The IT Security Attaché

The current state of our economic and global interconnectivity infrastructure relies heavily and in some cases solely on the adoption, use and services of technology today and for tomorrow. More and more we’re seeing the integration and use of technology in the home, school, places of learning and other institutions that confirms that our decency on these things are far from going away or over. Yet, unchecked, we’re still in a money making and financial gains mode when it comes to providing the education, awareness, knowledge of the convergence of technology and the World Wide Web for us as a people.

The ridiculous notion of our infrastructure being secured by over government or independent entities that limit partnerships and associations to only high levels, is a sure sign of the failure of the systems of security for tomorrow. Until and unless we unite in this fight against these issues and the growing trends by which they are being introduced, we will always be vulnerable by our weakest, untrained and not knowledgeable links (citizens, business, educators, advisors, technologists), . We are vulnerable through the process of omission, omitting those we think are not a critical part of the infrastructure or the need to help in securing it. The high costs of securing our infrastructure does not include user education and general awareness as a proactive move. It is only when something happens and the issues/problems are of a great magnitude/impact that we see the levels of attention and focus being put to it, then comes the irritating comments of if we had known or if we had acted sooner.

What will it take for us to give the needed attention and focus to these issues before they become problems?
When and where will we see the integration and coordination of all levels of society getting involved in this initiative?
Who can speak on all levels for all levels?

These are different times, different types of warfare, different types of attacks with more sophistication, more widespread impact and yet, still, we’re limiting the resources needed to endorse, support and finance these educational and awareness needs. We are falling behind in the fight to keep up with the demand of technology products and solutions because the hardware vendors mission to bring us the latest and greatest products with more feature rich functions, speed, storage and settings. This is one fight that by its very simplicity, involves our youths/children and those of early learning without even going outside their boundaries. The threats are looking for us, looking for vulnerabilities in our systems, looking for our private and personal information, looking for anything it can on and about us and our businesses, where we work and how we live.

Will you leave yourself vulnerable because you didn’t take the time to learn more about them or practice safe computing?
How do we address this on a global scale where the minds and concerns of our youths are addressed in regards to technology, privacy and securing them?
Who educates the educators and provides them with the needed resources to speak to the technology advancements being seen and felt in our society today within the classrooms?

Our youths are educating the educators, the parents and the more senior members of our society. While the adults and seniors are busy living their day to day lives, the youths have all this extra time on their hands to play with that makes that the perfect educational resource for tomorrow. Educating them about the internet and how technology integrates and affects our daily lives today and tomorrow will help them to be better netizens. There are too many unknowns into what is the most sophisticated and interconnected network every built and running.

We are too controlling over our youths without the right focus on these things. It is not about taking away the access or resources of the internet, it is about educating them more on its values, proper use and how to manage their online presence and identity. Social Networks, Social Media, personal and professional messaging ethic, etiquette, general internet usage and the Threats Landscape are all critical topics that should be integrated into our school systems curriculum today to allow these kinds of thoughts from an early age and stage of development. More funding and resources should be put into programs, groups, organizations that focus on these critical resources training for tomorrow. Our lower school educational systems are lacking the integration of technology, privacy, internet usage and protection training that suits our youths today. Youths are exposed and have access to these internet resources at home without proper education and awareness as to how to use and manage them until something happens and a life is taken  or at stake and further investigation reveals that he/she had a secret life online that was very troubled and now this.

This is where our educational institutions should be filling in the gap and providing the additional focus and attention on these things. Engaging local subject matter experts, vendors, developers and other technology leaders to come in and give real world experience and open discussion is a critical need for our youths. Let us engage the youths in open dialog on and about technology, IT Security, privacy and other concerns they may have. Let us open up those channels of communications so they can be better served and ready for the superhighway ride ahead.

Let us not waste time in helping to foster the needed understanding, education and awareness needed for our youths as they have and are actively engaged in using them every day. What better way to put this knowledge craving to use than by helping them along the way.

IT Security is a people problem, not an industry one. We are all at risk.

Thank you and have a great day,
 
~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

Good day to you,

Please join us on Facebook and Twitter if you’re a member of those networks.

