Safer Internet Day is celebrated today, Feb. 11. It’s a day dedicated to teaching everybody, especially young people, how to enhance safety on the internet.  “Together for a Better Internet” is the theme of Safer Internet Day, and everybody is getting involved including youth, parents, educators, administrators, government leaders, as well as the tech industry. To get Tech Data’s perspective, I sat down with Brett Scott, Director of Security and Enablement Training and Tech Data’s Cyber Range expert, to discuss internet safety and how our Cyber Range, among the first-ever in IT distribution, is helping in this crucial endeavor.

Tech Data hosted its inaugural Security Enforce conference, Nov. 13-15 at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix, Arizona. 

The theme of this year’s Security Enforce Conference was “Wielding the Shield of Collaboration.” Many of the sessions focused on providing partners with the connections, offerings and strategies needed to assist in shielding your customers from the evolving threat landscape. 

The cybersecurity skills gap is well documented. According to (ISC)2 research, the shortage of cybersecurity professionals is nearly three million globally with close to half a million in the U.S. alone. What’s more, 60 percent of those surveyed say their companies are at moderate or extreme risk of cybersecurity attacks due to this shortage.

Today, MSPs (managed service providers) and MSSPs (managed security service providers) face unique challenges meeting the threats and business requirements of cybersecurity. Not only must they ensure that their network service delivery platform is secure from cyberbreaches, but they must also ensure the customers with whom they connect are secure so bad actors can’t use their customer to pivot into their platform.

With security threats becoming more advanced, Security and Information Management need to be a top priority. Education and awareness are essential. Whether its best practices, security trends, or developing a foundational knowledge of security technologies, being informed is paramount. TechData’s Security Practice Foundations blog series can help you build a strong foundation of security knowledge.

Growing up, spy thrillers were among my favorite movies. There was Sean Connery as the sophisticated James Bond, in classics like Goldfinger and later, Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me. Then, fast-forward 30 years to a new breed of spy with the unassuming Jason Bourne of the Bourne Trilogy. Although unique in their styles, all the characters exemplified grace under pressure and an uncanny intuition of knowing when they were being watched and how to slip

 Meltdown and Spectre are read-only attacks or disclosure attacks. In other words, these exploits do not directly force code execution in the OS kernel, in other virtual machines or other programs. However, one could possibly use information gathered from these attacks to feed it into a code execution attack.  The primary risk is in stealing information versus controlling a system.

A comprehensive cybersecurity plan is no longer installing the best anti-virus software on the market. With today’s environment, this singular approach is not enough to keep a business (or individual) safe from cybercriminals. Understanding the basics and the building blocks for a comprehensive security strategy is the best defense. 

More and more, hackers are turning their attention from banks and financial institutions to healthcare organizations. Why? Because they see healthcare companies as low-hanging fruit.

It’s been more than a year since the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) breach that exposed the personal information of millions of U.S. Federal workers. You’ve probably seen the news – the breach exposed personal information from a jaw-dropping 22 million people including finger prints, social security numbers and other private information. Victims included current and former Federal employees, retirees, contractors and others who had undergone Federal background checks. It brought to light the need for extreme vigilance in today’s cyber world.