Month: November 2023

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The Importance of Work-Life Balance for Cybersecurity Specialists in 2024

By GlassWire. . reading.
life balance for cybersecurity specialists

Nowadays, people are all about productivity. It is especially true for cybersecurity specialists as threats only increase. You need to produce more results in less time with sleepless nights, overwork, and sacrifice of free time and rest. But we believe this approach is destructive, and the surest way to succeed is to strike a balance.

Why you need life balance in your life

You are probably familiar with hypovitaminosis – a lack of specific vitamins. Let’s assume that a certain person lacks vitamins A and C but has plenty of B vitamins. Would he feel better if he simply increased his intake of B vitamins? Of course not. To fully function, we need many substances that cannot replace each other. That’s why a varied and balanced diet is essential to our lives.

This principle also applies to our psyche. It is in order when we have enough important components: work and rest, friendship, communication and solitude, hobbies, and emotions. Everyone has different needs, but we should not wholly refuse to realize them. Neither should you put all of your energy into satisfying only one type of need – for example, self-actualization or love:

  • Try replacing periods of rest with labor. After a while, you will burn out and not be able to continue working as you lack rest.
  • Try to spend all your time in the company of people, leaving no time for solitude and calm time. Even if you are naturally sociable, you will probably notice that your mind has become unclear.
  • Try eating the same type of food, such as sweets, for a long time. You will quickly notice that there is something wrong with your body. In the case of sweets, you will probably feel exhausted but also anxious and nervous.

Without life balance, we become unhappy and incapacitated. Sharpness of mind, clarity of vision, vigor – all of this depends on how well we combine all the important aspects in our lives.

GlassWire is an excellent solution for maintaining a life balance for cybersecurity specialists. We meticulously crafted the GlassWire alert system with user convenience in mind. Recognizing the importance of staying informed about network changes on your computer or server, we’ve ensured that our alert system strikes the perfect balance—providing valuable insights without the frustration of constant, intrusive pop-ups.

With GlassWire, you can be calm regarding your cybersecurity responsibilities while maintaining a life balance.

Traveling is the best way to maintain a life balance

Traveling emerges as a powerful catalyst, offering a unique blend of rejuvenation, perspective, and personal growth. For those with professional commitments beyond their journeys, the synergy between work and travel becomes a key to achieving a harmonious and fulfilling lifestyle.

The de-stressing effects of travel are undeniable. Stepping outside the routine and immersing oneself in new environments provides a refreshing lens through which to view the world. Perspectives shift, and stressors dissipate as the wonders of different cultures and landscapes unfold. Travel becomes a therapeutic escapade, allowing individuals to mentally and emotionally recharge.

Hiking & trekking are the most popular travel activities. This is because they offer a unique opportunity to fully unite with nature and relieve stress thanks to the incredible views. Every hiking route is unique, as well as the destinations where they are based. Going for a specific hiking trail, you also explore the country’s culture.

Bookatrekking.com can help you with trekking and hiking tours. It offers over 15 destinations and 50 trails for different budgets. With this company, you can easily find hiking trips for recharging your energy.

Being away from work helps you appreciate your work more

Taking time away from the demanding world of cybersecurity is not just a luxury; it is a necessity. Stepping away from the intricate web of codes and security protocols provides a refreshing perspective, reminding specialists that life encompasses more than the confines of a career.

Traveling, for instance, serves as a potent means to detach oneself from the rigors of work, fostering a renewed appreciation for the broader spectrum of life. However, the key lies in recognizing that the rejuvenation derived from leisure is not a perpetual state. Inevitably, as the hiatus extends, a subtle yearning for the challenges and intricacies of one’s professional domain may emerge.

The crux lies in finding equilibrium—a harmonious coexistence between the demands of a cybersecurity career and the rejuvenation found in leisure. Acknowledging that a purposeful career is a cornerstone of a fulfilling life is essential. Still, a constant pursuit of professional excellence should not overshadow the multifaceted nature of human existence.

