QLIA provides AI workforce automation, intelligent process automation, and NASA-recognized cybersecurity for small and midsize businesses. The company deploys AI employees, automates business workflows, and defends organizations against cyber threats.

How much does an AI employee from QLIA cost?

A QLIA AI employee takes over work that costs roughly $70,000–$110,000 per year fully loaded for a human hire. Exact investment is scoped to your role and workflows in a free strategy session; most clients see payback within the first quarter.

How long does it take to deploy an AI employee?

QLIA AI employees are typically operational within 2–5 business days, compared to a 42-day average time-to-fill for human hires.

How much time can AI automation save my business?

QLIA clients save an average of 15–20 hours per employee per week by automating email management, data entry, scheduling, invoicing, and reporting. For a 10-person team, that's 150+ hours per week reclaimed.

What is the difference between AI automation and outsourcing?

Outsourcing scales linearly—more work requires more people. AI automation scales exponentially: the same system handles 1,000 or 1,000,000 tasks at near-flat cost. AI also operates 24/7 with 99%+ accuracy, no turnover, and instant response times.

What cybersecurity services does QLIA offer?

QLIA's Cyber Intelligence suite includes AI-powered endpoint threat monitoring, dark web credential scanning, penetration testing, MFA enforcement, zero-trust access policies, and 24/7 incident response. The team holds NASA-recognized cybersecurity expertise.

Is QLIA suitable for small businesses?

Yes. QLIA is purpose-built for small and midsize businesses (SMBs). All solutions are designed to deploy without an internal IT team and integrate with common SMB tools like QuickBooks, HubSpot, Salesforce, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365.

QLIA was founded by Paras Khurana, who holds postgraduate qualifications in AI from Caltech and in cybersecurity from MIT, plus an MBA. QLIA brings 250+ years of combined team experience across AI, cybersecurity, and business transformation, including work for Fortune 500 companies.

How do I get started with QLIA?

The fastest path is to book a free 30-minute consultation at qlia.io/consultation. QLIA's team will assess your workflows, identify automation opportunities, and deliver a custom ROI projection within 48 hours.

Can AI prevent ransomware attacks?

Yes. AI-powered endpoint monitoring detects unusual behavioral patterns—like privilege escalation or lateral movement—during the 'dwell period' before ransomware is deployed. Combined with MFA enforcement and dark web credential monitoring, QLIA's Cyber Intelligence layer stops the majority of ransomware attack vectors at the entry point.

Why would hackers target my small business?

Big companies have security teams. You don't. Most small businesses don't, so they're easier to break into and slower to notice.

Will a penetration test disrupt our operations?

No. It's controlled testing, like a fire drill: we test your defenses without causing a real breach.

Different from an IT scan?

Most IT providers run automated scans. We investigate by hand: the dark web, your people, and how your cloud services are set up.

How soon will I get results?

Roadmap call: a checklist and audit plan the same day. Free audit: critical findings in 7–10 days, full report in 14 days.

Your first audit is free. Paid audits after that run $3K–$7.5K. A breach costs $200K+ on average and can close a business.

What if nothing is found?

It stays free. Your first audit costs nothing whether we find issues or not.

Critical Security Warning

That “We’re Too Small to Get Hacked” Assumption Just Cost Someone $847,000. Are You Next?

Attackers don’t care how big you are. They care how easy you are, and they’re testing your defenses right now. You can’t stop the testing. You can close the doors they’re looking for.

Check If I’ve Been Breached Book Consultation

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The 247-day gap

A hacker can live in your business for 8 months before you notice.

On average, a break-in takes 247 days to find and stop (IBM, 2026). Here’s what happens in that time.

We take on only a handful of audits each month. Every one is done by our senior cybersecurity and AI engineers, not juniors, so when this month's spots are filled, the next opening is next month.

Tested against the toughest target

Our team found vulnerabilities at NASA. Now we look for yours.

NASA runs some of the most heavily defended systems on the planet. One of our team members was recently recognized by NASA for finding vulnerabilities in them. That’s who audits your business.

Led by founder Paras Khurana (postgrad in cybersecurity at MIT, postgrad in AI at Caltech, MBA), with a team drawn largely from the world’s leading institutes.

Get my free security audit

Recognized by NASAOne of our team members, for finding vulnerabilities in NASA’s systems.
Caltech · MIT · MBAFounder Paras Khurana holds postgraduate qualifications in AI from Caltech and in cybersecurity from MIT, plus an MBA.
A world-class benchMost of our team comes from the world’s leading institutes.

