Secure Connections: Recent Episodes
IoTSSA (Internet of Things Security Services Association)
Ryan Morris, IT Channel Veteran, catches up with todays cybersecurity experts to discuss all things cybersecurity. The current threat landscape, the newest bleeding edge tools and communicating their importance to the SMB.
With the launch of Bing’s new AI and the release of ChatGPT 4, the technology paradigm shift is gaining even more speed. Julian talks with VP of cybersecurity at Trend Micro, Greg Young about securing environments in todays landscape.
Julian catches up with Andy Syrewicze, Technical Evangelist at Hornet Security to talk AI threats today and how you can also use this to secure your environments. With the rapidly evolving bad actors its critical, we don’t rest on our laurels and adapt even faster.
Julian sits down with Pinpoint Search Group, Managing Partner, Mark Sasson to discuss industry trends and what we have been seeing with recent layoffs in technology. The mindset and objectives of companies coming out of the pandemic and in some cases reversing course on directions taken over the past three years. What are growing start ups doing to develop their company cultures to attract candidates and always be recruiting top talent in all areas of the business.
The launch of ChatGPT and other AI platforms coming online has moved us truly into the Wild West of cybersecurity. Julian has a very sobering conversation with Patrick Harr, CEO at SlashNext about bad actors are turning these tools against us. Patrick explains that we need AI to combat and secure against these rapidly advancing AI threats.
In case you missed it, back in December Julian sat down with Jay McBain, Chief Analyst with Canalys to discuss the tectonic shift that has begun in the IT industry. With talk of a recession on the horizon in 2023, how will this affect IT Service Providers? Will technology pull us through like it did in 2008? Jay tells us, opportunities are abound in 2023 and he looks forward to many success stories in the coming year!
Join us in Phoenix February 16 & 17 to learn how you can get ahead of the shift and drive business success in 2023 and beyond! Reserve your spot today as space is limited!
For the original post on E-Channel News and summary from Julian visit Here
As 2022 comes to a close, Julian has a sobering ‘State of the Nation’ chat with Matt Lee, Senior Director of Security and Compliance with Pax8. We’ve come a long way which Matt describes as a cybersecurity renaissance; however we have a long way to go. What’s ahead for 2023 and where do we, as an industry need to focus in order to succeed?
Julian is joined by Technology Leader and IT Channel Veteran, Juan Fernandez, Co-Founder and CEO at MSP Growth Coalition and Channel Chief at HacWare. Juan gives us his three keys to success in evolving your IT Services business in today’s crazy cybersecurity landscape. Some great stories and examples from when he built his MSP business and made the shift to MSSP.
You can catch up with Juan at our upcoming Cybersecurity Expo in Phoenix, February 16 & 17. Reserve your spot today at https://iotssa.com/cybersecurity-expo-phoenix/ Connect with Juan on LinkedIN and check out what he is doing now at HacWare.
There is still some fear out there about implementing Zero Trust environments and what exactly that means for SMB customers. Julian pulls back the curtain with Threatlocker, CEO Danny Jenkins about what exactly a Zero Trust solution looks like. You simply can’t secure what you can’t control and it really can be a seamless solution. Danny gives some great examples and stories from the field where Zero Trust has hardened an environment and protects against active attacks on a regular basis.
For more information on Threatlocker or to schedule a free demo you can visit them in our Security Solutions Showcase or by going to https://www.threatlocker.com/ and click on Book Demo.
Julian changes gears from cybersecurity this week to take a deep dive into the vendor partner relationship with Desmond Russell, Chief Partnership Officer at Partner Elevate.
Desmond unpacks the challenges both sides face in this B-B relationship with his 3 main hurdles.
- Lack of Confidence
- Flat Engagement
- Unpredictable Performance
By better understanding both sides of the partnership, Desmond gives some great insights for MSPs to more effectively grow and strengthen vendor relationships in order to achieve the ultimate goal of a mutually beneficial partnership in order to drive results and growth.
#MSP #ITChannel #bettertogether #IoTSSA
Julian has a sobering conversation with Dark Cubed, Founder, Vince Crisler and High Wire Networks, CTO, David Barton about the depths of vulnerabilities we face today with more and more reliance on API and APP usage.
Vince tells us ‘If you don’t know, you can’t do anything…Understand the infrastructure’. Start up innovation and speed to market with functionality has created holes where data isn’t properly sanitized…Data in Apps and APIs isn’t protected the same way or with as much vigor as network data. David explains ‘Real time pushing and pulling of data we didn’t have 10 years ago’.
Check your apps with this tool Vince mentions https://exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/
Keep this conversation going with Dark3 and High Wire Networks next week at our Cybersecurity Expo in Lancaster, PA October 26 & 27 – Reserve your spot today by visiting https://www.iotssa.com/cybersecurity-expo-pennsylvania/
Cisco go all in with the IT Channel supporting MSPs and the SMB market. Julian talks with Provider Elevate, Leader of Global MSP for Cisco, Michelle Ragusa-McBain and Business Development Manager, Fenil Kacharia on the current state of cybersecurity and the IT Channel. Michelle tells us that a recent survey showed, only 50% of IT Service Providers are properly insured against a cyber attack/event. This tells us that we have a long way to go getting the market up to speed and out in front of the bad guy.
The journey from MSP to MSSP, post pandemic, every company is now a tech company – they require, networking, IoT, collaboration and security to keep their businesses running.
Keep this conversation going with Cisco at our upcoming Cybersecurity Expo in Lancaster, PA October 26 & 27 – Reserve your spot today by visiting https://www.iotssa.com/cybersecurity-expo-pennsylvania/
From musician to IT Exec, Luis Giraldo, CXO at ScalePad takes a deep dive with Julian into growing an MSP into a thriving business. Luis has built and sold two IT Services businesses, worked on the vendor side of the equation and now defines himself as an MSP Advocate. All while still finding time to tour with Shakira for 6 months playing keyboards!
Luis talks about the nuances between loving tech and loving helping people with tech. Its all about creating an effective customer experience and focusing on the areas to scale and grow your business from the beginning and integrating into your company culture. Some excellent ideas and tips in this episode so be ready to take a few notes. You can connect with Luis through LinkedIN or email him directly at luis.giraldo@scalepad.com
Julian catches up with David Corlette, VP of Product Management with Vipre to talk the evolution of EDR and what Vipre are doing to make it easy for channel partners to implement and manage. With the implementation of Machine Learning and AI, EDR solutions continue to get more and more robust in their protection.
Andy Anderson, Co-Founder and CEO at Datastream Cyber Insurance sits down with Julian to discuss leveraging cyber insurance to secure both you and your customers. One size certainly doesn’t fit all and a risk assessment is needed for each individual customer environment.
For more information about Datastream you can visit and connect with them in our Security Solutions Showcase or visit their website here
You can also catch up with Andy at our upcoming Cybersecurity Expo in Lancaster, PA October 26 & 27 where he will be speaking about making Cyber Insurance work for you and your customers. Reserve your spot today and keep the conversation going.
After a short summer break we are back! Matt Scully, Channel Chief with Redstor catches up with Julian to talk about his new role. Matt explains ‘Hackers aren’t looking at breaking into yesterdays or even today’s technology and environments, they are looking at tomorrows’. Redstor is that evolved BDR solution, leveraging AI technology among others and Matt couldn’t be more excited about helping to bring this solution to the channel. His infectious excitement explains that Redstor are investing all resources on an ongoing basis toward continually buttressing their BDR environment to stay ahead of the bad actors.