Twitter – ITSec_SocialNet

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arverne-NY/TITSSNs-Technology-and-IT-Security-Social-Network/176768755352

Thank you and have a great day,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

We added a MicroBlogging feature to our social network to enhance the personal experience of our members and getting the kind of “more personal” collaboration between them. This is available for all members and we ask that everyone activate their MicroBlog and allow followers. You should also check out the rest of the members that are of interest and follow them as well.

This is a feature like Twitter but internal to the network. I must say I find it very valuable for me as I have to constantly post updates and it allows the tracking of each and the threads that build on it.

So take a few minutes and check out the MicroBlog in your profile. Who knows, you may get followers.

Thank you and have a great day,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

As a network that hosts various kinds/levels of local and online businesses, we are always striving to enhance the visibility of our membership resources to those in need of their services. It is for this reason that we created the business directory within our network so we could add the additional features needed for our members to add and promote their businesses and what they do best. We needed a way to allow the creation of these businesses with the direct interaction from the network in order for the full extent of our services to be seen and known.

Business owners can create a page about their business, services they offer, areas of specialty, contact information with the ability to have comments and feedback. This is an invaluable feature as it creates direct interaction between our members, the service providers and those on need of it.

As an added value to our local member business owners, we are offering special discounted pricing to them for their continued support of our group meetings, local events and the network. This fee is being waived as a special promotion for the month of October and you must get to it now. We hope this will be a valuable feature for our business entrepreneurs as we build on the vast and extensive resources of our network. As we continue to grow, so will the values and availability of this feature.

The business directory can be viewed here http://titssn.org/businesses.php.

Thank you and have a great day,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

Our ENGAGED promotion for October kicks off on the 15^th with many goodies and value for our members. You must be an active member of the network to benefit from the program and so start getting involved and building up your points. Points are critical to getting some of the special gifts and giveaways.

We’re working on the network and adding the giveaways into the gifts section so you can see what will be available until they are ready.

We’re very excited about this so please join us http://titssn.org/signup.php

Thank you and have a great day,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

As an educational, training, services, support and advisory organization, we have always added a more personal and face-to-face element to our work and initiatives and we don’t see why our new home shouldn’t be the same. Communication is a critical part of our work and so we have made sure that we included the needed resources to offer these services within our network. The audio, video and text messaging services offer a new level of communication for our members to collaborate and address anything at anytime. No matter where you are, one can converse on any level needed with their friends, clients and associates.

Whether you’re networking with a member who is a client, customer, friend or someone new, you can extend the value of communicating through these additional resources with just the click of a button and still be active within the network. Personally I like seeing who I am talking/typing to/with and so I have a very nice high end webcam and microphone that I use for the audio and video pieces. This way you can have the visual effects and experience the digital qualities as well. This is integrated with the audio module which allows simultaneous audio and video collaboration for individuals or groups of people.

As we continue to grow and build on this great network, we will continue to enhance the value, resources and availability of additional collaboration resources for our members. Adding that personal touch to the network will allow more value to our members in building on the networking and collaboration. We are working on some new enhancements that will allow live streaming of our meetings, events, online presentations and training sessions and that will be an additional value for all.

So stay tuned, stay secure and be aware of these resources and the development of this great network of education, awareness, training and collaboration. We look forward to your input, feedback and support.

Thank you and have a great day,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

It is with an earnest heart and a longing desire to see the value of our work go to use that I’m putting in a lot of time and effort in promoting our social network this week to gain at least 200 members by 10/10. We have all this valuable information and resources waiting for you and is dying to have you participate in it with us.

So help us to help you by joining our network and sharing in what we are making available for all in an effort to create a more educated and aware mindset for everyone to be secure.

http://titssn.org/signup.php

I look forward to your support of this initiative and as we grow, so will the values, benefits and resources.

Thank you and have a great day,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

We’re running a promotional signup special on our social network for the next two weeks in an effort to promote the content and information we are making available. Every new member that signs up through October 15^th will receive an extra 1500 points to be used for virtual gifts in the network. We are adding more valuable solutions and products to our virtual gifts store for our members. The more points, the more choices you have to get gifts.

