During an unprecedented year in which so many businesses were caught off guard and struggled to adapt, Kelser rose to the occasion with expertise and innovation. News outlets, both local and national, turned to Kelser in times of great uncertainty.

See this article as it originally appeared in The Hartford Business Journal. When I read last year that employees at layoff-and-buyout-battered Tribune Publishing newspapers (including the Hartford Courant) received mock phishing emails promising bonuses of $5,000 to $10,000, my heart sank. I can only imagine how the journalists themselves felt.

See a condensed version of this article as it ran in The Hartford Courant. I also was interviewed on WFSB Channel 3’s Face the State about this topic in September 2020. When a city or company is hacked, its leaders usually don’t face the press. They hide behind a statement and news of the attack gradually emerges over days or weeks. They don’t want to field questions about what they would have, could have, should have done. Earlier in September 2020 when Hartford Public Schools canceled the first day of classes while the city recovered from a cyber attack, the mayor, school superintendent, police chief and head of IT for the city held a joint press conference. They confidently explained the situation and the city’s response. To those of us in the cybersecurity field, it was clear that the city had invested time and financial resources and was ready for this attack and that its leaders were following a response plan. It was very different from the scrambling we’re used to seeing, especially on the municipal level.

With competition and practice on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kelser Corporation and Fitbit teamed up to provide Special Olympics Glastonbury track and field athletes with fitness trackers to help maintain training.

Last fall, I had the amazing experience of being interviewed by Chion Wolf—a familiar voice and personality to anyone who listens to WNPR—for the Connecticut Voice Podcast. The podcast highlights LGBT individuals from different areas of expertise across Connecticut and I was honored to be included. Our conversation touched on everything from coming out to helicopters, to cybersecurity—including my favorite interview question I’ve ever been asked comparing working in IT to being a pilot. Pride Month seemed like a good time to share some highlights from this interview, so below are two moments that stood out to me as well as the full audio recording.

As businesses continue to struggle with the economic fallout of COVID-19, many leaders are looking for ways to reduce costs, including technology. When implemented strategically, technology is a business enabler—an investment, not an expense. However, it’s always good to eliminate inefficiencies or redundancies in the IT department whenever possible. I recently had the chance to contribute to a TechRepublic article called “CIOs: 8 ways to trim IT budgets”. My tip, which focuses on telecom costs, is number 6. Below is more detail on how companies can potentially find savings in the IT budget.

With so many businesses operating fully remotely, the ability to collaborate in the cloud has become essential. Hybrid cloud solutions give companies the flexibility to use the cloud in a way that best suits them. TechTarget recently interviewed me about how Amazon Web Services (AWS) fits into the hybrid cloud landscape. Thus far, AWS has not made a play to be a leader in hybrid cloud. But could that be part of a bigger strategy for the cloud computing giant?

Video chat meetings are now part of daily operations for so many businesses. When the coronavirus quarantine period started, video conferencing was a bit of a fun novelty. Colleagues who had never tried Zoom were now using it multiple times a day. Sadly, it didn’t take hackers long to realize they could exploit the popularity of video chat platforms to commit cybercrimes. Zoom in particular has experienced so many security issues that many organizations, including school districts in NYC, have banned it. While there are certainly more secure platforms, I use Zoom every day. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Kelser has advised our clients on how to use Zoom and set it up for them. Recently, I was a guest on FOX 61 Morning News to discuss cybersecurity best practices for Zoom.