DataSift Adds Tools to Help Businesses Make Sense of Social Data

It seems like the vast majority of companies are using some kind of social media in some capacity, whether its promoting new products or services, making connections with other professionals, or simply gathering data to learn more about their customers or network. The limitless amounts of information that can be garnered from these sites can be quite useful, but only if companies can find a way to decipher the huge pool of data and turn it into usable conclusions.

DataSift, an online platform that manages social data, has just introduced some new tools that can help companies more easily decipher social data and incorporate it into existing business and development platforms.

The changes include the option to receive small bursts of data instead of a constant stream, the ability for non-technical managers to perform complex searches, and other features that aim to make the service easier to manage.

DataSift is used by companies to wade through the large amounts of social data from sites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and various blogs and forums, finding relevant demographics data, interactions, online influence, and more. Companies can apply complex filters, allowing DataSift to search through all the data in the company's social network, find what is relevant to the search, and then turn that unstructured data into digestible information that could be turned into real results for your company.

For example, users can ask DataSift to show a real-time feed of what certain consumers are saying about a brand, what the most influential people in a network are posting about, or data from a specific geographical region.

For companies that use social media, the large amount of data that can be garnered from network connections and their posts can seem overwhelming. Finding data is one thing, but figuring out what is relevant and what it actually means for your company or brand may require some help.

There are plenty of companies and online tools that claim to help brands sift through social data, but DataSift is unique because of its natural language processing and complex search abilities.

The service has a number of different monthly plans and pricing to choose from, depending on your company's needs. There is also a pay-as-you-go option and a free trial version.

5 Ways To Prepare For Success With Intelligent Forecasting

My company, Journyx, has been around for sixteen years now and during that time, we have weathered one of the biggest economic downturns in history, the emergence of the simultaneously exciting and terrifying social media sphere, and major transitions in how software is purchased and delivered. However, we were not always so hardy.

In the beginning we came close to absolute failure a couple of times. It had nothing to do with our product; customers found it delivered on its promised functionality and then some. It also didn't have to do with our team, or any shoddy internal politics.

The reason I'm telling you this back story is because there's a lesson to be learned here: we did not have a clear vision of our pipeline and cash flow. We had difficulty predicting how much cash we would have in the bank several weeks in the future. It was a serious problem and, unfortunately, a common one. Perhaps even one you've experienced in your company.

It is easy, particularly for small businesses and startups, to focus on the excitement of the here and now. The future is an abstract concept for enterprise-level businesses, until it isn't. You have to focus on growth from the beginning. Success is not a pipe dream, but paradoxically it can destroy you if you aren't prepared for it.

We were not the first company to face periods of growth we were not able to handle and we won't be the last. Fortunately, it is simple to implement a system that allows for intelligent forecasting.

Following are five steps you can take to make sure your business doesn't face the same problems:

1. Track Projects Individually

Tracking employee time spent on projects is great, but you will reap maximum benefit when you track each project separately. This allows you to view each project as a unique element in company profitability. This insight is incredibly valuable when allocating resources because you will know the parameters for each project relative to the current availability of the company.

2. Monitor Employee Tasks and Changes in Productivity

In any organization, the benefits of knowing what your employees are doing at any given point are obvious: you want them working on tasks that are actually beneficial to the company. But it's also important to consider which jobs they are most effective at. Implementing a system that allows employees to track time against specific tasks will allow you to see where they are most useful. Odds are that's what they enjoy doing best. No need to change employee job roles every day, but do consider a change when the evidence suggests that they've honed skills in a new area and could be of more use elsewhere.

3. Build a Database of Prior Projects 

Having a backlog of your projects will be incredibly valuable, though it takes some time to build. With this information, you can determine how many people it normally takes to finish a project; improve accuracy of your budgets based on scope; and perfect timelines based on overall project parameters. Even the least efficient projects become valuable because you can glean just as much information from them. You will know what did not work, what factors caused you to go over budget, and learn from the mistakes.

4. Always Know Your Available Resources

A critical piece of any project plan is creating your team. This task is easier when you know exactly who is available (with the skills you need), and what their schedule will be for the duration of the project. If you have an automated project management system, employee schedules are readily apparent and any requests for leave will be noted. You will also know the tasks that other employees are working on so you can avoid stretching resources too thin or allocating an individual to tasks for which they aren't well suited.

5.  Constantly Monitor Resource Use Relative to Budget and Schedule 

If you compare time and resources spent on a project versus percentage complete, you can see which projects are absorbing too many resources to remain profitable. This allows you to redistribute assets to projects as necessary or even kill projects that are too far gone to benefit your company. It is always better to determine issues early on, and a dynamic tracking system provides that insight. Sometimes it's best to cut your losses and move on; costs can quickly spiral out of control, causing your situation to worsen.

While it is possible to keep track of these systems using basic business programs (we used Excel and QuickBooks early on), automated, programmable systems will greatly reduce cataloguing time and errors.  Whatever method you choose to use, start ASAP if you haven't already. Growth should be a cause of excitement, not concern.

Five Ways to Manage Your Small Business from the Beach

The small business owner never rests, especially in those early days of building a business. But even the overworked business owner needs an occasional rest in order to recharge and prevent burnout. How is it possible to relax, though, when you're always worried about how things are going back home?

Thanks to modern technology, it's possible to relax on the beach while keeping an eye on the office. SurePayroll has compiled a list of five tips to help you manage your small business while still enjoying a relaxing vacation.

• Schedule check-in times. Before you leave, clarify a time each day when you will check in with employees. Whether by phone or video chat, this preset time will allow you to unplug while still being on top of things. Additionally, your workers will feel secure that if they have any questions, they can ask you during your daily call. Try to hold to this time, also using it to check e-mail and tend to other work matters. If you compulsively check e-mail all day, you'll never have time with your family. If once a day isn't enough, consider setting benchmarks throughout the day for your e-mail correspondence and close the laptop the rest of the time.
• Download documents and apps before you leave. Some great file reading/editing apps to use on the go include Documents to Go, Files: Document Reader, and Soonr. These apps are designed to let you read, share, and edit PowerPoint, Word, and Excel documents no matter where you are. So when your employee sends you a report that needs your approval, you can handle it from the comfort of your hotel room or poolside lounge chair.
• Set up document sharing. Services like Dropbox will allow you to view and update files from anywhere. While e-mailing documents back and forth as attachments can serve the same purpose, with Cloud-based file-sharing, your workers can be set up to have documents automatically sync to the provider's server as they are updated. This allows you to check on the progress of all of your ongoing projects at any time.
• Online bill pay. To take some of the stress out of your vacation, make sure all of your bills are set to auto-pay while you're gone. If you choose to do things manually, be sure you have the passwords to all of your business's bank accounts so you can log in remotely and manage your money.
• Automate your payroll. SurePayroll has an app that automates your payroll. Available for the iPhone and Android operating systems, this app lets you manage your direct deposits from anywhere.

While running a small business can be time-consuming and challenging, using these apps, business owners can take a few days off every now and then to relax. Just be sure to schedule things so that you're online as little as possible, allowing you more time with your friends and family.

9 Ways to Offer Live Event Coverage Through Social Media

 

The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC recently published #FixYoungAmerica: How to Rebuild Our Economy and Put Young Americans Back to Work (for Good), a book of 30+ proven solutions to help end youth unemployment.