We have a few new vendors who are joining the network and will be contributing towards the gifts so gather up those points and get ready to use them.

http://titssn.org/signup.php

Please remember to spread the word and let everyone know that we’re here to provide valuable education, awareness, training and networking on/about technology and IT Security and all are invited, no exceptions. IT Security is a people problem, not an industry one and is how we’re addressing it.

Thank you and have a great day,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

We have added a referral and warning system to the network to enhance the values and features of it.

The referral system will be tied to bonuses and incentives based on the set number of people being invited by our members. We will have monthly specials on referrals as we try to gain more members and visibility for the network.

The warning system will be used to manage the activities and behaviors of the members who violate the network policies, rules and codes of conduct. Three strikes and you’re banned.

These are just a few of the added enhancements and benefits that we’re bringing to you.

Many more to come.

Thank you and have a great day,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

In an effort to enhance the features and values of our network, we have added the Virtual Gifts, Prizes and Solutions as additional resources for our members. As the name says, virtual gifts are categorized in various groups and since we’re extra special and love to provide valuable resources for our members, we enhanced the virtual gifts of our network to include physical products you can use in your PCs.

Yes, that’s right, real gifts from our virtual network such as:

Security products and solutions (anti-virus, anti-malware, firewalls and more)

Applications (business, productivity, system management, utilities)

Mobile Device Apps (business, productivity, system management, utilities)

Microsoft Operating Systems (Vista, Windows 7, XP)

Free Health Assessments/Consultations

Mobile Devices

Hardware products

And more as we continue to build on these offerings.

Some gifts will be location specific so please be sure to look carefully when choosing your gifts. Some gifts are free and for fun and entertainment.

This is just the beginning as we continue to find ways to getting the value and benefits of being an active member of this network while gaining from the knowledge and resources of our training, education and development.

http://titssn.org/signup.php  

Thank you and have a great day,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

We have added a new feature that will be very valuable to those who would like to play a more active role in enhancing the values and resources of the groups and functions of it. The Group Sponsor(s) feature will allow people/vendors/organizations to sponsor a group and provide additional values and resources to it. This provides an opportunity for you to promote the appropriate products and services that will compliment the group and its focus.

This is not an opportunity to sell products/services, it is a networking opportunity to build value and relationships with the people who are networking and collaborating within the group(s). Your logo will be added to the main group page.

The last thing we need is people/organizations dumping sales pitches all over the groups that have no value nor benefits to them. This will not be tolerated and will be a part of the terms of service agreement.

We will continue to monitor the use of this feature to ensure that it is being used effectively and that the sponsors are following through on the sponsorship requirements. The sponsorship will also be tied to the point/benefits/incentives system that will be implemented shortly.

Sponsorship requirements:

An annual fee.

Contribute to the groups focus and directives by helping to achieve its goals.

Provide valuable incentives towards the goals of the group e.g. product giveaways, discount offers, coupons, bonuses, points, etc.

Offer(s) must reflect TITSSN’s partnership benefits (applied to TITSSN approved partners only)

Respond to the inquiries of the group as per your sponsorship offerings and abide by them.

Offers cannot be rescinded within 30 days.

No trial offerings, full legal versions/copies only.

Publish a point of contact for the group that will be responsible for maintaining the relationship with its members.

We will continue to monitor and build on this opportunity to ensure that it provides a win win situation for all groups and members.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and input on this feature as we are always willing to listen and learn from our fellow network members.

Our best wishes and thanks to all who will be participating in this opportunity.

Thank you and have a great day,

~Brett A. Scudder~

Good day to you,

The IT Security Suite Network’s Technology / IT Security Social Network is a place where people come together to create a vibrant, resourceful, strategic and secure social atmosphere of networking and collaboration for and about technology and securing them.

We invite you to participate in the full functions and features of our network as we build on it to enhance its values and mission for the future. We ask that you share the word with your associates, friends, peers and everyone that is interested in the world of security and being more comfortable and secure in it. This network is specifically geared towards technology, IT Security and everything in and about it.

The focus of this social network is to build greater education, awareness and provide the services and support needed to maintain the secure presence and stability of all infrastructures (homes, businesses (all sizes and types), schools, churches, etc) for all. We look forward to your participation in this effort as a leader, contributor or just a member wanting to learn more. Please adhere to the policies and rules of the network so that all may find a common group to collaborate in.

http://titssn.org

Thank you and have a great day.

