JetDesk: Let Go of Traditional IT With Cloud Based Support

Many small businesses use the cloud for just about everything â€" storage, sharing, collaboration, and more. But many haven't considered actually using the cloud for IT and maintenance, even though that type of service might be helpful to plenty of small businesses. That's where IT support company JetDesk comes in.

Mike Jones, Co-founder of JetDesk:

“JetDesk is a way for SMB's to break free from traditional IT.  We enable business owners to put their IT in our cloud so that they can spend less on IT and leverage our cloud infrastructure.”

Founded last year, JetDesk offers a variety of IT support options that could be especially useful for small businesses that don't have the resources to enact traditional IT or for those whose employees work remotely and thus require a different type of IT solution.

Ryan Stevens, Co-founder of JetDesk:

“We are able to manage your network remotely so small businesses can save time and money. We no longer need to have ‘computer guys' come to your work to fix problems. We can make sure everything is running smoothly from our offices because your desktops are being hosted in our enterprise level data centers.”

JetDesk has partnerships with large companies like Dell and Microsoft, so that companies that use the service can continue working with their well-known programs while receiving IT support in the cloud.

Says Stevens:

“It makes for an incredibly familiar user experience. We give our user a Windows environment, loaded with all of the most up to date Microsoft software (Excel, Powerpoint, Word, Outlook).  That means users do not have to worry about updates or licensing.”

Other features include security and virus protection, file sharing, and more. Monthly prices vary based on amount of storage and software upgrades needed. The company also offers phone and online support, in an effort to make the whole IT experience as hassle-free as possible.

Says Jones:

“We come from small businesses ourselves and know the pain that can be IT. We started JetDesk because traditional IT is overcomplicated and too expensive.”

What Can You Afford: Benefit Versus Cost

Every camera is not equal. Neither is every computer, cell phone, printer, email marketing software or administrative assistant. And it would be easy to assume that a higher price tag means better quality (I had a sales person feed me that line recently). But experience teaches you to dig a little deeper.

It's not that you're trying to be cheap. It's just that the small business reality, especially in this economy, boils down to a few questions:

1. Can you afford it?
2. Can you afford to live without it?
3. And if you cannot afford to live without, is this particular product or service your best way to get the benefit you want?

It's not about having the latest and coolest BlackBerry, Android or iPhone, it's about effectively and quickly communicating with your team in and out of the office. Bottom line behavior means labels come second to outcome.

In the small business setting, there is no room for fluff. Every purchase must deliver on core needs or it's a waste and a shame.

What if you decide to add video marketing to your communication strategy? As you prepare to launch or update your YouTube page, you may discover a need (or desire) for a better camera and sound equipment.

Before the wallet hits the counter, you have to ask yourself, “What do we really need?” Is the bargain basement version of the product or service enough, or is it too simplistic? Is the high-end, high-dollar option too much or just right?

Chances are:

1. you aren't filming for prime time television,
2. you aren't creating images for a full feature spread in National Geographic, and
3. you aren't recording for a nationally syndicated radio station.

Meaning you don't need a two thousand dollar camera and four digit sound equipment. You probably need a product somewhere in the middle.

The same is true for most small business purchases. Do the research, because you can't afford to pay for features that you'll never use.

Imagine The Shot Photo via Shutterstock

Targeted attackers often gain upper hand once inside, says Trend Micro

IT security teams are focused on vulnerability and configuration management and monitoring the endpoint for malicious activity, but security pros may be missing the telltale signs that highly skilled attackers may have already set up operations on the corporate network, according to new whitepaper from Trend Micro.

To gain an upper hand, firms must be able to spot the unwanted intruder and constantly foil their efforts.

Tom Kellerman, vice president of cybersecurity, Trend Micro Inc.

"Digital insiders" can scout for exploitable vulnerabilities, set up communication channels on the inside to avoid detection and even patch vulnerabilities to prevent hackers to piggy back on their efforts, according to Tom Kellerman, vice president of cybersecurity at Trend Micro Inc. Kellerman said data analytics help forward thinking IT teams spot potential problems before they grow out of control.

"This may require organization to increase their awareness of the activities on their networks and the ability to correlate events to thwart the digital insider's malicious activities," Kellerman wrote in a blog entry about the insider threat and Trend's network analysis tools."To gain an upper hand, firms must be able to spot the unwanted intruder and constantly foil their efforts."