Matt talks about some jaw dropping reactions from MSPs during a demo. To schedule yours you can connect directly with Matt through our Security Solutions Showcase or email him directly at matt.scully@redstor.com
Brian Sherman, Head of Channel & Market Research with Commcentric follows up with Technology Legal Expert, Brad Gross and CEO of Datastream Cyber Insurance, Andy Anderson for a deeper dive in Cyber Incident preparedness. Insurance driving cybersecurity conversations and managing risk. Clarity and managing expectations with well documented audit trails. The basis for any and all left of boom planning.
If you want to hear more you can follow Brad’s, BradCast and Andy’s, Cyber Crime Lab Podcasts at:
https://bradleygross.podbean.com/
https://datastreaminsurance.com/cyber-crime-lab-podcasts/
We’ve all heard that its not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ we will find ourselves on the wrong end of a cyber incident. Brian Sherman, Head of Channel & Market Research with Commcentric joins Technology Legal Expert, Brad Gross and CEO of Datastream Cyber Insurance, Andy Anderson for a round table on the importance of having a clear and concise Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan in place and up to date. Establish accountability, responsibilities and expect these plans will need to spring into action at the most inopportune times. Incorporate honest and open conversations with customers in order to properly manage expectations. Brad explains that we need to clearly define our roles and responsibilities regarding services provided vs. services facilitated and how these will each be handled should there be an event. Conversations that need to happen before an incident, not after.
Definitely a conversation we will keep going and digging deeper on future episodes, however in the interim you can get more on the topic now by following Brad’s, BradCast and Andy’s, Cyber Crime Lab Podcasts at:
https://bradleygross.podbean.com/
https://datastreaminsurance.com/cyber-crime-lab-podcasts/
Danny Jenkins, CEO at ThreatLocker tells us ‘Control your cybersecurity’ when Ryan catches up with him. When you are controlling your security, you are out in front of it, not chasing it and Danny tells us that apart from the fundamentals, this should be the first step to securing environments not the last. The result, beyond better security is also better IT Hygiene as a whole.
For more information on Threatlocker or to contact Danny, you can visit them in our Security Solutions Showcase.
Ryan discuss IoT Implementation and securing the massive breadth of Digitally Transformed infrastructure with Cisco, Sr. Product Manager, Robert Albach. Robert talks about the digital divide and where MSPs fit into the mix in order to secure the rapidly evolving fabric of interconnected devices.
Robert is a Cisco Live Distinguished Speaker and has spoken at Hannover Messe Industrie, S4 industrial security conferences and RSA. He authored the security architecture portion of the 2019 iNEMI Manufacturing Roadmap, and is a co-author on multiple industrial deployment guides.
A peak inside the Cytracom platform, Ryan talks with Founder and CEO, Zane Conkle and COO, John Tippet about location-less IT Architecture. Implementation and best practices with IoT devices to Zero Trust frameworks. You can connect with Zane or John through our Security Solutions Showcase or their website at cytracom.com
Rob Cheng, Founder and CEO at PC Matic has a very frank conversation with Ryan about the challenges we face with cybersecurity and gives us a fresh and clear perspective on how we can win this fight. Protecting against Ransomware Bounties to insiders and how application white listing gives more control to IT departments against rogue attacks. Breaking the cybersecurity cycle of continuing to allocate increased security budgets to areas and tools that aren’t the most effective in todays landscape. From creating transparency in cybersecurity to implementing and adopting proper frameworks, Rob gives us much to think about and consider.
Andy Anderson, Co-Founder and CEO at Datastream Cyber Insurance talks with Ryan about having wholistic risk conversations with customers. When utilized properly, Cyber Insurance will leverage your security posture with customers…It isn’t a replacement of any tools in your stack, rather an integral cog in buttressing business operations.
Andy gives us a few mind blowing stories from the insurance side that we are looking forward to hearing a lot more of on their upcoming Podcast called ‘The Cyber Crime Lab’. Stay tuned!
For more information about Datastream you can visit and connect with them in our Security Solutions Showcase or visit their website here
You can also catch up with Andy at our upcoming Cybersecurity Expo in Austin, TX, March 30 & 31 where he will be speaking about making Cyber Insurance work for you and your customers. Reserve your spot today and keep the conversation going.
Brian Sherman, Sr. Communications Specialist with Commcentric, has a timely discussion with three channel veterans about the changing landscape and what IT Service Providers need to do in order to keep ahead of today’s threats.
Not a ‘Women in the Channel’ production, rather a sobering conversation from three pros, Michelle Ragusa-McBain, Global Channel Community Evangelist with Cisco, Desraie Thomas, Channel Development Manager with Datto and Amy Luby, Chief Channel Evangelist with Acronis. A sobering and heart felt conversation on what their organizations are doing to assist with the current conflict happening in Ukraine and the resulting increased cybersecurity threats.
Way too many resources in this one to list so have a pen and paper handy. An excellent reset conversation on training, coming together as one and continuing education for us all. Amy tells us ‘We all have big shift challenges.’ You can catch up with them all at our upcoming Cybersecurity Expo in Austin, TX, March 30 & 31 at the Austin Downtown Marriott. Reserve your spot today and keep the conversation going.
Ryan sits down with Oliver Paterson, Global Product Marketing Manager with Vipre to discuss the maturation of the SMB and adoption of advanced tools in their security stacks. While AI and ML solutions continue to evolve and harden, the SMB are widely embracing and recognizing the high priority of cybersecurity in their businesses.
For more information about Vipre you can visit and connect with them in our Security Solutions Showcase or visit their website here
MSP vs. MSSP and what does that look like for IT Service Providers? The fact is that cybersecurity must be part of all service contracts in today’s environment. Scott Barlow, VP of Global MSP at Sophos joins Ryan to discuss leveraging vendor relationships in order to effectively service and secure your clients. Scott shares a staggering Gartner stat ‘96% of Cloud Breaches are due to misconfiguration’. Leveraging vendor expertise and tools to close up these gaps while also growing your business is critical to success for IT Service Providers with limited resources. Using a great Hockey analogy, he tells us ‘Go to where the puck is going to be, not where it is’.
Scott also has an affinity for building back yard hockey rinks…we got a shot of the 21/22 rink, however he wasn’t as giving when we asked for a picture of the broken nose and two black eyes!
With so much focus around cybersecurity over the past few years and looking ahead to escalating threats in 2022 and beyond, its easy to lose focus on how Managed Security fits into our current stack. The evolution of the IT Service Provider began with Break Fix, then to a recurring revenue model with Managed Services and now Managed Security. What is the mindset of our customers and how do they view IT Services? Luis Giraldo, CXO at ScalePad, talks with Ryan about shared responsibilities with customers and growing along side them. Luis see’s the next logical step over the next few years as continued evolution into a trusted business advisor and partner. They give us some great insights and ideas around making this evolution by looking at it from the client’s perspective. Taking periodic 10,000 foot views of your business and offerings are critical to growth and long term success. They give us a fresh perspective in this episode which all IT Service Providers will interpret a little differently depending on where they are in the evolution, however great ideas that apply to us all.
Brian Sherman, Sr. Communications Specialist with Commcentric, pays us a visit for a guest podcast with new IoTSSA member Michelle Ragusa-McBain, Global Channel Evangelist with Cisco to discuss the power of community.
Michelle continues to be a strong advocate for advancing women in technology and mentoring both men and women to excel and succeed in this industry. She gives us lots of resources to check out in this edition, however encourages you to check out the Cisco Elevate Community and some great presentations from their last virtual event. Check it out here
Ryan talks with Guillaume Boisvert, Director of Product Innovation at Sherweb about tackling the HR Challenge for IT Service Providers. Finding cybersecurity talent is at the top of the list for MSPs trying to scale their business. Guillaume tells us that adding headcount is not necessarily the answer…Objectives can be accomplished by balancing out job functions, training from within or adding new tools to make you more efficient.
