Iron Range Cyber

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP for management and IT services at a two-year public community college in Arkansas.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Iron Range Cyber?

We needed help in cybersecurity.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Iron Range conducted information security and privacy awareness training. They also did audit management and worked on our cybersecurity operations center. Some of their subtasks include continuous monitoring, vulnerability scanning, and remediation of issues on our system. 

Additionally, Iron Range has developed our intrusion detection systems, and they provide instant incident management and response. Lastly, they implemented our cloud-based backup and disaster recovery solution. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with Tom (CTO) and a technical officer.

How did you come to work with Iron Range Cyber?

I told our enterprise vendor that we needed to conduct a security audit. They recommended Tom for the job. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $25,000–$42,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2021, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We measure our network’s intrusion monthly. In addition, we’re audited by the state of Arkansas to see if we have an adequate cybersecurity system. Iron Range meets our expectations on both fronts. 

How did Iron Range Cyber perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate over the phone and by email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Iron Range’s timeliness and thoroughness are impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Sign them up. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

South Arkansas Community College is a non-residential, independent, two-year, degree-granting, institution in south Arkansas. I am the Assoc. V..P for Admin. / CIO, serve on the President's cabinet, and currently supervise Security and Physical Plant.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Iron Range Cyber?

We were looking for a trusted partner to assist us with cybersecurity. Our in house staff were stretched too thin and our system logs were seeing a significant increase in brute force password attempts.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

One of the principal officers of the company was someone whom I had worked with for 15 years (supporting our administrative software). When I heard that he and another engineer with I had also worked had started their new company, I asked them for their range of services and profiles of the other partners.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

They performed a penetration test, set up monitoring of core servers, performed audits on core servers, and made several suggestions to improve our security profile. They are a VAR for one of my end point security solutions and have facilitated off site backup of our core servers.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have worked closely with several security analysts and their Chief Technology Officer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We scrubbed several injected entries from our library card catalog and were able to recover from the on-premises Exchange exploit last March.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They have been attentive and I receive automated updates through out the day - usually with either a call or an email follow up when they detect a connection to one of our servers from a abuse site.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I am pleased about how agile they have been in responding to our needs and see them as a partner and not just a vendor.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No. They have been proactive, professional, knowledgeable, and affordable.