Taking time off clears your mind and helps you de-stress

Whether it’s a rejuvenating weekend staycation, an immersive week-long escape, or an extended month of exploration, stepping away from work is vital to one’s overall well-being. This intentional pause serves as a reset button, allowing specialists to recalibrate and realign their mental and emotional equilibrium.

The benefits of this hiatus extend beyond mere relaxation. A clear and unburdened mind becomes a fertile ground for innovation, birthing new ideas and perspectives that can be harnessed upon return to the office. In the fast-paced realm of cybersecurity, where adaptability and creative problem-solving are paramount, the value of periodic mental rejuvenation cannot be overstated.

Traveling makes you happy and stay connected with the world

The liberating essence of travel goes beyond the mere act of exploration. It serves as a gateway to a broader education outside cybersecurity. Venturing into new territories exposes specialists to the rich tapestry of diverse cultures, unraveling the threads of history, arts, and local cuisines. This firsthand exposure becomes a classroom without walls, offering invaluable insights that extend well beyond the boundaries of a professional setting.

The significance of this travel-induced education transcends the accumulation of facts. It fosters a deep understanding and appreciation for how people live, think, and express themselves. Such cultural immersion enriches personal perspectives and nurtures a more well-rounded and empathetic cybersecurity specialist.

Moreover, the social benefits of travel are equally profound. Meeting new people on the road and sharing collective experiences become building blocks for a balanced social life. These encounters contribute to developing a well-rounded individual capable of navigating their world’s digital and human dimensions.

Traveling provides valuable experiences

The essence of travel lies in its ability to propel individuals beyond the familiar, nudging them out of their comfort zones. Stepping into uncharted territories fosters a profound sense of self-discovery and resilience, qualities indispensable in the ever-evolving field of cybersecurity.

Each journey becomes a repository of lessons, expanding the horizons of knowledge and insight. Traveling provides a firsthand education, presenting opportunities to learn from diverse cultures, adapt to unfamiliar surroundings, and navigate the unexpected. These encounters contribute to one’s personal development and enhance problem-solving skills and adaptability—crucial attributes for navigating the complexities of the cybersecurity landscape.

Moreover, the experiences garnered through travel are uniquely personal and intrinsically valuable. No one can take away the memories, the lessons learned, or the perspectives gained from the diverse tapestry of places visited. These experiences become integral to an individual’s identity, shaping a cybersecurity specialist with a global mindset and a nuanced approach to their work.

Conclusion

Achieving harmony in life can be challenging. But if you can do it, you will be more successful in achieving your goals and feel much happier. And that is perhaps the most important thing.

BIO:

Stacey Wonder is a content marketer who enjoys sharing best practices for self-development and careers with others. In her free time, Stacey is fond of contemporary dance and classic French movies. You may feel free to reach out to her at GuestpostingNinja@gmail.com or for collaboration suggestions.

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Safeguarding Your Home Network – 5 Essential Tips

By GlassWire. . reading.

Safeguarding your home network isn’t as simple as you might think. As time passes, more and more of our devices are connected. From appliances to smart wearables, the web is everywhere, and each entry point is a potential threat source.

Then there’s the computing power aspect. Today’s souped-up devices run more apps and programs than ever. Even if you only use a computer or tablet, it’s hard to know what your hardware is

doing behind the scenes.

Fortunately, you can improve your wireless network security without having to keep a watchful eye on everything at once. Just put these five tips into action today.

1. Change Your Home Network’s Default Name and Password

If you really want to fortify your network, start with the easy stuff. Take a few minutes to set a robust password and change your network’s SSID (the name).

It’s easy for hackers to find router name-password combos online, so why leave your network ripe for the picking? Instead of settling for the manufacturer defaults, make your network tougher to penetrate.

Create unique, complex passwords for your router and connected devices. Use a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols to reduce the risk of unauthorized access. Also, avoid typical security mistakes, like using common words, shared passwords, or simple phrases.

2. Limit Access to Your Wireless Network

Restricting network access can dramatically improve your safety. By ensuring only authorized users and devices connect, you limit potential avenues of attack.

