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2016/02/25

BulletproofIT achieves CompTIA Security Trustmark+ Certification

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bulletproof InfoTech Earns CompTIA Security Trustmark+ - Validation that BulletproofIT uses industry accepted security best practices

Calgary, AB, Dec 9 2015  Bulletproof InfoTech, an IT Managed Services Provider for small and medium sized business, announced today it has received the CompTIA Security Trustmark+ from CompTIA, the non-profit association for world's information technology (IT) industry.

The CompTIA Security Trustmark+ validates that BulletproofIT uses the security processes identified by the IT industry as generally accepted best practices and has been evaluated by an independent third-party assessor as meeting the criteria established by the CompTIA Security Trustmark+. Based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, the CompTIA Security Trustmark+ is a comprehensive review of the security posture of any IT business, applicable across multiple industries and compliance regulations.

"The CompTIA Security Trustmark+ signifies that BulletproofIT adheres to our industry's highest standards for security practices and business processes in critical components of identification, protection, detection, response, and recovery as related to data security," said Nancy Hammervik, senior vice president, industry relations, CompTIA. "Earning the Security Trustmark+ demonstrates a true commitment to address the challenges of security compliance facing our industry today."

Security Trustmark+ really makes you think hard about all of the various processes that simply have to be put in place to handle any situation, security or otherwise.  We feel equipped to handle any scenario while following the Trustmark framework - Sean Tindall, P.Eng, President, Bulletproof InfoTech

To earn the CompTIA Security Trustmark+ Bulletproof InfoTech successfully passed an independent assessment of their security policies, capabilities, practices, and processes against industry best practices in areas such as:
  • Security technologies, including firewalls, anti-Virus/ malware/ spyware and intrusion detection
  • Vulnerability assessment detection
  • Data encryption
  • Technical employee knowledge/expertise
  • Security clearances and background checks
  • Physical and hardware security
  • Permissions, passwords and other security requirements
For more information on the CompTIA Security Trustmark visit http://www.comptia.org/trustmarks/security-trustmark-plus.

About Bulletproof InfoTech
Bulletproof InfoTech is celebrating its 29th year supporting small business networks in Alberta and beyond.  They specialize in delivering flat fee managed services to IT dependent companies, allowing clients to have greater budget predictability and focus more on their business instead of worrying about leveraging technology.

Contact:Sean Tindall, P.Eng., President
Bulletproof InfoTech Inc
403 340 1011

BulletproofIT achieves CompTIA Security Trustmark+ Certification

2015/09/09

Don't forget about the old school

I'm downsizing my network at home and I want to get rid of my on-premise domain controller.  So I'm converting to using Azure AD and Windows 10 machines.  All of my devices have been upgraded to Windows 10, but because I also happen to use Google Apps and Google Drive, I ran into THIS annoying problem:

Google Drive on Windows 10 with Azure AD Sign in will not start properly: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/drive/-Q3no-2OoRw

So, temporarily forced back to using local logins, I was also faced with implementing login restrictions.  Windows 10 Parental Controls are TOO restrictive for my tastes (in addition to now FORCING you to use Microsoft Accounts for all family members), so after some digging I discovered this old school way.  Basically, you can't do login restrictions for local accounts from the GUI, but you can from the command line, below.  You'll probably want to combine this with screen saver timeouts forced with local policy editor:

net user username /times:m-th,2pm-4pm;f-s,1pm-3pm;su,6pm-8pm

So, this will have to suffice until Google Drive fixes their issue with Azure AD logins, and Azure AD lets us perform user logon restrictions like on-prem AD does.

2015/04/17

Now this is hot....replication to Azure

This tab has been sitting open in my browser since the day Aidan announced it:

http://www.aidanfinn.com/?p=17544

So I finally did it today, and now one of our mission critical servers is currently replicating itself to Azure.  Can't wait to test it.

http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/hyper-v-recovery-manager-hypervsite/

2015/04/09

Windows Nano Server & Hyper-V Containers

Oh man, I really need to spend some time to go through all this cool new stuff coming in Windows Server.  VM containers, Nano Servers, oh my.

http://www.aidanfinn.com/?p=17888

2015/03/09

Not upgrading from Windows Server 2003?

Aidan Finn running into some obvious frustration with people pushing back against moving away from Windows Server 2003...people that should know better.

http://www.aidanfinn.com/?p=17751

2015/03/04

Great Article on Cryptowall 3.0 from blogs.cisco.com

Worth a read:

http://blogs.cisco.com/security/talos/cryptowall-3-0

My only question is why would the dropper care whether it's running in a virtual environment?  A bit more digging reveals that the malware author is assuming that if his code ends up running in a VM, it's probably a sandbox and being studied, so the malicious code refuses to co-operate.  Clever.

Here's the analysis of Cryptowall 2.0, from the same blog:

blogs.cisco.com/security/talos/cryptowall-2

2015/02/20

Is my blog dead?

No, my blog is not dead.  Well, I guess it is, sorta.  I've been extremely busy in both my personal and professional life, and since writing is last on my list of things to do, that's how my blog ends up so dusty and stale.  I've been doing some cool stuff though:

- checking out Check Point's new SMB appliances (underwhelmed)
- re-engaging with CompTIA's Security Trustmark process
- learning lots of Hyper-V tips and tricks from Aidan Finn
- getting back into lifting heavy and often using Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program
- continuing to contribute and play for my local rugby club
- helping run an IT consulting firm, no big deal
- watching my three amazing kids grow into men

So yeah, got a few things going on.  I'll try and add more interesting stuff though.