Would you like a more organized, hardened environment considering today’s threat landscape? What actions can you take to foster better outcomes for the district should you be audited? What should you do in the interim if you can’t get the funding you need to properly secure your district? The good news is there are […]

Your Technology “To-Do’s” for Summer ’21 – Recording Available

Weekly Tech Tidbit – When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight
“When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight” – FedEx As many of you know, Bob and I have been doing this for a while – 41 years in fact. And through all those years, every day is new and fun. Thanks for your support and friendship and trust through all those years.

Weekly Tech Tidbit – Risk and Compliance Part III – Making your email more reliable
Last time I talked about making email safer. I focused on inbound email to your users and outbound encrypted emails. However, I neglected to say that advanced spam filters also work outbound. That means that your end-users email and attachments will be scanned to protect against an inadvertent sending out of malicious content.

Weekly Tech Tidbit – Remote Risks and Compliance Part II – Secure and Reliable Communications
Last week I talked about the importance of Cloud Backup in our new remote teaching and learning and back-office school environments. This week I am going to talk about secure and reliable communications. The reality is that the number one threat to your network is your users clicking on attachments or web links that lead […]

Weekly Tech Tidbit – Secure Your Endpoints with Disk Encryption
Disk encryption is growing in popularity as a means of better-securing laptops and desktops. Microsoft is offering BitLocker natively in Windows 10. Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager has a built-in BitLocker Administration console. If you don’t have SCCM, then Microsoft offers the MBAM console to manage encryption.

Tech Tidbit – Closing Time. Protocols and Processes that have to go!
For the last few years Microsoft has been talking about “Modern” this or “Modern” that. In the quest for improved security they are agressively trying to move everyone to more modern protocols. The impending LDAPS changes are an example of this. However, there are more processes and protocols that they are urging you to retire.

Tech Tidbit – Solving the present building access issue – Co-Managed IT
Every day I am talking to a school district remotely and the conversation goes something like this, “We can’t get into our buildings” or “We have very limited access to our buildings”. One thing to keep in mind is that with our Paladin Sentinel Monitoring service we are monitoring your equipment 24x7x365. In addition, subscribing […]

Tech Tidbit – Your Battle – Deny Lateral Movement vs. Momentum
I constantly harp on denying the bad guys access to your network, and if they are inside already, denying lateral movement. At the last Tech Talk, I mentioned that I am watching many of the Paladin Sentinel Monitoring sites just RDP into all the servers with the true Domain Admin Administrator ID – just like […]

Weekly Tech Tidbit – Breaking up the band. It is time to better segment critical network functions
We have spent two decades linking all sorts of servers and processes to Active Directory for “ease of use”. Sadly ease of use now can also mean “ease of hacking”. Therefore, we must be much more critical of when integration is genuinely helpful (LDAP for instance), vs.

Cisco Pandemic Assistance for K-12 – Free Security Options For Your Endpoints
Cisco is trying to do their part during the Pandemic. If you are a Cisco AMP, Cisco DUO, Cisco Umbrella, or Cisco AnyConnect client, Cisco is allowing you to increase your license counts – without cost to the district – until July 1, 2020. This allows you to truly do the right thing for all […]