MSP 1337 | Cybersecurity Education & Security Guidance

Policies are a hot topic as insurance companies ask to see them, clients of clients ask to see them and even our peers are asking to see what policies we might have in place.  Join me this week as I sit down with Joe Ambrosole of Net Connect as we discuss the importance of having policies and how to overcome some of the biggest obstacles as we work through them to get employees' and even clients' buy-in. A big thanks to our sponsor PC Matic, Endpoint Security built on a zero-trust/default deny philosophy, allowing only trusted sources and blocking all the rest. Lightweight, simple to deploy, easy to manage & compatible with all major antivirus products.  Find out more about PC Matic by visiting PCMatic.com/msp/.

Sitting down with Marcus J. Ranum, Author of "The Myth of Homeland Security" and credited with a number of innovations in firewalls and intrusion detection systems, as well as being a co-founder at Tenable.  We take a look at some of his predictions that date back to 2004 and earlier.  We also look at Cybersecurity through the lens of reliable systems.  If the system can be relied on then one would argue that it is probably secure.  Ultimately it comes down to a properly motivated Systems Administrator who is focused on solving root problems and not just adding another layer of proverbial Duct tape. A big thanks to our sponsor PC Matic, Endpoint Security built on a zero-trust/default deny philosophy, allowing only trusted sources and blocking all the rest. Lightweight, simple to deploy, easy to manage & compatible with all major antivirus products.  Find out more about PC Matic by visiting PCMatic.com/msp/.

Whether you are required to adhere to regulatory compliance or have voluntarily picked a framework to map your cybersecurity strategy and you inevitably come to crossroads with a vulnerability assessment or a penetration test. Join me this week as I sit down with Kenneth May of Swift Chip Inc. as we dissect when it is appropriate to go beyond a vulnerability assessment.  The repercussions of a penetration test when a policy or guideline is not in place.  If you are wondering about vulnerability assessments and penetration tests and how to determine when you should execute one or both then this episode is for you. 

LinkedIn as a social networking platform is an extremely powerful tool.  I was given some advice recently, by Corey Munson of PC Matic that I should connect with ProCircular.  I followed Corey's advice and randomly selected an employee to connect with.  I managed to connect with the founder Aaron Warner and it was a podcast at first chat.  We discuss in this episode everything from the Microsoft Exchange hack to Mass spectrometers.  You don't want to miss this episode as we highlight several key opportunities for MSPs that don't require financial investments to make a reality.  Thanks again to our sponsor Pinpoint Solutions, LLC, and our partner MSP-Ignite for making this happen.  

In this week's episode, I sit down with Stel Valavanis of onShore Security to discuss Cybersecurity tools and solutions from the perspective of an MSP.  Stel brings a lot of insight as he has been an MSP who focused on the SMB and now an MSSP focused on the Mid-market and enterprise.  We take a look at the challenges and potential opportunities in the SMB space, we find that there is still hope, as it is not all doom and gloom. While we don't have all the answers to bring the SMB into the fold we do find some areas that an MSP can put some energy into and see results.  

One MSP’s journey and transformation into an MSSP or as I like to call it MSsP. Join me as I sit down with Chad Lauderbach of Be Structured Technology Group and hear first hand what it takes.

We have talked about compliance and frameworks. We have talked about products and services and the gaps they fill to improve our security posture. We have even spent time mapping those products and services to the controls they satisfy but, have we defined the why (knowing the risks) which is where it all needs to start. Join me as I sit down with James Bowers of Input Output as we talk through the why.

For the first time in the MSP 1337 podcast series, I get to sit down with a friend and colleague from across the pond.  An opportunity not to be missed as I sit down with Ian Trump-Thorpe to discuss the Great America Recovery.  2020 Was awful for many of us and as we roll into spring 2021 there is a definite opportunity to rebuild our infrastructure.  Join Ian and me as we take a look at the past, present, and future of cybersecurity and how it impacts the MSP.  Thanks to our sponsor vCIOToolbox.com for making this episode possible.

MSPs have always provided to their clients' products and services that fall into the domains of Detection and Protection as well as Identification.  That said, there are two categories in the NIST domain that have often been given little to no attention... Respond and Recover.  Join me this week with Steve Alexander of MSP Ignite to discuss the finer points of Response and Recover. 

The past decade and beyond the MSP has always been about managing the technology infrastructure of their clients.  As the evolution of an MSP has gone from a business model that was largely break-fix has become over time a per-user model.  Our products and services have largely been tied to enabling our clients to do what they do best.  In more recent years it has become increasingly tied to adding protective layers for our client's employees through products and services ranging from VPNs and 2FA all the way out to policies and procedures. What used to be about protecting the employees from themselves, from bad hardware, bad software, etc. Is now about monitoring what they do, where they go, when they do it, and yes how.  Join me this week with Jim Lippie of SaaS Alerts as we look at the past to better understand the future of MSPs providing security services to their clients.