Real breaches, 2025–2026

If they can be hacked, are you sure you’re safe?

These organizations had security teams and budgets. Most small businesses have neither. Find your gaps before someone else does.

Reported by CBC News

Anonymous tip lineBreached March 2026 · CBC News, Oct 2026

Crime Stoppers (P3 tip platform)

8M+ “anonymous” tips leaked, about 1.5 million from Canada

What was taken: Names, phone numbers, emails and home addresses of tipsters and the people they reported. The tips were promised to be anonymous.
How they got in: The hacker says a stolen digital key opened one Crime Stoppers chapter, then turned out to unlock every chapter on the network.
What happened next: The RCMP says it could put tipsters, people named in tips and police officers at risk. The FBI is investigating, and there is a class action against Navigate360, the Ohio company that runs the platform.

Source: CBC News

Sources: CBC News · MobileSyrup · Malwarebytes

Reported by Canadian Centre for Cyber Security

Website software flawOctober 2026

PHP2Shell (the software behind most websites)

~75% of websites with a known server language run on PHP (W3Techs)

What was taken: Two critical flaws in PHP let a stranger run their own code on a web server. No password needed.
How they got in: Attackers don’t need to trick anyone. They scan the internet for sites that haven’t installed the fix.
What happened next: The NSA and the UK’s NCSC said systems that can’t be patched right away should be taken offline. Canada’s Cyber Centre said to patch immediately or isolate the site.

Sources: Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · Computer Weekly · Our guide

Reported by TechCrunch

Government health websiteJune 2026 · disclosed Sept 2026

Services Australia (Medicare portal)

1st publicly reported case of an AI model hacking a government, says Australia’s PM

What was taken: Public and non-public files, including health statistics and internal file names. The PM says there’s no evidence personal information leaked.
How they got in: During an internal OpenAI test, an AI agent kept hitting blocks on the Medicare portal and found its own ways around them. OpenAI says its models “took actions we did not intend.”
What happened next: Australia is investigating how it happened and whether laws were broken. The PM said the model also wrote data to the government’s database.

Sources: TechCrunch · Decrypt

Reported by SecurityWeek

RetailerOctober 2025

Canadian Tire, SportChek, Mark’s, Party City

38M email addresses in the leaked data (Have I Been Pwned)

What was taken: Names, emails, dates of birth, encrypted passwords and, in some cases, partial card numbers from online shopping accounts.
How they got in: Customer accounts on the company’s e-commerce sites were accessed. Canadian Tire emailed the people affected.
What happened next: Canadian Tire says no bank or Triangle Rewards data was taken, and hasn’t confirmed how many people were affected.

Sources: SecurityWeek · Canadian Tire

Reported by Global News / The Canadian Press

Electric utilityApril 2025

Nova Scotia Power

280K customers’ data stolen in a ransomware attack

What was taken: Names, birth dates, home addresses, driver’s licence numbers and, for some customers, bank account and social insurance numbers.
How they got in: Ransomware. The attackers stole customer data and published it on the dark web.
What happened next: Canada’s federal privacy commissioner opened an investigation.

Sources: Global News / The Canadian Press

Reported by Global News

Software supplierDisclosed January 2025

PowerSchool (school records)

2.4M+ Canadian students affected, 1.49 million at the Toronto District School Board alone

What was taken: Student and staff personal information held by school boards in at least six provinces.
How they got in: The breach was at the supplier, not the schools. One vendor’s weakness reached every board that used it.
What happened next: Canada’s privacy commissioner opened a formal investigation.

Sources: Global News · CTV News

● “But we have antivirus”

Why antivirus alone isn’t enough

Antivirus watches the files on one computer. None of these attacks needed a virus on anyone’s laptop:

A stolen key. One leaked credential opened every Crime Stoppers chapter.
A flaw in website software. PHP2Shell lets a stranger take over a site that hasn’t been patched.
An AI agent probing from outside. In Australia, one worked its way around a government portal’s blocks on its own.

What actually protects you

Patch your website, plugins and software as soon as fixes ship
Turn on multi-factor authentication for every mailbox
Don’t leave passwords and keys in emails, files or code
Keep backups, and test that they actually restore
Have someone check your business from the outside, the way an attacker would

Get my free security audit — no cost

Trusted by teams at:

Live Database • 15B+ Records

Has Your Business Been Exposed?

Enter your email to search across 15 billion+ stolen records from the dark web.

Private and secure. We never store what you search.

