email

Jul 2 2008   2:33PM GMT

Did you see this? - The Great SPAM diet results are in

Posted by: Troy Tate
anti-virus, awareness, botnet, Data security, email, spam, Security, antivirus, malware, Monitoring, metrics, online identity, Performance, reporting, research

See my previous post on The Great SPAM Diet. The results are now in and darkReading has the scoop.

McAfee’s Great Spam Experiment, Unplugged

Many spam messages sent to participants in the study were phishing emails or contained malware or links to malware-ridden sites

Did anyone doubt that these would be the results? Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!

May 13 2008   4:06PM GMT

To be done: an acquisition/merger checklist

Posted by: Troy Tate
howto, CIO, DataCenter, DataManagement, email, Microsoft Windows, Networking, LAN, WAN, Security, antivirus, malware, Monitoring, anti-virus, metrics, reporting, research, tools

An acquisition or merger is not a frequent event for my organization. However, it seems like in the past year or so we have worked on a number of these activities. So, it seems like it may be time to create a formalized checklist for the IT department items that need to be addressed during an acquisition.

To get the ball rolling, I am listing some items that I consider to be important to the infrastructure/security folks like me. I know this list is not exhaustive or complete. It is a work in progress and will need to be refined for each event since they are all different. Some of these may be done in the due-diligence but the rubber hits the road during the implementation.

So, without further ado:
Absorbing a new acquisition - to do list (general & incomplete)

• Private WAN connectivity - 30-90 days or more lead time depending on location
• flexible IP addressing scheme to absorb devices on new network(s)
• Internet firewall changes - ports, source addresses, NAT, etc.
• DNS ownership and management
  • changing registrars
  • changing DNS nameservers - use a dig tool to get information concerning current configuration - MenAndMice
• Network hygiene - how clean are the devices and what personnel habits need to be changed?
• Device inventory - what effort will it take to do this?
• Software licensing inventory
• What about handling loss of staff & knowledge?
  • Documentation of processes, procedures, configurations?
• Phone list sharing
• E-mail addressbook sharing
• E-mail system integration
  • anti-spam/anti-virus
  • calendar sharing
• ERP process integration
• Resource access permissions
• Financial reporting integration - accounts payable, receivable, tax, etc.
• Staff reporting structure
• Other HR activities - benefits, payroll, etc.

I welcome your insight and experience on the many other activities you feel is important to address during a merger/acquisition.

Thanks for your time. Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!

Apr 10 2008   6:39PM GMT

Did you see this? - The Great SPAM diet

Posted by: Troy Tate
anti-virus, blogging, online identity, spam, Security, antivirus, malware, Monitoring, email

McAfee, Inc. Launches Global S.P.A.M. Experiment

Fifty Volunteers around the World Say ‘Yes’ to a Diet of Spam for 30 Days - Started April 1, 2008

McAfee, Inc. announced the launch of its global S.P.A.M. (Spammed Persistently All Month) Experiment. For the month of April, 50 participants from around the world - ranging from homemakers, government executives, and students to retirees - will surf the Web, make online purchases and register for promotions. Participants have been provided with a clean laptop without spam protection and a new email address. Beginning today, they will blog about their experiences daily at this website.

S.P.A.M. Experiment participants are from ten countries spanning the globe, including Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Let’s be good network citizens together & practice safe networking!