December 18, 2018Protecting a business’ IT infrastructure and data can be difficult with the abundance of threats out there, the array of new data privacy regulations, and many cybersecurity solutions to choose from. Even today, far too many businesses still claim protection with just anti-virus and firewall, when these measures aren’t enough to keep up with advanced threats.
December 10, 2018The year 2018 saw ransomware families such as CryptoLocker and variants like Locky continue to plague organizations as cybersecurity adversaries morph their techniques to avoid detection. Several massive data breaches this year include Quora, Ticketmaster, and Facebook that exposed over 200 million records worldwide. As the year winds down, here’s what small and mid-sized organizations may experience in 2019 with an eye towards enhancing security.
December 04, 2018It’s that time of the year again! Family and office holiday parties are gearing up, business projects are racing toward year-end deadlines, and seemingly everyone is sharing their 2019 predictions for IT and cybersecurity. But what about the branch network?
November 14, 2018A refresh has come for distributed enterprises. In 2018, branch office WAN technology has been increasingly moving towards software defined networking for many reasons: agility, scalability, resiliency and, above all, cost-effectiveness.
October 17, 2018For cyber criminals, everyone’s a target. We must assume that, at some point, every organization’s IT infrastructure will be breached. That’s why we need to continuously monitor, investigate, and respond to cyber threats 24/365 if we are to avoid costly breaches.
October 05, 2018In simpler times, security technology approaches were clearly defined and primarily based on prevention with things like firewalls, anti-virus, web, and email gateways. There were relatively few available technology segments and a relatively clear distinction between buying security technology purchases and outsourcing engagements.
October 04, 2018Many IT leaders are excited about the benefits of SD-WAN such as cost reduction, agility/flexibility, ease of deployment, and the options to improve security. But as usual, SD-WAN as a MPLS killer is not cut-and-dry. If you’re wondering if SD-WAN is right for your IT environment, hopefully we can help you out.
October 03, 2018A hot trend in the Managed Service Provider (MSP) space is emerging, transforming from an MSP to a Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP). Typically, MSPs act as an IT administrator, however, the rapid rise of cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is reducing margins for MSPs.
September 17, 2018Advances in data analytics and increased connectivity have merged to create a powerful platform for change. Today, people, objects, and connections are producing data at unprecedented rates. According to DOMO, 90% of all data today was created in the last two years with a whopping 2.5 quintillion bytes of data being produced per day.
September 11, 2018When it comes to selling security, one of the major challenges faced by managed services providers (MSPs) is changing the mind set of small- and medium-sized business (SMB) owners. With massive breaches hogging news headlines today, security is hard to ignore.
September 04, 2018Breaches continue to be reported at a dizzying pace. In 2018 alone, a diverse range of companies — including Best Buy, Delta, Orbitz, Panera, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Sears — have been victimized. These are not small companies, nor did they have small IT budgets. So, what’s the problem?
August 31, 2018Implement a Central Collection System Microsoft has made some considerable changes to event management in Windows Vista. But are these changes enough to help you control your entire infrastructure?
August 31, 2018There are five different ways you can log on in Windows called “logon types.” The Windows Security Log lists the logon type in event ID 4624 whenever you log on.
August 31, 2018With data breaches and Snowden-like information grabs, I’m getting increased requests for how to track data moving to and from removable storage, such as flash drives. The good news is that the Windows Security Log does offer a way to audit removable storage access.
August 22, 2018DNS is an attractive mechanism for performing malicious activities like network reconnaissance, malware downloads, or communication with their command and control servers, or data transfers out of a network. Consequently, it is critical that DNS traffic be monitored for threat protection.
August 06, 2018Now that advanced cybersecurity protections are a must-have in today’s landscape, organizations of all sizes are increasingly seeking out and leaning on a trusted security partner to manage their security services. A recent study released by Forrester revealed that 57 percent of companies are seeking outside help for IT systems monitoring and 45 percent are outsourcing threat detection and intelligence.
July 26, 2018The cost of network downtime or failing internet connectivity has never been higher due to incidents resulting in million-dollar losses of business revenue and employee productivity. Both small and large enterprises are increasingly relying on business-critical applications deployed in the cloud. Here are some of the key factors to consider when selecting a failover solution.
July 26, 2018Microsoft 365 is immensely popular across all industry verticals in the small-to-medium-sized business (SMB) space. It is often the killer app for a business and contains valuable, critical information about the business. Accordingly, Microsoft 365 resiliency and defense are top concerns on IT leader’s minds.
