MSP 1337 | Cybersecurity Education and Security Guidance

Most of us can relate to a client grading system. We grade client's prompt bill payments, how they treat our techs, demands, or requests that sometimes seem outlandish or impossible. In our ever-changing world of managed services, we are now layering on security service offerings that have potential consequences that may include ourselves when declined.

Join me this week as I sit down with Jim Harryman of Kinetic Technology Group to discuss client risk and how to address it. Our goal is that our listeners would see a path towards exiting a relationship with a client as a last resort (pertaining to cybersecurity). Jim has some great tips, and I think we would all agree that none of us want to see our clients succumb to ransomware or other threats due to refusing to implement cybersecurity recommendations.

If you haven't seen the NIST definition of Zero Trust, then you have come to the right episode.  I sit down with Bryan Sullo of Clock Tower Technologies to discuss what Zero Trust really means to those of us who operate in the realm of an MSP.  As we go in circles on zero trust, we begin to unpack the cybersecurity stack and compare it to balancing a checkbook. 

I'm not sure we have the full comprehensive answer, so if you have ideas or suggestions related to this episode or a topic you would like us tackle in the future, please send them to [email protected]

Thanks to MSP-Ignite for helping us make this episode happen.

Do you ever feel like you aren't the expert?  You are meeting with a prospect or an existing client, and you suddenly doubt your abilities... If you have ever been there and felt like you were just weren't good enough and what do the clients or prospects think when we don't have an answer.  

Join me as I sit down with Joshua Smith, former business partner, and a cybersecurity expert himself, as we navigate imposter Syndrome.  This is a vulnerable episode as we admin some of our challenges early on in our careers and how we overcame our limitations to continue being the experts in the room with our prospects and clients.  Expertise isn't a destination; it's a journey.  Remember that imposter syndrome is self-inflicted.

Thanks to MSP Ignite for helping us make this happen. Do you ever feel like you aren't the expert?  You are meeting with a prospect or an existing client, and you suddenly doubt your abilities... If you have ever been there and felt like you were just weren't good enough and what do the clients or prospects think when we don't have an answer.  

Thanks to MSP Ignite for helping us make this happen.

Starting with Communication and what is appropriate?  We will discuss the different types of communication and when they should be used to have effective communication.  When to use Chat, when to use email, when to use phones, and text messaging.  This leads us down the path for incident response and other more urgent communications are getting to the right person and read.

I sit down this week with Matthew Schroeder a grad student at Lindenwood University to talk about communication protocols and how they should be used correctly to ensure that we get our messages to the appropriate party as quickly as possible.

Thanks to our sponsor and partner MSP-Ignite for making this happen.

As the podcast series has grown to more than 30 episodes it is starting to feel like  Deja vu.  We have topics to choose from that will likely go on indefinitely but is there a pattern to this madness as we work together to go on the offensive.  The threat actors are still getting away with huge ransoms tied to poorly implemented configurations, protections not properly installed alongside people who still click on the link or use weak passwords.

Join me this week with the return of Eric Hanson of Inland Productivity Solutions as we talk about why it's different this time.  Finally, we have a breach or a series of breaches that everyone is paying attention to.  If we can reduce our client's risk we can reduce our own risk. We have to take responsibility and accountability for our data in order to see real change.  Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. Our Cyber insurance companies are asking questions about our security posture before they will continue coverage.  What is needed to get our clients to recognize their risks that in turn is our risk?  It's time to get brutally honest with our clients.

Thanks to our sponsor and partner MSP-Ignite for making this happen.

Is there hope in the fight against ransomware?  In this week's episode, I sit down with Greg Edwards of CryptoStopper to discuss ransomware and other exciting topics.  It is long past due that we get proactive and take the fight to the bad guys.  There is hope and it isn't a single product or service but more an approach.  If you haven't met Greg Edwards you are in for a treat as he talks about his journey as an MSP fighting what seemed like a losing battle with ransomware and how a change in how they approach the fight isn't out of reach for the rest of us.

Thanks Again to our partner and sponsor MSP-Ignite.

Recently Common Controls Framework put out a survey that asked respondents questions about how well they know the people in their client's companies and the people that work there. I thought I would really like to understand what went behind the questions and what the survey results looked like... So I reached out to Dorian Cougias, CEO and founder of Common Controls Framework. After several conversations about the schemas and research that goes into a KYC exercise, we were able to put together this episode that focuses on the importance of KNowing Your Client.

Join me this week as Dorian and I go on a journey down the rabbit hole of who people are underneath the surface and not just what they listed or didn't list on their resume or LinkedIn profile.  This episode focus on the need for answers to these two questions:

1. What is your client's truth posture?

2. What is your client's security posture?

Thanks again to our partner and sponsor, MSP-Ignite, for making this happen.

A recent post on Linkedin asked whether you do Table Top Exercises internally or with your clients?  It hit me right between the eyes.  We talk about the need to do them, and I am guilty of not getting past the conversation stage, so I decided to sit down with the guy who posted the question.  

Join me this week as I sit down with Art Gross of Breach Secure Now to talk about tabletop exercises and how we don't have to make it complicated.

This week I sit down with a former student, Matthew Schroeder, to talk about his take on cybersecurity.  What inspired him to pursue a path in cybersecurity and the opportunities that await.  While we do go down a rabbit hole or two, it is important to know that we are really focused on sharing our cybersecurity passions and answering some questions around automation and people.  Did I mention people? 

Thanks again to our sponsor Pinpoint Solutions, LLC, and our partner MSP-Ignite for making this happen.

People and Privacy, From one office of twenty or thirty employees to twenty offices of one employee per home office.  2020 was difficult for all of us as we adapted to new working conditions both at home (most of us) and at the office or school, where you might have to follow vastly different protocols to stay safe.  

This week I am joined by Raffi Jamgotchian of Triada Networks to talk about privacy and an increasing request for Secure Access Service Edge (SASE). We uncover that while security in the workplace is paramount, its privacy on the consumer side is really at the core.  End users love checking their email on their personal phones as it's convenient but try getting them to install a 2FA app on their phone, and now you are trying to get them to submit to an Orwellian workplace.

Thanks again to our sponsor Pinpoint Solutions, LLC, and our partner MSP-Ignite for making this happen.