To learn more about Office Protect by Sherweb and to connect with Guillaume you can find him on linkedin and their website at https://www.sherweb.com/
Cybersecurity in 2022 looks to be an even hotter button than years past. Cybercriminals are becoming more persistent and devious than ever…This needs to be top of mind with business this year and moving forward.
Ryan catches up with Amelia Paro, Business Development Manager with ID Agent to discuss the Sales Conversation and breaking through the SMB. ‘Tell a story to sell without selling’, Amelia tells us. Move the needle by invoking an emotional response from your prospects.
Brad Gross, Technology Legal Expert, looks into the crystal ball with Ryan to discuss what lies ahead for IT Service Providers in 2022 and beyond. High points that are going to affect providers and how these can affect services and your business moving forward.
- Microsoft NCE Pricing
- Implied Fiduciary Duties
- Co-Managed Services
- Quoting Software
- Regulations (From Cyber Insurance Companies)
Always very valuable information from Brad and a great perspective from customers perspective and what MSPs need to do in order to effectively manage expectations.
You can contact Brad at info@bradleygross.com or check out his Podcast, sorry, Bradcast…at technologybradcast.com
Please Note: There are a few mentions in this episode of our upcoming Cybersecurity Expo in Phoenix.
As we’re sure you’re already aware, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has meant that it’s now vital to limit social contact and avoid gathering. For that reason, out of an abundance of caution, we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone our Live In Person Cybersecurity Expo in Phoenix to September 14 & 15, 2022. While we know this is disappointing, we hope you can understand the steps we’re taking to help keep our staff and attendees safe.
What happens next?
All registered attendees will be contacted by Robin Miller in the coming week so that she can facilitate moving your registration to the new September dates.
For those who have not yet registered, great news…we will be announcing in the coming week our next live in person event at the end of March this year. We are finalizing locations and dates as we speak…stay tuned!
‘Assume everything is dirty’ states PC Matic Vice President Corey Munson when he catches up with Ryan to talk Application White Listing. Adoption of a Zero Trust architecture provides users with essential security that fills gaps left by reactive endpoint protection software solutions, and provides an additional layer of protection from increasingly complex cyber threats.
For more information on PC Matic or to contact Corey, you can visit them in our Security Solutions Showcase.
Al Alper, CEO at CyberGuard 360 takes a 10,000 foot view with Ryan and a look at the mindset of our customers and regulators. As Al states, ‘They don’t want War and Peace…just tell them what they want and need to know in plain English’. Visibility – Documentation – Audit Trail…The CyberGuard 360 roadmap to winning new business at incredible margins!
For more information on CyberGuard 360 or to contact Al, you can visit them in our Security Solutions Showcase.
Danny Jenkins, CEO at ThreatLocker breaks down security stacks with Ryan. Controls, Detection and Training being the three main pillars. Where some go heavy with multiple layers of detection, controls can often time get over looked. Danny gives us a scenario where hackers can actually use a compromised customer environment as recon against you the MSP to get around detection tools, where controls like Zero Trust and MFA can prevent these attacks and ultimate breach.
Matt Scully, Channel Chief with Mailprotector goes beyond with Ryan to discuss email extortion and bad guys exploiting the psychographics of human behaviour. How private is electronic communication? From trade secrets to personal matters we all have communications that we don’t want in the public realm…As Matt says ‘Protecting you against you’ is a perfect way to describe cybersecurity leading into 2022.
IoTSSA has always been strong advocates of cybersecurity education…its been our mantra since we started back in 2017. Huntress have taken cybersecurity training for MSPs to the next level with their HackIT events which they started in 2020 and continued to evolve this year.
Ryan sits down with Huntress, Sr. Security Researcher, John Hammond to unpack the event and the benefit to you the IT Service Provider. Hands on training and demos that really illustrate the anatomy of a hack and the mindset of cyber criminals. A clear understanding of the threats and offense coming at you, best prepares you to defend and shore up your stack and security offerings.
For a recording of the most current event which concluded last week you can get a copy at hackitmsp.com
Ryan and Vince Crisler, Founder and CEO at Dark Cubed have a great re-cap discussion of the IoTSSA Cybersecurity Expo in Charlotte late last month. From getting started to evolving your current security stack, no matter your cybersecurity maturity level. Vince lays out that different customers have different needs and you need to deploy solutions that best fit a specific client or situation. Too often the fundamentals are overlooked when deploying cybersecurity and managing client risk.
Our next live event is coming up in Phoenix, January 18 – 20. You can catch up with Vince and Dark Cubed in person. He is looking forward to continuing these conversations and meeting you all.
Communicating the threat landscape to the SMB has always been a challenge and customers simply don’t believe, it can and will happen to them. Ryan talks with Curricula, Founder and CEO, Nick Santora about how they are using the power of story telling to penetrate and educate the single largest threat to organizations…the users themselves.
For National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the team at Curricula are hosting a series of webinars every Friday in October, broadcasting live at 2 p.m. EST / 11 a.m. PST. https://www.curricula.com/curriculaville
With the evaporation of perimeters are we effectively securing all the endpoints? Ryan catches up with Addigy, Founder and CEO, Jason Dettbarn about securing all the endpoints, including Apple devices. Implementing a cybersecurity culture with your clients and educating them on steps and implementations we all need to take in technology that continues to expand and grow faster and faster everyday.
Compliance plays a part in cybersecurity, however isn’t in and of itself security, rather a tool to help you manage it. Ryan gets into the weeds with Mav Turner, Head of Product with N-able talking about the complex dynamics of cybersecurity. Framing out risk, breaking down your security stack and most importantly putting your stack into action…Mav talks about the challenges and complexities that IT Service Providers face and offers some great tips on execution.
‘Hell Fire is in the forecast’ states Tyler Moffitt, Senior Threat Research Analyst with Webroot, however it is also avoidable. Ryan chats with Tyler about the importance of a solid security posture and taking the necessary steps to best secure yourself and your customers in todays ever evolving threat landscape. Tyler tells us to start by being aware that you don’t know everything. Stay engaged and educated in order keep yourself at the forefront.
Crypto and cybersecurity? They clear up some misconceptions about Crypto-Currencies and the roll they play in todays cybersecurity.
Marketing and Business Development has always been a challenge with selling IT Services. You have the expertise with a great service offering, however struggle breaking through and effectively growing your business. Pete Busam, Founder & President of Equilibrium Consulting has an excellent chat with Ryan on the business of cybersecurity. Pete delivers some solid advice and ideas to get your marketing plan engaged and effective. ‘Lead generation is not marketing’ states Pete….Leads are the result of a solid marketing plan.
With all the different tools and layers that comprise our security stacks, so many times the fundamentals are overlooked. Ryan catches up with Founder and CTO at Password Boss, Steve Wise, to discuss the importance of password hygiene and the adoption of a vault to effectively manage not just customer passwords but your own internal passwords. Steve gives a staggering stat when an MSP loaded the Password Boss management tool which automatically showed how many passwords had been compromised and were available on the dark web.
With many IT Professionals starting to get alert fatigue from their security tools, Steve Sims, VP Security & CISO with Green Cloud Defense tells us ‘Alerts should be used as an opportunity to advance customer environments’. Ryan has a nuts and bolts conversation with Steve on the steps to building an effective cybersecurity culture. Where the IT Services industry needs to go way beyond just delivering ‘availability’ to their customers.
