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Showing posts from September, 2024

The Ticket That Saw the Outage Coming

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The morning the system went down, the plant did everything right. The named person called manual mode, the binder came off the shelf, the paper logs started flowing, and by the end of the day the system was whole again. The plan worked. But here is the part nobody talks about: the outage did not arrive unannounced. It had been knocking for three days. On Tuesday, one operator could not log in. On Wednesday, two more reported the same thing, and a supervisor said the screens were slow. On Thursday, a scanner timed out at receiving, a label printer failed at shipping, and somebody filed a ticket that just said "Plex is slow." Each ticket was small. Each one got a P3 and a workaround. Nobody connected them, because nobody was looking at the queue as a whole. Your ticket queue is not just a list of problems to fix. It is the only sensor you have that watches the system all day, every day, from every workstation in the plant. Triaged one ticket at a time, it tells you what...
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Help Us Secure Our World this Cybersecurity Awareness Month

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October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, an international initiative that educates everyone about online safety and empowers individuals and businesses to protect their data from cybercrime.  Even amidst large-scale data breaches and cyberattacks, Cybersecurity Awareness Month reminds everyone that there are simple, effective ways to keep yourself safe online, protect your personal data, and ultimately help secure our world.  @themerlanos  we are  proud to be a Champion and support this online safety and education initiative this October.   The theme of Cybersecurity Awareness Month is Secure Our World! This initiative reminds us that there are simple actions we can take every day to protect ourselves, our families, and businesses from online threats.   Cybersecurity Awareness Month focuses on the top four ways to stay safe online:   1. Use strong passwords and a password manager   2. Turn on multifactor authentication...
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From Dormant to Dangerous: Understanding the security risk of dormant user accounts

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  In today's digital era, the security of cloud SaaS systems is paramount. An often-neglected aspect of cybersecurity is the management of dormant user accounts, which can unintentionally become gateways for cybercriminals, leading to significant data breaches. The process of regularly auditing and deactivating these inactive accounts is vital to safeguard the integrity and security of an enterprise. By ensuring that only active, necessary users have access to your resources, you minimize the risk of unauthorized access and strengthen your defense mechanisms. This guide delves into the necessity of tackling this issue head-on and outlines effective strategies for managing dormant accounts to secure your valuable data assets. Risks Associated with Dormant User Accounts Dormant user accounts are ticking time bombs in the realm of cybersecurity. These accounts, often forgotten or overlooked after an employee's departure or during system migrations, present a significant security r...
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