Client: “Hey – how did you know we have [a certain piece of equipment] in our network? We haven’t talked about that yet.”
Me: “Uh, you’re paying me to map your network and document it. It’s my job to find everything.”

#callmeifyouneedme #fifonetworks

#cybersecurity #informationtechnology #infrastructure

Common small business email problems, and how to avoid them… A couple of small business clients have recently had issues with receiving emails that affected their ability to bid on quotes, etc.

Here are some problems and solutions. (LinkedIn post)

#callmeifyouneedme #fifonetworks
#cybersecurity #email #entrepreneurship

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fifonetworks_callmeifyouneedme-fifonetworks-cybersecurity-activity-7178766886027866112-VO4v

Data sync and data backup: they’re not the same, and one may not be of any use after a ransomware attack. Here’s what you need to know, and how to avoid data loss.

https://fifonetworks.com/resources/backup_and_sync_explained.pdf

#callmeifyouneedme #fifonetworks

#cybersecurity #ransomware #informationsecurity #networkarchitecture

Global outages are caused by global centralization. This is the wrong architecture. It's dangerous.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/15/mcdonalds-suffers-global-tech-outage-forcing-some-restaurants-to-halt-operations.html

#callmeifyouneedme #fifonetworks

#networkarchitecture #cybersecurity

Android OS needs a built-in software firewall, user configurable, so you can selectively block URLs.
#cybersecurity

I probably shouldn't admit this, but a big part of my job is knowing what to Google.

#callmeifyouneedme #fifonetworks

#cybersecurity #informationtechnology

Scenario: an authoritarian government seizes control of all the Microsoft passwordless authentication servers in their country and turns them off. Authentication servers outside the country are blocked. The entire citizenry, including businesses, loses access to online banking and financial processing.
Discuss.

#cybersecurity #passwordless #authentication #centralization

Be especially alert for gift card scams in the post-holiday season.

#cybersecurity #fifonetworks

Cleared security at Seattle International Airport (SEA). Headed to Atlanta, getting a rental car, and driving to Augusta. I'll be spending the week at a nuclear power plant (Plant Vogtle), working with the network engineers to give them new skills. I love what I do. People pay me money to have fun!

#callmeifyouneedme #fifonetworks
#cybersecurity #networkengineering

When A Loved One Dies – Data and Account Recovery
“My brother died. I’m calling you to get into his computer for me. He had a lot of money invested in the stock market, and we can’t find his will. We’re hoping there are clues on the computer.”

https://fifonetworks.com/when-a-loved-one-dies-data-and-account-recovery/

#callmeifyouneedme #fifonetworks

#cybersecurity #datarecovery #accountrecovery

Things that make me happy: today I received a purchase order from a large client in a heavily regulated industry. It’s eight pages long. No, that’s not the part that makes me happy. The part that makes me happy is that an entire half page of the PO is for cybersecurity requirements. It’s nice to see companies take cybersecurity seriously enough that they’re monitoring their vendors for compliance.
#cybersecurity

Before installing a mobile app, do you ever take a moment to read the disclosure statement about the types of data collected? Here's one.

Notice that your biometric data is being collected. And no, you still can't change your fingerprint.

#cybersecurity #privacy #mobileapps #data #marketing

If your only security camera recordings are stored in the cloud, you need a new cybersecurity consultant.

And...

If your security camera system doesn't provide a way to keep a real-time local copy of everything the cameras record, you need a new security camera system.

#callmeifyouneedme #fifonetworks

#cybersecurity #security

Google's new Chromebook ad: "There has never been a ransomware attack on a Chromebook." Okayyyy, that's...
true...
BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT .....
There is so much context missing from that ad.

#Google #cybersecurity #ransomware

I finished reading Sun Tzu's Art of War (again). It's popular in the cybersecurity community because there are some good analogies to be made relating to our war on cybercriminals. Be that as it may, I can't help but observe that Sun Tzu was a ruthless son of a bitch and I don't want to be like him.
#SunTzu #artofwar #cybersecurity

Yes, obscurity, camouflage, and hidden-ness really are respectable security tools.

Ask any spy.
Ask any cybercriminal.
Ask Sun Tsu.

#cybersecurity

Not a single open network in this apartment complex. A few years ago Wi-Fi routers shipped with an open network configured by default. I remember visiting my son in his apartment and being able to connect to any one of three open networks with good signal strength in his living room. Today, all Wi-Fi routers and APs are pre-configured with an authentication key.

#wifi #cybersecurity #network #router

Patch all the things.

"The breach occurred when a cybercriminal managed to exploit a known vulnerability in HPMB’s Microsoft Exchange email server. Although Microsoft had issued patches for this specific vulnerability months earlier, HPMB did not apply them in a timely manner."

#callmeifyouneedme #fifonetworks
#cybersecurity

I've been working on SonicWall firewalls for about 14 years now, and I still look up the SonicWall Knowledge Base article to follow the steps for whatever it is I'm doing.

I don't work on them every day. It's not like I have a national retail network with hundreds of firewalls (did that with Meraki, and didn't touch them every day, either). Because I don't work on them every day, I  wish the SonicWall configuration was a little more intuitive.

#sonicwall #firewall #cybersecurity #netadmin

I just registered for the Seattle Bsides Security Conference on May 20 at the Microsoft Campus in Redmond, Building 92. If you're going to be there, let me know, and we can connect IRL.
https://www.bsidesseattle.com/

#BsidesSeattle #cybersecurity #conference #Seattle