Home 2009 August

Entrepreneur magazine columnist Gail Goodman offers an insightful look into email marketing and its relevance in today’s social network marketing -crazy world. She argues that despite the rise of Twitter, LinkedIn , Facebook , blogging, and other Web 2.0 tools for direct marketing, she argues that they will not likely displace email soon. Goodman points out several arguments in support of her case. Among them: email is still valuable for relationship-building and meaningful interaction and dialogue with customers. Also, social networking has its place as a complementary channel to the marketing mix , and research from MarketingSherpa seems to bear this out. Another is that young people continue to use email despite their fascination with social networking sites. If you rely on Internet, email, or direct marketing in your business, then be sure to continue using email as well. Related articles: Report: Social Networks Growing while Other Social Media Sites … Why Do People Use Online Social Networks : Internet Marketing …

A new report by PandaLabs , Panda Security’ s malware analysis and detection laboratory, examines the proliferation of so-called “rogueware” – malicious software that attempts to convince people that their computers are infected with malware in order to trick them into buying their “security software”. Rogueware misleads users in that it tells them that it is protecting them from annoyances (such as online ads) or harm (such as from viruses or other malware) – even if it’s not. Often these programs themselves are not malicious beyond displaying false information. However, in some cases they can be the source of harm themselves, creating a backdoor for other Trojans or viruses to enter the system. According to Panda’s research, as many as 35 million computers are newly infected with rogueware each month, many through social networking websites such as Facebook , MySpace , Twitter , Digg . Ads featuring free downloadable software are often featured, containing links or reminders to get the paid versions after first use—which earn the fraudsters as much as $34 million per month, Panda estimates. To ensure you use only legitimate security software, make sure you only use systems from trusted software vendors that are vetted by your IT advisor. For advice and help, contact us today! Related articles: Cyber-criminals targeting social networking sites Blog – Can Twitter and Facebook be Both Social and Secure? Forget about malware, rogueware is where its at!

From annoying to destructive, malware is a bane to any computer system and the person who uses it. The benevolent Wikipedia defines malware (short for malicious software) as: “software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner’s informed consent.” The good news though, is that there are simply ways to avoid getting infected by malware. Clearly having the right anti-virus and security installed and up to date is critical – that’s where we help. But it’s also important to know how you can make a difference. Here are few simple tips to help you keep your system malware-free: 1. Never click indiscriminately These days, there are ads and pop-ups, designed to induce a PC user to click on them. From sexy models to seemingly too-good-to-be-true offers and promotions, many web advertisers are counting on people’s curiosity and the impulse to click away. The thing is, many of these ads lead you to unsecure sites filled with malware. 2. Cancel Autorun. When you plug in a portable hard disk or flash drive, you computer automatically opens a window with preset options to enable file viewing for that drive. Immediately opening a flash drive allows infections to access your system, so cancel the window and scan first before opening the drive or any file inside it. 3. Never open suspicious emails. Unsolicited email is always best unopened and deleted immediately. If you don’t know who sent it, send it straight to the trash bin and delete it forever. 4. Only download if you must and only from trusted sites. Installing peer to peer downloads may be a great source of free music, media and software. But it’s not only piracy and is probably prohibited by your company policy – it’s also a fertile breeding ground for files embedded with Trojans, worms, and other forms of malware. Download files only when necessary and only do so from legitimate and trusted sites. You make the difference Your behavior online plays a big factor in making your PC and your system malware free. Especially if you’re on a network, failing to exercise caution not only compromises your system, but everyone else who’s connected to the same network. A simple click on a wayward link or ad can cause your whole company to be bombarded by spam, so always be careful in what sites you go to and what files you open and download. If you’d like us to come in and talk to your staff about this and other safe-computing habits just let us know.

If you enable your employees to work where and when they like, at any hour of any day, you’ll likely see big gains in productivity. With traditional network infrastructure, when employees are away from the office—because they’re traveling for business purposes are or are taking time off—collaboration is impossible and productivity is lost. As a result, many companies are helping their employees to work remotely. A 2007 study by Nemertes Research revealed that 83 percent of organizations now consider themselves virtual, with workgroups spread across multiple locations and geographies. In addition, 91 percent of employees work outside of headquarters, and 96 percent use some form of real-time collaboration tools. A mobile workforce may involve: Real-time access to desktops and documents; Internet and instant messaging access through mobile devices; Real-time collaboration tools (such as editing documents simultaneously); and Audio and video conferencing. Companies that effectively enable a mobile workforce: Improve productivity through ongoing access to information; Drive business responsiveness through constant communication between employees and clients; and Support work-life balance and improve job satisfaction—which helps attract and retain talent. However, there are challenges to enabling a mobile workforce: Deployment can be disruptive to your current IT infrastructure; Devices and applications may be incompatible with your current infrastructure; Employees may not know how to use new tools; and Mobile devices and data may not be protected. We can help you avoid these problems when enabling a mobile workforce—and at the same time, minimize your investment in technology with products that scale to support your evolving needs. Contact us for more information.