Trend issued a white paper on the topic,"How to Thwart the Digital Insider â€" an Advanced Persistent Response to Targeted Attacks," (.pdf) outlining steps organizations can take to spot attackers who may have already infiltrated the company network. It involves the use of threat intelligence and network analysis, correlating the data to spot potentially malicious activity.

"These guys are past masters at lying hidden for years on end so we need to up our own game to achieve advanced situational awareness," Kellerman wrote. "It will require patience once a digital insider is discovered, however, and more monitoring to ascertain all of the actors behind a particular threat so that law enforcement can take over â€" this is not a time to go in all guns blazing."

Proactive security

Situational awareness and deep data analysis has been a consistent theme in 2012 as security researchers provided information on targeted attacks and cyberespionage campaigns looking to steal intellectual property.

Big data analytics emerged as a major theme at the 2012 RSA Conference. A number of security firms warned about targeted attackers infiltrating and remaining virtually undetectable on networks for months and even years. Large enterprises such as IBM, HP and RSA, the Security Division of EMC Corp. are touting data collection and correlation. It typically involves a Security Information and Event Management appliance to collect and crunch the data from the various security devices on the network. The firms have been slowly adding threat intelligence feeds in an effort, they say, to improve detection and isolate problems much faster.  

Vulnerability and configuration management can only go so far in reducing the attack surface, said Pete Lindstrom, a research director at Spire Security. Determined attackers can use zero-day vulnerabilities, or find a weak point based on a single configuration error or software component that hasn't been updated.

Threat intelligence data can be used in a variety of ways, Lindstrom said. For example, malicious IP addresses where attacks originate, can be identified and communication to those points can be blocked by enterprise IT teams addressing the threat. While large businesses often have the resources to do it better, organizations on tighter budgets are turning to managed security providers to provide visibility and data correlation. 

Collective Intelligence Framework

Proactive security typically involves threat intelligence gathering and data analytics to help organizations better understand the security threats that matter most to the organization, said Rick Holland, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. Holland said organizations that are building an intelligence program typically partner with cyberintelligence organizations such as Dallas-based iSight Partners or VeriSign's iDefense security intelligence services to gain actionable data. Cyberintellgience firms have traditionally catered to the defense industrial base and financial services firms, but their customer base is growing, Holland said.  

"Intelligence requires analysis and relevancy and a lot of what vendors provide is just a feed that companies may or may not be able to use to make actionable," Holland said.

Holland advocates the use of the Collective Intelligence Framework (CIF), an open source project that combines multiple threat feeds and data sets together and enables organizations to query against the data to find bad IPs (infected systems) on their network. The CIF is extremely useful, but requires skilled programmers and threat analysts, Holland said. Other firms, such as Baltimore-based LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, can provide similar information in a more user friendly interface, he said.

Thomas Cohn: Legal Challenges For Online Affiliate Marketing #AMDays

Welcome to this interview of Thomas Cohn, a well-known consumer regulatory attorney, former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Regional Director, and 17 year FTC veteran. At Affiliate Management Days East 2012 (on Oct 9-10, 2012), Thomas will be speaking on FTC and State actions versus affiliates and merchants and how to comply with consumer laws to avoid regulatory scrutiny.

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Question: What are the major affiliate marketing threats that you have seen evolve over the past few years on the legislative front?

Thomas:  There's a big direct threat on the state level (sales tax legislation).  On the federal level, there are only indirect threats such as the limited situations in the “Rockefeller Bill” that became ROSCA.

Beyond legislation, there are new FTC regulations implementing legislation, like the MARS Rule (banning advance fees for mortgage assistance) and the Business Opportunity Rule (more stringent disclosure requirements, covering more types within definition).

But the threat even bigger than legislation or regulation, is simply the continual increase in enforcement actions by state AGs and the FTC against deceptive online marketing, and against the roles played in it by not just merchants, but also affiliates, networks, and others who allegedly play a role in helping to apply the deceptive practices against consumers.

Question: Can you give us an example of a case involving legal compliance?

Thomas: The actions that FTC has brought in the last 12 months have highlighted the FTC's awareness of deceptive tactics in affiliate marketing, and its increasingly aggressive stance in going after them.  Whether they involve merchants, affiliates, networks, or other third parties whom the FTC believes are “assisting and facilitating” these tactics.

This includes FTC cases against merchants like Central Coast Nutraceuticals, Jesse Willms and LeanSpa.  The ten FTC cases brought against individual affiliate marketers, and the two FTC cases against affiliate networks.

Other third parties may be vulnerable, too: lead generators, list brokers, payment processors and call centers have all been targeted by the FTC.  There may be more investigations and/or actions against such third parties.