1. Customize a Hashtag

We produce a lot of high attendance events like Technori Pitch, where we gather 500 people to watch six startups launch on stage. We ask them to tweet our hashtag for the event, tweet the hashtags of the pitching companies, and to use our Technori Twitter handle in their tweets if possible. Our results are that one event can produce 200-300 tweets under that event hashtag. Very simple and easy.
- Seth Kravitz, Technori

2. Start Streaming Video

If you want to keep people in the loop about the changes happening at your company, live streaming video or live Q&A on video the way to go. It keeps people engaged, shows your personality, and allows people to see behind the scenes at the same time.
- Nathalie Lussier, The Website Checkup Tool

 

3. Live Online Press Events

We've previously set up a live stream of a press event for clients. We invited journalists via email and sent them the transcript beforehand so they could follow along. We also encouraged folks to follow the company-specific hashtag. The great thing about this event is that we were able to record it and make the videos available on the client's press page for future use.
- Heather Huhman, Come Recommended

4. Engage Remote Audiences Online

CoverItLive is a web-based app for liveblogging, has varied pricing models - free with a limited 100 clicks - and has tiers for each number of viewers you need. It allows multimedia embedding such as video and photos to be added along with text. It is available on web, tablet, and smartphones and pushes out to social networks to engage readers.
- Lane Sutton, Social Media from a Teen

 

5. Promote With Photography

For Modify, photography is king in promoting live events. We capture photography of fans engaging with and buying our products, and post both during (on Twitter with hashtags) and after (Facebook albums) the events, and drive attendees and those not lucky enough to be there to view. We also discount on-site at live selling events based on social engagement (e.g. “Like” us for a discount on-site).
- Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches

6. Open a Public Hangout

I've been experimenting with opening public hangouts on Google+ and inviting anyone on who wants to keep up with what we're doing. It offers an interesting back channel for an event, often creating more discussion quickly than other social media tools.
- Thursday Bram, Hyper Modern Consulting

 

7. View It on Vokle

I've been on a couple live calls using Vokle which seems to work really well. It allows you to chat, tweet, and interact with everyone on the call in a simple to use interface that keeps everyone engaged.
- Sean Ogle, Location 180, LLC

 

8. Offer a Photo Booth

Photo booths are a great idea for company events because everybody loves a photo booth, and these days, they're “smart” and can stream photos directly to Facebook and Twitter with pre-defined hashtags. Having one of these at your event will share great photos through your company's or employees' Twitter or Facebook accounts all night long, without any additional effort needed.
- Jesse Davis, Entrustet

9. Include Attendee Participation

Whenever we do something as a company, we try to think of ways our audience can participate when sharing it via social media. That can be as simple as answering a related question or voting on what we eat as a snack!
- Derek Flanzraich, Greatist

Michael Westgate of Microsoft: Leveraging Participatory Marketing

Social media has opened up many new marketing doors and along with it, new marketing perspectives. Michael Westgate, Sr. Marketing Manager and Social Media Lead at Microsoft, joins Brent Leary to discuss a concept he calls participatory marketing.  Tune in as Michael discusses how to best leverage social media using this concept.

* * * * *

Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

Michael Westgate: I'm part of the small and mid-sized business organization and I manage our customer acquisition efforts, which includes social media and digital media.

Small Business Trends: Can you tell us what behavioral marketing is and how social and mobile has impacted that area?

Michael Westgate: I don't think behavioral marketing necessarily is a new term, but maybe a more relevant term for the social media space would be participatory marketing.

How do we not only engage audiences, but allow them to share news, reviews, attitudes and ideas about products and services? How do we get them engaged in not only conversations with us, but activities that might be a value-add. That's what I'm referring to with regards to behavioral.

Small Business Trends: Are we getting to the point where companies look for how social media is translating into long term advocacy from customers as opposed to how many followers they have, etc.?

Michael Westgate: We think about social media and how we can attribute different actions back to either “likes” or engagements. We are looking at easier ways to track things such as “likes.”  We're also trying to dive a bit deeper and segment how different engagements look.

What types of users are engaging? Who is more active? Who might be advocates?

Small Business Trends: What are some of the things Microsoft is doing?

Michael Westgate: Microsoft might be unique in this as we do have a social presence for a lot of different products.  I'm in an audience team. So, Microsoft's SMB team has social profiles on Twitter and Facebook.  We also have a YouTube channel because we believe that is where our community, our target audience, resides and shares ideas.

There's enough proliferation in Facebook and Twitter, where we don't need multiple accounts. But if they're serving a distinct purpose, for instance, specific to Microsoft for small and medium business, it makes sense to have conversations there.  Because we find a lot of small businesses are looking for ideas on technology, listening to thought leaders, following particular conversations and hash tags.  To understand what is the latest and greatest in productivity, networking, and so forth for their business.

Small Business Trends: How do you measure if you are hitting the mark?  If you are using the right channel?  Or if you're using the right kind of content?

Michael Westgate: What we're trying to understand best is not only how can we use the right property, but what is the right way to measure that property? We feel if we have been able to develop a dialogue and solve a customer service issue, answer a product question, or maybe even connect a customer to a local partner that needs technology support and deployment and services, those are the metrics that we're most interested in.

It's an amplification of the rest of our marketing efforts really. To once again engage that customer make sure we're meeting their needs no matter where they find us. If they found us on our website or if they happen to come across us in Facebook, it's a consistent experience.  They're able to either connect to a partner or find answers to the questions that they have.

Small Business Trends: How would you recommend a new company try to figure out how to leverage social media to engage their audience?

Michael Westgate: The most important thing is to identify who your target is and then ask yourself, “Where do they go for information, and reviews, and ideas?” If you can identify in the social space that there are specific locations, conversations and groups, go and participate there.

I think that's a great place to start, whether it's Facebook or it's a LinkedIn group. If you're continually delivering value and creating a strong network with engagement and response, and you're human and relevant, then your community will build in size.  You can continue to liberate even more value there.

We sponsored a service called Brandify.com.  It's basically a free online tool for small businesses to understand their Web presence and search ability, their social media foot print. It will find your Facebook page or your Twitter location. It'll find your Bing local ad business listing and then tell you, based on search engine optimization principles, this is how searchable you are in this category. Here are the sites you have. Here's your score today. Here's some very easy steps to how you might improve it.

It's for those of us with small businesses that are just getting into the game and really want to understand how better to market in the modern age of social media.

Small Business Trends: Klout has recently updated their formula. What role do they play?

Michael Westgate: I think it depends on how Klout scores are viewed. They could be very helpful to a business.  Because it takes you one step deeper into not only understanding how many in aggregate followers you might have, Facebook likes for instance.  But what are the network effects of those particular users? Especially those that are taking action. I also have heard detraction as well.

I heard that in London, Big Ben has a Klout profile and a score higher than everybody else. Because every time you log in, it tweets a tweet giving the time. A lot of people share that and the Klout score is through the roof.

So you have to ask questions and understand, “Now what is this metric?  Is it most relevant to what I'm trying to measure here?”

Small Business Trends: Where can people lean more?

Michael Westgate: Go to Microsoft for SMB on Facebook or on Twitter @MicrosoftSMB.

This interview is part of our One on One series of conversations with some of the most thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This interview has been edited for publication. To hear audio of the full interview, click the right arrow on the gray player below. You can also see more interviews in our interview series.

Whether you're growing your business or starting a new venture, BlackBerry solutions provide you with the freedom you want and the control you need. [Series sponsor]

 

Cloud Security Alliance tackles big data security

Businesses are eager to reap the benefits of big data analytics, but the collection of vast amounts of data is leading to growing security concerns. To that end, the Cloud Security Alliance is teaming up with Fujitsu Laboratories of America Inc. to figure out ways to tackle big data security.

Dot Matrix Printer: Please Help

At one of my earlier jobs we had some really old tech. Green on black monitors, mainframes in the back and the gigantic old dot matrix printer that, if you didn't know better, you'd suspect was somehow steam powered.

Everyday it chugged and wheezed and printed purchase orders, checks, and statements galore. And then one day, it stopped.

As much as I'd complained about our ancient tech in the office, I have to admit I was just a little sad when I saw the beige behemoth sitting next to the garbage can. Sad, that is, until this cartoon popped into my head.

I'm sure it's sitting in some landfill somewhere as we speak, but I like to think of this cartoon as a last little joke we shared.

New Cyber Security Challenge stream to test capabilities on spotting insider espionage

Cyber Security Challenge UK has launched a new partnership with Orange that will allow competitors to look at insider espionage and securing a motor racing team.

Developed with Dtex Systems, the competitions will form part of a new stream around policy and risk management and will see candidates look for insider espionage and the theft of commercial IP within a game developer. They will also secure a motor racing team from its rivals in preparation for a big race taking place at Banbury racing track in November.

According to Cyber Security Challenge UK, these competitions will test for the underlying mixture of technical and broader business skills, which are currently in high demand within the cyber security industry.

Mohan Koo, managing director of Dtex Systems, said: “As the monetary and political value of data grows, cyber criminals are becoming more aggressive in their quest to gain access. One of the easiest ways is by targeting employees on the inside and having them create security vulnerabilities or steal information directly.

“Without skilled security analysts who are able to effectively filter through large volumes of data, internal security breaches can often take days, months or even years to detect, rather than minutes or seconds. The ability to find the events which really matter in a timely fashion is a much needed and scarce skill.”

Candidates will act as a external security consultant for a fictitious mobile app development start-up called Online Mobile Gaming (OMG) that is readying a new game but is yet to implement adequate IT controls. A few weeks before the game's release, a rival mobile app company releases a very similar game and OMG's directors suspect insider involvement. The candidate's job is to use their forensic investigation skills to identify the high-risk users carrying out the activities responsible for the leaks.

