Four Reasons Why You Should Start Using Hashtags

Hashtags are all over the place. First, Twitter started implementing this, then Google+ made its own social network that uses them. Not much later, Facebook joins the whole hashtag bonanza, and now we can’t scroll down without seeing a hashtag or two every couple of pixels on the screen.

By now, you’re probably irritated at the quantity of people using hashtags. You’re probably wondering what all the fuss is about. How would it sound if I told you that you can use hashtags to your advantage?

I’m dead serious. Hashtags are an incredible way to get many things done, possibly killing two birds with one stone! Just ask Barry Sloane, Newtek‘s CEO. He’ll give you four reasons why your use of hashtags might take you places:

And I leave the best for last: Hash-tagging will bring out the best in your innovative drive! There are so many things you can do with hashtags, you have yet to discover even half of their uses. Sloane mentioned how American Express plans to allow customers to make purchases using hashtags. It’s a whole new world. Explore it!

Four Reasons Why You Should Start Using Hashtags

Hashtags are all over the place. First, Twitter started implementing this, then Google+ made its own social network that uses them. Not much later, Facebook joins the whole hashtag bonanza, and now we can’t scroll down without seeing a hashtag or two every couple of pixels on the screen.

By now, you’re probably irritated at the quantity of people using hashtags. You’re probably wondering what all the fuss is about. How would it sound if I told you that you can use hashtags to your advantage?

I’m dead serious. Hashtags are an incredible way to get many things done, possibly killing two birds with one stone! Just ask Barry Sloane, Newtek‘s CEO. He’ll give you four reasons why your use of hashtags might take you places:

And I leave the best for last: Hash-tagging will bring out the best in your innovative drive! There are so many things you can do with hashtags, you have yet to discover even half of their uses. Sloane mentioned how American Express plans to allow customers to make purchases using hashtags. It’s a whole new world. Explore it!

A Look at Dos and Don’ts for Mompreneurs

Is it easier for a woman to create her own business after she has kids? No. Like all entrepreneurs, mompreneurs also face numerous challenges when they begin their new ventures. But it can be a rewarding experience if you plan it well.

Every individual embarking on a new business needs to pay attention to various aspects. The same applies to moms who want to create new businesses. However, a mom also has to balance family with their new venture.

Let’s take a look at the aspects that matter most for mompreneurs.

What Prompts a New Mom to Become an Entrepreneur?

The chief reason that prompts new moms to take up the challenge of a new business is the flexibility it offers. But it is important that you don’t misunderstand it. Being your own boss doesn’t mean that you don’t have much to do. In most cases, it’s the opposite.

It is true that when you are the owner of a home-based business, you can spend more time with your kids (WAHM: Work at Home Mom). You can do tasks when the little one’s asleep and not abide by any office schedule that requires you to stay away from your baby for 9-10 hours.

Another great thing about this choice is that enterprising, skilled and experienced women often find it to be a more fruitful way to earn money. You can spend time with your children and add to the family income too.

Many moms discover a need specific to pregnancy and childcare. They create a product or service that caters to this need as the core concept of their business. This is also another reason that makes new moms enthusiastic about this option.

What Types of Businesses Offer the Best Opportunities for Mompreneurs?

Different business opportunities are suitable for new-age moms. Whether you want to design a line of maternity clothes or offer childcare consultancy services for new parents, the choices are numerous.

Trends show that home-based online businesses will continue to do well in the future. It is possible to succeed as a consultant, a freelancer, a social media marketer, an app developer or a franchise-holder.

Decide on what you love to do - it is the first step for every entrepreneur. If you scribble away images of apparel and accessories in your notebook, you had better start designing them. If you love connecting to others, social media may be the right place for you.

While trends can dictate the type of businesses have high possibilities of success in the near future, it is best to take them as pointers. Don’t depend on them. Instead, depend on the thing you love to do and the thing you are good at.

DO Separate Personal and Professional Fronts

It’s not a good idea to take on a conference call with a client when you are preparing the bath for your baby. Similarly, it is a bad idea to continuously check your smartphone while watching your child’s first soccer match.

DON’T Neglect Yourself

You have two full-time jobs - that of a mom and that of an entrepreneur. It can be difficult, stressful and, at times, completely chaotic. Pay attention to your physical and mental health and well-being.

