by Teknita Team | Aug 3, 2022 | Security
Logs are critical when you are attempting to detect a breach, investigating ongoing security issues, or performing forensic investigations. These five must-know Cloud Logging security and compliance features can help customers create logs to best conduct security audits.
1. Cloud Logging is a part of Assured Workloads.
Google Cloud’s Assured Workloads helps customers meet compliance requirements with a software-defined community cloud. Cloud Logging and external log data is in scope for many regulations, which is why Cloud Logging is now part of Assured Workloads.
2. Cloud Logging is now FedRAMP High certified.
FedRAMP is a U.S. government program that promotes the adoption of secure cloud services by providing a standardized approach to security and risk assessment for federal agencies adopting cloud technologies. The Cloud Logging team has received certification for implementing the controls required for compliance with FedRAMP at the High Baseline level. This certification will allow customers to store sensitive data in cloud logs and use Cloud Logging to meet their own compliance control requirements.
Below are the controls that Cloud Logging has implemented as required by NIST for this certification:
- Event Logging (AU-2)
- Making Audits Easy (AU-3)
- Extended Log Retention (AU-4)
- Alerts for Log Failures (AU-5)
- Create Evidence (AU-16)
3. “Manage your own Keys,” also known as customer managed encryption keys (CMEK), can encrypt Cloud Logging log buckets.
For customers with specific encryption requirements, Cloud Logging now supports CMEK via Cloud KMS. CMEK can be applied to individual logging buckets and can be used with the log router. Cloud Logging can be configured to centralize all logs for the organization into a single bucket and router if desired, which makes applying CMEK to the organization’s log storage simple.
4. Setting a high bar for cloud provider transparency with Access Transparency.
Access Transparency logs can help to audit actions taken by Google personnel on content, and can be integrated with existing security information and event management (SIEM) tools to help automate your audits on the rare occasions that Google personnel may access your content. While Cloud Audit logs tell who in your organization accessed data in Google Cloud, Access Transparency logs tell if any Google personnel accessed your data.
5. Track who is accessing your Log data with Access Approval Logs.
Access Approvals can help you to restrict access to your content to Google personnel according to predefined characteristics. While this is not a logging-specific feature, it is one that many customers ask about. If a Google support person or engineer needs to access your content for support for debugging purposes (in the event a service request is created), you would use the access approval tool to approve or reject the request.
You can read more about Cloud Logging here.
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by Teknita Team | Aug 1, 2022 | Uncategorized
Document management systems are basically electronic filing cabinets an organization can use as a foundation for organizing all digital and paper documents. Any hard copies of documents can simply be uploaded directly into the document management system with a scanner. Often, document management systems allow users to enter metadata and tags that can be used to organize all stored files.
Choosing the right document management system starts with accurately assessing your organization’s needs. The first choice you’ll make is whether you want an on-premises or cloud-based solution. Each type of system offers the same functionality, but there are several key differences in the way maintenance is performed and data is stored.
TYPES OF DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
When choosing a document management system, you will have the choice between on-premises and cloud-based software.
An on-premises document management solution requires you to use your own servers and storage, which means you need to perform your own maintenance. You’ll also be responsible for the security of all your data, so you’ll need to back everything up. This option typically makes sense for larger companies with dedicated IT resources because of its higher technical demands, but it also places you in direct control of the system. Technical support and software updates from the vendor are usually contingent on whether you continuously renew an annual subscription package.
Cloud-based document management software is hosted by your system’s provider and accessible to your organization online. Typically, cloud-based solutions have a monthly or annual fee, which includes all maintenance and software updates. Depending on the system you choose and the features you require, pricing for cloud-based platforms can range from a few dollars to more than $100 per user per month.
DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FEATURES.
- Document storage: The most basic and critical function of a document management system is the ability to store your company’s documents safely and in an easily searchable manner.
- Keyword search: A sound document management system has a broad keyword search option so you can easily access any document based on specific keywords.
