Azure brings a lot of new tools and capabilities to the IT and Information Security toolbox. In fact, there are so many features that it can be overwhelming and difficult to understand when or how to use them. I believe that the revamp of Desired State Configuration (DSC) within Azure is one of these overlooked…
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Remote workers are set up, but endpoint management is still an issue Setting up a remote workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic presented a huge challenge, especially trying to get so much done in such a short time frame. While getting extra Zoom licenses was likely pretty easy, there are more challenging issues surrounding remote sharing…
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An organization’s overall security posture can be viewed from multiple different angles, such as technical assessments, program assessments, controls assessments, and risk assessments. A number of different frameworks for each of these assessment types exist, intended to help both technical teams as well as leadership organize security program building activities. Some of these include: Penetration…
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Logging, monitoring, and alerting programs are some of the most critical elements of any security and compliance program, but traditional approaches for implementing and upgrading these capabilities are often noisy, expensive, and laborious. Traditional Alerting Approaches are Failing During program assessments, we find that a lot of clients are generating so many alerts that they…
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Deploying a remote workforce is uncharted territory for some organizations, while others have been perfecting the model for years. Most security programs have different ways to handle their workforce. For on-premise users, which has traditionally used more of castle mentality where you attempt to prevent outsiders from penetrating the network perimeter (similar to a castle…
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People who know me well, or who saw the Derbycon 6 talk I gave with Adam Hogan, “Adaptation of the Security Sub-Culture,” know of my non-InfoSec hobby and history of playing in loud bands that recorded and toured across the U.S. and Canada, mostly in the 90s. It was music in the 80s that had…
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Why Does Strategy Matter? The term ‘security strategy’ can be ambiguous and often means different things to different people. Because of this, many organizations do not have a formalized security strategy and those that do may not have an effective one. This is understandable. Managing the day-to-day issues associated with a security program (alerts, audits,…
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Passing with 24 yeas and 8 nays, effective as of November 2, 2018, Ohio Senate Bill 220 was touted as a way to use the ‘carrot approach’ for organizations to increase cybersecurity. This incentive was to encourage the shielding of data breach liability for organizations in certain situations. Excerpts from the bill are provided below….
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Recently, Gartner put out a report on the top 10 inquiries regarding security projects. The report is based on their analysis of over 10,200 client interactions covering relevant security and risk management topics from July 2018 through January 2019 (see the research here). Interestingly enough, Trustedsec has heard similar inquiries regarding product offerings in discussions…
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When it goes well, explaining security concepts to coworkers, friends, and family is one of the best parts of being in the security industry. It helps others make more risk-aware decisions, reduces ‘inarticulate tech geek’ stereotypes, and enhances soft-skills. Unfortunately, explanations do not always go well. Audiences need to be in the right state of…
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