June 28, 2018There’s an old saying: Their bark is worse than their bite. However, this is not the case with the penalties of non-compliance when it comes to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). With the enforcement date of the GDPR having passed on May 25, 2018, any company not in compliance could be in for a very nasty shock.
June 26, 2018It continues to be challenging being a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) today – and this year promises no rest. As high-profile data breaches escalate, CISOs, CIOs, and other information security professionals believe their organizations are more likely than ever to fall victim to a data breach or cyber attack.
June 12, 2018What's the cost of securing your network from a cyber attack? According to Precision Analytics and The CAP Group, many companies are now spending less than 0.2 percent of their revenue on cybersecurity, at least one-third less than financial institutions. If that's you then you may have a cyber blind spot.
June 06, 2018To streamline operations, improve service and remain competitive, hotels use computers to handle numerous tasks. While automation facilitates hotel operations and often makes a better stay for guests, it also opens hotels to digital threats perpetrated by malicious actors.
May 29, 2018The technological revolution has introduced a plethora of advanced solutions to help identify and stop intrusions. There is no shortage of hype, innovation, and emerging trends in today's security markets. However, data leaks and breaches persist.
May 14, 2018The cybersecurity threat landscape is in constant motion – ever evolving. According to Kaspersky Labs, 323,000 new malware strains are discovered daily! Clearly, this rate of increased risk to a company’s assets and business continuity warrants a smart investment in cybersecurity.
May 10, 2018The FBI estimates that more than 4,000 ransomware attacks have occurred daily since the beginning of 2016. That’s a 300% increase from the previous year. This is due in part to the thriving sector of “ransomware-as-a-service.”
April 26, 2018Can you simply buy a “SIEM solution”? Turns out you really cannot, no matter how hard you try nor how passionately the vendor promises. What you can buy at the store is a SIEM tool, which is a completely different thing. SIEM tools are products, while implementing a security or compliance solution involves people, process, and technology. SIEM tools are a critical part of SIEM, but they’re not the whole solution.
April 25, 2018Security is an ever-escalating arms race. The good guys have gotten better about monitoring the file system for artifacts of advanced threat actors.
April 25, 2018One of the key benefits for most businesses deploying SD-WAN is the reduction in WAN costs by up to 80 percent. Continuity and resilience are also critical to businesses in today's growing cyber-threatened world. SD-WAN solutions offer multi-link support, so 4G LTE is an obvious choice for failover connectivity.
April 12, 2018The argument is an old one; are you better off with a network-based detector, assuming all hosts will eventually communicate, or should you look at each host to determine what they are up to?
April 04, 2018More and more businesses are adopting 4G LTE either to set up a backup network connection or to gain internet access when other means, such as Cable and DSL, are not available. The trend is seen easily when searching for "4G LTE router" online. You will...
March 29, 2018It doesn't rhyme and it's not what Whittier said but it's true. If you don't log it when it happens, the evidence is gone forever.
March 29, 2018As I reflect on this year, a Shakespearean quote plays out in my mind – when King Henry the Fifth is rallying his troops to attack a breach, or gap, in the wall of a city, “Once more unto the breach, dear friends”...
March 15, 2018The Cisco Annual Cybersecurity Report provides insights based on threat intelligence gathered by Cisco's security experts, combined with input from nearly 3,000 Chief Security Officers (CSOs), and other security operations leaders from businesses in 13 countries.
March 13, 2018SD-WAN is transforming enterprise networks with affordable network infrastructure by offering low-cost, reliable network connectivity, while dramatically reducing operational expenses. Smaller retail stores are adopting omni-channel strategies to offer better shopping experiences through mobile connectivity to shoppers at the stores.
March 01, 2018In 2005, the Department of Homeland Security commissioned Livermore National Labs to produce a kind of pre-emptive post-mortem report.
February 20, 2018Are you compliant with PCI DSS Version 3.2? Restaurants, retailers, hotels, doctors' and lawyers' offices, and many more, all need to watch for PCI DSS updates to remain compliant.
February 15, 2018Does this sound familiar? You have no control of your environment and most of your efforts are diverted into understanding what happened, containing the damage, and remediating the issue.
January 26, 2018The cybersecurity market is loaded with ambiguous buzzwords and competing acronyms that make it very difficult to clearly distinguish one infosecurity capability from another. If your efforts to understand what cybersecurity components you need to focus on have left you frustrated, you're not alone. Let’s cut to the chase and separate fact from fiction regarding cybersecurity’s biggest buzzwords.
January 18, 2018Imagine dealing with a silent, but mentally grating barrage of security alerts every day. The security analyst’s dilemma?