Stephanie Daman, CEO of Cyber Security Challenge UK, said: “This competition is all about risk analysis â€" how much vulnerability can you allow before you put the team at risk? How secure do you need to be before you run over budget or negatively affect the operation of the team?”

The winners from this virtual competition will be invited to Orange's brand new face-to face competition, developed with Prodrive, the British motorsport and automotive engineering group, and held at the Banbury racing track in November. Here 30 candidates will come up against a real life motorsport set-up, complete with Aston Martin racing car, pit crew, technical team and a complex ICT infrastructure that connects them all.

GhostShell attack sees one million credentials leaked online

Up to a million user credentials have been exposed online by the hacker group GhostShell after it cracked a series of content management systems (CMS).

According to research by Imperva, the attack was "payback for law enforcement arresting hackers", as the victims included government agencies, and also banks and consultancies. Speaking to SC Magazine, Rob Rachwald, director of security strategy at Imperva, said that GhostShell was an affiliate of Anonymous and the attack was most likely done with the SQLmap tool to infiltrate via SQL injection vulnerabilities.

He said: “We did a sample set to see what it looked like, and we checked the data and it was legitimate in terms of this breach. There is no way to check all of the numbers but some of the databases contained more than 30,000 records, and up to one million have been breached.”

Rachwald said that multiple CMSs were attacked because of the flaw, and data and files were taken. He also said that administrator login information was taken, as well as usernames and passwords. In terms of the files and documents, he said that a lot of the stolen content did not include any sensitive information.

Rachwald said that it was hard to know why these specific sectors were targeted so randomly, but that the SQLmap tool may have been used to find out which systems were vulnerable.

Team GhostShell are understood to be operating a hacking campaign titled 'Project HellFire'. Along with the attack and data dump, it published a message where it claimed it was collaborating with Anonymous.

In the message, GhostShell explained that the attack was a form of protest against financial institutions and lawmakers, as well as authorities who arrested hackers this year. The group also announced that more attacks were planned.

The message read: “We are also letting everyone know that more releases, collaborations with Anonymous and others, plus two more projects, are still scheduled for this fall and winter. It's only the beginning.”

Rachwald said that one revelation from the leaked data was that a law firm had implemented an interesting password system where the root password was 'law321' and was prefixed with the user's initials, so in his case the password would be 'rrlaw321' and the law firm did not require users to change the password.

Toyota website attacked by rogue former employee

Toyota has suffered an attack on its intellectual property, which it is blaming on a former contractor.

According to a report by Automotive News, the North American branch of the Toyota Motor company claimed that Ibrahimshah Shahulhameed illegally accessed one of its websites after he was dismissed from the company. It claimed that within hours of his dismissal, Shahulhameed logged into the toyotasupplier.com website without authorisation and downloaded proprietary plans for parts, designs and pricing information for six hours.

Toyota said: “If this information were disseminated to competitors or otherwise made public, it would be highly damaging to Toyota, and its suppliers, causing immediate and irreparable damage.”

Toyota manufacturing spokesman Rick Hesterberg said that Toyota was continuing to investigate the security breach and did not know what had happened with the confidential information, or whether it may have changed hands.

He said: “We currently do not believe that any supplier data or our proprietary company information has been disseminated. It's too early to speculate on what-if's.”

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said: “What isn't clear, at this time, is whether Toyota are claiming that Shahulhameed accessed their computer systems by exploiting a vulnerability or whether they had simply not reset staff passwords that he may have had access to in his position as an IT contractor with the firm.

“The details in the Toyota case are currently unclear. But regardless of that, it's a timely reminder to all businesses to remember the importance of reviewing who has access to your systems, and to underline that changing passwords and resetting access rights is essential when a member of staff leaves the company.”

Excelerate Labs Announces 10 Startup Winners

Startups are hot right now, despite, or maybe because of a tough economy. Organizations like Excelerate Labs based in Chicago give startups a chance to shine and move to the next level. When starting a business, not every entrepreneur needs the same things. Our roundup focuses on the basics, and some ideas every small business startup should know.

The Startup Scene

The top five. Startups participating in the Excelerate Labs Demo Day are not limited to Chicago-based companies. Firms Read More

From Small Business Trends

Excelerate Labs Announces 10 Startup Winners

Oracle issues Java security update fixing dangerous zero-day vulnerabilities

Oracle has issued a critical security update to Java, repairing two widely exploited zero-day vulnerabilities.

Oracle strongly recommends that customers apply the updates provided by this Security Alert as soon as possible.

Oracle Corp.

The latest version of Java comes a week after exploit code surfaced exploiting the vulnerabilities. In a security advisory issued Thursday, Oracle urged customers to apply the update.

"Due to the severity of these vulnerabilities, the public disclosure of technical details and the reported exploitation of CVE-2012-4681 'in the wild,' Oracle strongly recommends that customers apply the updates provided by this Security Alert as soon as possible," the company said."Successful exploits can impact the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of the user's system."

Tod Beardsley, Metasploit engineering manager at Boston-based Rapid7, said the patch appears to be effective at fixing the errors. Researchers reverse engineering the update say there may be additional fixes not outlined in the patch, he said.

"Going from public disclosure at the beginning of the week to having a patch from Oracle on Thursday is lightening quick," Beardsley said. "This may indicate a change from Oracle in that they may be more flexible at releases or it may indicate that their QA process is more mature."

In comparison, last year when Metasploit developers add “Rhino exploit” module it took Oracle six or more weeks before patch was released, Beardsley said.

Security researchers at Miami-based Immunity Inc. said the Oracle update may have patched as many as four Java vulnerabilities

"The update also patched at least two other vulnerabilities that were basically the same but related to constructors and fields and allowed an attacker to get any public constructor or any public field via reflection bypassing security checks," according to Immunity. "These two 'new' vulnerabilities patched combined with the MethodFinder weakness could allow you to bypass the Sandbox and obtain full execution on Linux, Windows and MacOSX."

A module targeting the Java flaws was also added to the Metasploit penetration testing tool earlier this week, making the code more publicly available. The cybercriminals behind the Black Hole exploit kit have also reportedly added the Java zero-days to the attack toolkit's arsenal. Security researchers at San Diego-based Websense confirmed the addition to Black Hole, releasing details in a blog entry on Wednesday.

Oracle remained tight-lipped throughout the week and did not publicly acknowledge the zero-day vulnerabilities. The Redwood Shores, Calif.-based security vendor did not respond to a request for an interview.

The attacks targeting the flaws have prompted experts to call on enterprise IT teams to restrict use of Java on endpoint desktops. Symantec on Thursday announced that its research team has detected the use of the Java zero-day exploits by the gang behind the Nitro Attacks targeting chemical companies.

"We can confirm that some of the attackers behind this round of attacks are actually the Nitro gang," Symantec said in its blog post outlining its findings.

Rather than an email attachment, the attackers are hosting the exploits on websites, luring victims into clicking a link to the malicious Web page.

"It is likely that the attackers are sending targeted users emails containing a link to the malicious jar file," Symantec said. "The Nitro attackers appear to be continuing with their previous campaign."

Entrepreneurs, Got An Idea? iStart Connects You To Investors, Mentors, More

When starting a business, a great idea is a terrific start, but it's just the beginning.  To turn it into a business and get it to market, more is needed. A great idea can easily fail without the right mentoring, investment, partners, technology or execution. But now, a new online resource has surfaced that aims to make it easier for entrepreneurs to connect with potential partners, receive feedback, and build a network of professionals who can share advice and support.

iStart, a program of the Kauffman Foundation, is an online resource for new business ideas.  It features business plan competitions and has now added business profiles to its site so that entrepreneurs can add information about their projects and connect with an entire community of those who are involved in startups.  Using the new website, entrepreneurs can share their ideas and let others know what they need to start or further their business venture, such as partners, analysis, legal assistance, mentoring, information technology, consulting or marketing - as this screenshot shows:

Investor, mentors, More

Other entrepreneurs, prospective mentors, business founders, investors, and corporate venture directors can use the site to browse entrepreneurs and their ideas, view their business profiles, and then contact entrepreneurs through the website if they'd like to get involved.

iStart also gives entrepreneurs a venue to test their ideas through business plan competitions. These competitions allow prospective entrepreneurs to groom their ideas before a full launch while receiving advice from others in the business community.

To date, entrepreneurs have shared more than 8,000 ideas and more than 650 connections have been made between those entrepreneurs and others interested in getting involved. iStart has also hosted more than 130 business competitions.

