IAS Seattle Security Conference 2017

by Matthew KimlerNo Comments
Yesterday, I was honored to host one of the panelist discussions at the IAS Security Conference in Seattle. I hosted the panel on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) while my counterpart, Tim Adams, hosted the session on IoT Security. From the audience attendance and engagement, I believe the sessions were well received and educational. As usual, I'm always pleased on the number of questions that come from the audience when it comes to GDPR. Even though we're only a few months away from the go live date for GDPR, there are still customers struggling to understand how the GDPR impacts them and what can be done to be compliant. But I think there is a comfort in knowing that other organizations are also struggling with the same thing that they are. Working together, we get the answers we're looking for and get compliant. A special thanks for the panelist involved in the GDPR discussion: Keith Deighton - Hitachi Systems Security - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-deighton-9361901/ Derek Keen...
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GDPR Webinar Series – Episode Three – Veritas

by Matthew KimlerNo Comments
We held another great GDPR webinar series, this time with Veritas. Veritas has quite a few solutions that address several components of the GDPR initiative. Additionally, they are one of the few vendors we work with that also offer risk assessments on an organization's readiness with the new regulation, including risk analysis and prioritization. If you still wondering how you should approach the GDPR compliance initiative or just need help figuring out where to start, check out the webinar and reach out to IAS if you want to learn more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7stC0RAtBOA...
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Monteray Bay Aquarium

by Matthew Kimler Comment Closed
This weekend the family took another trip and this time to the aquarium at Monteray Bay. If you haven't been, it's a great place to visit with or without children. For kids, there are learning spaces set aside for some cool activities and educational sessions. They also post their feeding schedule for the animal life if want to watch the penguins eat or something of that nature. Since Jameson is still quite young to enjoy all of the aspects of the aquarium, we have definitely seen him engage more when it comes to fish, especially the bright colored ones. It may be the colors, the movement, or just the fact that you can get very close to the glass to see things. Once he finds something interesting, he really locks onto it. And the facial expression of wonderment is just too incredible to not stare at. It's quite amazing to behold. If you happen to visit, be sure to see the...
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Happy Halloween 2017

by Matthew Kimler Comment Closed
Halloween always amazes me in just how many children visit our house for candy. This year was no different when we blew through two 150-piece bags of candy, giving only one candy per child. We had a few remaining, but I estimate we had probably 270 kids come by. That's insanity. But the highlight was also getting Jameson dressed for his first Halloween. There was a lengthy discussion on what he should be. I honestly can't remember all of the things that we thought would be best for his first time around. In the end, we selected something that that was fun, hopefully was somewhat comfortable for him, and of course high on the cute factor. We only did a show off for the local street neighbors, but I think he had a good time. I'm guessing for him, I think it was mostly shock and confusion. Happy Halloween!  ...
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Livermore Pumpkin Patch 2017

by Matthew Kimler Comment Closed
Livermore has one of the best pumpkin patch farms during the Halloween season in the East Bay. You can find it at Joan's Farm and Pumpkin Patch every year around Halloween. Along with the pumpkins, kids can do hay rides, hit the corn maze and go through various farming museum exhibits. They also have a collection of animals such as donkeys, ponies, and goats that you can feed and pet. The farm is kept quite clean and organized for families to entertain their children. Jameson is still a little too young to do most of the activities, but we think he had a great time just exploring and looking at the animals and pumpkins. I highly recommend Joan's Farm for pumpkin picking. It's free to go and the only costs are the activities, pumpkins and feed for the animals. https://www.yelp.com/biz/joans-farm-and-pumpkin-patch-livermore  ...
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GDPR Webinar Series – Episode Two – Varonis

by Matthew KimlerNo Comments
Last week I held another session in IAS's ongoing series on the GDPR with our partner Varonis and guest speaker Brian Vecci. Brian is an amazing speaker and did an excellent job going through the GDPR at a high-level and demonstrating how Varonis can help organizations get compliant with certain aspects of the GDPR regulation. Even if GDPR is not a primary focus area for your business, but you are still challenged by managing security permissions and access roles in your organization, then this presentation by Varonis is a must see. Thanks again to Brian and the Varonis team for putting this together.  ...
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Campo Di Bocce, Cannolis and Wine Tasting Weekend

by Matthew Kimler Comment Closed
The family and I had a busy weekend. On Saturday, we headed over to Campo Di Bocce with another couple so that they could meet Jameson and play some bocce ball. It's challenging to see how Jameson will handle the new location and if he'll nap at the appropriate time and duration to make the day work. After our recent NJ trip, I learned that he's more flexible than I usually think, but it's still somewhat pressuring to me to plan it out. And especially difficult for me as a person who likes to have a plan and any deviation is a problem. But, Jameson had a great time crawling up and down the bocce ball court and hanging. Melissa and I, however, were both quite surprised he didn't like the mac and cheese we ordered for him. We're thinking he probably didn't like whatever brand it was. But I must give props to Campo Di Bocce on one thing. Cannolis....
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Elite Dangerous in the Oculus Rift

by Matthew KimlerNo Comments
I've recently been playing Elite Dangerous again with the Oculus Rift. There's no doubt that the experience with the Rift is one of the amazing experiences in gaming that I've seen thus far. I'm not saying there other great titles, but if you're into space exploration and want to get the immersive experience, there's really nothing better than the Rift and ED. In my recent playing, I'm focusing on the recent addition of the alien obelisk mission that's worth 100 million credits. While I'd like to say it's not about the money, it partially is. I'm trying to build up money to acquire the Anaconda ship so that I can grab my buddy, Rob, and hit the cosmos together. The other reason I'm hitting up this mission is because I wanted to try something different in ED with the Rift. Up until this point, I have never used the SRV to drive on the planets. I have landed on a planet...
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Introduction to the EU GDPR

by Matthew KimlerNo Comments
This week I held the first webinar in a series of many that will coming to our customers over the next few months. The focus is on the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) going into effect next year. I believe this is one of the most important regulations to come out in recent years to protect the personal data of individuals. And while this regulation only protects the citizens of the EU, I believe it will also help protect those in the United States, and could be a model of future regulations on privacy. However, it does have challenges. Protecting data within an organization is important, no matter what type of data it is. How we protect the data depends on where it is and how it's used. So where do we start? Like most things, we start by learning about the rules, why they are important and how others approach the challenge. The IAS webinar series on the EU GDPR...
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Legal and IT – Working Together

by Matthew KimlerNo Comments
One of the many things that I enjoy is working with other people in business. While I’ve mostly been employed in the Information Technology team at an organization, working as project manager and business relationship manager, I’ve also been exposed to other business units and their objectives. As an IT professional, sometimes you only see the IT systems and don’t always get a true understanding of what the bigger picture is. This was never more true than when I worked for a biotech company in the Bay Area and was an IT liaison between the IT and Legal departments. When I started there, the IT and Legal team relationship could be best described as volatile. The two teams seemed to have been going out of their ways to avoid each other and provide only the minimal amount of effort to each other’s initiatives. Meetings were uncomfortable, often with blaming going on and roadblocks being established to slow momentum of the other...
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