Frequently Asked Questions

We work with small and mid-sized businesses in Houston, Texas that rely on their systems every day but don’t have an in-house IT or security team. That includes construction companies, healthcare practices, law firms, service businesses, and retailers. If your business depends on its data, its website, or its systems, we can help.

Not at all. That’s the whole point. We explain everything in plain language, tell you what actually matters for your specific situation, and give you a clear action plan. You don’t need a technical background to understand what we do or why we’re doing it.

It starts with a free 30-minute call. We learn about your business, identify your biggest risks, and give you a straightforward action plan — what needs fixing, in what order, and what it costs. No technical overload, no obligation.

Most engagements are scoped as flat-fee projects so you know exactly what you’re paying before we start. Pricing depends on the size of your business and the scope of work. We’ll give you a clear number on the first call — no vague quotes, no surprise invoices.

No. We don’t lock small businesses into retainers they don’t need. Some clients work with us on a one-time project basis; others bring us back regularly. We earn the ongoing relationship by doing good work, not by locking you into a contract.

Yes. Nexilva Security is based in Houston, Texas. We work with businesses across the Houston area and can work on-site when the job calls for it.

Most businesses don’t know until something goes wrong. That’s exactly the problem we solve. We assess your systems the same way an attacker would — looking for real entry points, not just running a checklist. At the end, you get a clear report of what’s exposed and what to do about it, written in plain English.

It depends on what your business needs. We can look at your external perimeter (what’s visible and reachable from the internet), your internal network, your website and web applications, your WiFi setup, and your staff’s security habits. We focus on what could actually cause damage — not theoretical risks that don’t apply to your business.

Yes, and more often than large companies. Attackers target small businesses specifically because they’re easier to get into. Most don’t have dedicated security staff, run outdated software, and assume they’re too small to be worth hitting. That assumption is exactly what attackers count on. In Houston alone, small businesses have seen a significant increase in cybersecurity incidents in recent years, with attacks frequently targeting businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

A vulnerability scan is automated — it identifies known weaknesses in your systems. A penetration test goes further. A real person (us) uses those findings and other methods to see how far an attacker could actually get. We tell you which vulnerabilities are exploitable in your specific environment, not just which ones exist on paper.

Ransomware is malicious software that locks you out of your own files and demands payment to restore access. For small businesses, this often means days or weeks of downtime, loss of critical data, and payments ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars — with no guarantee the attacker gives your data back. We’ve seen it end businesses. We help make sure it doesn’t happen to yours.

We take a layered approach. That includes securing the entry points attackers use to get in, setting up reliable offsite backups that can’t be reached or deleted by an attacker, and making sure your team knows how to recognize the threats that typically kick off an attack, like phishing emails. If the worst happens, we can help you recover without paying a ransom.

Yes. We’ve handled compromised websites for businesses in Houston and can clean up malware, remove hidden backdoors, identify how the attacker got in, and lock it down so it doesn’t happen again. The sooner you act, the better — a compromised site can quietly damage your Google rankings and customer trust long before you notice anything is wrong.

Contact us immediately. Don’t shut off your systems yet — that can sometimes destroy evidence needed to understand what happened and recover fully. We’ll walk you through the right steps. You can reach us through the contact form on this site or by emailing [email protected].

Your website is publicly accessible, which makes it the most exposed part of your business. Attackers look for outdated software, weak login credentials, misconfigured settings, and known vulnerabilities in popular platforms like WordPress. A compromised website can redirect your visitors, expose customer data, get blacklisted by Google, or be used to attack others — all without you knowing it’s happening.

WordPress powers a large portion of the internet, which makes it a common target. That doesn’t mean it’s inherently unsafe — it means it needs to be set up and maintained properly. We secure WordPress sites by hardening configurations, auditing plugins and themes, removing any existing malware, and setting up monitoring so you know immediately if something changes.

Both. We build websites and web applications with security built in from the start, and we also secure and clean up existing sites. Either way, the goal is the same — a site that doesn’t become an entry point into your business.

An improperly configured WiFi network can allow anyone nearby to attempt access to your internal systems. Common problems include weak encryption, shared passwords that have been handed out to contractors and visitors over the years, and no separation between your internal network and guest devices. We audit your setup, fix the configuration, and test it to make sure it’s actually secure.

Probably. Security standards and attack methods have evolved significantly in recent years. A setup that was fine five years ago may have outdated encryption, default credentials, or known vulnerabilities. We see this constantly with small businesses in Houston, especially those that have grown and added staff without updating their network.

Because most attacks start with a person, not a system. Phishing emails, fake login pages, and social engineering all rely on someone clicking something they shouldn’t. One employee making one bad decision can hand an attacker access to your entire network. Training your team to recognize these threats is one of the highest-value things you can do for your security.

We train your team to recognize phishing emails and scams, use strong passwords and access habits, handle sensitive data safely, and know what to do if something looks wrong. We use real-world examples — not generic slides — because that’s what actually changes behavior.

That’s exactly who it’s designed for. We don’t expect your employees to become security experts. We teach them the specific things they’re likely to encounter and the right responses to each. It’s practical and straightforward.

Possibly, depending on your industry and the data you handle. Texas has its own data breach notification law requiring you to notify affected individuals if sensitive personal information is exposed. Healthcare businesses must comply with HIPAA. Businesses that take credit cards must follow PCI DSS standards. If you serve clients in other states or countries, additional regulations may apply. We can help you understand what applies to your business and what you need to do to meet it.

The consequences depend on the regulation and the severity of the breach, but they can include fines, mandatory audits, legal liability, and reputational damage. Beyond the regulatory side, a breach that exposes customer data erodes trust in a way that’s very hard to recover from for a small business. Prevention is far less costly than response.

Yes. We work with healthcare practices in Houston and understand the specific requirements around protecting patient data. We can assess where you currently stand, identify gaps, and implement the technical and procedural controls needed to meet HIPAA requirements.