There are other online communities that allow entrepreneurs and business professionals to share ideas and help one another build businesses.  Idea communities powered by IdeaScale come to mind.  But a successful and vibrant “idea community” is more than mere technology - you need commitment and active engagement by entrepreneurs and  supporters alike.

One of the advantages of iStart is that it has active involvement by entrepreneurs and many of the ideas shared seem to be serious thoughtful concepts.  Those attirbutes can sometimes be hard to come by on other idea sites, which may end up abandoned or get taken over by spam.  Due to the business-plan competition connection, iStart appears to be heavily student-oriented, and focused on nascent ideas in the pure “concept” stage.

14 Ways to Incorporate Social Good Into Your Startup Culture

Gen Y employees don't necessarily distinguish between personal and professional anymore. They choose companies with perks over paychecks, form strong bonds with their coworkers, take advantage of that corporate gym membership and answer work emails at dinnertime without complaint. It's not only part of the job, but it's part of the modern work-life balance that this generation craves.

One core value of Gen Y is social good, and more and more employees are looking to make a positive difference with their profession. While not all millennials are looking for employment with social entrepreneurs, they are considering opportunities with companies with an office culture that prioritizes this value in some way.

We asked members of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invitation only nonprofit organization comprised of the country's most promising young entrepreneurs, the following question to find out their advice for giving back as a startup team:

“Do you integrate social good into your company culture? Name one easy way that teams and small businesses can give back.”

Here's what YEC community members had to say:

1. Do What You Do Best for Free

“Our company's goal is to become an information dissemninator who delivers powerful messages to the masses. We do this well through the speeches that we book for different organizations. One way that we implement social good is to use our influence with famous people to do events for non-profits, free of charge or at a much reduced costs. We stay within our core qualifications while helping others.” ~ Lawrence Watkins, Great Black Speakers

2. Let Your People Volunteer

“Don't make your employees take vacation days if they want to help build a house. Letting people volunteer “on the clock” is good for morale and your brand. Whether they're giving blood, mentoring a child, or stock a food bank, allow time off for these good deeds. They'll return to work refreshed and thankful.”
~ Sam Davidson, Cool People Care, Inc.

3. Build Products That Do Good

“Volunteer work is great, but if you want to build a culture around doing good, it must be the core of your business. Companies like REI and TOMS are so successful because their culture is built right into their products. At LabDoor, our core product makes people safer and healthier - for free. There's no better way to unify a team around social good.” ~ Neil Thanedar, LabDoor

4. Select ‘Social Good' Vendors

“We recently changed our new customer welcome gift in order to use a company that sells Fair Trade, organic, carbon-free coffee. Plus, they also help community-based programs in coffee-growing countries. Therefore, by using only ‘social good' vendors, we're indirectly giving back to the community.” ~ Phil Frost, Main Street ROI

5. Establish a Company Foundation

“We've been really focused on ways to give back lately. We're integrating part of our new platform with Donor's Choose, which allows them to give back to their local communities. We've also recently started The WorkoutBOX Foundation, which allows us to take a portion of our profits and build free outdoor weather-proof gyms in urban, low-income communities to help get kids and their parents active.” ~ Travis Steffen, WorkoutBOX

6. Give Back Through Your Mission

“There are so many opportunities for a company to give back to the community, but your efforts should match your mission as a company. We are a gaming company, so we decided to give back in a playful way. During the holiday season, we collected board games and donated them to a local children's hospital. In the end, we donated over 40 games to kids who weren't able to spend the holidays at home.” ~ Justin Beck, PerBlue

7. Create Deep Partnerships With Non-Profits

“Many companies will create 10 percent give-backs to charity, but when we partner with a non-profit, we commit holistically. First, we provide all of the proceeds from a sale to that organization. Second, we try to build awareness for their cause through our blogging and social media outlets. To make a true social impact, sending a small amount of cash is not enough.” ~ Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches

8. Make It Part of the Business Model

“One easy way to give back is by making corporate social responsibility an important part of the business model. We've created two projects fostering social good: OUR Schools program to teach energy conservation education free in public schools and our Agents of Change have been heading up the Cleats for Bare Feet initiative that collects second-hand cleats and sends them to youth across the world.” ~ Jason Jannati, greeNEWit

9. Business As Usual, Sans the Fee

“Use the resources you already have. Businesses are designed to trade value for money. Figure out a way that your product or service can benefit a particular group of people in need. Then, give that value to them for free whenever possible.” ~ Nick Friedman, College Hunks Hauling Junk

10. Startups Helping Startups

“I think the best way for small businesses to give back is to utilize their greatest strength - extensive knowledge of what it takes to start a business and make it profitable. There's a fantastic community to build around a passion for entrepreneurship and we serve as a pro-bono advising team to local startups and university programs like 10-xelerator and Columbus Startup Weekend.” ~ Eric Corl, Fundable LLC

11. Give a Personal Touch

“Charity goes beyond giving money, props, or even time. Give your very self, and make it a personal encounter, one person at a time. Start close. Invite your UPS driver to a company party. Write a Mother's Day card to one of your vendors. In short, take an interest in other peoples' lives, and share your own with them. Little things done quietly - with love, and without publicity.” ~ Luke Burgis, ActivPrayer

12. Pay Attention to Your Community

“Altruism is one of our core values. We pay attention to the community and frequently discuss ways to help. Sometimes, it's via individual efforts, while at other times, everyone participates. One way small businesses can help is by volunteering at a local food bank - they always need help, and people always need to eat.” ~ Brent Beshore, AdVentures

13. Give Offenders a Chance

“This is a work-in-progress for us, and it's one of my main goals for 2012. We hire a lot of ex-convicts and help them become productive members of society. Somewhere around 90 percent of offenders will reoffend if they don't have jobs, so we like to help them get back on their feet for the good of everyone.” ~ Jordan Guernsey, Molding Box

14. Start the Positivity Internally

“The most important contribution that a business owner can make to social good can be answered by one simple question: “How was your day at work today?” When each of your employees finishes their workday, they go out into the world and share their happiness or discontent with others. Do whatever you can to make sure that the portion of their lives spent on your watch is positive.” ~ Christopher Kelly, NYC Conference Centers

Volunteer Photo via Shutterstock

You Have A Channel, But Do You Have The Right Tools To Make A Video?

Online video is like one of those street corners people only venture around at night if they really need to get something. Otherwise, they're just not going there. Many businesses still hold that attitude without realizing that it's already kind of necessary. The tarditive reaction, however, presents a ton of opportunity for you if you slip into it.

Everyone and his mother's on YouTube and Vimeo. It's not a question of how you're going to enter the scene. It's now a matter of when you're going to start gathering film equipment, shooting your films, and uploading them.

With all that said, there's little time left for you to still hop into the bandwagon and not be left behind while YouTubers are still subscribing everywhere left and right. Soon enough, users of the video service will start having what I call “subscription fatigue” and just stop at 30 subscriptions, or whatever it is they consider “enough.” By then, you'll have to have some damn good video up to convince them to subscribe to you. Of course, people will still view your content, but it's still not as fun as having a fan base already set up that can help your video go viral in minutes.

That's enough of me asking you to seize the moment. There's already an article here to convince you to get into video. It's time for me to show you what tools you can use to make great films without having to tear the bank in half:

• Adobe Premiere Elements - Adobe, the company that makes the ever-famous Photoshop application, also makes a video editing software known as Adobe Premiere. This is a very heavy-weight application, especially for novices who are starting out, so I would rather recommend Adobe Premiere Elements. The Elements version is more compact and doesn't contain all of the calamity that the standard version has. It sells for just under a hundred dollars.
• TrakAxPC - This is, honestly, a more intuitive application for use with beginners who want to make something professional, presentable, and noteworthy. Besides being a company that offers advice to aspiring video producers, TrakAx also offers this piece of software for those who have constrained budgets and just want to get a video out there that looks highly presentable. The learning curve is, in almost every aspect, more simple than that of Adobe's mammoth software, and has everything you need from a beat synchronizer, automatic crossfading, and picture-in-picture capabilities.

Get into video. You seriously won't regret it. Also, have a look at some of TrakAx's advice. It might make you a little less timid about getting out there and publishing.

Brian Littleton On The State Of Affiliate Marketing #AMDays

Editor's Note: Last year we provided coverage of the Affiliate Management Days conference (a conference for businesses that offer affiliate programs) and this year we will be doing the same. The interview below features Brian Littleton, Founder and CEO of ShareASale, one of the world's major affiliate networks, by conference founder Geno Prussakov.