The Team at Zorus, Sr. Software Engineer, Jake Homberg, VP Sales & Marketing, Chris Keith and Founder & CTO, Greg Gage catch up with Ryan to talk about a layered security approach and how endpoint protection is your first line of defense. A fortified perimeter buttresses our stack, however the importance of a defense in depth approach is critical.
‘Offence always wins and defense always loses’ states Vince Crisler, Founder & CEO of Dark Cubed when he talks with Ryan about attackers forcing change with cybersecurity. The fundamentals of cybersecurity are a critical place to start….They discuss next steps and how we should take a practical, common sense approach to securing our customers.
Vince Crisler has more than 20 years of IT and cyber security leadership within the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, federal civilian government, and private sector. A former White House CISO, he is the CEO and Founder of Dark Cubed, a cyber security product company brining effective and affordable cyber security to the SMB community through its MSP/MSSP partner network. Vince is a member of the IT Security Executive Council for CompTIA, the Executive Committee for the CompTIA ISAO, and a member of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Worldwide Industry Advisory Board.
Cybersecurity can be overwhelming leaving many IT Service Providers wondering ‘Have I done enough?’ or even ‘Where do I start?’. Ryan has a very informative conversation with John Hammond, Sr. Security Researcher at Huntress, Shane Cooper, Solutions Consulting Manager at Webroot and Wes Spencer, VP & External CISO with Connectwise where they break down and unpack what is required to initiating a solid cybersecurity posture and culture. ‘An MSP’s job is about being an ambassador of cybersecurity for their clients’ states Wes. The constant headlines these days need to act as continual wake up calls for IT Service Providers to ensure both they and their customers are effectively secured.
One from the vault, Brian talks with Trustifi CEO, Rom Hendler about the importance of email encryption to protect against Business Email Compromise.
Does your marketing message potentially open you up to liability? Are you appropriately protected in the event of a breach? Brad Gross, Technology Legal Expert and Ryan have a sobering conversation on providing a cybersecurity standard of care to your customers. In the event of a breach, can it equate to that of medical malpractice and do your agreements adequately communicate your scope of service?
Brad throws out a challenge to the listeners to check your agreements, specifically the section on Limitation of Liability and equate it to your specific customers. For help and some guidance in this area and a review of your agreements you can contact Brad directly through his website https://www.bradleygross.com/
With everything the world and in particular, IT Service Providers have been through in the last year, it’s difficult to imagine that we are still seeing objections and reluctance from SMB clients to embrace cybersecurity and protecting their businesses.
Ryan talks with Secure Now CEO, Art Gross about having clear and concise business conversations with customers….Taking a holistic approach to securing their businesses from establishing customer clarity and training their staff to cyber insurance. Spoiler alert….You can actually leverage a rigid stance on cyber insurance policies from underwriters to buttress your approach and drive services and budget! Selling on price could be the kiss of death in today’s environment.
Ryan sits down with David Corlette, Director of Product Management with Vipre for a very frank conversation on the approach that IT Service Providers need to be taking with today’s cybersecurity. The importance of proper configuration from the onset, to ensure that all the tools in your stack are actually securing you and your clients.
Amy Luby, Channel Chief Evangelist with Acronis talks with Ryan about focusing on protecting the data and selling solutions rather than products. With a myriad of different tools available for MSPs to deploy our security stacks are only going to increasingly get more complicated. Amy tells us ‘Simplify our processes and tool sets when looking at modernizing and automating our integrations'.
Danny Jenkins, CEO at ThreatLocker joins Ryan to discuss taking a Zero Trust approach to cybersecurity. Danny explains, ‘When deploying cybersecurity, more, doesn’t always mean better’. ‘Operate in the world of controls when securing your clients’. Great conversation touching on recent attacks and how they could have been avoided to having tough or not so tough customer conversations.
For more information on Threatlocker or to contact Danny, you can visit them in our Security Solutions Showcase.
All too often we see IT Service Providers who insist on operating in a vacuum, out of fear, their competitors will learn their strengths and weaknesses to only use against them. However, we also see many who are engaged with peers and vendors, sharing information, providing feedback and keeping themselves at the forefront of industry knowledge and solutions. Matt Scully, Channel Chief with Mailprotector talks with Brian about the value of collaboration and how both IT Service Providers and Channel Vendors can leverage communication and engagement in order to succeed and grow in this constantly changing industry. After all, the bad guys are all working together…why shouldn’t we? We are all truly better together!
Michael Crean, CEO at Solutions Granted MSSP, talks with Brian about the return to the office and the challenges IT Providers are facing with the different customer requirements as we come out of this pandemic. Michael tells us, ‘Don’t forget about the fundamentals to chase a new product or service. Your stack is only as good as the foundation its sitting on.’
For more information about Solutions Granted or to contact Michael visit our Security Solutions Showcase.
Wes Spencer, VP External CISO Product Management at Perch Security a Connectwise Solution sits down with Brian to discuss the evolution of the bad guys since 2018 when they first discovered MSPs. What Wes refers to as ‘Buffalo Jumping’ and how they are leveraging this as their attack vector. He clarifies the focus on Ransomware when really it should be on the breach itself and ransomware is simply the result or payload of full unfettered access to your network…The payload and associated cost to businesses are growing exponentially with exfiltration now standard practice with the bad guys.
Travis Ray, Director of Channel Sales with High Wire Networks talks with Brian about the challenges of patching during a pandemic while its proving to be even more important than ever. Stepping up security assessments and disaster planning so that we are ready for any potential supply chain attacks. The evolution of cyber attacks over the past year has clearly showed us that these attacks aren’t going anywhere and will only continue to escalate and evolve so we better ensure that we have strategies in place for our businesses and our customers.
Organized crime or flourishing business…two in the same with the introduction of Crypto Currency. Greg Edwards, CEO at CryptoStopper joins Brian to unpack the evolution of Ransomware and todays current threat landscape.
For more information, you can connect directly with Greg by email gedwards@getcryptostopper.com
Jason Norton, Product Marketing Manager with Vipre, gives Brian a five point checklist for reference when analyzing your cybersecurity posture. Jason gives us some excellent insights on how the different malware threats are getting more sophisticated and working in conjunction along with some good analogies to explain and clarify these evolved threats to your customers.
Brian catches up with Barb Paluszkiewicz with CDN Technologies to discuss how they use cybersecurity as the cornerstone of their business. Barb is the author of IT Scams: How to Avoid Being Ripped Off and host of KNOW Tech Talk Podcast. Very passionate about her IT Services business, she refers to them as IT Psychics for their customers…anticipating customer vulnerabilities before they happen.
2021 they are completing the CompTIA Security Trust Mark in order to shore up their own cybersecurity processes, practicing what they preach, however also putting themselves in a position of strength when prospecting larger clientele.
Has BYOD made the comeback and here to stay? Neal Bradbury, VP MSP Strategic Partnerships with Barracuda MSP catches up with Brian to discuss post pandemic technology and the escalating cybersecurity challenges that come with it. The adoption of Zero Trust policies with a remote and/or hybrid workforce now looks to be critical when upgrading your customers cybersecurity posture. For more information or to connect with Neal visit the Barracuda MSP page in our Security Solutions Showcase.
John Hammond catches up with Brian to give an update on what the Security Research Team at Huntress is finding out about the attack on Exchange Servers. The issue looks to be more wide spread than originally thought and not targeted attacks. As John calls it ‘a drive by attack’ where the bad actors did wide spread scans across the internet look to locate and exploit as many vulnerabilities as possible. This is definitely a vulnerability that can’t be ignored and needs to be addressed immediately.
