A Q&A with ATB Technologies’ Cybersecurity Coordinator Jarrod Melville
As cyber criminals become more savvy, the team at ATB Technologies is continually learning and looking for ways to equip its clients with tools and solutions to protect their business IT against ever-evolving cyber threats. ATB’s Cybersecurity Coordinator Jarrod Melville recently attended ThreatLocker’s Zero Trust World, a global cybersecurity conference held in Orlando, Florida. The event enabled Melville and other participants from across the globe to gain practical tactics for hardening IT environments, identifying weaknesses, and implementing defenses that actually work against the attacks businesses face right now. Attendees trained with experts, broke down real attack techniques and got hands-on with the tools adversaries use to bypass businesses’ basic cyber defenses. Melville shares some of the insights he took away from the event through the following Q&A.
For those who aren’t familiar with the term Zero Trust, what does that mean?
Zero Trust is a cybersecurity approach that assumes anyone or anything attempting to access your IT can’t be trusted, whether that’s employees, outside users or devices brought into your business. If you’re going to run any kind of command or process, it will be blocked unless it has or receives specific approval. That’s what Zero Trust is — it’s not trusting anything.
What does that look like in the work environment?
For example, when our clients want to initiate a process and our Zero Trust solution doesn’t know what it is, it blocks it. The clients then send a request for approval, and we look at it, and if it’s determined to be legitimate, we allow it.
Why is Zero Trust important?
It protects your business at the points where malicious code or malware could infect your network. Zero Trust solutions block these attacks. Your company can give permission for processes or applications they need, but stop potential cyber threats. It’s really a precaution, because anyone can access programs that are malicious. Also, malicious actors can steal credentials and any kind of information that’s related to a business if malicious software is allowed in the work environment. The main goal of Zero Trust is to prevent things like that from happening in the first place.
Describe your experience at Zero Trust World?
It was a great experience. I have attended conferences before, but this was a major upgrade. The conference included experts who talked about any and everything cyber related. I met with different vendors and heard their stories — heard about how they use not only ThreatLocker (the Zero Trust platform hosting the conference), but other security tools. I attended multiple sessions while I was there, but the Hands-On Hacking Labs really stood out. We didn’t compromise anything, obviously, but we learned about the different techniques that could be used to compromise an account and we gained more knowledge about how to prevent things like that.
Was there anything new you came across?
Sublime was a new vendor I discovered. Their tools review emails for potential threats — messages that are meant to look legit, but could be malicious or a scam. I review things like this on a daily basis as part of my job at ATB, so I was curious to see how this was different. We used Sublime’s tools to examine emails and see what stood out and what could potentially be a threat. The tool they have is on a different level. I do review emails that companies send to ATB that they believe are suspicious. I look at who it came from, what it is asking the user to do, but this tool went even deeper. I think that was my favorite discovery. This tool gives you more information to go on, more research, before you make a decision about whether an email is legitimate or not.
What trends did you see at the conference?
The main trend the experts talked about was how cyber attacks are becoming more common every year, specifically ransomware. It really is crazy and concerning how often those happen. We talked about ransomware attacks happening to not only small- and medium-sized businesses, but also to large businesses and corporations. Technology is advancing, so malicious actors are using that to their advantage. We also discussed how to help defend against those attacks. Malicious emails — even text messages and phone calls — were another big topic.
What was your biggest takeaway from Zero Trust World?
My biggest takeaway would be that it’s really important to always keep your guard up and keep up to date on everything, including your IT. Many of these vendors and experts have been in the IT world for many, many years, and they were talking about how they have clients who do take cybersecurity seriously, but oftentimes, they think that the tools they have right now are enough. That may be true right now, but as technology advances and different attacks are occurring, if you don’t keep up to date on what’s going on or update your software or get new tools, it could leave you vulnerable. It just reaffirmed the importance of keeping up to date and preparing for the unknown, just in case.
After attending this event, what would you like ATB clients or potential clients to know?
One thing I’d like my colleagues at ATB and my clients to know is how important it is to stay on top of things and research everything that is going on. Don’t ignore it. If something seems out of place or suspicious, just report it to your IT team or, in the case of our clients, to us. It’s always better to report it and look into it — to err on the side of caution.
As ATB’s cybersecurity coordinator, how do you stay on top of evolving threats?
I attend the virtual monthly meetings for the Zero Trust platform we use at ATB. They talk about software attacks that are trending and what they’re doing with their software, how they’re upgrading it, and how we can use that. I also do that with one of our other tools that we use. It’s a SIEM (security information and event management) alerting tool. They have webinars, and I attend those as well, just to keep up to date with what is happening in the world, but also the tools that we are using. In general, I’ll visit different cyber security conferences, to see what else I need to be aware of and what attacks are trending at the moment. Most of the time it is ransomware.
Anything else you’d like to add about Zero Trust World?
I met so many people from all over the world. It wasn’t just the United States. I met people from South Africa, France, Colombia, just everyone from everywhere came to this conference, and it was great to learn how they use software and different cybersecurity tools to help protect their businesses, too. It was a big networking experience. I really enjoyed the experience. I would definitely go back.
If you’re looking for help determining your cybersecurity needs or sorting through options to implement Zero Trust for your business, ATB Technologies can help. Reach out today for a free consultation at atb-tech.com/contact-us.
About ATB Technologies ATB Technologies is an award-winning managed service provider (MSP) that helps businesses solve technology problems and navigate which solutions best support their business strategy and goals. Our IT experts help companies maximize their business IT while offering an exceptional level of customer service. We’re ready to help and provide IT support that never lets you down. ATB has been twice recognized by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. Find out more at atb-tech.com.