that stop a compromised mailbox from mailing the rest of the company's contacts.
- 3CX 3CX is a business phone system that runs voice, video, and chat on one platform, on-site or in the cloud. Softphones on computers and cell phones replace a lot of desk hardware.
- Backups Backup is a copy of your data. Disaster recovery is the plan and the test that prove you can actually restore it, on a clock you can live with. A backup that has never been restored is a hope, not a control.
- ORC 9.64 Ohio Revised Code section 9.64 requires political subdivisions (counties, cities, townships, school districts, and similar) to adopt a written cybersecurity program, train staff, and report certain incidents to the state.
- HIPAA HIPAA is the federal rule set that protects health information. For a clinic, practice, or treatment program it covers how electronic patient data is stored, who can see it, how it is transmitted, and what you do after a breach.
- UniFi UniFi is Ubiquiti's line of business networking and cameras: firewalls, switches, wireless access points, and UniFi Protect video, managed from one controller instead of a drawer of consumer routers.
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