Able-One Blog

The cyber security and information security space is constantly evolving, and the number of incidents has significantly increased in recent years.

According to PWC’s 2015 Global State of Information Security Survey 2015, the total number of global incidents increased 66% in 2014 to 42.8 million incidents from 28.9 million in 2013.

In addition to keeping up with traditional information and cyber security, professionals now have to stay abreast of issues around mobile, wearables, internet of things and more.

Here are 10 of our favourite security blogs to cover a range of security topics ranging from recent breaches, privacy, techniques, strategy and more.

1. TechRepublic Security

The TechRepublic Security blog is targeted to IT decision makers and professionals who need practical strategies and guidance on threats surrounding cyber security.

www.techrepublic.com/topic/security

2. Wired – Threat Level

General news and commentary on online security, threat alerts and privacy make up the majority of articles on this blog.

www.wired.com/category/threatlevel

3. Information Week - Dark Reading

Dark Reading is a news site that’s updated on a daily basis with news on IT security, recent breaches, software issues, and enterprise challenges.

www.darkreading.com

4. Google Online Security Blog

This office blog from Google contains the latest news and insights from Google on security and safety on the Internet and mobile, including Android.

googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.ca

5. PC Mag – Security Watch

The security section of PC Mag is suitable for both security professionals and end users. With both articles and videos, there’s a large amount of regularly updated content that’s editorial quality.

securitywatch.pcmag.com

6. Panda Security Blog

This blog from Panda Security, covers everything from mobile to internet security, breaches and tips on managing

www.pandasecurity.com/mediacenter

7. CIO – Security

This blog features security product reviews and news coverage of the industry. The quality and depth of the articles is suitable for IT professionals and other security professionals.

www.cio.com/category/security

8. Info-Security Magazine

Info-Security is an online magazine focused on strategy, news and in-depth techniques for cyber security professionals. The site includes white papers, guides and webinars and articles in topics from encryption to malware, to digital forensics.

www.infosecurity-magazine.com

9. TripWire – State of Security

This blog is regularly updated with news, trends and insights on recent breaches and privacy issues. In 2014, Tripwire’s The State of Security was named the “Best Corporate Blog” and “Most Entertaining Security Blog.”

www.tripwire.com/state-of-security

10. E-Hacking

This is a community blog for information security experts and ethical hackers that help them to learn latest tools and techniques to achieve their goals.

www.ehacking.net

Bonus: 11. Informatica

Informatica is one of the security partners we work who helps protect billions of dollars, millions of hours of productivity and longstanding reputations of businesses. Their cybersecurity blog provides commentary on a range of issues from breaches to trends and more.

informatica.ca/content/blog

For more resources and updates in cyber security, IT security and enterprise technology, sign up for our monthly newsletter here.

Keeping up with the pace of change and growing your small or medium-sized business can be a big challenge in 2015.

There are many things to worry about including finding new customers, hiring the right people, financing your business, and ensuring that your technology and infrastructure can support your business. Increasingly, SMB’s are looking for managed services providers to support their organizations’ IT needs while they focus on their core business. 

The challenge then becomes selecting the right partner to help support and manage your environment. Working with a managed services provider can help your business save money while giving you access to expert specialized capabilities that you may not have been able to leverage with an in-house team.

This post will outline some of the factors to consider when you’re thinking of using a managed services provider.

1. Do they have experience with your environment?

Your partner should have experience with the technology that you are utilizing. Furthermore, they should understand your industry and business, and how the utilization of technology affects its many stakeholders.

2. Who are their key partners? 

If the provider supports certain types of hardware and software, do they have established vendor relationships? For example, if your key technology vendor is IBM, are they an IBM Premier Partner? The more formalized the partnership, the more likely the provider is proactive with training and skilled in supporting the solutions.

3. What processes and tools do they leverage?

An experienced managed services provider will detect problems before they become apparent to your users or customers.  The processes and tools they use to support your environment are essential. Take the time to understand how they will proactively support your organization.

4. Are they large enough to scale?

Your provider should have a large enough team to maintain consistent operations and service levels despite employee vacations and unexpected time off, as well as have the ability to meet resource requirements for large projects. Smaller providers may not be able to meet all of their SLA commitments with their current team.

5. How long have they been in business?

It is fairly easy to set-up a managed services business, but it is difficult to be successful at it for a number of years. Look for experience and references in your provider.

6. Can you talk to the support team?

Talk to the support team, not just the sales people, when you’re evaluating providers. Ensure that you can comfortably communicate and work with the engineers that will be supporting your users and managing your environment. This will help validate their capabilities and experience.  If the provider does not want you to speak with the technical team, that could be a red flag.