Using MAC address filtering is one of the easiest ways to control who connects to your network. Everything that connects to a network has something called a MAC address. This combination of numbers and letters uniquely identifies the device.

Limiting access to known MAC addresses, like your computers, routers, printers, phones, and tablets, adds an extra layer of security. Most routers give you the option to restrict all but approved devices (whitelisting). Yours may also let you forbid specific MAC addresses on a case-by-case basis (blacklisting).

In most cases, this process is simple. Copy the MAC address from the label on the device you want to allow. If you can’t find or access the label, you can sometimes view currently connected MAC addresses in your network admin panel. Once you’ve collected the MAC addresses, enter them into the network filter section of your router’s web interface.

3. Create a Home Guest Network

In some cases, it’s impractical to control everything people do on your network. For instance, if you have family over, there’s no telling what they’ll want to do with your internet.

You can shield your primary network by setting up a separate guest network for visitors. This network should have a different password than your main network. It’s also a good idea to limit the devices that can connect. This way, your main network will stay safe even if a guest device gets compromised — or your relatives browse unsafe sites!

4. Turn On WiFi Network Encryption

Network encryption involves encoding the information transmitted between devices. By rewriting everything using a code that only the sender and receiver can decipher, encryption protects raw data from unauthorized access.

Wireless network encryption is essential because anyone can intercept wireless signals — transmitters only use a few channels. Data encryption ensures that even if someone hijacks the transmission, they won’t be able to untangle its meaning.

Encrypting your Wi-Fi network is an easy way to prevent unauthorized access. Navigate to your router’s control panel in a browser, and visit the settings for your wireless network. You should see an option where you can choose your style of encryption. At the time of this writing, Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) was the latest version of encryption available.

5. Turn On Your Firewall With GlassWire

Firewalls are a special type of network security device or software. They come in the form of hardware appliances and applications, but they all do one job. Firewalls monitor and control incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.

In other words, firewalls restrict the types of data movement that can take place on your network. For instance, tools like GlassWire let you filter traffic by apps or devices. You can even forbid connections to suspicious web hosts in other countries.

GlassWire establishes a barrier between your trusted internal network and untrusted external networks, such as the Internet. It works 24/7 to prevent unauthorized access in the background, alerting you when things seem off or new apps want to connect for the first time.

Firewalls are must-haves for modern networks, and GlassWire is the pinnacle of accessible options. Its user-friendly interface and real-time network monitoring are ideal for homes and businesses alike. You deserve to know what’s going on with your data, and GlassWire gives you the insights to take control.

Want to visualize your current or past network activity? Need to identify potential threats or block risky traffic? With GlassWire you can accomplish it all in a few clicks. Try it for free today.

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Major 11 Benefits of Managed Security Services Providers

By GlassWire. . reading.
managed service security glasswire

Companies increasingly entrust information security to managed service providers. The model of managed security services is an alternative to building information security in-house and classic service outsourcing. This article highlights 11 benefits of MSS providers.

What is managed security services (MSS)?

Managed security services (MSS) constitute a significant and constantly evolving part of the information technology (IT) market. This market consists of a number of segments defined by the concept of information protection: 

  • Managed firewalls, VPNs, IDS, managed security monitoring services
  • Secure content management SW and anti-virus solutions
  • IT security hardware systems

Currently, many companies still implement IT security internally. However, there is a clear tendency to outsource it to specialized external MSS providers (MSSP). This approach makes economic sense. Specialized service providers work for many customers and deploy correspondingly extensive resources. This is more profitable than if each company were to run its own MSS department.

How long has MSS been on the market?

When you meet MSS, it seems to be a modern trend. In fact, the history of MSSP began in 1997, when a VPN encryption service entered the market.

The market of MSS in the world has been developing for more than 20 years. Now, they are provided by more than 250 providers, including both small companies that use their developments and large international players such as Microsoft and Amazon.

At the moment, there are more than 25 such services on the market, and this sector continues to develop actively, showing high growth rates. According to MarketsandMarkets, the worldwide MSSP market is expected to grow from $31.6 billion in 2020 to $46.4 billion by 2025.