John will be presenting at the Huntress HackIT event next week where they will be unpacking and educating MSPs on all forms of cybersecurity from AV to Phishing. Register Here
Tyler Moffitt, Senior Threat Research Analyst with Webroot unpacks Blockchain Technology with Brian and what we should be educating our customers about. How to detect if we have been compromised for crypto mining and some other excellent takeaways, along with a few horror stories as always from Tyler!
For more information from Tyler on Cryptocurrency you can check out his blog at Webroot.com or you can contact them through our Security Solutions Showcase. For more information on Webroot and a free trial of their security layers visit Webroot.com/IoTSSA
As vaccinations ramp up and we look positively to the near future, there are many conversations around the work force dynamic moving forward and will business be adopting a Hybrid structure. The answer is an overwhelming yes as many companies have already made changes to office environments and adopted the model.
Brian catches up with Phil Burnett, CISO with High Wire Networks, Mark Glowacz, Director of Partner Success with mailprotector and Vault America, CEO, Zak Karsan to discuss client migration to this new structure and how you can ensure success for both you and your customers.
Brian talks risk appetite with James Bowers II, CEO and Chief Security and Information Officer with Input Output. James takes the 10,000 ft. view and breaks down risk, both quantitatively and qualitatively and then gives some good insights on determining where you are at and what really is needed for you to become compliant. In many cases we may already be well on our way.
There has been a lot of conversation about the explosive growth and awareness this pandemic has created for the IT channel. The elevation of MSPs to trusted business infrastructure advisor. Taking stock of our businesses as we move into 2021, Amy Luby, Head of Global Community with Acronis, Bill Morgan, Regional Sales Manager at Liongard and Jason Norton, Product Marketing Manager at Vipre Security discuss current pain points with Brian. The panel talks addressing the big picture and give some great insights on building an efficient and effective cybersecurity offering.
Greg Rosenberg, Senior Manager – Sales Engineering with Sophos gives us a clear and structured approach to building out a robust security stack. With Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at the crux of our security tools conversations, Greg provides clarity on the difference between the two and how you can adopt and have not only valuable but productive conversations with your clients.
Covid is certainly driving both change and growth for IT Service Providers. While scaling your business is always exciting, managing that scale is critical to your long-term success.
IT Channel veteran and Vice President of the Cloud Business Unit at D&H Distributing, Jason Bystrak, chats with Brian about the role distribution plays in cybersecurity and how this can help MSPs grow and effectively manage their offerings. Jason talks about their new XaaS (Everything as a Service) business model and how IT Service Providers can leverage this to not only grow their business but immediately increase their cash flow.
This is a replay session from our virtual event last month. Catch the full video presentation at IoTSSA.com
Cybersecurity defenders face unprecedented challenges today. Attacks continue to increase in complexity and destructive power, all while remaining stealthier. Join Sophos Sr. Research Scientist, John Shier, for a talk about the current threat landscape including, the tools, tactics, and procedures being used by cybercriminals at both ends of the skill spectrum. Learn about the key indicators of compromise that can be used to discover active adversaries in the network and provide some insights on how to better protect your organization in the coming year.
Brian catches up with Marketing Consultant Pete Busam, Founder and President of Equilibrium Consulting to discuss leveraging digital tools to engage and grow your base. Marketing isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon that needs to become a part of your everyday routine…not just for you but for everyone in your organization. The key is to focus on what is resonating and to build on it. The old adage, you can’t manage what you can’t measure, Pete gives some great takeaways on how you can use current tools to measure your engagements and use this information to grow and evolve both your Marketing message as well as the mediums to deliver.
Replay from Beyond the Curve 3.0 Virtual Event in January, MJ Shoer, Executive Director of the CompTIA ISAO, guest moderates this Cyber Expert Panel Session unpacking the Solarwinds event and the massive paradigm shift its driving.
MJ is joined by Art Gross, CEO at Breach Secure Now, Michael Crean, CEO of Solutions Granted and Billy Austin, Co-Founder and President at RocketCyber.
This was an attack on our entire industry and we all need to take note. Never has it been so clear that we need to come together against these bad actors.
Gill Langston, Head Security Nerd at Solarwinds MSP tells us that an MSP can be described as ‘6 Hat Sam’. That has never been more relevant than now, while helping our clients navigate a pandemic. We can add Actuary and Underwriter to these hats as Gill talks with Brian about leveraging risk intelligence with our customers.
You can get more insights and connect with Gill at his monthly blog Patch Tuesdays .
As we move into 2021 and really assess the gravity of the monumental paradigm shift happening all around us, Joe Alapat, Founder and CEO at Liongard talks with Brian about seizing the opportunities. Making deliberate business offering decisions and being fully prepared to deploy and implement. From good will engagements to creating transparency for services delivering an effective cybersecurity stack, or as Joe refers to it ‘Reducing the blast radius’.
When looking to catapult and scale your business, transparency and control is critical.
With the massive shift to a distributed workforce and businesses operating without perimeters, there has never been a better time to look at partnering your cybersecurity offering. Cybersecurity is a specialty knowledge that requires a different skill set and expertise. Partnering allows you to continue to grow your business, focusing on your core skills and offerings which are needed more than ever by not only the SMB but also enterprise sized organizations.
Solutions Granted CEO, Michael Crean gives Brian some great insights and things you should be looking at when looking for a cybersecurity partner. As they say – You need to be right every time, however the bad guys only need to be right once. Do you have the resources and expertise in house to effectively secure your clients…every time?
Solutions Granted are an MSSP that take a holistic approach in partnering with MSP’s to not only secure their clients, however also support with client conversations, whether its adding to their security stack or ensuring compliance is being met. You can find more information about Solutions Granted and contact info in our Security Solutions Showcase.
We are in the wild west of the digital age with security tools at the ready, yet so many out there still are not locking their front doors. Mailprotector Channel Chief, Matt Scully and Director of Partner Success, Mark Glowacz sit down with Brian to discuss Email vulnerability and why MSPs need to add encryption into their security stacks.
You can catch Matt next week at our next Beyond the Curve Cyber Event where he will be talking about the importance and ease of adding email and data encryption into your security offerings.
Our very own Robin Miller sits down with Allison Cohen, Director, Live & Virtual Events with The Channel Company, Michelle Ragusa-McBain, VP, Global Channel Strategy with JS Group and Kathleen Martin, Senior Manager Member Communities with CompTIA. With decades of experience and insights in the Tech Industry, they open up about how they got their start and provide resources available to assist women, whether just starting their career or those looking to pivot into the IT Industry.
Great chat for all of us to listen in on…Yes, the men out there too! We don’t always see their perspective and challenges, however the awareness value this can bring to an organization and team is immeasurable.
As discussed in this session, more information on The Channel Company next ‘Women of the Channel’ event can be found here: https://event.thechannelco.com/wotc-west
Following is a link to the CompTIA ‘Advancing Women in Technology’ community
https://www.comptia.org/membership/communities-and-councils/advancing-women-in-technology-community
Facebook group for Women in Technology ‘Tech Worlds Half’
Ryan Morris, Principal IT Consultant with Morris Management Partners has a thought provoking conversation with Brian which always creates clarity in order to plot our path forward. As 2021 gets underway and we can see our emergence from the pandemic coming, how will business architectures and models emerge. Ryan feels we are on the brink of the next massive technology paradigm shift and history has shown that when these happen, they create massive revenue generating opportunities. ‘The Everywhere Organization is a robust multi leg business model. A model that is compelling for your customers and you’ states Ryan.
