Why Security Vulnerability Assessments Are Necessary?

Manisha Patnaik | October 26, 2021 | 309 views

Security vulnerability assessment
Cybercrimes have increasingly become a matter of concern for companies worldwide. Over the past few years, the rise of big-ticket ransomware attacks and exposure of perilous software supply chain infections has awakened organizations to various digital dangers.

So, the big question is, how to combat the security threats that are on meteoric growth?

The best solution is to adopt a security vulnerability assessment.

What is Security Vulnerability Assessment?


A vulnerability assessment involves a systematic review of security hazards, which helps identify IT infrastructure’s weaknesses, risks, and vulnerabilities.

When it comes to mitigating vulnerabilities and resolving issues, the collective imperative is to analyze the problem areas before getting them fixed.

A security assessment is critically important to combat the complexities and with an effective vulnerability assessment program, organizations use the tools required to comprehend the probable security weaknesses and enable the protection of systems and data from intruders and unauthorized breaches.

For most organizations, ensuring the safety of devices, networks, applications, and digital assets are part of a broader vulnerability management strategy. It includes an extensive assessment, in-depth processes, and mitigation methods to explore the entire threat spectrum.

Typically, it is conducted regularly. Vulnerability assessment offers a firm assurance in the security of data, especially when some alterations have been implemented or a new service has been added, or, for that matter, and installation of new equipment has taken place.

Each assessment provides a perspective about the risk in its periphery and suggests solutions to control the risk factors and the evolving threats.

Why Security Vulnerability Assessment Is Necessary? 


The perpetual threat of cybercrime has necessitated the demand for vulnerability assessments significantly. They make organizations realize their security defects and contribute towards mitigating them.

Hackers are forever ready to make phishing attacks. As per reports, hackers are at work every 39 seconds. Thus, it is extremely important to be vigilant or complacent to activate hackers’ and cybercriminals’ machinations. Over the period, cybercrimes are fluctuating and thus need ongoing attention.

The ideal solution is to undertake consistent vulnerability assessments to safeguard confidential data, systems, and networks. Furthermore, it helps organizations understand the risk and enables smart decision-making.

To ensure security, companies ought to conduct both external and internal scans of their networks.

According to Gartner (paywall), “Large organizations with thousands of employees, tens of thousands of servers and many operating systems receive hundreds of requests per year to patch thousands of vulnerabilities that cannot be remediated in less than 15 days.”

One of the best reasons security vulnerability assessments are important is because it confirms an enterprise’s management processes and whether it has covered every critical patch through outlined existing remediation.

Why Do Companies Need Vulnerability Assessment?


A vulnerability assessment provides companies insightful details on all types of security discrepancies in their environment.

It paves ways to evaluate the risks associated with the flaws.

This helps organizations have a better knowledge of their security scare, overall weaknesses, and assets.

Moreover, the first thing that strikes us on hearing about a cyber-attack is the security of data. With the right and adequate implementation of security assessments, the safety and security of important data could be easily protected. A security assessment would be helpful to reduce irrelevant expenses and make space and increase the IT budget to invest in other key aspects.
Undoubtedly, data breach causes substantial loss to an organization, which leads to legal hassles and financial hazards. In fact, most of the time companies fail to recover the loss.

Thus, it doesn’t harm to place solid policies and methods to strengthen the entire security position of the organization and this can only be possible with a strategic security vulnerability assessment.

In a nutshell, this would keep the companies aware and, in all likelihood, keep the cyber-criminals at bay.

A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS


To cite an example, let’s take how Zensar conducted a three-pronged vulnerability assessment with port scan and penetration scanning. It determined the security of its offerings to meet customer requests for Brainshark, a leading provider of on-demand presentation solutions, helping customers deliver business interaction across 600+ ranking companies in the market.

While Brainshark knew their systems were secure and could also establish it through their documentation, they still undertook a third-party security vulnerability assessment.

Zensar’s vulnerability assessment procedures were based on the industry’s best practices that included tests for SQL injection, cookie manipulation, access control weakness, session state, and cross-site scripting.

