IT Mythbusters: Debunking the Most Persistent Tech Lies We Still Hear in 2025
We get it. Not everyone lives and breathes IT like we do. So it’s no surprise when we hear the same myths pop up again and again — at client sites, in casual conversations, or while fixing someone’s “really weird” laptop issue that ends up being a bad HDMI cable.
So in true BITLINK fashion, we’re breaking it down. No fluff — just real talk about the things people believe about tech that just aren’t true anymore (or never were to begin with).
1. “Incognito mode keeps me anonymous online.”
Nope. It just hides your history from your browser.
Incognito (or private browsing) doesn’t mean you’re invisible. Your employer, school, ISP, or the websites you visit can still track your activity. It won’t hide your IP address, encrypt traffic, or block ads and trackers.
Incognito is great for:
- Logging into multiple accounts at once
- Preventing autofill from saving your credentials
- Hiding your birthday gift search from a shared computer
Incognito is not great for:
- Security
- Privacy
- Doing sketchy stuff at work
2. “Turning it off and back on again is just lazy IT advice.”
It’s actually step one for a reason.
A reboot clears memory leaks, resets hung processes, and shuts down things running in the background that shouldn’t be. Half the time, the problem isn’t that something is broken — it’s just that your device has been chugging along for days (or weeks) without a break.
Rebooting gives it a clean slate. We still recommend it, and we still do it ourselves. (Yes, even when our own stuff acts up.)
3. “Antivirus is all you need to stay safe.”
Maybe 10 years ago. Now it’s just the first line of defense.
Modern cyberattacks don’t always trigger basic antivirus tools. You need layered protection — endpoint detection, firewalls, MFA, and, honestly, a good dose of employee training.
Most breaches don’t happen because antivirus failed — they happen because someone clicked the wrong link or reused the same password everywhere.
4. “I don’t need to back up my files — they’re in the cloud.”
Until your cloud account gets hacked. Or someone deletes everything. Or the provider has a bad day.
Cloud storage is not the same as a backup. It syncs files, sure, but if something bad happens (like a ransomware attack or a rogue employee wiping data), that sync can spread the problem instantly.
A real backup is stored separately, can’t be easily tampered with, and is monitored. For businesses, not having one is asking for disaster.
5. “Macs don’t get viruses.”
They do. And now more than ever.
Macs have historically had fewer viruses because fewer people used them. Now that more businesses are running Macs, they’ve become a bigger target. Malware, adware, and phishing attacks are just as real on macOS as they are on Windows.
The myth that “Macs are immune” is dangerous — and it leads to less caution, which is exactly what attackers want.
6. “It’s fine — we’ll just call IT when something breaks.”
Reactive IT costs more and causes downtime. Period.
Fixing stuff after it breaks is almost always more expensive, more disruptive, and more stressful than preventing issues in the first place.
Think oil changes vs. waiting for your engine to seize up. Same idea.
7. “My business is too small to be targeted by hackers.”
Hackers love small businesses — because they're easier targets.
Smaller businesses often have fewer security measures, less training, and no dedicated IT team. That makes them ideal victims for automated attacks, ransomware, and data theft.
You’re not too small. You’re just unprepared — and attackers count on that.
Bottom line?
Tech myths stick around because they feel kind of true… or they used to be true. But IT is one of the fastest-moving industries on the planet, and what worked five years ago might be a terrible idea now.
We're here to keep it real, keep it secure, and keep your systems running like they should. Got a myth you’ve heard (or believed yourself)? Send it our way — maybe it'll make it into Part 2.
