A situation where an organization can have a combination of both internal IT employees and a Managed Service Provider that is cheaper and more effective (and secure) then an exclusive use of either. There are 3 types of Co-Managed IT service agreements organizations can enter into.

On July 5, in court, Travelers said it would not have issued a cyber insurance policy to an electronics manufacturing services company if they knew the company was not using MFA as it said. Recently that company suffered a ransomware attack.

SSL certificates are important in IT. You go visit a web site and you want to know it’s safe. That the owner is who they say they are. The data on the site itself is secure and it’s not a fake site created by a bad actor.

Silo IT is a form of IT services or support, usually as part of a Co-Managed IT relationship. The Internal IT folks of your organization might be doing a splendid job, but there’s this one thing they just don’t handle.

So let’s talk about accounting and we’ll then get to cybersecurity.

Back in 1929 we had the great depression and it was great. One of the things that really came to light was that it was caused by faulty manipulative reporting practices and businesses. Businesses weren’t being safe, weren’t being cautious, they were extremely vulnerable and they were caught.

We love to talk details, because it’s how we think in IT. Heck, it’s how we’re paid to think because details is where it’s at. But discussing those complex issues to someone who doesn’t have the background? Or interest? Or, most importantly, the need to understand to the level we do?

So if you’re in the IT field, learn to communicate better. And start by picking up these 3 explanation devices: similes, metaphors and analogies.

The domain name system or DNS is kind of like a phone book. When you try to go to something on either a public network or a private network odds are DNS will get you there.

The most common instance of this is when you go to a website, that is actually translated in the background to what’s called an IP address and routed to that website so you can see it, all in the background.

We’ve all been in that situation where someone in our group, could be a lunch or dinner, whatever, has this great idea. And the great idea essentially is this, if we do this, then this will happen and it’ll be great. We’ll be rich, we’ll make lots of money, we’ll be popular, we’ll go viral, whatever. And you know it’s a bad idea usually because it’s unrealistic, it isn’t well thought through, it has all sorts of nuance to it, whatever.

The fact is, a lot of us can be judged as stupid based on one bad practice or habit. Sometimes that habit is a personal one. Other times it can impact our entire family or even organization. So we shouldn’t judge a person as a complete idiot unless we’re ready to turn the mirror around and look at our own behavior.

That said…it’s time to start taking security seriously.

We’re talking about multi-factor authentication. So what does that mean? You might be more familiar with “two factor authentication”

Simplex-IT will be exhibiting and holding a Cyber Security seminar at this year’s AmCon Advanced Design & Manufacturing Expo. The expo is being held at the Huntington Convention Center, Hall A, on Tuesday May 3rd from 9:30am - 3:30pm and Wednesday May 4th from 9:30am - 3:00pm

Attend the Simplex-IT Seminar: Cyber Security 101 Tuesday May 3rd, 12:45 pm to 1:45 pm.

So, Microsoft 365, their pricing, their arrogance, their, their ughhh I want to, what?

Here’s the one most telling thing about Microsoft’s latest changes, things that they’ve done that have outraged the Microsoft partner community and Microsoft resellers. What’s plan B? And what I mean by that is not just what are you going to do with your clients? Are you going to have them go to Google Docs ?

You’re in IT, I’m in IT, and you know something, we love us some good data. Start with Charles Joseph Minards “March on Moscow”, a fantastic graphical display, and it answers questions.

So how do you answer questions about data when you don’t even know what data you have? You should create for your organization a data database. Really all this needs to be to start out with is a list of all the databases that you folks have internally. These can be applications, ERP, MRP systems, customer support systems, whatever, as well as anything that you can get from 3rd parties.

You may have something in common with my younger grandkids. Not just the total lack of respect for me – but a love of infrastructure! My youngest three, oh boy, they love playing with infrastructure!

This is their latest infrastructure project in the basement of our house. What, you thought it was going to be a network or something..? They’re like 3 to 7 years old! But it does follow the traditional definition of infrastructure.

So you’re the internal IT Person and you’re expected to know everything about MS 365, I mean Office 365, I mean Windows 365…you get the idea, right?

Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a website that you could go to and be able to really dig deep into the features and specifics of the various 365 subscriptions? And I’m not talking about a Microsoft site either! Ooh, and compare them against one another? Maybe really figure out what you need?

So if your country’s being attacked, invaded, and essentially just under siege, who are you going to call, Microsoft?

I want to call your attention to something that’s going on in terms of the Russian invasion and attacks on Ukraine that really brought Microsoft front and center. And this information is taken from primarily a post from Brad Smith, President and Vice-chair of Microsoft who talks about the roles that Microsoft played and it’s a pretty cool story actually.

Apparently, I want to buy cars in England, I want to sign up for anything that moves, and I want to have meetings with lots of people, or are these email scams?

I’ve noticed recently that there’s a significant increase in companies that are claiming that I’ve signed up for their services, even if it’s a 30 day demo or the like, and if I just click here I’ll finish setting up my demo. Problem is I haven’t heard of any of these guys.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of 100 battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer defeat. And if you know neither the enemy or yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

The reason I’m bringing it up is you’re the leader of an organization and you need to know what the bad guys are trying to do.

Trust me. No two words have such a wide array of implications. It’s the punchline of a joke. An appeal for help. An appeal to help. But here’s my question. What kind of trusts are there? And do we get them mixed up?

Computers are becoming more and more interactive every day, from video games giving you an ego boost by telling you, “You’re the hero of Gandor”, to your smart devices cheering you up when you’re feeling down. “Hey phone, make me feel better.” Haha, time well spent, thank you phone. But could the future of psychology be actually artificial?