The focus of the test was to identify the host and application security concerns. Upon completing the tests and assessments, Brainshark expressed satisfaction and was confident enough in their ability and solution. They knew their security posture was highly protected and secure.


Types of Vulnerability Assessments:


Vulnerability assessments unearth a variety of system and network vulnerabilities. This  indicates the reliability of the assessment process, which is implemented with different tools, scanners, and methods that helps discover the vulnerabilities, risks, and threats.

Network-based assessment scanning: It is used to determine the presumptive network security attacks. This kind of scanning can also detect the vulnerable systems on wired as well as wireless networks.

Host-based scans: It is easy to locate the vulnerabilities in servers or other network hosts with host-based scanning. This type of scanning provides visibility into the configuration settings and legacy systems.

Database scans: Database scans ascertain the weak points in a database to preclude malefic attacks.

Application Scans: It examines websites to identify and recognize software vulnerabilities and inaccurate configurations in network or web applications.

Summing Up


Organizations need to be watchful every minute and ensure the security posture is  rigorous, which is only possible with security vulnerability assessments. Based on this criterion, understanding company risks gets simplified in turn preventing intrusions and threats.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS


What Are the Advantages of Security Vulnerability Assessment?

There are several advantages attached to security vulnerability assessments. To put it precisely, it can help identify the vulnerabilities before cybercriminals do and determine the level of risk.

Undoubtedly, opting for vulnerability assessment would save a lot of time and money and mitigate the risk and prevent the irrelevant expenditure that follows after the cyber-attacks.

What Are the Disadvantages of Security Vulnerability Assessment?

While vulnerability assessments are highly advisable, it has its share of drawbacks which cannot be ignored. One of the primary limitations of vulnerability assessment is that it does not hint at every vulnerability that exists. Moreover, it sometimes signals false positives too.

Spotlight

Sharp Decisions

For more than 25 years, Sharp Decisions has provided award-winning strategic business and technology solution services to Fortune 1000 companies, agencies and governments in sectors ranging from Financial Services, Healthcare, and Manufacturing, to Government and Media & Telecomms. As a Certified Woman-Owned Business Enterprise and approved vendor headquartered in New York – with locations throughout the U.S., Europe and Canada – Sharp Decisions has been the backbone for a client portfolio seeking to fuel their technology progress.

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5G Small Cells: The Future of Wireless Networks

Article | October 27, 2021

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This is important because users often move between different areas with different coverage levels and capacities, providing a streamlined experience. 3.3 Lower Latency Small cells are designed to operate on high-frequency bands, which enables them to provide faster data speeds and lower latency than prior generations of wireless networks. This is especially important for applications that require real-time communication, such as virtual reality, autonomous vehicles, and remote surgery. By providing faster data speeds and lower latency, small cells can help enhance these applications' performance, providing a better overall user experience. 3.4 Cost-effectiveness Small cells offer a cost-effective alternative to traditional cell towers, particularly in urban areas with high land and real estate costs. By mounting 5G small cell antennas on existing infrastructure, such as lampposts and buildings, deployment costs can be lowered. 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5G Trends That Will Shape the Future of Technology

Article | June 7, 2022

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Wireless providers have been actively promoting the key features of 5G, such as ultra-low latency and complete network slicing, which are exclusively available through the stand-alone version of this advanced technology. By utilizing this emerging technology, businesses can unlock an entirely new level of performance, allowing them to deliver innovative and immersive services to their end-users. Stand-alone 5G is also a necessity for certain unique use cases, and many 5G trends in 2023 will rely on its capabilities. It is essential for businesses to understand the benefits of this advanced technology and adopt it to remain competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape. 2.2 Edge Computing for IoT The convergence of 5G technology and IoT is transforming how businesses operate across industry verticals. This 5G trend enables edge computing for the IoT by providing low-latency and high-bandwidth connectivity. 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Article | May 18, 2023

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Conclusion While NSA architecture may offer lower upfront costs and a faster deployment timeline, SA architecture may be more future-proof and scalable in the long run. Choosing the appropriate 5G architecture is a critical determinant for organizations aiming to utilize 5G technology in building a connected industry of the future. Organizations must evaluate their requirements and consider each architecture's short and long-term costs and operational implications before making a decision.