Ryan and his team have created a tool for MSPs to use in these conversations by way of an assessment or scorecard. Not a network or security assessment but a wholistic business assessment which looks at the human side of remote workforces. This provides clarity so that you are able to effectively prescribe the proper hardware and software for your customers to thrive in this new era.
For a copy of the white paper Ryan discusses from CB Insights, you can get the full report by clicking here or following https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/reopening-office-tech-work-post-covid/
You can join Ryan in his live session at our next Beyond the Curve virtual event coming up on January 20 and 21 from 2:00 – 4:30 PM EST. For event information and registration click here.
To contact Ryan directly and get more information on taking a wholistic approach with your customers click here
As 2020 comes to a close (Queue cheering in the background) we can look back at the silver linings and change that Covid has pushed. The SMB has been reluctant for years to move their infrastructure to the cloud and wanted tested and true on prem servers….appliances they could see and feel. With so many now open to the cloud through necessity, the conversation needs to shift back to securing the data. Is O365 backing up? Is it secure? What is the process for spooling it back up in the event of a disaster now that its in the cloud? Are we still compliant?
Brian talks with Vault America CEO, Zak Karsan about not only securing your customers cloud data but also properly partitioning and protecting it while allowing it to be easily accessible. Zak states ‘Security, Security, Security’…We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!
Vault America is offering free O365 Back Up Licenses for MSPs through the pandemic, to give you an opportunity to test drive their solution. This also comes with a free consult on securing customer data and ensuring that your remote customers are protected.
As discussed in the beginning of this episode, Zak sits on the board of the Scleroderma Foundation of New England…a horrible disease that is near and dear to Zak and his family. His goal is to raise awareness and support for this debilitating disease. For more information please check out their website here .
Brian catches up with Raffi Jamgotchian, President and CTO with Triada Networks to talk cybersecurity and a new book he recently co-authored with 30 other IT Service Providers called ‘On Thin Ice’. They speak to security frameworks, compliance and how you can use these to harden your stack and fill the gaps. Frameworks can be overwhelming when first getting started, however the result is always 100% clarity. Among others, Triada are using the CompTIA Security Trustmark which was built around the NIST Framework.
For a copy of On Thin Ice from Amazon Click Here (A great gift idea for all of your clients!)
For more information on CompTIA Security Trustmark Click Here
Amy Luby, Channel Chief Evangelist with Acronis tells us, ‘Let’s make 2021 the year of cyber fitness’. Brian catches up with Amy to discuss what the Acronis Research Team has found in their year end report which shows the evolution of Ransomware to Data Exfiltration. As IT Service Providers we need to continue to move toward a proactive cyber posture and fortify our defenses as the attacks only continue to grow in frequency and sophistication.
We continue to hear challenges from IT Service Providers getting their SMB clients to adopt MFA practices. As crazy as it sounds, adding that extra step in the authentication process is just too much to ask.
Brian catches up with David Barton, CTO with HighWire Networks and Michael Roth, CEO of EVO Security to discuss making 2 Factor easy to adopt and incorporate into your client’s stack. David explains it nicely as the 80/20 rule with MFA taking care of 80% so that you can focus on the harder 20% of active threats.
As always, Tyler Moffit, Senior Threat Research Analyst with Webroot talks with Brian giving a very ‘matter of fact’ picture of current threats as well as what we can expect on the horizon entering the holiday season and into 2021.
In the holiday spirit, he even gives us some online shopping tips and things to watch out for when reading customer reviews using the ‘fakespot’ extension and deciding which IoT devices you should avoid!
Our very own, Robin Miller sits down with Monika Gupta, VP Marketing with Huntress, Jennifer Bleam, VP Business Development with Solutions Granted and Amy Luby, Chief Channel Evangelist with Acronis to discuss building a career in the technology field.
They provide some great insights and advice for young women looking to build a career in technology and it starts with ‘just be yourself’, states Amy. Great discussion that any one looking to get into the technology field will benefit from, not just women.
Brian talks with Secure Now CEO, Art Gross about the many tentacles of cybersecurity training. Its not just about teaching your customers employees what Ransomware is or a Phishing attack. It is about getting your clients staff to engage with you the IT Service Provider. The integration of employee training aligns you with your clients to collectively secure against attacks, however it also provides other residual benefits. High to low risk scoring for organizations and their individual staff members which illustrates progress they are making as a result of your efforts and services. Tools they can use from a Human Resources aspect when training staff on the importance of securing their business environments and reducing risk. The ongoing training with a mature educated staff, then shifts to current cybersecurity alerts, keeping your customers abreast of current threats they need to be aware of and securing against. Cybersecurity training is an ongoing business program which needs to be adopted by all businesses in today’s environment. Not a one-off product or service.
Brian sits down with Dan Wensley, CEO of ScalePad, Adam Slutskin, CRO at Liongard and Zak Karsan, CEO of Vault America for a look ahead to 2021 and beyond. With Thanksgiving around the corner it’s a good time for reflection on a turbulent year to say the least, however there are many silver linings when we look closely. When standing in the face of adversity, change is sped up and in many cases forced, where we may have otherwise been a little more complacent and comfortable. ‘Remember what we’ve learned this year and continue to build on it’ states Adam. Technology is properly recognized as an essential service and MSPs have evolved into trusted technology consultants. As they say….’The world is our oyster’, it’s where we take our business and expertise from here…that’s up to us.
Brian catches up with Heather Myers, Partner Channel Manager with ADT Cybersecurity to discuss compliance and the SMB.
With new compliance requirements on the horizon for business of all sizes, Heather gives us a few ideas to consider when not just communicating their importance to our customers but also selling and implementing. The drive to digital transformation for business in 2020 has pushed compliance front and center for IT Service Providers.
Dan Wensley, CEO at ScalePad talks with Brian about the evolution of Warranty Master to ScalePad and what this means for IT Service Providers. With the addition of Software Asset Lifecycle Management into their current Hardware Management platform, this gives IT Service Providers clarity on customer environments. ‘Once you collect the data, its amazing what you find’ states Dan.
And the new name, in case you were wondering….Launch pad to scale your success. Love it and a big congratulations and also thank you to Dan and his team for continuing to drive growth and success for their partners in the channel.
IT Channel Veteran and Technology Attorney Brad Gross founder of Bradley Gross Law has an innate ability to force us to take that 10,000 FT view of our business and potential trap doors. With the growth of Co-Managed Services, Brad talks with Brian about the intersection of services and potential liability risk that requires clarity upfront in order to protect you and your business. Brad states ‘If you’re touching a system, something bad can happen’. These aren’t discussions about doom and gloom, they are responsible business communications.
Brad’s regular Bradcast touching on these topics and more can be found here
In the spirit of Cybersecurity Month, If the bad guys are all working together, then why aren’t the good guys? This is a question we have always asked and promoted at our live Expo and Virtual Events where we consistently witness incredible collaborative discussion by IT Professionals. CompTIA have taken this to the next level with their new CompTIA ISAO announced back in the spring. Brian chats with Executive Director, MJ Shoer about the ISAO and what this means for the technology industry. ‘Tools and technology will take us so far, then we need the collective power of the industry to keep everyone safe’ states MJ. The CompTIA ISAO (Information Sharing & Analysis Organization) is a cybersecurity early warning system for everyone working in technology, from MSP’s to VAR’s to Software Companies…It is a threat intelligence sharing system that sends alerts on new threats and vulnerabilities with information on where they are coming from, what is the impact and how we can address it.