Question: What can affiliate managers merchants do to ensure  compliance with the laws and avoid regulatory scrutiny?

Thomas: Take a look at the enforcement actions cited above that have final orders requiring monitoring, and see how onerous these are to actually implement!  Then realize that while these don't apply to everyone, just to the named defendants, you should still consider them in your risk calculus.

Finally, come up with a robust monitoring program that you actually can and will follow, by checking out both merchants and their offers, and affiliates' published content, before doing business with them.

Then, after offers start running, periodically check up on at least those merchants and affiliates that are performing the best, to see just why they are the top performers.  Are there any deceptive/false/unsubstantiated product claims, including testimonials/endorsements?  Are there deceptive formats?  Are there inadequate or missing negative option/free trial and/or continuity/rebill disclosures?

If so, either enforce modifications or terminate the relationship.

Question: What can the affiliate marketing industry do to ensure its growth, regardless of the emerging legislative challenges?

Thomas: Same as above.  Make sure both merchants and affiliates stay as compliant as possible, or stop doing business with those who don't.  The best way to ensure growth is to stay on top of the content being published by reasonably monitoring merchants' and affiliates' advertising.

While online privacy is a perennial hot topic, affiliate marketers and affiliate networks may not be affected much by whatever behavioral targeting legislation is eventually passed. The more immediate privacy-related issue is data security.  If you “say what you do” with your consumer data, then you better ensure that you “do what you say.”

Any major hacking attack or other data breach could quickly bring an FTC investigation and/or enforcement action.

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

Thomas: Compliance monitoring. It doesn't have to be perfect, but has to be reasonable and consistently implemented.

The FTC doesn't care about cloaking/masking or other difficulties that affiliate networks/managers face in monitoring affiliates. The FTC's view is that, if network profits are based on traffic that converts, then the network must do better to ensure compliant affiliate content.

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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. There's still time to register using code SBTAM150 to receive $150.00 off your pass.

Be sure to check out the rest of the interview series from #AMDays.

Are 87 Percent of Small Businesses Using Social Media Wrong?

Vocus teamed up with Duct Tape Marketing to survey 400 decision makers at small- and medium-sized businesses to learn about their struggles and successes using social media.

Specifically, the survey sought to discover the social sites most used by small businesses (SMBs), how they were managing their efforts, challenges they were facing, and the metrics they were using to judge success. While the results were strong in affirming the power of social media for SMBs, they also made me wonder whether or not many business owners were looking at social media correctly.

First, the findings.

As Vocus notes in its post about the survey, there was a lot of good news revealed here.

• 87 percent of SMBs believe that social media has helped or somewhat helped their organization.
• 77 percent say social media accounts for 25 percent or more of their total marketing efforts.
• 73 percent of SMBs are now using Facebook in their marketing.

Time and time again in the survey we're shown that SMBs are using social media, they're engaging with their customers, and that most feel social media has helped their organizations. Interestingly, even those that said social media was not helpful also admitted they had invested little effort.

But how are SMBs using social media sites? To me, the findings in this section were particularly interesting.

According to the results:

• 91 percent share news about their organization
• 90 percent share news about products
• 81 percent promote content they have posted
• 70 increase or optimize our presence
• 69 percent advertise sales or specials

Essentially, SMBs continue to use social media as another push method for selling to their customers. It's a broadcast medium the same way direct mailings and email newsletters have been in years prior. Just 46 percent of SMBs said they use social media to handle customer service issues. To me, that may represent a missed opportunity if business owners aren't using social channels to reach out to customers in a more pro-active way. It also represents a chance for SMBs to see even more of a benefit should they start using social media as a vehicle for customer service, and not just promotional efforts.

Another area of the survey I found especially interesting looked at the metrics SMBs are using to gauge their efforts. Basically, how are SMBs judging “success” and what does “success” look like to them.

Seventy six percent of SMBs see success as increased foot traffic, 70 percent see it as customers hearing about them via social media, 67 percent view success in terms of likes and follows.

Again, while these metrics make for good baseline numbers, they're not what is most important when it comes to judging whether or not your social media activities are successful. It's concerning that it's not until the very bottom of that graph that we see 42 percent of SMBs using social media are tracking conversions. Some quick math tells me that 58 percent of SMBs are not.

As a SMB, you always want to be tying your actions down to conversion metrics. Likes and follows are great, but if that's not resulting in more people converting from your website, you're missing the larger goal.

