Archives: Seminar

[1 CPE] Taking Ownership of Security and Optimization in the Digital Age

  Presented by Jim Bates • Founder, President & CEO of Business Improvement Group

We as IT practitioners, service providers, manufacturers, managers, executives, and business owners are tasked with leading change––change due to intentional and unintentional events including the internet of things (IoT), digital transformation, intelligent automation, machine learning, robotics, and yes, pesky pandemics that have changed the way we work. These changes introduce new vulnerabilities that expose our data to motivated threat agents. Information security or cybersecurity is everyone’s job. Jim Bates will send out a call to action with some tips on how to get buy-in and lead in this age of digital chaos. We need more than just transformation. We need secure, scalable, and sustainable optimization.

Jim Bates is the Founder, President & CEO of Business Improvement Group, Inc. (BIG) and an Adjunct Professor in several schools at the University of Alaska Anchorage, including the MSPM program. Jim was elected as President-elect to the Project Management Institute Alaska Chapter (PMIAK) for 2018 and as an Executive Adviser for the nationwide Center for Technology. In addition to his many professional certifications, Jim holds master certificates in Business Analysis, Lean Six Sigma, and Project Management from Villanova University.

Jim is an experienced executive and consultant who is passionate about leading business transformation and offering innovative, high-value solutions to everyday business challenges. He has a proven ability to successfully analyze an organization’s critical business requirements, identify deficiencies and potential opportunities, and align and integrate technology.

He strives to help companies develop innovative and cost-effective solutions for enhancing competitiveness, increasing revenues, and improving customer service offerings. Jim is also an engaging, experienced public speaker and instructor. He frequently offers courses in Six Sigma, ITSM/ITIL, HIPAA compliance, leadership training, project management, and more.

[1 CPE] Building a Disaster Recovery Program

  Presented by AT&T

Disaster recovery is a critical component for any organization and can significantly reduce the damage and cost associated with information security breaches. Leveraging industry best practices and common frameworks, this presentation will cover core components of constructing, evaluating, and maintaining a disaster recovery program. We will include discussions on policies, processes, technical solutions, and more. Attending the presentation will provide small- to medium-sized businesses and local governments with the foundation needed to create and implement an effective recovery program.

[1 CPE] All’s Fair in Love and [Cyber] War

  Presented by INTERFACE Advisory Council

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has captured the world’s attention and prompted a swift response from many nations as the threat of Cyber Warfare is brought into sharp relief. State and Federal agencies have been preparing for the reality of Cyber Warfare for years, and now many private firms are on alert.

What should you really be concerned about right now?

Join the INTERFACE Alaska Advisory Council for a discussion on the real threat of Cyber Warfare. Our panel will discuss incident response along with vulnerability and detection topics. Don’t miss this timely discussion at INTERFACE.

Panelists:

  • Chris Letterman • Chief Information Security Officer, State of Alaska
  • Mark Merchant • Chief Information Security Officer, Municipality of Anchorage

[1 CPE] Sky Lakes Case Study: Real-life Ransomware Recovery

  Presented by Cohesity

Backup is often the last line of defense against ransomware attacks, which have exponentially increased over the last year. Hear how Sky Lakes Medical Center chose a joint solution from strategic partners Cisco and Cohesity for a modern, efficient data management system to replace an aging backup solution while beating an unexpected ransomware attack. During this session, we’ll give you a brief overview of Cohesity for context and then roll into a 40-minute interview with the Sky Lakes Medical Center Team.

[1 CPE] Breaking the Ransomware Attack Chain

  Presented by Guardicore, now part of Akamai

Despite consistent increases in security spending, ransomware remains an ever-growing threat to businesses. Surprisingly, the ransomware itself, the malware that does the encryption, is only a part of a larger, equally dangerous, attack chain. Considering the entire chain offers defenders more opportunities to thwart the attack before mass encryption can occur.

In this session, we’ll provide details on how microsegmentation can prevent adversarial techniques that precede and follow the deployment of ransomware itself. By turning our attention to the entire kill chain, a path towards minimizing the likelihood, impact, and recovery time of ransomware becomes clear.

In this session you will learn:

  • Practical steps you can take to disrupt the kill chain before ransomware can be deployed
  • How to leverage AI to map complex environments and expedite the path towards policy enforcement that drastically reduces the impact of ransomware
  • How advancements in host-based segmentation are helping businesses achieve an infrastructure that enables rapid remediation of ransomware events without disrupting business operations

[1 CPE] How to Advance Strategic Business Goals with IoT

  Presented by Aruba, a HPE Company

Whether it’s the allure of the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT), a fear of being viewed as a laggard, or internal pressure to do something new, many companies rush head-first into IoT projects without clearly defined objectives or value propositions. The result is a high rate of failure and subsequent disillusionment about the real value of IoT. If your company’s strategic goals require human productivity monitoring, human productivity organizational redesign, augmented reality, energy monitoring, and/or building security, Aruba’s ESP can expedite time-to-insight and time-to-value. The solutions can securely handle all manner of IoT devices and integrate them with enterprise business applications and processes. Join us to learn how you can reduce IoT deployment time to a fraction of what a custom-developed solution would require.

[1 CPE] Immutable Storage: Level-Up Ransomware Readiness

  Presented by Arcserve

IDC advises that a 3-2-1-1 strategy is the new best practice for effectively protecting customers against ransomware. The last 1 is the important piece of the puzzle, where a copy is also stored on immutable storage. The growing risk of compromise to your customers’ data – specifically via ransomware DEMANDS the most up to date and complete solutions arsenal.

[1 CPE] Ransomware Protection Redefined: Protect, Alert, and Recover

  Presented by Veeam

Ransomware is malicious software that infects a computer and restricts access to crucial user data until a ransom is paid to unlock it. Ransomware is designed to spread through your network, exploiting technical and human vulnerabilities and leading to a significant impact on your business. Ransomware attacks were up 93% in 2021 and are no longer a question of if but when. Costs have skyrocketed to nearly two million dollars (US) per incident and have a global economic impact of over 20 billion dollars (US).

Join this session to learn how to ensure your backups are immutable, that you’ll be alerted of any possible ransomware attacks in your virtual environment, and that you’re able to recover those workloads free of any malware.

[1 CPE] Leveraging Assessment Findings to Harden Your Security Perimeter

  Presented by Fortinet

Are you regularly evaluating your network security?

Performing assessments is a tried-and-true method for improving your security posture, but they can be a daunting task for network security staff who are often short on manpower, expertise, and/or time. Regardless, the benefits of running assessments almost always outweigh any potential drawbacks. Having a security assessment in hand will increase your security situational awareness and significantly impact your organization’s risk preparedness and mitigation.

Join us as we discuss the importance of periodically validating your existing security controls and provide learnings and best practices from our experts.

[1 CPE] Ransomware: Why Does This Keep Happening?

  Presented by Arctic Wolf

Join Coy Thorp, Systems Engineer for Arctic Wolf, as he discusses the history and evolution of ransomware and why it has become so difficult to detect and mitigate. The basic premise is this: organizations spend more today than ever before to address cybersecurity risk, yet breaches are on the rise and there is no end in sight. What can your company do to prepare itself for the attack that is imminently on the horizon?