Question: What are the major challenges you see affiliate managers struggling with?

Brian: Generally speaking, it is the speed at which the industry evolves and develops. Affiliate marketers are quick and smart and those are really positive things â€" but there are negatives that go along with it.

An affiliate manager needs to be able to stay on top of the negative trends as well, in order to maintain positive momentum in the channel.

One of the best examples of this is the cloaking of search results (showing one result to the search engine, but a different one to a user). With any cursory glance at an affiliate engaged in cloaking it will appear just as a product link â€" but with further research and a knowledge of trends the affiliate manager can spot the issue quickly.

Question: What do you view as the main affiliate program growth opportunities?

Brian: While it may not represent the majority of the volume going through the affiliate channel now, I still believe that the longest term positive growth opportunity is in the acquisition of new customers that were previously untouched.

If affiliate managers and affiliates alike focused on this target, I believe the growth opportunity is significant. But it takes a combined effort starting with the affiliate manager.

Question: In April 2012, an Illinois Circuit Court Judge ruled the affiliate nexus tax unconstitutional. However, in September the law is set to be reinstated in two other states (Pennsylvania and California). Two questions: Is there a good solution to this snowballing affiliate nexus tax situation? How can affiliate networks help merchants to continue working in the states with the affiliate nexus tax legislation?

Brian: Yes, Senator Dick Durbin (IL) and others have proposed a Federal solution to the problem that would be fair and even for all States. This is the only way to accomplish their goal (allowing States to collect an already due tax) while preserving jobs in the affiliate industry.

To answer your second question, I don't believe that there are any legal ways to get around these laws. I have heard possible solutions floated around such as filtering out commissions based on the State of the customer, which came up long ago in the first passing of the law in New York.

I don't believe it to be a solution based on my reading of the laws. In my opinion, they just put the merchant in a worse legal position.

Question: What about the “Do Not Track” legislation? Is the affiliate marketing industry in danger here? And does ShareASale have relevant solutions?

Brian: Yes, the industry should be aware and have a lobby for the issue. This is something that is being accomplished through the Performance Marketing Association.

As for solutions, certainly we are looking at the issues closely but there isn't anything definitive that I would be able to share. I also think it is important to remember and respect the privacy of a user. Ultimately, if they ask that their information not be shared â€" it is important to respect that.

At the same time, we may not be able to provide to them some of the services that would be supported by the advertising dollars involved in tracking purchases… so it goes both ways.

The important step here is to make sure that the industry is well represented in our viewpoints which are critical to online commerce.

Question: In October of this year, you're speaking at Affiliate Management Days East 2012, participating on “The Role of the Network” keynote panel. What are the top 3 things that affiliate managers (and merchants) should be looking at while choosing an affiliate network?

Brian: A network is a partner. As I alluded to earlier, there is a lot of danger in putting too much trust into an affiliate. An affiliate manager needs a network that is going to help them understand the pluses and minuses of certain traffic techniques, that is step one.

Step 2 is all about technology and flexibility. An affiliate manager needs a network that can provide to them the tools that they need for organization, segmentation, attribution, contact, etc. The network needs to be flexible enough to adopt to trends and develop technology around them as well. Ask specific questions about exactly what you want to do.

For example, if you want to pay half of your affiliates only for transactions on certain products, and the other half in a different manner â€" make sure it is easily handled. Unless you ask specifically for what you are looking for, there is no way to tell how flexible the solution really is.

Step 3 is trust. There are quite a few affiliate networks who have been in the space 10-15+ years and have developed years worth of knowledge and trust of the community. I would not place my affiliate program in the hands of a brand new network without serious consideration.

Question: Over the next 4 years Forrester predicts a steady growth for affiliate marketing. What are the top 3 areas of opportunity for affiliates these days?

Brian: Opportunity exists, as I stated earlier in finding new customers for retailers. This, to me, is the long term value of the channel and what affiliates should be focused on.

In terms of top 3 areas I think “Local Search” is probably the most obvious â€" as users move more and more towards their mobile and tablet devices. Trailing that I would say both “Social Gaming” and “Consumer Review” are both really open for opportunity although both carry with them some caution.

Question: If you were to leave affiliate managers with just one bit of advice today, what would it be?

Brian: Use your instinct. When it comes to finding a really good affiliate, don't be fooled simply by statistics or language. Use your instinct and knowledge of your own product and website to help you.

Too many Affiliate Managers are forced into relationships either by lack of understanding or through automatic approval. Unfortunately, their programs can suffer due to it. If you are going to actively manage a program â€" make sure to use your #1 asset.

* * * * *

Affiliate Management Days takes place October 9-10, 2012. More information about Affiliate Management Days being held in Ft Lauderdale, can be found here. Or follow the hashtag #AMDays on Twitter. Register using code SBTAM150 to receive $150.00 off your pass. Check back here for more interviews with the speakers.

Boost Your Search Engine and Social Appeal With InboundWriter

Can't figure out SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? Don't worry… you're not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of people who can't do it, either. In fact, 95 percent of all blogs fail, as in they seriously crash and burn into the abyss of forgotten websites that never update anymore. You don't want to have one of those blogs or own a site that ends up like that.

What do the 5 percent know that the other 95 don't? Besides protesting as “the 95 percent,” there are ways to actually adopt measures to make your site better. Some people don't know, though, that they can do too much of a good thing. Let's take an example: John sells custom-made T-shirts for people. He's a great designer, has a ton of talent, and has the skills necessary to keep the business running. He decides to invest in a domain name, starts a website, and tries to sell his product outside his locale. He plasters “custom T-shirts” all over the site and even writes an article mentioning “custom T-shirts” or “T-shirts” in just about every sentence.

John now wonders why he has only 5 visitors a day who never buy anything. His website isn't doing anything for him. But he was told that working with keywords is going to get him somewhere. Somehow, his Google PageRank remains a 1/10 and the Facebook page isn't helping, either. He gives up shortly and decides to just sell locally.

Do you see his mistake? It's known as “keyword stuffing” and Google hates that. This, and many other things, could negatively affect your site's ability to be seen by people. Google, Facebook, and Twitter are all picky, but there's one application online that knows how to push you in the right direction.

Enter InboundWriter, an online piece of software that lets you create content that appeals to search engine and social media websites. This program uses complex algorithms and mines data from the Web to help you match your target audience by telling you how many keywords to include, how much to write, and whether or not you are in the “sweet spot” with keyword repetition. Too few keywords, and Google doesn't know what you're talking about. Too many, and it doesn't want to give you the light of day.

InboundWriter not only lets you create search engine-friendly content, but it also gives you insights into what people are saying about your niche in Twitter using a feature called “Topic Buzz.” This not only helps your website cater to the SE giants, but also guides you in creating social-friendly content to appeal to the crowd.

My experience with InboundWriter was a positive one, in a way. I gave it a try about two months ago and published an article on my own online publication regarding portable printing. The article didn't immediately get views, but they started creeping in once Google crawled the site. The day after, I started having about 10 views on the article. OK, so that's not much, but it's certainly better than some of my other articles, which were just forgotten pieces of content that had 20 views historically. Soon after, I was getting almost 600 page views on that article alone every month, according to my Google Analytics data.

The traffic increase wasn't immense, but it was somewhat enticing, making me want to use the software again. Imagine if I get that many visitors from 100 articles. That amounts to 60,000 visitors a month, or about 2,000 visitors per day. You might get more, depending on how useful the information is and how many people link to your site. At that time, I had a Google PageRank of 2. Now, my PageRank is higher and my site has more authority. It's more SEO-friendly, and some of my articles have gone viral on social venues.

All in all, I'd give InboundWriter an 8 out of 10. The reason it doesn't get a full 10 is because it is not the completely intuitive system it advertises to be. You have to know a bit about what keywords to use, among other things.

SumAll: Financial Analysis by Tracking Your Website Traffic

Google Analytics is free. We all know that, but we also know that it isn't always easy to use. Small business websites are not cheap to build or manage (not usually) and then we expect those sites to deliver magnificent results. In reality, few of us are watching the analytics meter because it is not user-friendly, but that changes when you flip the switch on business reporting tool SumAll.

To be fair, Google Analytics cannot do what SumAll does, but it pulls data from it and displays it well. It also pulls data from your ecommerce store. Current integrations include Shopify, BigCommerce, eBay, PayPal, and Magento.

What This Means

Having your analytics tied to both website traffic and ecommerce sales, you can quickly see what your top selling products are, which days are busiest for which of your products, and how much revenue your top products are generating. Website traffic analytics can help you in your marketing, but having financial details tied into those reports make them much more useful.

