Thanks to marketers, salespeople, and old school big-iron IT grognards, the term "Cloud Computing" has become as amorphous as its puffy, shapeshifting namesake. Movies, commercials, scandals, and phone features have thrown the term around to the point where it has become very difficult for the average IT professional to define. Cloud has hit a point in its hype cycle where people understand just enough to be dangerous -- and this lack of knowledge tends to lead to misconception and oversimplification of an otherwise deeply stratified and diverse set of technologies. In this blog post, I aim to debunk for the Cloud Noobs out there…
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"We need to be compliant so we can pass an audit!" This phrase makes us shudder. Forget being compliant because it is the right thing to do - or because it more times than not leads you down a path to better configuration management or stronger business processes. Many organizations view compliance as an obstacle they must overcome. It impacts numerous business areas, and cybersecurity is no exception. From NERC-CIP to NIST to SOC 2, organizations scramble to make sure their policies and technologies meet these different standards. Whether they do this because it's right or because it's required is only a…
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Sometimes it is really nice being a tech geek. I have been obsessing, recently, about something that probably 99% of homeowners don't even consider - the physical and logical design of my home network. Businesses consider network design all the time. They consider the repercussions of cat5, coax and fiber. They segment subnets and VLANs for various reasons. But as a tech geek, I have to bring my work home. Lately, though, I've been forcing myself to face a hard question -- "at what point do I say, 'that's good enough.'?" A few weeks ago, the Security Now podcast covered a segment called…
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A week ago news broke that a major energy infrastructure company that is responsible for delivering fuel to stations from Texas to New Jersey fell victim to a ransomware attack. The attack manifested in the operator, Colonial Pipeline, shutting down all operations of the nearly 5,500 mile long distribution pipe. Media outlets have focused on the consumer impacts - potential gas shortages likely to result in a higher fuel demand which could lead to price hikes. What the main news networks haven't really discussed much is how an attack like this can occur, how often it happens, and what companies…
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Alpine Cyber's Managed Firewall Services will help keep your company's network secure through 24/7 management and monitoring by seasoned security professionals. Learn more about what a firewall is, who needs one and why we’re the partner you need to help manage it. What is a Firewall? A firewall is a network security device designed to monitor and control traffic based on defined security rules. It filters incoming and outgoing traffic to ensure there is no atypical or unauthorized use, blocks specific and potentially harmful traffic, and provides alerts for any harmful traffic identified. What are Managed Firewall Services? Managed Firewall…
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