While it's certainly encouraging that 87 percent of small business owners believe that social media has helped their business in some way, I can't help but wonder if that number would be higher if SMBs were using social media for considerably more than just another push medium or if they were focusing their efforts on metrics related to conversions rather than generic likes and follows.

Sure, we all use social media to promote our brands and daily activities, but the opportunity in social media to right perceived wrongs, to better customer service, and to learn more about the people that we're serving should be a top priority.

What do you think? Am I being too harsh? Or is a maturation process for SMBs and social media on its way?

Claims that BYOD is leading to a major problem with unstructured data

Trends such as online storage and bring your own device (BYOD) are creating large holes within organisations due to the unstructured nature of the network access.

Speaking to SC Magazine, Phil Allen, director of identity and access management at Quest Software, said that due to the increasingly unstructured nature of the information that users are producing and saving, 80 per cent of data is now 'unstructured', as emails, PDFs, videos and images do not fit neatly into databases or readily searchable application formats.

Allen said: “There is more and more [data] sitting in file shares and SharePoint and who owns it? How critical is what is sitting there? It may be that devices aren't able to access what is sitting in the file shares, but you cannot control it, so there is no view of what the information is, but you need to manage that and put it into a format where it is simply manageable. It is all about putting controls in place and providing relevant information to those who need it. If you don't know about it, there is no way of accessing it.”

Allen said that one solution is a proper access governance policy, but over the last two years he had not seen evidence of users providing 'the right access at the right time' to applications and data.

“This is what has occurred with unstructured data; we are giving good control via identity and access management (IAM) to manage access of applications, but access to data is unchanged so there is no trend to 'identity manage' the system, so we see a rise in 12 months. [We've] got to get more control around our unstructured data,” Allen said.

He said that good IAM and access governance is about putting controls in place, so even if it is open to more people, you know who the owner is and if you want access you can request access and open access to more people.

He said: “With SharePoint, it becomes very relevant. The data is visible to everyone and without good governance. There is a business risk about data falling into the wrong hands, but it is just as important to provide the means and mechanisms to request access to information easily. Those processes are going through to request access to information and there is not a good way to do this as there is for identity management, bringing together the separate identity management system to detect governance is very important.”

Allen concluded by saying that with unstructured data, often the problem is that the file share has been there so long that there is a problem in getting visibility to what is in the infrastructure.

Nominum develops application delivery and data platform

Nominum has launched a platform for application development to allow the owner to get detailed data.

Named the N2 platform, the company claimed that it enables rapid deployment of differentiated applications for network operators, as well as gathering and anonymising the data. Gary Messiana, CEO of Nominum, told SC Magazine that it processes 1.1 trillion DNS queries a day, and it wanted a way to provide data of what users were searching for to its customers.

He said: “Users need engines to deliver volume, but to turn on real-time data collection. With the amount of traffic needed to capture, the Holy Grail is to deliver a different programme to reduce their operating costs.

“This allows visible access to domain name server (DNS) traffic to build applications faster and it is cheaper to develop over time, as there is more functionality and greater agility.”

Also built on top of the N2 platform are six new applications: Nominum Subscriber Safety protects subscribers from malicious websites on any device; Nominum Network Security deters outbound spam and protects valuable network assets and subscribers; Nominum Personal Internet for subscribers to personalise their home internet; Nominum Network View provides access to high-level network intelligence, with drill downs to detailed data; Nominum Configuration Manager is a GUI interface that the company claims streamlines DNS operations and reduces management costs; and Nominum Content Filtering gives families the option to keep illegal and offensive content out of their homes and mobile devices.

DNS inventor and chairman of Nominum, Paul Mockapetris, said: “Traditionally, it's been hard to take advantage of DNS data to gauge network health and activity or improve the subscriber experience. The tools for collecting, synthesizing, anonymising and analysing it weren't adequate.

“The N2 Platform simplifies the process of collecting large amounts of data in real-time and makes it easier to develop new applications and integrate with other network operator systems.”

Also launched is the Ideal ecosystem, powered by the N2 platform.

Messiana said: “The Ideal ecosystem is made possible by the platform as it is a way of better leveraging the enterprise layer. You can add applications for content filtering or protecting your network by reporting on botnet activity.

“It is the concept of commoditisation of dealing with efficient services, as Ideal can join the engines and applications that our users build. The DNS has engines; N2 allows applications to be built on top.

“This allows you to build applications into the infrastructure, it is not like the Apple store where you add apps, it is going down the path like licensing and going into products that people are building for themselves, we build what they are looking to use.”