What I Really Like:

• I get a detailed email as often as I specify and my basic report looks like the image below. Google only sends me attachments that I have to open. Petty perhaps, but I live in my inbox a good portion of the day.
• It shows regular Web traffic, but also pulls in product sales data and compares traffic to sales.
• SumAll does math. You can select five different data lines and turn it into one summed line. Sales, discounts, or units sold, any data of the same kind can be added.
• They have a super fast signup process. First name, last name, email, password, then the submit button says “Discover Your Potential.” Well said.

What I'd Like to See:

• Some pricing details. SumAll is completely free right now. They promise that basic features will remain free, but I'd like to know if it is going to be $10/month or $100/month before I synchronize all my data.

Frankly, SumAll is an amazing service for small business owners who struggle with keeping up with the information firehose.

The team at SumAll has created an elegant way for you to see your mission-critical data in ways that make sense and help you run your business. The basic service alone is worth the effort.  I'm expecting that the premium levels will be affordable for most of us.

\'Undetected\' virus was able to destroy PC data

A piece of malware called 'Wiper' hit targets in Western Asia earlier this year.

Analysis by Kaspersky Lab found that this had a highly effective method of destroying computer systems, including a unique data wiping pattern. It said that when it was searching for Wiper it came across Flame, although Wiper has not been 'discovered', as the malware was so well written that once it was activated, no data survived.

The report on Wiper said: “Although we've seen traces of the infection, the malware is still unknown because we have not seen any additional wiping incidents that followed the same pattern as Wiper, and no detections of the malware have appeared in the proactive detection components of our security solutions.”

It also said that it may be possible that Wiper will never be discovered, but based on Kaspersky Lab's research and experience, it was reasonably sure that it existed and that it was not related to Flame.

Forensic analysis of the hard disk images that had been wiped found that the malicious program wiped the hard disks of the targeted systems and destroyed all data that could be used to identify the malware. Also, the file system corrupted by Wiper prevented computers from rebooting and caused improper general functioning, meaning that nothing was left after the activation of Wiper on any machine that was analysed and there was little chance of recovering or restoring any data.

The hard disk image analysis also revealed a specific data wiping pattern together with a certain malware component name, which started with ~D. It said that these findings were reminiscent of Duqu and Stuxnet, which also used filenames beginning with ~D, and were both built on the same attack platform, known as Tilded.

The unique wiping pattern was designed to quickly destroy as many files as effectively as possible, including multiple gigabytes at a time, with 75 per cent of targeted machines having their data wiped completely.

Alexander Gostev, chief security expert at Kaspersky Lab, said: “Based on our analysis of the patterns Wiper left on examined hard disk images, there is no doubt that the malware existed and was used to attack computer systems in Western Asia in April of 2012, and probably even earlier - in December of 2011.”

FOIA request finds that data breach problem has got a lot worse over the last five years

The amount of data breaches in the UK has increased by more than 1,000 per cent in the past five years.

According to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), there has been a major increase in the number of self-reported data breaches occurring each year since 2007.

The biggest culprit is local government, where data breaches have increased by 1,609 per cent, with the next largest increases coming from other public sector organisations (1,380 per cent) and the private sector (1,159 per cent). NHS data breaches have increased by 935 per cent, and central government breaches are up by 13 per cent.

From November 2007 to November 2008, local governments reported just 11 data breaches, but by 2012 this figure had grown to 188. In total, data breaches reported in 2007/8 amounted to 79, while in 2011/12 it was 821.

Nick Banks, head of EMEA and APAC at Imation's mobile security business, who requested the Freedom of Information Act data, said that the massive increase in just five years was "fairly startling".

“The figures seem to show that increasing financial penalties have had little effect on the amount of data breaches each year. Undoubtedly there are some mitigating circumstances that have contributed to the rise in annual data breach numbers, such as the introduction of mandatory reporting in certain sectors, plus the increasing amounts of data being stored and accessed, but none of these factors obscures the clear trend of constant increases,” he said.

“The latest full-year figures show that there were 821 data breaches in the UK in 2011/2012, which is deeply worrying. Organisations must take responsibility for preventing breaches, and with so much available technology there really is no excuse for failing to adequately protect data.”

Read the Imation whitepaper on 'Coping with a data loss' and data tiering here.

Addition of Java zero-day to Blackhole increases its infection success by 25 per cent

The addition of the Java zero-day exploit to the Blackhole exploit kit has more than doubled the crimeware toolkit's potency, according to researchers who are tracking the threat.

According to a blog post by Seculert, it didn't take more than a day for the Blackhole malware author to add this exploit to the Blackhole arsenal. This has subsequently led to an increase in the numbers of infections, due to the new Blackhole version that now includes the new Java zero-day, with the successful infection rate increasing from ten per cent to 25 per cent.

It also cited statistics that show that Java exploits in Blackhole servers are 75 to 99 per cent successful, while tens of thousands of new infected machines have been due to the Java zero-day, particularly since the exploit was added to the Blackhole exploit kit.

Speaking to security blogger Brian Krebs, Blackhole author Paunch said he intended to (and did) fold the exploit into his kit, but said he was surprised that someone would just leak such a reliable exploit, which he said would fetch at least $100,000 if sold privately in the criminal underground.

Experts have recommend users disable Java in the browser until Oracle, which maintains the software platform, releases a patch. Oracle has not said whether that will be before the company is next scheduled to patch Java, on 16th October. A report by PC World suggested the database giant may have known about the bugs since last spring.

Good Technology adds new capabilities to enterprise app

Good Technology has added the ability to take and securely share photos and make one-touch conference calls to its Good for Enterprise collaboration app.

As well as an enhanced interface, Good Technology said that the improved app provides users with the ability to snap and securely share photos via email from whiteboard sessions or job sites without worrying about the image ending up in a cloud repository such as iCloud or Dropbox. Employees can organise and track tasks with real-time synchronisation of Microsoft Outlook tasks or Lotus Notes To Do's.

Use of the Good for Enterprise application requires a Good for Enterprise server and client access license. Versions of Good for Enterprise are available for both iOS and Android.

Laura Fay, vice president of product management at Good Technology, said: “With today's always-on work environment, employees need mobile business apps designed to make getting work done easier.

“With this release of Good for Enterprise, our customers can now offer their employees an elegant, powerful and secure collaboration app that supports the way employees want to work using the devices they prefer. Whether it's joining conference calls with one-click, preparing for meetings on-the-go or securely snapping and sharing photos, Good for Enterprise enables employees to get work done â€" quickly and effectively.”

Secunia integrates vulnerability scanning and patch deployment with new version of Corporate Software Inspector

Secunia has launched the next version of its Corporate Software Inspector (CSI) 6.0 to combine vulnerability intelligence and scanning, and patch creation with patch deployment.

According to the company, the vulnerability and patch management solution allows users to understand and evaluate their entire threat landscape, identify exactly where application vulnerabilities exist and how best to prioritise and implement remediation efforts.

Also added are custom scan rules and the ability to create and configure smart groups and integration with Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) Altiris Deployment Solution and any other third-party configuration management tools.

Morten Stengaard, director of product management and quality assurance at Secunia, said: “Simply put, we have designed the new Secunia CSI to help our customers realise a better return on those investments, while at the same time improving their security level.

“The overall mission of the Secunia CSI 6.0 has been to empower our customers and their current infrastructure, while providing them with the best of breed vulnerability intelligence, scanning and pre-created patch packages. We have therefore focused on developing the Secunia CSI's integration capabilities, making the Secunia CSI 6.0 a much more useful and extensive vulnerability and patch management tool.”

Microsoft Changes Logo for First Time in 25 Years

A company's logo and brand make a difference. Though they won't convince anyone to buy or consume a substandard product or service, they can tell a business's story, set it apart from competitors by communicating it's unique value, and create an important association for customers between a company's message and what it creates.