7. What are their SLAs? 

Do their service level commitments exceed the requirements to support your business? It is essential that the SLAs align with your business operations and that the effects of unplanned downtime on the business are thoroughly understood.

8. Is their pricing competitive?

You don’t want to choose the least expensive managed services provider if it means that they may not meet the SLAs you require to effectively run your business. It also does not make sense to select a vendor that has included a level of service and SLA’s in their proposal and pricing that far exceed your business needs.

9. What if you need strategic help? 

Many organizations cannot justify hiring a full time CIO. It is one thing to manage an existing environment, but how do you evaluate and implement strategic IT investments that position your business for future growth and cost savings? You may want to ask if your provider has Virtual CIO capabilities to assist in designing and executing the strategy when needed.

 If the right managed services provider is selected, the cost savings and operational benefits can be significant.

Going into our 27^th year of business, Able-One has been providing managed services for nearly a decade. If you would like additional information, please contact me directly at grant.sojnocki@ableone.com or at 800-461-2253 ext. 7330.

In November 2014, Able-One moved our head office from 100 Campbell Avenue to 127 Victoria Street South in the Innovation District of Kitchener, Ontario. When the team was considering location options for the new office, we couldn’t imagine leaving the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

This Kitchener-Waterloo region is a hub for Canadian technology companies and we wanted to continue to be part of the community. One of the best things about the community in Waterloo region is all the support available to help technology companies grow and succeed.

Here are 6 organizations in the Waterloo region that every startup and growing business should know about.

Communitech

Communitech’s mantra is to help tech companies start, grow and succeed. They were founded in 1997 by a group of dedicated entrepreneurs who wanted to raise the profile of the Waterloo Region tech community. The Communitech Hub is just down the street from our office.

Communitech is a great rallying centre for the tech community on Waterloo Region. They have great events, spaces, programs, and entrepreneurs in residence that can help tech organizations as they grow. Their Tech Leadership conference (http://techleadership.ca/) in May is one of the best local events each year.

Accelerator Centre

The Accelerator Centre provides a combination of in-house mentorship, educational programming, facilities, networking, and access to funding and facility services, with a goal of building successful companies.  They help entrepreneurs start, scale, accelerate their time to market, and attract customers, investment and revenue. They are located in Waterloo, Ontario within the David Johnston Research + Technology Park, and at the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus in Stratford, Ontario. 

Velocity

In 2008 the University of Waterloo created Velocity. The first Velocity program was a residence on campus. Since then, Velocity has grown into a set of six interlinked entrepreneurial initiatives: Velocity Residence, Velocity Garage, Velocity Alpha, Velocity Science, Velocity Foundry and the Velocity Fund Finals (VFF). Velocity’s commitment to education, idea sharing and the creation of support systems has allowed it to become a highly successful startup community, which contributed to the success of companies like Kik, Thalmic Labs, BufferBox, Vidyard and MappedIn.

Laurier Entrepreneur

At the heart of Laurier Entrepreneur is the Schlegel Centre for Entrepreneurship which is inspired by the vital role entrepreneurs play in society and driven by a desire to educate and create opportunities for students in the area of entrepreneurship. It provides support for the entire entrepreneurship community at Laurier and integrates entrepreneurship into the classroom. There are also Launchpad initiatives in KW and in Brantford.

Waterloo Region Manufacturing Innovation Network

The Waterloo Region Manufacturing Innovation Network (MIN) is a free online network for manufacturers in the Waterloo region and their stakeholders.  MIN’s mission is to connect key stakeholder groups in Waterloo region’s manufacturing sector to strengthen the local supply chain and create a more responsive and globally competitive manufacturing community. There are many great hardware organizations that are growing out of Waterloo region, not just software startups.

The Canadian Digital Media Network

The Canadian Digital Media Network is dedicated to establishing Canada as a world leader in digital media (ICT + mobile) by creating and enabling connections and collaboration between entrepreneurs, companies, research institutions, government and intermediary organizations across the country.

Major initiatives include an exclusive online national collaboration platform; an online Research Portal that provides one-stop access to important information about key digital media issues; the CDMN Soft Landing program to drive Canadian success globally; National Tour events enable companies to go global; and CDMN Canada 3.0, Canada’s only national digital media conference focused on the commercialization of innovation. 

If you are a startup in the KW area, we are interested in playing a role to help you grow.  We are always looking for new partners that have solutions for security, modernization, managed services, and other technology innovations.  Please contact us at info@ableone.com if you are interested in talking. We may be able to offer some mentorship or even a path to market for your solution.