PCI council announces guidance for resellers and integrators

The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) is to introduce guidance for software integrator resellers.

Jeremy King, European director of the PCI SSC (pictured), told SC Magazine that the council will launch the guidance around the time of its conference in Dublin next month. He said that the new program, named ‘QIR' (Qualified Integrators and Resellers), is being introduced so that merchants have confidence in what integrators and resellers are doing.

Announced earlier this year, the QIR program will train and qualify integrators and resellers that sell, install and/or service payment applications on the secure installation and maintenance of PA-DSS validated payment applications to support merchant PCI DSS security efforts.

A global list of QIRs will be available on the PCI SSC website, providing a trusted resource for selecting PCI approved implementation providers. The program also includes a feedback loop for merchants to evaluate a QIR's performance.

King said: “Qualified integrators and resellers will be on the list. This is really a process of putting in software in a secure manner.”

Asked if there were existing guidelines for integrators and resellers, King said he was not sure, but there was currently no way to be certain that merchants working with or when installing systems were PCI compliant. “This is helping merchants know what they are buying so that it installs patches and is done securely,” he said.

“It is also to [remember] little things such as turning off default password settings and knowing when it goes live. It is the little things that you forget that the criminals go for.”

King said that "a big push will be made in October" when training will be available from the 1st day of the month.

Bob Russo, general manager of the PCI SSC, said: “This program comes as a direct result of industry feedback and stakeholder requests for greater quality assurance and accountability around the secure installation of payment software.

“Not only will it help integrators and resellers better understand how to address some of the basic security flaws we're seeing that can be easily avoided, but it will also make it easier for merchants to have confidence in the services being provided to them. Retailers and franchise operators alike will have a go-to resource they can trust for making sure their applications and systems are being installed and maintained properly.”

Twitter Move Impacts LinkedIn and Facebook

File this one away under the heading of unintended consequences. A decision by Twitter to discontinue an agreement that allowed Twitter users to share tweets automatically through their LinkedIn news feed has ended up benefiting its two chief social networking rivals. With the big three social utilitiesâ€"LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitterâ€"also serving as important marketing and communications tools for small businesses, it remains to be seen how the change will affect business user strategies.

Social Shift

Hot off the press. The immediate winner in the Twitter/LinkedIn split seems to be LinkedIn, because many who once automatically shared tweets on both platforms have now chosen to share content on LinkedIn only. Sharing content on both platforms now takes an extra step that users apparently feel is too much of a hassle. Venture Beat

LinkedIn to Facebook. The real surprise, however, came when stats showed that another well-known social media network has benefited significantly from the dissolved relationship between LinkedIn and Twitter. Stats for July, the month after Twitter ceased allowing users to sync tweets with their LinkedIn accounts, showed Facebook received a 1000 percent jump in LinkedIn referral traffic. HubSpot Blog

Tweet no more. But wait. Before you decide to abandon Twitter for another social media platform for your business communications and marketing, it might be wise to look at some recent research comparing how users interact with brands on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Across the board, surveys showed Twitter users are more likely to purchase from, recommend, and visit the Websites of brands they follow than those following brands on Facebook. Web.com

Tools and Techniques

LinkedIn's new look. LinkedIn has become an even better place to raise brand awareness for your business, thanks to improved company pages and better mobile access. Join Certified Internet Marketing Specialist and Certified Social Media Specialist Denisse Marie on this general walk through of the new features and how your business can benefit from them. If LinkedIn wasn't the place you thought about first for maximizing your online business presence, this article might just change your mind. DenisseMarie.com

On autopilot. There are several tools that allow you to automate at least some of your activity when marketing and communicating through social media channels. Regardless of controversy over how much social media engagement should be automated, productivity is the main objective. Here social media consultant Jose Jimenez gives an overview of one of the more popular tools and looks at its pros and cons. The Digital Post

Early Projections

The social economy. A new economy based on social technologies will change business practices in more areas than just communications and marketing. Blogger John Twohig predicts that these technologies will save businesses trillions of dollars in the future, from co-creating products to deriving customer insights. Tweak Your Biz

The social business. Transforming your company for social business isn't easy. In fact, blogger and entrepreneur Joey Strawn compares it to training for an endurance run. There will be plenty of scars and some soreness in your organization when it is over, but your company will be the better for it. Emerging social media platforms and tools are one part of this development. Now it's time to create a business that can take advantage of them. Social CRM Insider