Whole New Look

A sea change. The new Microsoft logo is a major shift for the company, its first significant change since 1987. Combining the multicolored symbol found on Windows products with Microsoft's traditional wordmark, the logo is intended to combine tradition with company heritage. The Verge

Running the risk. Changing your logo can be riskier and a bigger deal than many might think. Marketing expert Barbara Kahn, professor of marketing at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, said a logo must be “distinctive, clearly identified with the brand, and consistently used over time.” The Seattle Times

Better Branding

Colorful communication. There is a reason why humans associate red with hunger, green and blue with calm, and very specific colors with specific brands. Color communicates psychologically with customers on a primal level, but consistent use of colors with a logo or brand also makes a powerful impact on them. Effective use of colors is not just a matter of first impressions. UPrinting

Signs and symbols. The degree to which branding is effective may depend not upon the amount of money your company has to invest in marketing, but upon the consistency you use in applying graphics, suggests graphic design expert Emily Brackett. In this post, Brackett looks at how an idea as simple as a bike rider logo painted on the road can communicate quite a bit. VisibleLogic

What Works

Mobile motivation. With the increased popularity of the smartphone, brands must increasingly integrate with the mobile world. However, marketing consultant Gary Bembridge believes it unlikely brand specific apps will be the way to go. On the other hand, failing to integrate a brand into the world of apps used by potential customers may isolate a business from its market long term. Marketing Mix Man

Brand building basics. There are many things that go into a brand besides simply a snappy looking logo. From high quality products to positioning and even re-positioning, there are many ingredients that go into the mix. Other elements include good communication and being the first-mover in the marketplace before competitors arrive on the scene. Expert Business Advice

In Retrospect

Maybe they should have hired this guy. Even if Microsoft never took graphic designer Andrew Kim up on his idea for a new logo, this post should give any thoughtful entrepreneur insight into the logo creation process. Brands that tell a company's story and support its products and services generate loyalty from existing customers and win over new ones. Minimally Minimal

Java sandboxing could thwart attacks, but design may be impossible

Cybercriminals, buoyed by automated attack toolkits, are increasingly taking advantage of Java, targeting known Java vulnerabilities and discovering zero-day exploits. Experts say the onslaught will continue until more Java protections can be deployed by Oracle, but adding them around the programming language's engine is no easy matter.

Adding a second sandbox around the permissions system called the Java sandbox will surely make Java safer; it's just that it is hard or even impossible to do so.

Michael Schierl, software developer, Java expert

Developers at Sun Microsystems Inc. sought to put Java security measures in place to protect the Java virtual machine (JVM), the main engine that runs Java applets, long before attacks became commonplace. Sun, which was acquired by Oracle Corp. in 2010, created Java sandboxing restrictions to protect Java applets in 1995, isolating them from accessing critical processes in the browser or the file system.

Unlike Adobe Systems and the browser makers, which are building sandboxing protections around applets that run inside the browser, Oracle promotes the use of Java for building full-fledged desktop applications, which can write to arbitrary directories, said Michael Schierl, a software developer and Java expert based in Germany. This, he said, makes the process of adding defensive mechanisms for today's attacks much more complicated.

"Adding a second sandbox around the permissions system called the Java sandbox will surely make Java safer," Schierl said, it's just that it is hard or even impossible to do so."

Java has a vast trusted code base, Schierl said, referring to the amount of code that is inherently trusted by a client machine running a Java program. This enables a program to read configuration files and the registry, store data to cache directories and other functions.  To prevent the original sandbox from terminating normal Java applets, Schierl added, these "safe" functions would have to be whitelisted in a second sandbox.

Automated toolkits are fueling most of the attacks that exploit Java flaws. BlackHole and other toolkits make the process easy and systems without the latest patches installed face the most risk, experts say. But even fully deployed systems can be targeted.

Just this week, researchers discovered two Java zero-day vulnerabilities in the latest version of the programming language. Exploit code targeting the vulnerabilities, which is rated extremely critical by Danish vulnerability clearinghouse Secunia, is publicly available. Attackers can use the flaws to bypass restrictions, install a dropper and remotely control data stealing malware using a variant of the PoisonIvy Trojan.

Software security expert Gary McGraw, CTO of Dulles, Va.-based Cigital Inc., said the impetus should be on Oracle engineers to do a better job finding and correcting flaws in the Java virtual machine.  Today the Java is maintained by Oracle; the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based vendor has not responded to an interview request. The company also has not yet acknowledged the latest zero-day flaws or the publicly available attack code.

"It would be better for everybody if the Java virtual machine sandbox was just repaired," McGraw said. "The security mechanisms designed into Java are not so terrible; they are complicated and they have to be implemented exactly right. And exactly right turns out to be real hard."

Hundreds of millions of lines of code in Oracle's codebase are written in Java, noted Eric Maurice, director of software security assurance at Oracle in a blog entry on Java security in February.  Maurice said Oracle had added development staff dedicated to Java security, and that additional code-scanning tools were adopted to detect and address vulnerabilities.

"With these new resources available to them as a result of the Oracle acquisition, the Java development team is weeding out security bugs in Java, and is looking at ways to further improve the security posture provided by Java to its users," Maurice wrote.

Java's age, complexity and install base make it a very attractive target for attackers, said Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Redwood City, Calif.-based vulnerability management vendor Qualys Inc.  Kandek said Oracle could restrict the resources the JVM uses or request permissions, but additional restrictions would likely not be very practical.

"Oracle acquired a huge code base; a very successful code base and they have to work through the problems that come with it," Kandek said.  

According to Kandek the most practical solution for enterprises is to control where Java is running and only run it when necessary. Enterprises IT teams can use registry zones to implement tighter restrictions, he said.

Boom times for local software design industry

Computer systems design jobs have surged by nearly 80 per cent since 2000, now making the industry one of the country's standout performers, according to new figures.

Statistics New Zealand has released data showing the number of jobs in the computer systems design (CSD) industry grew by 78 per cent between 2000 and 2010.

That equated to 28,200 workers, contributing about 1.3 per cent to New Zealand's gross domestic product by 2010.

While the CSD industry was high-tech, it was still very reliant on labour, said Zoran Salcic, an University of Auckland professor of Computer Systems Engineering.

"People must be involved to make these systems and and they are usually very customised," he said.

"And computer systems are always prone to errors and bugs. So, you need people to fix those problems."

The number of self-employed workers in the CSD industry grew by 3,100 in the decade leading up to 2010.

That was a huge proportion of the 3,700 new self-employed people in the national workforce in that same period.

Salcic did not expect to see the industry flattening out any time soon.

"I believe it will go along a similar path in the next decade," he said.

"There will be changes because of technology but there will still be a lot of manual work."

According to Statistics NZ, the industry could also boast to being one of the most prolific product innovators in New Zealand last year.

"The high-tech nature of the computer systems designed allows the industry to innovate at a high rate," said the report.

More than half the country's CSD businesses introduced new or significantly improved goods or services into the market in the two years to August 2011. This compared with one in five across the whole economy.

Statistics also showed most CSD companies were exporting their goods and services in 2011, compared with 18 per cent of all businesses in New Zealand.

Salcic said even if you export software, you still have to customise that software for the end user. That again illustrated why demand remained high for people to do that work.

He pointed to a company like Orion Health which exported its e-health software products in a customised package for individual clients.

Statistics NZ reported CSD business as saying the key barriers to generating overseas income were having limited access to finance, and their physical distance from overseas markets.

The industry's workforce was concentrated in major cities, was well educated and young, and with above-average pay.

About 76 per cent of workers were based in the Auckland and Wellington regions, compared to 45 per cent of New Zealand's total workforce in those areas.

The average CSD industry worker in Wellington earned $80,400 in 2010, which was 63 per cent more than the average Wellington worker. Auckland CSD workers earned $70,500 on average.

Data for the report was sourced from a range of Statistics NZ surveys, including the Business Operations Survey, Household Labour Force Survey, and Linked Employer-Employee Database.

By Ben Chapman-Smith | Email Ben

Projectbook Update: Manage Different Types of Data in One App

Since so many business professionals use iPads and other mobile devices to accomplish work-related tasks, productivity apps can be essential for saving and sharing information on-the-go. However, with all the different formats that data can be viewed and saved, simple note taking apps may not be quite as useful anymore.

Theory.io has released the first update for its iPad productivity app, Projectbook. The app allows users to keep a notebook that uses and saves different fonts, sketches, documents and more.

Users can also record audio, take photos, make outlines and import information from email, attachments, and websites. All of this information, even in different formats, can be kept on the same notebook pages and organized so that information can be easily found later.

The update includes more than a dozen new features and enhancement based on user requests from the initial release. Among those features is the ability to print notes on any AirPrint enabled printer. Those notes can even include sketches, images, and text in different fonts. The update also includes integration with Dropbox, faster tasks, and bug fixes.

In addition, the app lets users manage their to-do lists in the same space where they keep the information needed to accomplish their tasks. To-dos can even be turned into projects with sub-lists, so that large jobs can be broken down into small, manageable tasks.

