TELUS Online Security for Business: Protecting Logins, Devices, and Staff

“One stolen login can lock your team out, expose customer data, and stall billing in minutes. Most incidents start with a simple mistake, like a rushed click or reused password, so your security needs a safety net, not just rules.”

What is TELUS Online Security for Business?

Your business runs on logins. Email, banking, cloud apps, and customer tools all sit behind usernames and passwords. If someone else gets those keys, they do not need your office. They walk in through your accounts.

Phishing, account takeovers, and remote work have made that risk bigger than ever. Strong passwords help. Training helps. Policies help. But they are no longer enough on their own.

TELUS Online Security for Business adds protection around your people, devices, and data so one mistake does not turn into a full-blown incident. It is designed to layer on top of good habits, not replace them.

In this blog, you will see how the main threats show up in real life, why small and mid-size teams are now prime targets, what TELUS Online Security for Business includes, and how Tom Harris can help you roll it out in a way that fits your day-to-day work.

Why business accounts are prime targets

Attackers follow value and convenience. Business accounts offer both.

A single work login often links to:

• Banking or payment tools
• Customer records and invoices
• Email histories and internal files
• Admin rights for cloud apps

One compromised account unlocks far more than a single inbox. Small and mid-sized businesses face extra pressure because staff handle many jobs, move fast, and often mix personal and company devices.

Canadian research points in the same direction. Cyber incidents hit smaller firms more often than many owners expect, and the gaps are usually basic controls and busy humans, not sophisticated technology.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada has noted that many small businesses underestimate cyber risk even as threats rise. Read more here.

Why online security matters more than ever

Most modern attacks start with a person, not a server.

Someone on your team clicks a fake sign-in link, approves a malicious multi-factor authentication request, or reuses a password that has already been exposed. Once that happens, attackers move quickly. They reset passwords, request new password links in other tools, and send convincing messages from real accounts to suppliers and customers.

Human behavior stays a major factor in breaches. Many reports and security awareness studies point to user mistakes as one of the most common starting points for incidents. You can review one summary here.

Small and mid-sized organizations also sit in the crosshairs because they often have the same tools as larger companies, but fewer dedicated security resources. Canada’s Cybersafe program highlights practical steps for small business security and why these controls matter. See the guidance here.

At the same time, more companies now run hybrid and remote schedules. That means more laptops outside the office, more logins from home networks, and more sessions on public Wi-Fi. It is a great way to work. It is also a bigger attack surface.

You still need strong passwords, clear policies, and regular training. But you also need a safety net that assumes mistakes will happen. TELUS Online Security for Business is built to be that safety net, layered on top of baseline security habits so one bad click is less likely to turn into a full incident.

The big three risks: phishing, account takeovers, and remote staff

Most incidents we hear about fall into three buckets: phishing, account takeovers, and risks tied to remote or hybrid work.

Phishing that looks real enough

Phishing used to mean clumsy emails with bad spelling and off-brand logos. Today, many fake emails and texts look good enough to slip past a busy person’s guard. They copy real brands and layouts, use realistic sender names, and reference tools you actually use.

A message might ask you to re-verify an account, unlock a mailbox, or confirm an invoice. One rushed click on a fake sign-in page can hand over credentials.

Account takeovers that spread quietly

Once an attacker has a working login, they often try to stay under the radar. They may log in through another country or a VPN, set up email forwarding rules, create new accounts, or change recovery details. They also test the same password on other services.

This is an account takeover. You still have access, so everything looks normal at first. In the background, someone else may be reading, downloading, and preparing their next move.

Remote and hybrid staff on mixed networks

Your team no longer sits behind a single office firewall. Staff join from home networks, client locations, airports, and cafés. They use a mix of company laptops, personal phones, and shared devices in shops or field offices.

Remote work boosts flexibility and reach. It also means your security strategy must follow people and devices, not just physical locations.

What TELUS Online Security for Business includes

TELUS Online Security for Business sits between your people and the worst of the internet. It assumes human error will happen and focuses on reducing damage.

Find a product overview here.

