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October is all about Cybersecurity

You may have seen an uplift on social media regarding playing you part in Cybersecurity – mainly because October is the month of Cybersecurity Awareness both in Europe and Beyond.  One of our partners – Security Scorecard are heavily involved in this year’s awareness with their tips of the day, so as we are based in Europe, I thought I would look at how the ENISA – European Union Agency for Cybersecurity are covering this topic this year.

The European Cybersecurity Month (ECSM) is the EU’s annual campaign dedicated to promoting cybersecurity among citizens and organisations, and to providing up-to-date online security information through awareness raising and sharing of good practices. Their moto this year is: – THINK BEFORE U CLICK  #ThinkB4UClick covering two themes to help people identify and be prepared for cyber threats.

The first theme is on ´Cyber Scams´ providing insights on the current and potential cyber threats.  I find this topic very interesting as these scams try and trick you into clicking on links, for example, Paypal and Netflix scams for more immediate responses to account issues trying to trick you on your mobile phone – not necessarily your tablet/laptop/pc.  These threats are so clever and can compromise business email, cause on-line shopping fraud (watch out for false Amazon ones as they seem quite prevalent at the moment) and Phishing.  Here is a link to the page for more information on how to protect from Phishing – well worth a read.  https://www.enisa.europa.eu/news/enisa-news/understanding-and-dealing-with-phishing-during-the-covid-19-pandemic

The second theme is on ´Digital Skills´ dealing with e-privacy, personal data protection, cyber bullying and cyber stalking – this is fantastic news for all demographics as more and more of us become dependent on our devices for so much, the young need education on how to handle to faceless world of on-line bullying and to be fair our silver surfers need to understand the importance of protecting their personal data as they tend to do a lot more on-line shopping these days.  My mum should be invited to the Amazon Christmas Party as a VIP guest – like many other mums out there I am sure 😊

I think this is definitely a site we should read from time to time – lots of helpful tools and quizzes to keep you on your toes.  Check it out at: https://cybersecuritymonth.eu/

Defining and Managing Access in the Enterprise Network

Gone are the days of being in the same job for 20+ years, I certainly have moved about a lot and for the majority of my generation and those after, the average time spent within a role is between 2-3 years.  At this point, they may be promoted, move to another department, leave for another company or a competitor even and this is when it is time to check and confirm relevant access and privileges.   Smaller companies can easily monitor this and therefore can revoke or create accesses to relevant tools/applications – but in large corporate and global environments, this requires a higher level of monitoring and scrutiny continuously. 

CSOs, CIOs and IT Managers alike use different technologies within their enterprise networks to control user access, but with all the changes to our working lives, particularly in 2020 with remote workers, project-based workers, temporary/short-term contract workers – do the security divisions really have their finger on the pulse or is there a way to make this more efficient, more secure and quite frankly easier to monitor. 

IAM – Identity Access Management tools are critical offering an important layer of security to enhance the productivity in business today.  If you take into account different regulations set out by, for example; GDPR. General Data Protection Regulation or other government compliances within industries, such as Healthcare, Banking & Construction, having a robust IAM product will ensure you do not end up with a risk to the corporate environment.

Large vendors such as IBM, Microsoft & Oracle with IBM Security Identity & Access Assurance, Microsoft Azure Active Directory & Oracle Identity Cloud Service, but there are many in this landscape with offerings of IAM.  Yes, it is absolutely important to embrace the big 3 – but with the move to project and contract-based workers, it is vital to ensure the right access is given to your workforce, contractors and partners and it is time to look at complimentary solutions to support your teams.  Given that IT departments have less people today, IAM systems can manage users in different computing environments using automation within real-time.  The days are gone of manual adjustments for hundreds of thousands of users – it is just utterly frustrating for all and not feasible.  

So, it is time for HR, IT and other departments to come together and all be involved in IAM – this is where a focused IAM provider like IDAX compliments the modern demands of all business areas.  Come chat with us today to find out more!

(IOT) Internet of Things – Terminology and IT Lingo

A little blog from Kelly

Trude asked me to write the blog this week and as I am on a learning curve at the moment, connecting the pieces of the puzzle together in the wonderful world of IT lingo/chatter I hear in conversations with our clients.