~TITSSN~

Good day to you,

So what’s the word with and about our network?

Ever since the info leaked about our social network I have received a number of interesting comments, inquiries and feedback and I can’t begin to tell you how excited (more now than ever) I am about this. For the past 8 months we have been working on the new structure of TITSSN to create a converged resource for the network to operate in/from due to the vast extensive reach of our education and awareness programs, initiatives and focus. We have an international presence that has created partnership and alliances in countries around the world and we had to factor in all these different variables. The language variables, time differences, cultural differences, legal differences and the aggregating of all of them all played a significant factor in this decision making process and we tried to create the most comfortable yet resourceful setting to work and grow in..

We looked at various content management systems and other collaborative solutions but when you really look into it, TITSSN is a network of partners, associates, customers, clients, fiends and peers in and about technology with a special emphasis on the security pieces of it. If it is a technology product, solution, device or tool, we provide the needed security, know how, solutions and guidance to support it. So in essence, TITSSN is a converged network of resources and as such is what we needed to address with this initiative.

So, how do we address that?

As a social network where our members, partners, associates, vendors, developers, security professionals, IT professionals and people in general will come to learn more about the state of the IT Security Threats Landscape, we are making every effort to harness the true education, awareness, support, services and resources needed to help create a resilient social network specific to technology and IT Security. As an industry leading organization comprising of industry specialists, executives, developers, professionals, vendors and educators, we must take this approach to making this happen in a concerted way thus we bring you, The IT Security Suite Network’s Social Network which will be officially launched on May 1^st 2009.

The network will provide features such as:

Blogging

Forums

Featured products and recommendations

Featured companies and information about them

Special discount offerings on services and support from our network members

Polls

Recommendations

Points towards membership benefits

Interviews

Collaboration and networking

Events managing and distribution

Experts’ collaboration exchanging of ideas on specific topics, issues and things in the security space

Group discussions on specific topics

Audio/Video/Text IM features

Best practice guides on general IT security issues

Security requests and support

Employment/consulting opportunities

And webcasts.

Some of the groups already created to address specific topics such as:

CyberWar – on, about, awareness, information, collaboration

Viral Outbreaks – containment, response, prevention

Small Business IT Security – securing the small businesses

TITSSN’s General Network Members

IT Security Best Practices – General

IT Security Training and Development – General

Voices of IT Security

Incident Response – What happens when something goes wrong/bad?

Breach Notification Laws – country/state laws

IT Security Facts and Myths

NYSBS – New York Small Business Server Users Group

NYITSUG – New York IT Security Users Group

The Privacy Suite

The Compliance Suite (Regulatory/Non Regulatory)

ENGAGED ~ENabling Greater Awareness, Growth and Educational Development~

IT Security Requests and Support

IT Security Service Providers ~ITSSP~

IT Security Leaders

Wireless Security

Viral, Spyware, Malware Detection and Removal – the growing trends

Endpoint Security – What are they, why they are vulnerable and how to protect them

Computer Forensics – Data and Network

Hacking Unleashed – Ethical/Unethical – the world of hacking

Mobile Security – securing the mobile users/devices and they data they host

Physical Security – a critical part of your security model

Viral Outbreaks – containment, response, prevention

Business to Business IT Security “BtBITS” – businesses protecting each other’s interests

Perimeter Security – securing the perimeter

IT Security in our educational institutions – curriculum upgrade

These are just some of the features of the network and will be available for all at the time of launch as we try to bring everything together under the social networking model. As more people join they will be creating the needed pieces (blogs, groups, forums, polls, etc) that will be suitable for them. We are very excited about this and have been working diligently on testing and enhancing the features to make it very valuable and effective for all.

So stay tuned and get ready for this awesome new network and we look forward to the support of everyone towards this initiative. We will have an official press release for launch.

~Brett A. Scudder~

The IT Security Attaché | http://theitsecurityattache.com  | Blogs http://theitsecurityattache.com/blogs

President/CEO/Chairman/Founder/Security Architect

~TITSSN ~The IT Security Suite Network~ | http://titssn.net | TITSSN’s Blogs http://titssn.net/blogs