MSP 1337 | Cybersecurity Education & Security Guidance

Whether it is a small municipality, a school district, or even your local fire department, there is always a need for 3rd party resources.  I sit down with Corey Munson of PCMatic to talk specifically about how MSPs can provide a huge benefit to small government entities.  We aren't talking about addressing the basic print or internet connectivity issues but more about the challenges we all face in cybersecurity.  Whether it is the mayor of a small town in rural Iowa or the one computer at city hall, we all need our devices maintained.  There are a lot of great resources referenced in this episode and whether you focus on local government or not they are still relevant to your business. Thanks to MSP-Ignite for making this episode possible.

Last week was CompTIA's Communities and Councils Forums and I thought who better to bring on to the podcast than Wayne Selk the new VP of CompTIA's ISAO.  Join us as we break down the differences between ISACs and ISAOs and how MSPs can take advantage of what these different entities have to offer as we navigate cybersecurity.

I sit down with Stelios Valivonis of onShore Security to  talk about cybersecurity and the need for dedicated leadership.  People, Process, and Procedures are critical to any organizations quest to improve their cybersecurity posture.  Stel and I step through some scenarios that we have seen together and some ideas on how to succeed with client resistance to change.  

There is no shortage of questions coming from Cyber Insurance providers that put an MSP in a difficult position to answer the questions truthfully and the intent of the questions.  In this episode, I sit down with Aaron Frazier of American Technology Specialists to discuss how to approach this complex topic with clients and prospects to help satisfy specific questions through enabling technologies—as always, talking to Aaron with ATS is enlightening.

Cyber insurance questionnaires are a dime a dozen these days, yet our ability to correctly answer the questions can still be daunting.  A Yes/No question doesn't have a Yes/No Answer.  You want to answer truthfully, and you also want to ensure that you get the coverage you need.  Join me as I sit down with Jim Harryman of Kinetic Group to find some approaches to answering these questions that are both truthful and at the heart of the question's intent...

Over the years the role of an Account manager has evolved and taken on many different names (vcio, BSM, vCTO etc.). Today I sit down with Mike Stewart of Anchor Networks to discuss how much this role has changed.  Cybersecurity plays a big role in planning and identifying gaps within a prospect or existing client that it can be a daunting endeavor.  Join us as we provide some guidance for any vCIO to be successful in discussing cybersecurity with prospective and existing clients.

We all no there is no magic bullet when it comes to cybersecurity but that doesn't mean it has to be complicated either.  I sit down with Eric Hanson of Inland Productivity Solutions to talk about Incident Management, Incident Response and many more plans, policies and programs that are often reduced to acronyms that get very confusing.  One of the key things we talk about is getting to the root of the questions our clients, insurance companies and our client's clients are asking before we try to give them an answer.   I try not to pick favorite episodes but this topic was definitely top 10.

Each week we focus on cybersecurity and there is no shortage of topics.  This week I sat down with Nelson Gomes of Medicus IT to discuss HIPAA compliance and Mergers and Acquisitions.  As we onboard new clients or deal with clients who are going through M&A then you will definitely want to tune in.  We talk about the need for Security Risk Assessments (SRA) and the risks associated with ingesting a new client.

Over the past few weeks, Governance, Business Basics, and Vendor Sprawl have had one standard and constant theme... We all feel like we are drinking from a firehose. We all know we need to focus on governance, risk, and compliance, but we all suffer paralysis analysis. Chad Holstead of BKS and I had a great discussion about getting started with cybersecurity governance. We are all drinking from the firehose; as our conversation progresses, we quickly conclude that we are better together than alone!

We have all implemented tools with the intent to solve or address all kinds of different challenges. After they have been implemented, are they working as expected? I sit down with Brian Weiss of ITECH Solutions to talk about just that. We covered a lot of ground regarding getting tools dialed in and where they need SOC services, and additional layers of security might require 3rd party resources. We also uncovered that not all clients make sense to onboard with today's threat landscape. Surprise..., but what about a client you discover isn't willing to change or has become a risk to your business or your other clients? What about when your client onboards a client of their own that introduces new risks?