- Permissioned access to certain documents: By creating tiered permissions, you can provide certain employees access to specific documents and bar everyone else from viewing or editing them.
- Document access monitoring tools: These tools allow you to monitor who in your company is accessing what documents.
- Document edit history and restoration: A document management system should have edit history and restoration options so you can see who has edited a given document.
- Auto-delete on outdated documents: Document management systems come with regulation controls for automatic saves and deletion to free up storage space.
- Mobile device access: You should be able to access your company documentation through your mobile device.
BENEFITS OF USING A DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
- Saved time: By using a document management system, you can devote the time you previously spent organizing and managing your documents to more critical parts of your business.
- Security: By backing up your documents in the encrypted cloud or a secure on-premises server, you can protect important and sensitive company information and protocols.
- Scaling: One of the major benefits of document management software is its ability to scale up and down to meet your company’s ever-changing needs.
- Easy document management: Keyword searches allow you to find your company’s important information quickly and easily.
- Collaboration: Document management software can improve workplace collaboration by allowing multiple people to work on the same file at once, tracking who makes what changes and retaining your access to older versions of documents.
You can read more about Document Management System here.
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by Teknita Team | Jul 21, 2022 | Security
A spam filter is an email service feature that filters and quarantines spam emails from a user’s inbox. It ensures a clean and spam-free mailbox for the user that saves productive energy and provides a high level of work efficiency. A spam filter has become a necessity in recent times as cyber adversaries rigorously work to find and exploit vulnerabilities. Sending spam and phishing emails is one of the most preferred and lucrative ways which they can use to lure users into falling into their trap.
A spam filter service detects unsolicited and unwanted email and wipes them out from a user’s mailbox. Different spam filters have various mechanisms for segregating spam from legitimate emails; however, they all strive to attain a common goal – making sure that only genuine and informative emails reach the end-user.
Spam Filtering Techniques And Usage:
Blacklist filter: This is a relatively easy way of identifying spam email. In this system, the filter has been pre instructed to avoid emails sent from specific senders or addresses – known as a blacklist. Any mail from a blacklisted person or email address gets auto marked as spam.
Content filter: A spam filter might work by following a content filtering system, whereby it will review the content of every email sent to the user. By doing so, it tries to determine if it is a spam email or not.
Rules-based filter: This is very similar to the blacklist filter but contains an added feature. In this filter, a user can not only blacklist users but can also blacklist words. In case an email has any of the blacklisted terms or happens to be sent by a blacklisted user, it gets auto marked as spam.
Header filter: Another way a spam filter works is by reviewing the header of every email sent to the user, searching for falsified information, or other signs that could confirm whether the email is spam.
Permission filter: This spam filter makes it mandatory for any email sender to be pre-approved by the recipient. This way, only known persons can reach out to you. Although the permission filter is a great way to ensure security from spam, it kills the prospect of authentic and genuine business or academic emails reaching you by becoming a barrier in communication.
Challenge-response filter: This filter is similar to the permission filter and requires a sender to enter a code to gain permission to send an email to the recipient.
The primary task of a spam filter is the segregation of spam emails from genuine ones. It is done by enabling a user to distinguish between the approved and unapproved email addresses. Approved addresses or white addresses are the ones that have been marked as safe by the user. On the other hand, the unapproved or blacklisted addresses are the ones that have been marked as dangerous, unimportant, or spam. Any email from an approved address goes straight to the user’s mailbox. In contrast, all emails from blacklisted sources get auto blocked or deleted based on the instructions that the user feeds into the system.
You can read more about Spam Filters here.
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by Teknita Team | Jul 18, 2022 | Project Management
The Covid-19 pandemic has made everyone realize the importance of digital tools and platforms. Organizations with a robust digital infrastructure were able to sustain the pandemic without facing many hurdles. Online collaborative platforms helped employees stay in touch with their peers and work in a virtual workspace.