For more information on the ISAO and how this can benefit you and your customers, go to https://www.comptiaisao.org/
Jason Norton, Product Marketing Director with VIPRE Security talks with Brian about foundational security and establishing a solid security offering before looking to add on additional tools. Jason takes a very matter of fact look at what these fundamentals are and then steps to take in order to further build out your stack without having to add headcount.
Kicking off Cybersecurity Month, Brian sits down with Tyler Moffitt, Security Analyst with Webroot, Michael Crean, President and CEO of Solutions Granted and Scott Davis, Sales Engineer at Liongard, on the current cybersecurity nightmares IT Service Providers and the SMB are facing today.
Some excellent tips from our experts in this panel with the underlying message of, set your customers up for success. With the resurgence of Emotet and the bad guys getting smarter and smarter playing on current societal emotions with a distributed work force, never has there been a more crucial time to work together with your customers in order to secure their businesses and lively hood.
Steve Weber, Global Solutions Engineer with Sophos catches up with Brian to talk about adding a ‘people’ layer to your security stack. One of the largest pain points IT Service Providers have is finding qualified people to manage their security. Steve discusses Sophos new Managed Threat Response (MTR) 24 X 7 SOC services for MSPs. New tools are great, however having qualified people to operate them is key and this can be a challenge for many.
Cyber Insurance is also driving a lot of change with our service offerings and making services such as 24 X 7 network threat monitoring mandatory in order to qualify for certain policies. This of course requires the proper skill set in order to effectively be able to implement.
With these new tools, driven by Machine Learning and AI are also being utilized by the bad guys against us. For those who are interested in learning more about how ML and AI work and are incorporated into these new threat hunting tools check out https://ai.sophos.com/
Brian has an eye opening round table discussion with IoTSSA Contributor, Ryan Morris, Principal Consultant with Morris Management Partners. IoTSSA Advisory Board Members, Brian Weiss, CEO of ITech Solutions and Jason Tierney, Partner at C3 Integrated Solutions about sales opportunities and challenges in today business environment.
New opportunities in pivoting toward the Co-Managed Services offering, leveraging our Solution Providers skill set and tools to support internal IT Departments. Dealing with fear and it’s impact on prospecting…How can we better leverage our vendors for marketing and in the sales process? Using security as a catalyst so that you can capitalize on this spike in demand and a captive audience with the SMB.
Brian catches up with Nancy Hammervik, Executive VP of Industry Relations at CompTIA to discuss the state of the IT Channel and the accelerated change that Covid has forced. Nancy states ‘This is technology and providers time to shine’. We have seen IT Service Providers rapid migration from supplier to trusted business advisor.
They cover a lot in this session from the CompTIA ISAO (Information Sharing Analysis Organization) to our joint 2020 Cyber Scholarship. As we see rapid scale happening in the channel, staff support is becoming an even larger pain point for IT Providers. Look to within and develop your champions when building your teams. This can be done through certifications and step 1 is the CompTIA A+ cert. We will be awarding to 3 deserving individuals on October 6 as our 2020 Cyber Scholarships. Nominations close on September 28, so don’t wait…nominate your future champion today to get them started on a career in technology.
Brian talks with Tina Gravel, SVP of Channel and Alliances with appgate, about the importance of Zero Trust policies and tools with remote work forces. There was a mad scramble to get businesses set-up remotely and keeping business operating. Now is the time to review what we have implemented and are systems configured to properly manage identities in the new landscape.
We can all agree that Hybrid Networks are here to stay, however it isn’t just working from home…. its remote workers operating wherever they are. Home, the lake house, the coffee shop or the inlaws...our perimeters continue to expand as Covid forces this new paradigm shift.
Brian talks with Jason Norton, Product Marketing Director with VIPRE, Travis Ray, Director of Channel Sales with HighWire Networks and Matthew Koenig, VP Sales and Marketing with Secure Now about moving into 2021 and what MSPs should be planning for in todays cybersecurity landscape.
*Note – Our apologies for a few sound issues in this broadcast.
Brian sits down with Patrick Murphy, President of Results Technology, an MSP based out of Kansas City to discuss managing supply chain strains through the past 6 months. Dan Wensley, CEO at Warranty Master catches up with them to discuss diving bottom line revenue for MSP’s.
Brian sits down for a lively conversation on the changing cybersecurity landscape with RocketCyber, President and Co-Founder, Billy Austin, Vault America, CEO, Zak Karsan and Heather Myers, Partner Channel Manager with ADT Cybersecurity.
Some great ideas in this session for staying connected with customers and leveraging vendor support to help educate and secure your clients. The explosive growth of the attack surface created by a remote work force; we have to move forward with the assumption that your customers will be attacked. Have you effectively shored up your business continuity plans?
All effective marketing starts with a plan! Brian talks with IoTSSA’s newest community contributor Pete Busam founder and President of Equilibrium Consulting about marketing during the Pandemic and what, if anything, should we be doing differently.
Don’t sell cybersecurity awareness, provide it, Pete explains. Be deliberate and consistent….Get away from generic and get specific on your customer and prospects needs to eliminate the noise and differentiate yourself. We have all heard so much about the opportunity that IoT presents for our businesses. It is upon us now and integrated into all businesses today in varying capacities from Nest thermostats to automated production lines, they are all end points which need to be secured and managed.
Some great takeaways in this session and we look forward to connecting more with Pete and having him on board with the IoTSSA Community.
As we build out our layered security defences, how good is our visibility of the complete stack and its deployment to our customers? Brian catches up with Joe Alapat, Founder and CEO of Liongard to discuss what Joe calls ‘Operationalizing our Block & Tackle efforts’. Ease of scaling once our layered stack is in place and can we effectively grow our business confidently? Visibility and operational efficiency is required for both short and long term success.
Great introduction to Liongard and we are happy to have Joe and his team part of the IoTSSA community. Stay tuned as we look forward to Liongard involvement in coming events.
Cybersecurity has been the wild west of the digital age so why not start using canaries in the coal mines? Brian catches up with Huntress Labs, Senior Security Engineer, Dave Kleinatland and Sales Manager, David Alcaraz-Duran to get an update on some cool new tools they have launched this summer and more they hope to have deployed before the end of the year.
We always enjoy a chat with our friends at Huntress…As discussed in this Webcast, their resources page can be found here – Security Assets & Tools and a few events where you can connect with them this summer.
Huntress Founders Talk Security in this Monthly Webinar www.tradecrafttuesday.com
The CyberCall - With Andrew Morgan, Huntress, Perch Security and TruMethods.
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/cybercall
Jason Norton, Product Marketing Director with Vipre Advanced Security talks with Brian about Hacker Little Leagues who eventually graduate to the Big Leagues and the threats they present along the way. They are getting faster and smarter by the day with new abilities to be able to penetrate perimeter defenses and weaponize only a few hours after they have safely landed in your inbox.
A great introduction to Vipre Advanced Security and you can learn more or contact Jason directly in our Security Solutions Showcase or by visiting their website.
Brian is joined by our new security partner, Travis Ray, Director of Channel Sales with High Wire Networks to discuss scaling your security stack. Future proof your stack and make it scalable for all size clients and requirements. ‘In security, speed kills’ states Travis. What is needed for one client to ensure max remediation and response isn’t necessarily needed for another. One size never fits all so what does scaling individual customer needs look like and how are these needs best managed?
Brian talks with IT Channel veteran and consultant Mike Semel, President of Semel Consulting about compliance during Covid and the requirement to be managing data sprawl more than ever. There has been no change in the rules and compliance requirements are the same now as they were pre-Covid.
