Resources

I am sitting at my desk doing what I love—training Acture/CSI’s next generation of engineers. I am teaching them about Active Directory theory and operations. I am demonstrating how the Active Directory Recycle Bin works. I created a test ID in AD – Steve McQueen.

Today is a flash drill exercise. The Superintendent just told you that a retiring employee went rogue on the last day of school and sent a defamatory email to the entire district email distribution list. The Superintendent and your district legal counsel are asking you these questions: Where did the email go? Did it leave […]

Acture/CSI has been going at a dizzying pace. I counted 16 online and in-person events for 2024, plus NYSCATE. Then you add all the Acture Solutions events. The Acture Solutions family has been busy providing you with the best technical information and best products to support you in maintaining a stable, secure, manageable network for […]

I am sticking you with real work for Spring Break. My list is very short. I need you to update, patch, and scan your servers and endpoints I need you to recalibrate all your APC UPSes. Remember to do it only on a nice calm day without weather or wind.

I have a chronic issue with people’s ability to close doors securely. The issue is at home, and it spans all ages. I am constantly finding sliding doors ajar or the front door not closed. As some of you know I rescue English Springer Spaniels – aka bird dogs.

Today is a flash drill exercise. The warm weather has arrived.  It is Thursday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend, and the district gave back an unused snow day, making it a four-day weekend. The weather forecast is ideal. Everyone is bugging out to enjoy themselves.

“Now, did you read the news today? They say the danger’s gone away. But I can see the fires still alight They’re burning into the night.” -Genesis, Land of Confusion As you continually upgrade your security posture and better protect your data from ransomware and data exfiltration, the bad guys keep devising innovative ways to […]

Do you know how many inactive accounts you have on your network? I know this can be a difficult number to determine sometimes. For most of you, Microsoft Active Directory is “the source of truth.” It syncs to Azure/Entra and/or Google Apps and elsewhere.

Today is a flash drill exercise. You are experiencing the blizzard of 2025. The Governor and County Executive have declared a state of emergency. The roads are closed. The snow keeps piling up. Your district data center is operational, and you have generator backup.

“And now for something completely different.” -Monty Python’s Flying Circus If you have been in the industry for a while, you have heard the warning, “Internet Explorer (IE) is dead. It is insecure. It has been retired. You must get off Internet Explorer and onto a more modern and secure browser.

“It Got Weird, Didn’t It?” -Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me I just attended the Huntress Security Event in NYC. It was at the Spy Museum on 8th Avenue (a cool place). I returned from that event to the office very afraid for all of us – myself included.

“This is the end, beautiful friend. This is the end.” -Jim Morrison of The Doors October 14, 2025, marks the end of the line for our tried-and-true, stable, and generally “good enough” Windows 10 OS. Windows 95, Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 10 have proven to be very stable OSes that we haven’t had […]

It seems like Cyber Attacks are happening everywhere these days. Whether it’s a national news report of an attack against a company that has your credit card information or local news reporting a school district like yours that’s been hit with a ransomware/data breach, these stories are plentiful.

LAPS is a powerful security tool built into Windows that you can use to secure local administrator accounts on your organization’s workstations and mitigate “pass-the-hash” attacks. In this hands-on webinar, Austin will talk about the theory behind LAPS and demonstrate live how to set it up from start to finish.

Acture/CSI is growing again.  We are looking for high-quality individuals to work with our service delivery team. Please search our Acture/CSI online job database for opportunities in our Albany and Fishkill offices.   Click here and add your resume to be considered for future employment:  Acture Solutions Career Center.

Please join us on Wednesday, March 8th, as Scott Quimby delivers a special update addressing the current K-12 cybersecurity challenges, NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) alignment as it relates to Ed Law 2-d, and NEW actions to improve your district’s security posture, help you with documentation, and measure your technology teams productivity.

It seems like Cyber Attacks are happening everywhere these days. Whether it’s a national news report of an attack against a company that has your credit card information or local news reporting a school district like yours that’s been hit with a ransomware/data breach, these stories are plentiful.

Join Cisco and CSI for a very special upcoming webinar. We will be joined by several specialists from Cisco (including Cisco Talos) who will discuss the dangers of spyware, deep links, content manipulation, malware, and keyloggers, and how to protect your school district from these threats.