During the last year, companies have already adapted to living in a hybrid format and decided to outsource information services to providers. Skepticism, fear of losing control, and the complexity of justifying the use of services gave way to the need to ensure security in the shortest possible time.

Now, let’s discuss 11 benefits of MSS providers.

Savings

With MSSP, you only have to pay for what is actually used and when it is used (Pay-as-you-go). This is especially important for SMB companies. Successful deployment of managed services helps reduce IT costs by 25-45% and improves operational efficiency by 45-65%.

Infrastructure reliability

MSSPs provide 24/7 managed services to keep the network infrastructure up and running. This makes it easy to track security aspects against standards and ensures that the infrastructure remains up and running.

Simplification of complex processes

A trusted MSSP has the technology, infrastructure, and staff to solve even the most complex problems. As experts in their field, they focus on every single aspect with a contingency plan.

Combating the rise of cyber threats

According to IBM, misconfigured servers account for approximately 85% of the 8.5 billion records that were compromised in 2019. Misconfiguration can occur on many fronts, including improperly protected synchronization backups. MSSPs make it possible to avoid this.

Access to qualified experts

Managed security services provide access to the knowledge and expertise of certified professionals who do not need to be sourced or hired directly. This is a major challenge CIOs face – about 44% of SMB companies report that they don’t have security staff.

Cybersecurity expertise

MSS providers have highly qualified security experts with extensive expertise and experience in the fight against cyber threats. They are familiar with the latest attack methods, tools, and techniques and can help companies develop a comprehensive security strategy. The expertise of MSS providers enables companies to stay current with the threat landscape and protect their systems and data.

Update and patch management

The threat landscape constantly changes, and new security holes and vulnerabilities are discovered continuously. MSS vendors keep security systems current by regularly applying updates, patches, and security updates. This reduces potential entry points for attackers and increases the security of enterprise systems. MSS providers ‘ regular updates and patch management relieve companies of this time-consuming task and ensure that enterprise systems are continuously protected.

Expertise in regulations and compliance

MSS providers are familiar with the applicable rules and regulations in IT security. They have the expertise to help companies interpret and implement these rules and regulations. By working with an MSS provider, organizations can ensure that their security practices comply with applicable regulations and that the necessary measures are taken to protect their data and systems.

Continuous monitoring and reporting

Continuous monitoring allows potential regulatory breaches to be identified and countermeasures to be taken. MSS vendors produce regular reports and logs that help organizations document their security measures and regulatory compliance. These reports can serve as evidence of regulatory compliance during audits and compliance reviews.

Event correlation

An important feature of 24-hour monitoring is correlating different security events. This enables the detection of potential threats that may span multiple systems or events. MSS teams can identify complex attacks or ongoing security breaches by analyzing event correlations and take appropriate countermeasures.

Alerting and response

When a potential threat is detected, MSS providers immediately generate alerts or notifications to inform the business of the security incident. This enables a rapid response and the initiation of actions to contain the attack. MSS teams stay in close contact with the business and work together to minimize the impact of the incident and protect the affected systems.

Conclusion

Defending corporate data against cyber attacks is becoming increasingly complex, and the technologies required are evolving rapidly. An in-house IT department can often no longer meet these high cybersecurity demands on its own. Now you know how to use specialized managed security service providers to your advantage.

BIO:

Stacey Wonder is a content marketer who enjoys sharing best practices for self-development and careers with others. In her free time, Stacey is fond of contemporary dance and classic French movies. You may feel free to reach out to her at GuestpostingNinja@gmail.com or for collaboration suggestions.

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How to monitor data usage in Windows 11

By GlassWire. . reading.
monitor your data usage in Windows

If you’re a Windows user who cares about data usage, you’ve got a lot to be happy about. Windows 11 includes a built-in data tracker, satisfying a longstanding community request.

Monitoring data usage is a good idea, even if you’re not a proud IT nerd. If you’re on a plan with capped traffic, paying attention might save you from exceeding your maximum.