Mike provides some really good insights and things you need to be looking at to protect yourself and your business as they breakdown a recent lawsuit launched in Ohio against an MSP as a result of a Business Email Compromise attack.
One thing we know for sure is the bad guys won’t ever stop and are constantly adjusting their approach and attack vectors. This makes it critical for IT Service Providers to always be on high alert and ready to adjust and evolve their security stack and protocols.
Head Security Nerd at Solarwinds MSP, Gill Langston joins Brian to talk innovation in the Cybersecurity realm and provides some clarity on evolving your stack from both a technical standpoint as well as communicating effectively with your customers so these transitions aren’t met with resistance.
One thing we know for sure is that Covid-19 is driving massive change. Technological change that may have been hesitant to shift, however is now a necessity for businesses to survive. The common response we are hearing from business owners is that remote work forces will continue to be the norm long after we are through the current pandemic.
Brian talks with Secure Now CEO, Art Gross about the shift to a type of hybrid remote work force and the implications this brings to cybersecurity. The re-structured work force model opens the door for discussions that may have been previously procrastinated by the SMB but are now front and center. What this means for MSP models and the importance, more than ever for robust cybersecurity training for employees.
Brian sits down with Solutions Granted CEO, Michael Crean and VP of Business Development Jennifer Bleam to talk about translating technology and cybersecurity to your customers and prospects. Both Michael and Jennifer give some great analogies and stories you can use with your customers that will resonate and help you advance and elevate the conversation.
Solutions Granted are an MSSP that take a holistic approach in partnering with MSP’s to not only secure their clients, however also support with client conversations, whether its adding to their security stack or ensuring compliance is being met. You can find more information about Solutions Granted and contact info in our Security Solutions Showcase.
Brian talks with Gill Langston, Head Security Nerd at Solarwinds MSP, Kyle Hanslovan, CEO of Huntress Labs and Billy Austin, Co-Founder and President at Rocketcyber about how MSPs need to be assessing their clients security posture with a remote workforce and how they need to be taking a look at their own business model to adapt and succeed in a rapidly changing business environment.
Brian catches up with Robin Livesay, Director of Marketing for UpLevel Systems to discuss the security risks remote workers pose and how home networks can be secured and managed un-intrusively.
Brian sits down with IoTSSA’s newest partner ADT Cybersecurity. Heather Myers, Partner Channel Manager and Ron Culler, Senior Director Technology & Solutions are making enterprise level cybersecurity available to the SMB through the IT Channel and MSP partners.
What impact will there be to businesses who deployed mass work forces almost overnight back in March? They discuss dwell times and the potential damage that will result in unprotected home devices connecting to business networks once this pandemic is over. Many IT Service Providers are feeling overwhelmed with the potential risk exposure and aren’t sure where to begin. ADT Cybersecurity are positioned to be your security arm so that you can focus on growing your core IT business. A very warm welcome to ADT Cybersecurity coming on board with IoTSSA and our members.
We have been getting a lot of questions from IT Service Providers on emerging technologies and how they can start to implement these into their services offering. Brian talks with Ted Cole, VP of Channels and Strategic Partnerships with GPS Insight. They are a fleet management company with a focus on technology that utilizes IoT, AI and Edge Computing. Ted, who is a channel veteran is heading up their partner program which is designed to make it seamless for you and your customers.
You can email Ted directly for more information ted.cole@gpsinsight.com or visit https://www.gpsinsight.com/looking-to-partner/
Remote work forces for your clients have been set-up…now what? Brian talks with Infogressive CEO, Justin Kallhoff about securing remote workers and the vulnerabilities our businesses face in the current landscape.
They give some great insights on conversations you need to be having with your clients in order to effectively secure them remotely and protect their businesses. This is MSPs time to shine…IT Service Providers are one of the most essential services for business in today’s landscape.
Billy Austin, President and Co-Founder of RocketCyber talks with Brian about SOC as a Service and log monitoring being one of the largest pain points for MSPs protecting their clients and maintaining compliance.
Defense evasion is never going away. What steps are we taking to mitigate damage and loss for our customers? Billy gives us some insights into an attackers playbook and with extended dwell times on a network, what they are up to and trying to accomplish.
Brian discusses CompTIA’s recently released ‘Trends in Managed Services’ report with Director of Industry Analysis, Carolyn April.
MSPs moving toward an MSSP model continues to be not only an opportunity but a requirement in Managed Services whether built in house or partnering.
Exciting to see the movement toward a Managed IoT model for SMB’s. We have seen this on the horizon for a few years, MSPs leveraging their skill set to step in and assist their clients growing their business through technology. Carolyn explains that where the hardware and end point monitoring is seamless for MSPs, the real opportunity is going to come from the data collection and analytics for their customers to be able to maximize the IoT integration benefits.
A copy of the full report can be found here. Or you can email Carolyn directly with any comments or questions at capril@comptia.org
Brian has a round table with IoTSSA Advisory Board members Brian Weiss, CEO of ITech Solutions, Guy Baroan, President of Baroan Technologies and Ed Bensinger founder of Bensinger Consulting. They have a very candid and informative talk around what challenges and opportunities they are seeing with todays challenges.
Balancing potential loss against new opportunities and what they are doing to truly align with their clients as a partner and essential business service. Through this alignment they are seeing opportunities arise such as increased demand for Co-Managed Services leveraging their expertise and ability to remote monitor vastly expanded networks.
IoTSSA Advisory Board member, Eric Rieger from WebIT Services in Illinois joins Brian in a discussion with Rayanne Buchianico, President of ABC Solutions Accounting Firm and Geoff Lane, SR. Director of Public Advocacy at CompTIA to discuss the navigating the CARES Act.
The largest financial relief package since the great depression, there is of course a lot of information and dis-information floating around out there while businesses are trying to translate and interpret what they qualify for and what they don’t. ‘Always go to the source’, states Rayanne Buchianico.
Geoff Lane tells us that more is coming. A CARES act 3.1 is coming down the pipe that is expected to be a larger infrastructure package with another one coming behind it. Details will follow as the situation is changing almost by the hour.
Some useful links discussed:
Check with your local state governors on local support https://www.nga.org/
ABC Solutions Blog https://abcsolutionsfl.com/blog
CompTIA resource forum https://covid19.comptia.org/
IT Channel Veteran and Technology Attorney Brad Gross founder of Bradley Gross Law, talks with Brian about the legalities of Covid-19.
Are we putting our techs at risk when deploying them out in the field? What can we do to protect our staff and ourselves while we navigate through this difficult time? Brad gives us some great insights on things we can be doing and need to be aware of such as scope of work creep, enforcement of business policies and maintaining confidentiality while we are mobilized. Is your documentation and statements of work in order, not just for today but for when we come out of this beyond the curve?
Listen and watch closely as Brad has also extended a very generous offer to IoTSSA members and our Podcast audience!
In the face of today’s challenges it’s clear that we truly are better together. As the saying goes ‘It takes a village’, can truly be applied to not just the IT Channel rather any and all social and business dynamics across the globe. How is our mental health holding up through this fight with a faceless enemy and how are our partners and colleagues coping?
Brian checks in with Channel veterans Scott Barlow, VP Global MSP at Sophos, Zak Karsan, CEO of Vault America and Dan Wensley, CEO at Warranty Master to see how they are coping and what mechanisms they are turning to and using. They also discuss not only what they personally are doing to help support colleagues and partners but also what their companies are offering and doing to ensure we all come out of this better and stronger. As Dan says ‘We have the opportunity now to work on our business, not in it’.