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Texas Lone Star Network Selects Ribbon's IP Wave Solutions to Augment Network Capacity

Ribbon Communications | May 19, 2023

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GlobeNewswire | May 26, 2023

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Much like three colleges – the College of Science and Mathematics, the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, and the College of Liberal Arts – coming together in the Frost Center to collaborate in a shared space, the revolutionary private wireless network is a convergence of technologies working together to support cutting-edge wireless capabilities and research projects. The solution is implemented with Federated Wireless’ Neutral Host 2.0™, which uses a communication hub that leverages AWS Snowball Edge and AWS Snowcone services to support a multi-use private wireless network. The multi-use network simultaneously supports private connectivity services provided by the university and connectivity for T-Mobile subscribers. The public-private converged network enables a wide range of advanced wireless use cases, including: Enhanced Connectivity and Safety Across Campus – T-Mobile service can be accessed using the 4G neutral host over CBRS to enhance the coverage experience in places where it’s hard for cell signal to reach, including indoor areas like the Frost building and outdoor areas on remote hiking trails, ensuring students have mobile connectivity and can make a 911 call if they encounter danger. Unmetered Broadband Streaming – For unmetered use of data-intensive applications, students can easily self-provision their mobile devices with an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) to securely stream class videos and other content on a mobile device over the private wireless network. 5G Innovation – With high-speed, ultra-low-latency 5G connectivity on Cal Poly’s private wireless network, advanced research can be supported for innovative next generation use cases such as 3D image capture and augmented reality to manage the progress of site construction projects. “At T-Mobile, we want to make sure all our customers – both business and consumer — have the best experience possible,” said Mark McDiarmid, SVP, Technology Innovation and Industry Partnerships at T-Mobile. “To help Cal Poly enhance coverage, we were able to use neutral host capability from our partner Federated Wireless to quickly layer T-Mobile service onto Cal Poly’s existing private wireless network, providing our subscribers with an optimal, game-changing network experience on campus.” Unlike legacy neutral host technologies such as Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) that require differing configurations for each Mobile Network Operator (MNO), Federated Wireless Neutral Host 2.0™ uses an open, shared solution approach. It offers a private wireless network built using components from an open ecosystem of software and equipment providers to take advantage of CBRS shared spectrum and achieve a radio network that can be shared by multiple public MNOs. “Many buildings, such as those that are built with metal or concrete, or LEED-certified, leverage building materials that can block cell signal inside the building. Signal can also be blocked by geographical landscapes, which impacts coverage and creates dead zones,” said Sameer Vuyyuru, Director and Head of Worldwide Telecommunications Business Development at AWS. “Federated Wireless Neutral Host 2.0 solution runs along with the private network on AWS edge compute, while their CBRS Spectrum Access System runs on AWS, providing an innovative, versatile, scalable, and low-capex approach for building owners, campuses, and facilities to work with wireless providers to enhance coverage.” The resulting solution provides a cost-effective, multi-purpose, 4G and 5G network with neutral host capability, offering institutions and enterprises a scalable blueprint for addressing multiple complex business challenges with one integrated public-private network. “This CBRS converged private wireless network with neutral host capability demonstrates the wireless network of the future, and the power that a shared spectrum and open ecosystem model brings to higher education and private enterprise,” said Iyad Tarazi, CEO of Federated Wireless. “It is an important milestone in public and private network interoperability.” “The wireless communications world is on the edge of exciting and beneficial advancements, and the innovative capabilities around private 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, and commercial 4G/5G are expansive,” said Bill Britton, Cal Poly’s vice president for IT services and CIO. “Through our partnership with experts in the 5G space, the Cal Poly 5G Innovation Lab will answer questions about reducing wireless access points, providing wireless coverage in hard-to-reach areas, keeping secure transactions on a private network, designing and operating digital twins, and improving remote search and rescue as just a few of the examples to be explored.” The new interoperability and private 5G capabilities will be commemorated with a ribbon-cutting of the Cal Poly 5G Innovation Lab on May 25, 2023, at the Justin and J. Lohr Center for Wine and Viticulture at Cal Poly. About Federated Wireless Founded in 2012, Federated Wireless is a leading innovator of private wireless and shared spectrum services. The company’s partner ecosystem includes more than 100 solution and edge partners, all dedicated to collaboration in advance development and deployment of shared spectrum services and private wireless. Federated Wireless’ customer base includes organizations spanning agriculture, education, energy, events, government, healthcare, manufacturing and logistics, real estate, retail, and telecommunications industries. Transformative use cases range from Industry 4.0, smart agriculture, campus automation, smart cities, autonomous robotics and telehealth to network densification and mobile offload. About Cal Poly Cal Poly is a nationally ranked public university in San Luis Obispo, California, known for its Learn by Doing philosophy. Each year about 22,000 top-tier students at Cal Poly put knowledge into action, taking their learning outside the classroom as they prepare for careers in areas such as engineering, agriculture, science, business, humanities and the built environment. Cal Poly’s hands-on approach, small class sizes and close student-faculty mentorships result in graduates Ready Day One to impact their communities, California and the world. Visit: www.calpoly.edu.