Productivity apps aren't exactly rare for mobile devices, but the user interface and unique format of Projectbook makes it distinctive from the competition. The ways in which a user's notebook can be customized, along with all the different formats that can be saved, makes the app a helpful tool for small business owners and anyone with multiple projects to manage.

Projectbook has extended its introductory price, 70% off the regular price, through September 7, 2012 and the new update is free for existing users.

2012 Public Affairs Pulse Survey Shows Favorable Opinion of Small Business

It's election time and that means opinion polls aplenty-most of them focusing on the negative. But one recent poll found something to smile about in America's opinion of business in general, and small business in particular.

A whopping 88 percent of Americans in the latest 2012 Public Affairs Pulse Survey (PDF) have a favorable opinion of small business.

That far outpaces the two-thirds (67 percent) who have a positive view of big companies-and it's more than double the 41 percent Read More

From Small Business Trends

2012 Public Affairs Pulse Survey Shows Favorable Opinion of Small Business

No Luck Advertising On Facebook? Try These Facebook Ad Practices That Actually Work

Facebook advertising is something small and large businesses can't really figure out, particularly because of all the variables in people's behavior and Facebook's own proprietary pricing system. They often complain that Facebook advertising really doesn't work and it's a waste of their money.

But wait a second. Why aren't these businesses having success?  Let's take a look and see if we can figure it out and tell them how to make it work!

Well, first of all, they're probably not looking at the various factors that might affect the price of having their ads displayed and the amount of people who would actually be interested in clicking into their pages. The average business, according to Webtrends, spends one dollar for every fan they acquire. Obviously, when you look at that data, it may seem inefficient to use Facebook advertising. Many startups and small businesses are discouraged to use such a platform that requires so much money for one single click.

But there are three pieces of advice based on Webtrends' case studies that every business should follow if they want to reduce their costs on Facebook ads:

• Tighten your ad targeting. Your ads are not meant for everyone. If you own a business in Miami, FL, then you should target people living there even if you process online orders. Target people of the age group and gender your product markets to the most. The more targeted your ad, the cheaper it gets to advertise, since the ads appear to a smaller group of people. Clicks are also more frequent.
• Keep ads within Facebook. Don't create ads that lead to external links. Those cost more and have a slightly high bounce rate. Bounced ads cost just as much as ads that lead to an action. Getting more fans on Facebook pays off anyway, so why not do it?
• Change the ad once in a while. Change the image and text of your ad once every 4 days. This keeps it fresh since ads tend to peak after 72 hours.

Using these methods, you'll be able to reduce your cost per click, and increase your click-through rate (CTR) â€" two things you certainly need in order to have a successful ad campaign.  So, if you've tried Facebook ad's before and didn't have much luck, or if you are thinking about giving it a try, employ these tips and hopefully you'll see a lot of new followers and fans trying your product or service!

Three ISPs improve browsing speed

Orcon, Slingshot and Snap all improved their web-browsing speeds in July while Vodafone and Telecom slowed down, according to broadband testing service TrueNet.

Despite its slipping performance Vodafone regained the lead in the copper-line market from Telecom, downloading a test web-page in under half a second.

Telecom fell to third place in the tests during July, and is now behind TelstraClear's copper-line service.

Orcon and Snap improved in the latest rounds of TrueNet results, downloading the test page in an average of just under 1.5 seconds.

Slingshot also improved during July and took a little over a second on average to download the page.

TrueNet's John Butt said these three internet providers all showed "significant" - and unexplained - gains in performance after July 11.

But Butt called on internet companies to do more. "Most [testing] probes still can't match the expected time of 0.4 seconds.

"ISPs have more to do to improve the performance of a very large numbers of customers," he said in commentary to the results.

While Vodafone led the copper-line market, TelstraClear's coaxial cable network - available only in Wellington, Kapiti and Christchurch - still offers the fastest service.

TrueNet's measurements are drawn from over 300 test sites around New Zealand, which probe the speed and performance of nine internet companies every hour.

By Hamish Fletcher | Email Hamish

Business Networking with Biznik

Social networking is frequently touted as one of the greatest ways to drive new business. Just keep writing, blogging, podcasting, tweeting, or pinning and the sales will eventually follow. That may be true, for some. But for most of us, sales and marketing is still a 1:1 process. Meeting people in person makes the difference.

If you've wondered how to make online social networks turn into profitable business networking, then this review of Biznik is for you. Biznik is an online networking community for independent business people.

I have been using Biznik since 2008 and it has opened up a number of sales for my company. It is similar to other social networks in terms of creating a profile about yourself and your company, but at its core it has created a space for independent business owners to send to and receive referrals from one another as well as establish their expertise in the articles section.

Being a member of Biznik means that you take the business you own seriously, and want to network with other business owners who feel the same way. Last summer, I created a marketing event with Infusionsoft small business expert, Tyler Garns, and we successfully pulled in 55 attendees mostly via Biznik. It was a seriously engaged group â€" we had a ton of discussion and creative brainstorming among the group.

They offer free and premium memberships. I have toggled between pro levels and free level depending on business events I'm planning. Basic paid level membership starts at $79/year.

What I really like:

• Online to real world. There's a strong sense of “let's meet in person” at Biznik.
• A profile that is optimized for search. I have heard many members say their Biznik profile shows up on page one for a keyword that is relevant to their business.
• A real hands-on approach when you start: You get a personal message from the directory of community who offers to help you get going.
• Their old tagline: Business networking that doesn't suck.
• Event management tool so that you can register and communicate with attendees. Biznik manages payment processing at no additional cost for ProVIP membership level.

What I'd like to see:

• There used to be a referral tool, and it was a great idea, but they disabled it. I'd like to see a way to track or manage or engage with the referral itself.
• A way to filter your network by category/location/relationship.

Overall, I love Biznik as a social network. It is a wonderful collection of committed business owners who understand that business happens when you truly connect, in person and online. It takes both.

If you're looking for a more local and regional way to find other independent business professionals, who might be allies or potential customers, Biznik is worth a look.

Pagemodo Updates its Tools to Optimize Facebook\'s Timeline Feature

As Ramon Ray, Editor of Smallbiztechnology.com and Technology Evangelist, prepares for the release of his latest book, The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing, Pagemodo is rolling out an update that addresses Facebook's Timeline feature for Pages. Since the change has impacted users of Facebook Pages, which includes many small businesses, it's essential to give them to the tools to help them set up their page so they can utilize the new features and make a positive impression to visitors that helps them stand out and gain more followers.

Pagemodo is a free service that helps users set up professional-looking Facebook Pages without any technical knowledge required. But Pagemodo goes beyond page design, providing tools for adding slideshows, videos, and even coupons and “like” gates. Pagemodo boasts 400,000 pages developed using its service since 2010.

But Facebook's shift to Timeline has altered the look of many Facebook Pages, leaving small businesses with a need for an updated look. As Pagemodo's Mokhtarzada points out, the changes are geared toward helping users utilize the Timeline layout while still projecting a professional image.

“Facebook's move to the Timeline format has created new and valuable space that businesses can use to create custom apps that provide value to customers and fans,” Mokhtarzada said. “By taking advantage of this very important real estate, which is located above the fold, small businesses can showcase content, offers, or more in-depth information about a company. Most important, users can continue to drive traffic to the different apps in creative ways like email campaigns or via the Facebook news stream.”

Among the features highlighted in the update are:

• Cover photo designer. Businesses can upload pictures and alter fonts to create a design that matches their business's theme. Since the cover photo is such an eye-catching part of the Facebook Page, this customization can allow a business to get a visual message across, as well as setting a tone for the page.
• Image customization. Business can customize the images associated with their Facebook Page apps, creating a unique look that matches their overall theme. By catching the eye of visitors, Page owners can realize a higher rate of click-through on those items. This also can help Page owners highlight special features like limited time offers or e-mail sign-up sheets.
• Additional features. If customers upgrade to the paid version, additional features can help them further customize their page. These include the ability to add tabs, analytics, professional templates, and a “Like Gate.” It also removes the Pagemodo footer from the page. A more upgraded version takes away the “Powered by” wording on the page. These upgraded plans are available starting at $6.25 a month.

For businesses that use the free version, it's important to note that there is no limit to the amount of time you can use the free version. Pagemodo allows paid subscribers to choose between a monthly subscription or annual fee.

Businesses are welcome to set up a Facebook page on their own, but Pagemodo's templates can take some of the work out of the process. Pagemodo helps businesses create a professional, clean-looking design for Facebook Pages that will keep people visiting for months and years to come.