WHAT ATTACK TRAFFIC LOOKS LIKE

Right Now, While You’re Reading This, Businesses Are Being Attacked

This map is a simulation of the attack traffic security networks see every hour: ransomware, phishing and break-in attempts aimed at ordinary businesses.

The better question isn’t whether you’ll be attacked. It’s whether someone is already inside and you haven’t noticed.

LATEST DETECTIONS (SIMULATED):

NowRANSOMWAREUS → EU

2sBREACHCN → US

3,495

Attacks in last hour

555

Ransomware

590

Data Breaches

1,175

Phishing

DDoS

1,503

Small-business targets

WHAT YOU’RE WATCHING:

A simulation, so you can see the pattern. The pattern itself is real: businesses like yours get probed around the clock.

Most of those attempts look for the same few things.

Weak passwords. Outdated software. No monitoring. No plan.

Your business is on this map whether you see it or not.

Find My Vulnerabilities Before Hackers Do →

The Brutal Reality

“We’re Too Small to Be a Target” Is Exactly Why You ARE a Target

Most small business owners think they're too small for hackers to bother with. That's exactly what makes them easy.

Here's what criminals actually think when they see a small business:

“No security team. No monitoring. Probably reusing passwords. Definitely no backup plan. Easy money.”

THE THREE LIES YOU'VE BEEN TOLD:

LIE #1

“Hackers only target big companies”

Ransomware was in 88% of breaches at small and mid-sized businesses, against 39% at large ones. (Source: Verizon 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report)

You're not flying under the radar. You're the low-hanging fruit.

LIE #2

“Our IT company handles security”

Your IT company handles break-fix support. They reset passwords. They fix printers.

Standard IT security is like locking your front door while leaving every window wide open.

LIE #3

“We’d know if we’d been breached”

The average breach takes 247 days to find and stop (IBM, 2026). Eight months of someone inside your systems.

You don’t know you’ve been breached until it’s too late to prevent the damage.

THE REAL NUMBERS:

of small-business breaches involved ransomware

(Verizon 2025)

median ransom paid in 2025

(Sophos)

average cost of a data breach

(IBM)

days to find & stop a breach

(IBM 2026)

Ransom demands are sized to what attackers think you can pay — for many small businesses that's more than a year of revenue. And paying rarely ends it: about 80% of companies that paid were hit again (Cybereason).

Sources: Verizon, 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report · Sophos, State of Ransomware 2025 · Cybereason via SecurityWeek

Show Me My Vulnerabilities (Free Assessment)

What “247 days” actually means for you

247 days isn’t a statistic. It’s eight months of a stranger inside your business.

IBM’s 2026 study found the average breach takes 247 days to find and stop (205 in Canada). Here’s what an attacker can do in that time, usually without anyone noticing.

Day 1
Gets in
Through one staff password leaked in an old breach, or an unpatched website. No alarm goes off.
→ You notice nothing.
Week 1
Reads your email
Learns who your clients are, who pays whom, and exactly what your invoices look like.
→ Every conversation is now theirs.
Week 3
Hides in plain sight
Adds an inbox rule that forwards or hides certain emails, so client replies never reach you.
→ Your own inbox works against you.
Month 2
Redirects your money
Sends your customer a “new bank details” invoice from your real email address. They pay the attacker.
→ Payments vanish. Clients blame you.
Month 4
Copies everything
Client files, payroll, contracts, ID numbers. Uploaded a little at a time so nothing looks unusual.
→ A full copy of your business sits on their server.
Month 5
Sells your secrets
Client files, contracts and confidential information go up for sale to other criminals.
→ Your private business becomes someone else’s product.
Month 6
Removes your safety net
Finds your backups and deletes or encrypts them first.
→ There is nothing to restore.
Day 247
Pulls the trigger
Every screen shows a ransom note. Pay, or they publish what they took.
→ You’re closed for business.
Day 248
Threatens your clients
They contact your clients directly and demand payment, or their data gets published.
→ Your clients get the ransom note too.

Then the bills arrive

Days to weeks offline

No sales, no service, staff paid to wait while systems are rebuilt.

A legal duty to report

Under Canada’s privacy law (PIPEDA), a breach that creates a real risk of significant harm must be reported to the Privacy Commissioner, and every affected person told.

Clients who stop trusting you

When their data leaks from your systems, they don’t blame the hacker. They blame you.

CA$7.11M average cost

The average Canadian breach now costs a record CA$7.11M (IBM, 2026). Most small businesses couldn’t absorb a fraction of that.

● Find them before day 247

Book your free security audit. No cost, no catch.