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NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE,UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS

MATRIXX Software and Blue Planet to Offer Dynamic Monetization and Intelligent Automation at Scale

Businesswire | May 25, 2023

MATRIXX Software, a global leader in 5G monetization solutions, is working with Blue Planet, a division of Ciena , to offer intelligent automation solutions. Together, the two companies are providing an integrated solution that enables Communications Service Providers (CSPs) to dynamically orchestrate and charge for complex networks, mobile edge computing and cloud environments at scale. The Blue Planet-MATRIXX combined offering provides intelligent orchestration of multi-access edge computing (MEC), network and cloud resources to configure connectivity for advanced consumer and enterprise services like mobile gaming and commercial construction equipment. It also supports multi-party charging and revenue sharing across business-to-business-to-everything (B2B2X) value chains. CSPs and their partners can leverage the full potential of these advanced resources, resulting in enhanced, innovative customer experiences enabled by the configurability of 5G and edge networks. “Emerging business models between telcos and enterprises require greater flexibility and transparency. The combined MATRIXX and Blue Planet solution offers dynamic orchestration and charging at scale, delivering critical capabilities for 5G standalone networks and cloud computing,” said Marc Price, CTO of MATRIXX Software. “We share a commitment to help CSPs deliver new revenue streams as they deliver increasingly complex digital experiences to customers.” The two companies demonstrated the solution at key industry events, including Mobile World Congress (in conjunction with Microsoft), a TM Forum catalyst proof of concept at Digital Transformation World titled “Supercharged Edge-Aware Marketplaces” and AWS re:Invent 2022’s Industries Interactive pavilion. “Unifying Blue Planet’s intelligent automation and orchestration capabilities with MATRIXX’s real-time monetization offers dynamic 5G experiences that leverage CSPs’ network and edge applications for optimized outcomes,” added Kailem Anderson, Vice President for Portfolio and Engineering at Blue Planet. “In today’s rapidly evolving environment, our combined solution gives CSPs the necessary flexibility and scalability to provide smooth, real-time experiences that customers have come to expect.” About MATRIXX Software MATRIXX Software delivers a modern converged charging and commerce solution proven at scale. Its cloud native Digital Commerce Platform provides network-grade, mission critical software that unlocks new network monetization opportunities. With its no-code configuration capabilities, MATRIXX empowers service providers with the agility necessary to easily develop, deploy and monetize new products and services. MATRIXX is the platform of choice powering many of the world’s leading communications companies, IoT players and emerging network infrastructure providers. MATRIXX makes it possible to harness commercial innovation and on-demand customer experience to better compete and drive new revenue and growth opportunities across markets and verticals. About Blue Planet Blue Planet provides proven software solutions that accelerate digital transformation through intelligent automation. With more than 200 deployments worldwide, our modular, vendor-agnostic product portfolio enables real-time visibility and control to manage changing network operating environments. Backed by a global team of delivery specialists and an ecosystem of partners, Blue Planet is a division of Ciena that combines expertise across IT, network, and business operations to enable the agility necessary for creating differentiated end-customer experiences. www.blueplanet.com.

