I was recently reading a security study that said that 25% of applications are unpatched for an entire year!  As you approach the summer remember that you need to patch not only the operating system but also all your applications. Many of our biggest threats are application based: Adobe Flash Oracle Java Adobe Reader (PDFs) […]

Now that we have shifted to predominantly remote workers and remote teaching and learning, we have a number of new challenges as well as increased threats. Challenge #1 – Remote File Access.   The solution is moving files from traditional home directories and traditional common drives to cloud-based shared folders and home directories.

One of the most important principles of a good network design is accurate time.   Windows time is a whole lot like the 1960s car clock – always drifting away from true time.  However, very weird things start to happen if time on your network and servers and workstations is left to fend for itself.

This tidbit is part two in a series on understanding some mechanisms available to you for protecting e-mail sent from your domain. We covered this topic in last month’s Tech Talk / SYSOP meetings but for all those that missed them or those that want a refresher, I am covering this again here in this […]

We are so focused on our networks being breached and the bad guys gaining a foothold to steal our money and personally identifiable information that we often forget is that we as techs can make mistakes and inadvertently give away access to sensitive/confidential parts of the network.

Bob and I have discussed over and over the need for improved public wireless configuration.   Some of you have gotten the message.  Sadly many have not.  As we approach the summer, let’s get this fixed once and for all. Here are a few design changes many of you need to implement: If your endpoints in […]

The reality is that your network is under attack.  We need to protect our servers.  We need to protect our data.  One way we do that is by not remoting into servers to do basic tasks.   Almost everything we need to do, we can now do remotely.   Also, we can do many tasks with a […]

Do you know how secure you are from the outside world?  Maybe you’re new and inherited a network, or there has been so much churn over the years with servers being added and retired and software previously available in-house now being hosted?   Maybe you have just lost track of patching? Regardless of the reason, a […]

Another short and sweet tidbit. When you are installing software, updates, patches, etc., reboot your server.   I can’t tell you the number of times that my “updates” fail because there is a “pending restart” from a previous update. If your update fails after the reboot, it is the update that is the issue.

I have been watching the Cisco AMP and Paladin CyberSentinel Managed Endpoint Detect & Respond consoles for a number of clients of late.  One thing is extremely apparent. Your administrators are under constant attack from emails with fake invoices, as well as Microsoft Word and Excel documents – all of which are infected.