Features vary by tier, and often include:

• Device security: Antivirus and anti-malware on supported devices, plus real-time threat detection on laptops and phones.
• Safe browsing and web protection: Warnings for unsafe sites and protection against known malicious pages and downloads.
• Identity and credential monitoring: Monitoring for key business email addresses and domains in breach data, plus alerts when credentials appear where they should not.
• VPN options on some tiers: Encrypted connections on public or home Wi-Fi for safer remote work.
• Alerts and support: Notifications when suspicious activity appears, plus guidance on next steps after an alert.

How online security supports your policies and training

Strong tools do not replace strong habits. You need both. Most teams already talk about strong unique passwords, multi-factor authentication, suspicious links and attachments, and safe behavior on shared or public devices. TELUS Online Security for Business reinforces those messages and adds a safety net around daily behavior.

Reinforces phishing awareness

Even well-trained staff have off days. Safe browsing and web protection can block many known malicious links before a fake login page even loads. Fewer risky pages means fewer chances for someone to type credentials into the wrong place.

Provides visibility when credentials leak

If an employee email address appears in breach data, identity monitoring can send an alert. You can then reset passwords, force sign-outs, tighten multi-factor authentication, and review access. Without that signal, the first sign of trouble might be a missing payment or a strange message to a client.

Protects mixed device environments

Many small businesses rely on a blend of company devices and personal hardware. Staff check email on personal phones, owners approve payments from laptops on the road, and remote workers connect from home routers. Online Security helps protect these endpoints with security software and safe browsing tools.

Supports remote staff without slowing work

Online Security runs quietly in the background. Staff keep moving through daily tasks while scanning, blocking, and alerts work around them. You set the rules. The service adds monitoring and early warning around those rules.

Use cases: how real teams would benefit

Here are a few simple examples of how this setup could help.

Scenario 1: Fake invoice email to accounting

Your bookkeeper receives an email from what looks like a regular vendor. The message includes a link to view an updated invoice. With safe browsing in place, that link is flagged and blocked, which prevents the staff member from entering credentials on a fake page.

Scenario 2: Compromised password on a third-party site

An employee uses their work email and a reused password to sign up for a tool. Months later, that tool suffers a breach. Identity monitoring can surface a warning that those credentials have appeared in breach data, so you can reset access before attackers try the same login on key systems.

Scenario 3: Remote staff on public Wi-Fi

A sales rep works from a coffee shop on an unsecured network. Device protection and safe browsing reduce the risk of malicious content or suspicious downloads targeting that machine. Combined with MFA on core tools, it becomes much harder for an attacker to turn one risky session into a business incident.

Steps to strengthen your security baseline

TELUS Online Security for Business works best as part of a broader security habit, not a replacement for it. Here are practical steps you can take alongside it.

• Enforce strong, unique passwords: Use a password manager so staff do not reuse the same logins across tools. Make long passphrases the default.
• Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA): Require MFA for email, banking, and core business tools. Use app-based authentication where possible.
• Create a simple suspicious message process: Do not click, do not reply, forward to a central mailbox or IT contact, then delete.
• Run short refreshers: Use five-minute reminders in team meetings and share screenshots of real attempts with sensitive details removed.
• Document who to call: List internal contacts, TELUS support details, and any managed service providers you use. Make it easy to find.

Online Security then adds another layer over these basics, catching more threats and giving you clearer signals when you need to act.

Why work with Tom Harris on TELUS Online Security

Tom Harris is a TELUS Business partner with business advisors across Western Canada. Local support matters when you want security to line up with mobility, data, and internet in one picture.

When you speak with a Tom Harris specialist, you can:

• Review current TELUS Business Mobility lines
• See how Online Security fits beside those lines
• Decide which staff or devices receive coverage first
• Explore bundles that group mobility, Online Security, and other services on a single bill

Instead of buying a stand-alone product, you shape a stack that works together.

Ready to strengthen your business security? Find a store near you and learn more.

SMBs across Canada are becoming more frequent targets, and many incidents start with basic credential theft and simple user mistakes. If you want to reduce that risk, start with baseline controls, then add layered protection that catches issues early. TELUS Online Security for Business is designed to help you do that without slowing your day-to-day work.