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NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE,NETWORK MANAGEMENT,NETWORK SECURITY

Texas Lone Star Network Selects Ribbon's IP Wave Solutions to Augment Network Capacity

Ribbon Communications | May 19, 2023

Ribbon Communications Inc., a global provider of real time communications technology and IP Optical networking solutions to many of the world's largest service providers, enterprises, and critical infrastructure operators to modernize and protect their networks, today announced that TLSN, a consortium of 41 rural broadband service providers in Texas, has selected Ribbon to expand capacity in its statewide transport network. "Ribbon is already proving itself to be a very flexible and dependable partner and offers us the services, expertise and flexibility we require," said Mike Miller, General Manager, TLSN. "Their solutions, pricing and support model enable us to support our members with a robust, high capacity network." TLSN is leveraging Ribbon's compact Apollo 9603 platform with the TM400_2 (dual 400G transponder) to provide alien wavelengths overlay on the existing ROADM transport network and connect rural and other underserved communities throughout Texas. The TM400_2 will initially be deployed in 200G coherent mode with 100GbE clients. As service requirements increase over time, the TM400_2 can be repurposed to support 400G links with 400GbE clients. TLSN and its members further benefit from 24*7 US-based support while gaining the ability to deploy the services their customers demand in today's always-on environment. "TLSN is a key player in the Texas rural market and we're proud to be supporting them with our optimized, automated and open IP optical solutions. We look forward to further growing the relationship." said Elizabeth Page, Ribbon's Senior Sales Director, Rural Markets. About Ribbon Ribbon Communications delivers communications software, IP and optical networking solutions to service providers, enterprises and critical infrastructure sectors globally. We engage deeply with our customers, helping them modernize their networks for improved competitive positioning and business outcomes in today's smart, always-on and data-hungry world. Our innovative, end-to-end solutions portfolio delivers unparalleled scale, performance, and agility, including core to edge software-centric solutions, cloud-native offers, leading-edge security and analytics tools, along with IP and optical networking solutions for 5G. We maintain a keen focus on our commitments to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters, offering an annual Sustainability Report to our stakeholders. To learn more about Ribbon, please visit rbbn.com.

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NETWORK SECURITY,WIRELESS,5G

Cal Poly, Federated Wireless and T-Mobile Unveil Public-Private Network Interoperability and Supercharged Wireless Network Experiences on Campus