This has resulted in more responsibilities being shouldered by IT teams within organizations. As more and more processes are carried out digitally using advanced tools, an organization’s IT infrastructure needs to be managed with utmost precision. This has made it important for organizations to focus on improving their ITSM processes.
What is IT Service Management?
IT Service Management (ITSM) is the process of delivering IT services and support to users by the IT department of an organization. These services can be provided to customers and internal employees to get their IT-related issues resolved in the best way possible.
ITSM revolves around designing, creating and delivering robust IT services to the users through digital platforms. The key difference between IT and formalized ITSM is that ITSM is used to optimize the IT infrastructure of an organization. The core of ITSM deals with providing IT as a service to the end-users and providing them with seamless support across multiple channels.
Importance of ITSM
Catering to changing needs
The needs of both employees and customers have changed significantly. They require quick and personalized IT support from an organization to get their issues resolved. Also, the increasing use of mobile devices requires an organization to set up ITSM solutions compatible with a range of digital devices. It is extremely difficult for IT teams to cater to the employees’ ever-changing needs with a traditional approach. This makes it important to implement robust ITSM tools for providing proactive support to employees.
Establishing clear connections between individual contributions and organizational goals
Implementing ITSM allows to align the IT services provided by the professionals with the goals to be achieved by organization. It gives an organized structure to the IT services provided to the customers and employees and allows to measure their effectiveness periodically. Implementing ITSM allows to streamline processes like change management, incident management, request fulfilment and more, leading to increased transparency for services delivered by IT professionals across the organization.
Implementing change management seamlessly
New technological trends are emerging, and new tools are being introduced to the market at an astonishing rate. This makes organizations change their approach to work and the tools used to carry out their processes regularly. Without effective change management, it becomes difficult for an organization to ensure that everyone is on the same page and every employee can operate the new tools at an optimum level. ITSM helps you streamline change management by providing your employees with all the required resources and materials regarding the new tools on a centralized platform.
Optimizing your collaborative platform
Over the last two years, online collaborative platforms like Slack, Zoom and Microsoft Teams have had immense adoption across industries. These platforms have helped organizations to operate virtually and employees to interact with their peers. ITSM allows you to optimize your collaborative platform by integrating your IT service desk with the same. This makes it easier for your employees to obtain quick IT support from their work platform. Also, the integration allows you to centralize the IT support provided to all the employees within your organization, irrespective of the department they work in.
Implementing microlearning with ITSM
Effective employee onboarding and change management require your employees to get trained in specific tools and skills. Modern IT service desks allow you to provide seamless training to your employees via microlearning. Microlearning is a modern learning methodology that involves consuming training content that takes no more than 10 minutes of the learners’ time. With the help of modern ITSM tools, you can add the training resources to your knowledge base and have your employees access the same from their respective devices. If you have integrated your service desk with a collaborative platform, your employees can get trained while working on the respective platform.
You can read more about ITSM here.
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by Teknita Team | Jul 13, 2022 | Artificial Intelligence - Machine Learning
Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence that gives computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed. It provides a set of algorithms and techniques for creating computer programs that can automatically improve their performance on specific tasks.
Content marketing is one of the most popular industries where machine learning can be applied. Machine learning is playing a significant role in content marketing because it helps marketers understand what consumers want to read and what they don’t. It also helps marketers create content that will be more likely to generate conversions and increase their return on investment.
Content marketers use machine learning to create better content and optimize their marketing campaigns. One way they do this is by using sentiment analysis to understand what kind of moods people might be in, while reading their content. This helps them write more engaging copy for their audience. Another way for marketers to use machine learning is by utilizing predictive analytics to predict what people will want to read based on the time of day or day of the week. This helps them make sure they have relevant content available at all times for their audience.
Machine learning is the way of the future. It will help create content that is relevant to the audience and that will resonate with them.
You can read more about How Can Machine Learning Help With Content Marketing here.
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