Traffic monitoring is also a smart way to stop malware that uses data in the background. Long story short, it’s nice to finally have the option in Windows.

Sounds like a perfect world right? Not so fast. The default data tracker is nice, but it’s not quite perfect. Here’s how it works and why you might prefer alternatives like GlassWire.

Monitor your data usage in Windows 11

The built-in tool is easy to find. Just open up your Settings and then click on Network and Internet.

Now, navigate to the Advanced network settings tab on the side of the settings window. If you look under the header that says More settings, you’ll see an option called Data usage. Click this to continue.

The data usage pane will show you a few interesting items. Highlights include:

  • A numeric total representing the amount of data you’ve used over the last 30 days
  • A space where you can enter a data limit
  • An area where you can select a specific network adapter to focus on, such as Ethernet or Wi-Fi
  • Usage statistics that show which applications recently used the most data
  • A reset button that rolls back your history information, zeroing out the usage counter

Set a threshold for your data in Windows 11

What if you want to set a hard cap on how much data you use? Once again, Microsoft keeps things nice and simple.

Navigate to the data usage section as before. Click on the button that says Enter limit, in the top right corner of the pane.

You should see a popup window. Here you can specify a limit type (monthly, one-time, or unlimited) and a total data threshold (in GB or MB).

You can also pick a reset date for when the counter will automatically roll back to zero. This option is helpful if you’re on a monthly billing plan.

Once you’ve set a limit, the Data usage interface will change to show your remaining usage. You’ll also gain options to remove the limit or enable “metered connection” mode to make the most of your remaining allowance.

Use GlassWire to monitor your data usage

As we mentioned above, Windows 11 data usage tracking is basic — some might even call it bare-bones. Although this is convenient, it lacks power.

If you truly want to get things done, you’ll upgrade to a tool like GlassWire. GlassWire lets you monitor usage by IP addresses, communication destinations, connections, and processes. You’re not limited to a general outlook; you can see the big picture without missing the nuances along the way.

One thing GlassWire has in common with Windows 11 is its simplicity of use. Even though you get more information, it’s just as easy to start monitoring.

To begin, launch the GlassWire app and head to the Traffic Monitor tab. You’ll immediately see how much bandwidth you’re using each month. Unlike with Windows, you’ll also notice your current network traffic is broken down by uploads, downloads, and adapters.

Another distinguishing feature that instantly springs out is the graph view. Instead of settling for a single number or a progress bar-style display, you get a time-based chart.

Why is the time layout so helpful? Simply put, it shows you not only how much data you used but also when specific events occurred. In other words, you can intuitively guess which activities correspond to the biggest usage peaks.

GlassWire also lets you choose how to divvy up the wealth of information it provides. Want to see a time-series layout for a specific program or process? Select the Apps option. Feel like zeroing in on a certain type of activity? Choose the Traffic option. Best of all, you’re not limited to monthly timeframes like with the native tool.

Set a threshold for your data with GlassWire

GlassWire is also your ace-in-the-hole for setting configurable thresholds. Navigate to the app’s Settings, and then choose the Data Plan option.

You should see some options appear. You can choose a timeframe, start date, and bandwidth limit amount. You can also receive desktop notifications when you hit the cap.

Try GlassWire’s advanced data usage features today!

GlassWire also gives you more tools to control data usage. For instance, with “Ask to connect” mode enabled, you’ll see a confirmation popup whenever an app wants to use data for the first time.

Ask-to-connect mode is a must-have in a world of streaming media and data-heavy cloud apps. Modern programs like these often download a ton of information when they get started. Receiving a convenient heads-up helps a lot.

You can also block problematic apps since GlassWire is a full-fledged network management system. All it takes is clicking to disable the programs you want to forbid under the Firewall screen. You can even configure different firewall profiles for individual use cases, like if you’re on a home network or out using your cellular data plan.

Windows 11 is a great OS, and its data usage tool is definitely handy. But it can only achieve so much without giving you a headache. Take full control of your traffic by downloading GlassWire for free.