DoD Compliance; Modern Antivirus Security Software

Everyone –

This month I want to talk about 2 things:  DoD compliance requirements and expectations, and moving everyone to a new more, modern antivirus/security software.

1. Compliance, compliance, compliance: One thing that is important to understand (and know) is what your customers are expecting as far as your NIST/CMMC scoring.  Most of the ones we encounter want to see progress and are ok with an ongoing to-do list (the POAM) and a score of 80 or better. This is much easier and cheaper than if they are requiring a NIST 800-171 score of 110. To get to that point, we must integrate Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tool that consolidates all the logged information on your network into a centralized app for analysis. So, if Acme Aircraft is requiring a NIST score of 110, we can and will do it. We will not insist that everyone have a score of 110 if it is not required. In reality, it is not always about the score, but the accuracy of the score and balancing cybersecurity with the credible threats.
2. New antivirus software: We are currently evaluating and testing replacements for Trend WFBS, which has been our stable and effective antivirus product for 10 years. Unfortunately, it is now classified as a “legacy” product and is on the list of products to be phased out. We are going to be replacing it with a next generation antivirus. We expect to have this finalized in the next 30 days and will roll it out incrementally. We will let you know when we start the roll-out.
3. OBTW: M1 is now at version 9.5.500. Let us know when you want to upgrade your installation and we will make it so!

Additionally, we wanted to mention the following ongoing issues:

1. Microsoft 365 (formerly know as Office 365) continuous login requests: A recent Office security update is causing some people to have to enter their Office credentials more often than usual. This is not a scam, and it is not one of our PhishBait campaigns. It is a wide-spread issue and I am sure they are working on a fix.
2. Password mismanagement: We cannot stress enough that keeping passwords in Word docs, Excel sheets, in web browsers, or stickies under your keyboard is a VERY bad idea. Yet, we are still finding all these on a regular basis. A password manager is the only solution as far as we are concerned. The best part – you don’t have to remember any passwords except the one to get in your password manager! It does it all for you! We use Keeper (https://www.keepersecurity.com/) and also share it with our customers for FREE. Any subsequent licenses are on $3.75 / month. And if you don’t want to use keeper, try one of these:
   1. Dashlane
   2. Zoho Vault
   3. Bitwarden
   4. 1Password
   5. Password Boss

The bottom line is – use something designed to keep passwords secure. Remember – it’s not if someone tries to hack you, it is when .

Thanks, everyone! We appreciate your business.

Pearce and The Gang