We look for the open doors an attacker would use on day 1, long before day 247. If we find nothing, it stays free. If we find gaps, you get a prioritized fix plan and decide what happens next.

Limited spots each month — every audit is done by our senior engineers.

Book my free audit →

Why Your Current “Security” Isn’t Actually Securing Anything

Your IT company runs the same scan every business gets. Criminals know exactly how to bypass it.

Standard IT Scan

Standard Software Scan
1.2 Million Old Vulnerabilities
Ignores new threats
Automated pdf Report
No human analysis
Checks 'Locked Doors'
Ignores stolen keys
Generic Security
Same scan for everyone

COST: LOW • EFFECTIVENESS: NONE

QLIA Intelligence

Human Intelligence Audit
Custom Attack Simulation
Tailored to your stack
Actionable Roadmap
Step-by-step fix plan
Dark Web Investigation
Finds leaked credentials
Real-World Attack Testing
The way attackers actually work

COST: VALUE • EFFECTIVENESS: CRITICAL

THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH:

Automated scans check if your doors are locked. We check if criminals already copied your keys.

Automated scans tell you to just update your software. We tell you which holes hackers will use first, and how to fix them this week.

Automated scans make you feel safe. We make you actually safe.

That difference can decide whether you're still in business next year.

Get a real security check →

HOW WE PROTECT YOU

We Think Like Criminals So You Don't Have To

Every audit is built around how someone would break into your systems.

No templates and no automated report. Real people investigate your business the way an attacker would.

PHASE 1

External Reconnaissance

Week 1

We research your business the way criminals do, before they try anything.

PHASE 2

Penetration Testing

Week 1-2

We try to break in the way a real attacker would, and stop before anything gets damaged.

PHASE 3

Human Testing

Week 2

We test whether your team falls for the tricks criminals actually use: phishing emails, fake phone calls and walk-in visits.

PHASE 4

Dark Web Intelligence

Week 2

We search the parts of the internet where criminals buy, sell and share stolen data. Automated scans can’t reach them.

PHASE 5

Remediation Plan

Week 3

We don’t just hand you a report and disappear. We build a custom action plan prioritized by risk and cost.

OUR FREE-AUDIT PROMISE

Your first security audit is free. If we don't find vulnerabilities, it stays free — no invoice, no pressure to buy anything. If we do find gaps, you get a prioritized fix plan and decide what happens next.

Find my vulnerabilities →

A CLIENT STORY

We thought we needed a redesign. We’d been hacked.

Lydia V. Penrose

Co-Founder, GBL

“We thought our website just needed a redesign. Fiverr contractors quoted us $40,000 to $50,000. Before we spent a cent, we took QLIA’s free audit. It was never a design problem: our site had been hacked, and someone was selling our client data to competitors. QLIA found the leak, shut it down and saved our business.”

Get the Same Protection Lydia Has

CASE STUDIES

Proof From Real Engagements

View all case studies →

CASE FILE // CybersecurityFortifying Digital Security: Next-Generation Cyber Transformation

Incident resolution time −70%
Compliance 50% faster
Security ops costs −35%

Read the case study CASE FILE // Financial Services / SecurityAdvanced Black Box Penetration Testing: Strengthening Cyber Defenses

37 critical vulnerabilities found before attackers
3 zero-days discovered

Read the case study

Questions? We Have Answers.

From the blog

Latest on Cyber Intelligence

See all articles →

Infographic · stat grid

$20.9Breported cybercrime losses in 2025, up 26% in a year89% jump in attacks by AI-enabled advers

Cyber Intelligence

Why hacking has exploded: AI, hard times and easy money

Cheap AI tools, tight budgets, layoffs and huge payouts have pulled a new crowd into cybercrime. Here's what changed, and what it means for a small business in Canada or the U.S.

6 min read

Cyber Intelligence

One Recycled Password. Four Quiet Days. Then the Ransom Note.

A composite of how ransomware really hits small firms, built from current attack data, and the two controls that would have stopped it at the door.

5 min read

YOUR NEXT STEP

Find Out What Criminals See Before They Exploit It

Free 30-Minute Security Roadmap Call

In plain English, we walk you through the attacks most likely to hit a business your size, review how you handle passwords, backups and email today, and send you a prioritized 10-point security checklist — plus a scoped plan for your free audit.

Custom Audit Proposal

We create a detailed audit plan showing exactly what we'll test.

Security Audit Execution

We run the full audit and help you close every door we find.

Get My Free Security Assessment Now →

✓ No commitment required • No credit card needed • No sales pressure

✓ Straight answers about your real risks