GlobeNewswire | May 26, 2023

Federated Wireless, Inc., a shared spectrum and private wireless leader, and California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly), today announced the expansion of Cal Poly’s private wireless network along with a new neutral host capability enabling the private wireless network to support T-Mobile customers. Cal Poly’s converged 4G and 5G private wireless technology operating in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band, combined with the neutral host capability and T-Mobile service will not only improve connectivity and safety for the campus community, but also unlock new opportunities for academic innovation with global impact in critical industries such as construction, agriculture, and energy. The first deployments of this CBRS neutral host solution at Cal Poly will be outdoors in remote hiking areas as well as inside the new William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation. Much like three colleges – the College of Science and Mathematics, the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, and the College of Liberal Arts – coming together in the Frost Center to collaborate in a shared space, the revolutionary private wireless network is a convergence of technologies working together to support cutting-edge wireless capabilities and research projects. The solution is implemented with Federated Wireless’ Neutral Host 2.0™, which uses a communication hub that leverages AWS Snowball Edge and AWS Snowcone services to support a multi-use private wireless network. The multi-use network simultaneously supports private connectivity services provided by the university and connectivity for T-Mobile subscribers. The public-private converged network enables a wide range of advanced wireless use cases, including: Enhanced Connectivity and Safety Across Campus – T-Mobile service can be accessed using the 4G neutral host over CBRS to enhance the coverage experience in places where it’s hard for cell signal to reach, including indoor areas like the Frost building and outdoor areas on remote hiking trails, ensuring students have mobile connectivity and can make a 911 call if they encounter danger. Unmetered Broadband Streaming – For unmetered use of data-intensive applications, students can easily self-provision their mobile devices with an embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) to securely stream class videos and other content on a mobile device over the private wireless network. 5G Innovation – With high-speed, ultra-low-latency 5G connectivity on Cal Poly’s private wireless network, advanced research can be supported for innovative next generation use cases such as 3D image capture and augmented reality to manage the progress of site construction projects. “At T-Mobile, we want to make sure all our customers – both business and consumer — have the best experience possible,” said Mark McDiarmid, SVP, Technology Innovation and Industry Partnerships at T-Mobile. “To help Cal Poly enhance coverage, we were able to use neutral host capability from our partner Federated Wireless to quickly layer T-Mobile service onto Cal Poly’s existing private wireless network, providing our subscribers with an optimal, game-changing network experience on campus.” Unlike legacy neutral host technologies such as Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) that require differing configurations for each Mobile Network Operator (MNO), Federated Wireless Neutral Host 2.0™ uses an open, shared solution approach. It offers a private wireless network built using components from an open ecosystem of software and equipment providers to take advantage of CBRS shared spectrum and achieve a radio network that can be shared by multiple public MNOs. “Many buildings, such as those that are built with metal or concrete, or LEED-certified, leverage building materials that can block cell signal inside the building. Signal can also be blocked by geographical landscapes, which impacts coverage and creates dead zones,” said Sameer Vuyyuru, Director and Head of Worldwide Telecommunications Business Development at AWS. “Federated Wireless Neutral Host 2.0 solution runs along with the private network on AWS edge compute, while their CBRS Spectrum Access System runs on AWS, providing an innovative, versatile, scalable, and low-capex approach for building owners, campuses, and facilities to work with wireless providers to enhance coverage.” The resulting solution provides a cost-effective, multi-purpose, 4G and 5G network with neutral host capability, offering institutions and enterprises a scalable blueprint for addressing multiple complex business challenges with one integrated public-private network. “This CBRS converged private wireless network with neutral host capability demonstrates the wireless network of the future, and the power that a shared spectrum and open ecosystem model brings to higher education and private enterprise,” said Iyad Tarazi, CEO of Federated Wireless. “It is an important milestone in public and private network interoperability.” “The wireless communications world is on the edge of exciting and beneficial advancements, and the innovative capabilities around private 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, and commercial 4G/5G are expansive,” said Bill Britton, Cal Poly’s vice president for IT services and CIO. “Through our partnership with experts in the 5G space, the Cal Poly 5G Innovation Lab will answer questions about reducing wireless access points, providing wireless coverage in hard-to-reach areas, keeping secure transactions on a private network, designing and operating digital twins, and improving remote search and rescue as just a few of the examples to be explored.” The new interoperability and private 5G capabilities will be commemorated with a ribbon-cutting of the Cal Poly 5G Innovation Lab on May 25, 2023, at the Justin and J. Lohr Center for Wine and Viticulture at Cal Poly. About Federated Wireless Founded in 2012, Federated Wireless is a leading innovator of private wireless and shared spectrum services. The company’s partner ecosystem includes more than 100 solution and edge partners, all dedicated to collaboration in advance development and deployment of shared spectrum services and private wireless. Federated Wireless’ customer base includes organizations spanning agriculture, education, energy, events, government, healthcare, manufacturing and logistics, real estate, retail, and telecommunications industries. Transformative use cases range from Industry 4.0, smart agriculture, campus automation, smart cities, autonomous robotics and telehealth to network densification and mobile offload. About Cal Poly Cal Poly is a nationally ranked public university in San Luis Obispo, California, known for its Learn by Doing philosophy. Each year about 22,000 top-tier students at Cal Poly put knowledge into action, taking their learning outside the classroom as they prepare for careers in areas such as engineering, agriculture, science, business, humanities and the built environment. Cal Poly’s hands-on approach, small class sizes and close student-faculty mentorships result in graduates Ready Day One to impact their communities, California and the world. Visit: www.calpoly.edu.

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