There is no getting away from it, since I first started in IT (information Technology), the abbreviations created with the advancement of technologies was constant, relentless and an everyday occurrence.  Having been out of the IT sector for a few years, coming back in there are so many new ones and boy do I need to play catchup.  It always reminds me of a sketch in the film Good Morning Vietnam, when Adrian Croanauer (The Unforgettable Robin Williams) was addressing his superior – “Excuse me, sir. Seeing as how the VP is such a VIP, shouldn’t we keep the PC on the QT? ‘Cause if it leaks to the VC, he could end up MIA, and then we’d all be put on KP” 

So, just for fun – 5 new ones to me, but maybe old ones to you – just humour me 😊

aaS – as a Service – I was familiar with a few of these, SaaS – Security/Software as a Service, NaaS – Network as a Service, but OMG with the advancements in all things cloud, there is no end XaaS (Anything as a Service).

BI – Business Intelligence – Software/Tools that businesses use to analyse raw data, such as data mining/reporting. 

EDR – Endpoint Detection & Response – These are solutions to extend the functionality providing endpoint visibility/analysis in conjunction with IDPs or firewalls.

IDP – Intrusion Detection & Prevention – Oh the analysis of the network traffic for patterns/signatures that match known cyberattacks – the scary stuff!

IOT – Internet of Things – Apparently, this was not officially named until 1999 and by 2013 had evolved simply to be: – any device with an on/off switch connected to the internet.  Oh, and there is an IOTaaS option too. 

The myriad of new roles and opportunities that have sprung up within the technical world is another scenario I have to get my head around.  No longer is it the IT Manager, IT Support etc. etc. it is all CSO, CISO, CTO, CISM, CISSP – but I will get there!

There’s Nothing as Consistent as Change – So very true in this amazing technical world!

Working from Home – Remote Working is it the Right Choice Moving Forward?

One of the main business talking points this Autumn is the impact on office workers who are successfully working from home.  I find this subject fascinating as having worked from home for many years, it does not really impact me, but interestingly some of my peers who have the daily commute to an office, work side by side in large office floors, socialising/lunches and face to face meetings have adjusted really well and embraced the working from home situation.  Each person is different and some cannot wait to get back to the office – but a great many now like working from home and would definitely prefer this with only a visit to the office a couple of times a week.

I am not an economist by any stretch, but is this really going to be the right thing for our new working lives?  If employers and employees implement this, there will be savings to be made:  large office spaces – not required as people can desk hop, less traffic on public and private transport,  better life/work balance, BYOD – Bring your Own Device – people tend to use their own technology so saving on hardware/software.  Fantastic!  Okay, consider the impact on the other side of the argument – less office spaces to be maintained – less employees in maintenance, so job losses, transport cuts as lower level of traffic, lunchtime trade – cafes/restaurants lose valuable daytime trade and for me, being in the cyber security marketplace, the risk of BYOD and home-working on the corporate network is a major issue. 

Speaking with our clients and partners, this is certainly putting the pressure on the Cyber Security Teams, Human Resources and Data Centre Managers.  There is a need to ramp up the security efforts at device level and to monitor end-users for unexpected changes in their working arrangements.  We are all savvy nowadays and use anti-virus/malware monitoring software, VPNs on our home devices, but now the IT security teams need to know much more about our home networks – oh interesting times ahead!

Onwards and Upwards

Beaches of Tarifa and the Amazing World of Kite Surfing – Photo from my buddy Kelly in Spain

Well, here we are in September 2020 – not the 2020 we were all expecting was it? Summer is now over and surreal as it has been, we need to adapt, innovate and move forward to the next chapter in our new working and living environments. Over the summer months, I have decided to take the next step and officially launch my brand – uUnify Ltd.

Since the latter part of last year, uUnify has been assisting the global market leader Panduit and it´s Gold Partner INS Group with some infrastructure projects and all involved have been very pleased with the results.

This has given me the kick up the butt to realise with the right support and encouragement, I can run my own business. Knowing where I needed help was the first step and I am really pleased to be able to share my dreams and aspirations with my friends and family, who have helped me get to this point. As Delboy says, “the worlds’ your lobster” (Joke probably lost on non- Only Fools and Horses watchers).

So, to go all business-like for a few moments, as well as the great Infrastructure Partners, I am really excited to be working with some “best of breed” companies in the Cyber Security marketplace to offer products with a focus on the biggest issues with our modern working environments.

My uUnify News page will be a place for my team to share their ideas, what we are learning, maybe an odd holiday snapshot if they feel the urge, but the main aspect of this is to start conversations. Conversations that will help make life/work that little bit easier – even if it is only for a coffee break read now and then. Or better still, call me as I am always up for a chat and giggles,

Here is to you all keeping safe and healthy. Keep smiling!