DO Treat Your Home Office Like an Office

It is much easier to keep off tasks for later when you work from home. This is one lure you must not fall for. Determine your goals and plan your tasks just like when you work in a corporate space.

DON’T Forget to Share Tasks

Your spouse and kids can be great partners if you know how to get their help. Delegate the tasks you cannot manage alone to them. Even your little one can help garnish a dish you prepare or put the clothes on the line to dry.

DO Outsource

Just as you need to delegate household tasks to your family members, you may also outsource certain tasks to other professionals. For example, if you don’t like to do accounts, or are not good at it, choose an accountant to outsource the task to.

DON’T Be Afraid to Say No

No business can take every opportunity, every client or every project. Some opportunities are just a waste of time and effort. And you know it. You need to learn to say no to such opportunities.

DO Be Flexible

There’s no guarantee that the schedule you have would go as planned. You need to make sure that you are prepared for the unexpected. Flexibility in attitude helps you accomplish this with ease.

With the right business idea and approach you can easily achieve success in your endeavor.

Draw up a business plan and accumulate as much money and a little more. A new business often takes time to earn profits. Before you set business goals, examine whether they are realistic. Maintain balance between family and work and take time out for yourself.

There are no secrets to success. It all boils down to sincere, hard work. As a mother, you learn the key lessons of life. But you don’t stop being a good mom when you face a setback. As an entrepreneur, follow the same rules and you are sure to succeed.

Work at Home Mom Photo via Shutterstock

A Look at Dos and Don’ts for Mompreneurs

Is it easier for a woman to create her own business after she has kids? No. Like all entrepreneurs, mompreneurs also face numerous challenges when they begin their new ventures. But it can be a rewarding experience if you plan it well.

Every individual embarking on a new business needs to pay attention to various aspects. The same applies to moms who want to create new businesses. However, a mom also has to balance family with their new venture.

Let’s take a look at the aspects that matter most for mompreneurs.

What Prompts a New Mom to Become an Entrepreneur?

The chief reason that prompts new moms to take up the challenge of a new business is the flexibility it offers. But it is important that you don’t misunderstand it. Being your own boss doesn’t mean that you don’t have much to do. In most cases, it’s the opposite.

It is true that when you are the owner of a home-based business, you can spend more time with your kids (WAHM: Work at Home Mom). You can do tasks when the little one’s asleep and not abide by any office schedule that requires you to stay away from your baby for 9-10 hours.

Another great thing about this choice is that enterprising, skilled and experienced women often find it to be a more fruitful way to earn money. You can spend time with your children and add to the family income too.

Many moms discover a need specific to pregnancy and childcare. They create a product or service that caters to this need as the core concept of their business. This is also another reason that makes new moms enthusiastic about this option.

What Types of Businesses Offer the Best Opportunities for Mompreneurs?

Different business opportunities are suitable for new-age moms. Whether you want to design a line of maternity clothes or offer childcare consultancy services for new parents, the choices are numerous.

Trends show that home-based online businesses will continue to do well in the future. It is possible to succeed as a consultant, a freelancer, a social media marketer, an app developer or a franchise-holder.

Decide on what you love to do - it is the first step for every entrepreneur. If you scribble away images of apparel and accessories in your notebook, you had better start designing them. If you love connecting to others, social media may be the right place for you.

While trends can dictate the type of businesses have high possibilities of success in the near future, it is best to take them as pointers. Don’t depend on them. Instead, depend on the thing you love to do and the thing you are good at.

DO Separate Personal and Professional Fronts

It’s not a good idea to take on a conference call with a client when you are preparing the bath for your baby. Similarly, it is a bad idea to continuously check your smartphone while watching your child’s first soccer match.

DON’T Neglect Yourself

You have two full-time jobs - that of a mom and that of an entrepreneur. It can be difficult, stressful and, at times, completely chaotic. Pay attention to your physical and mental health and well-being.

DO Treat Your Home Office Like an Office

It is much easier to keep off tasks for later when you work from home. This is one lure you must not fall for. Determine your goals and plan your tasks just like when you work in a corporate space.

DON’T Forget to Share Tasks

Your spouse and kids can be great partners if you know how to get their help. Delegate the tasks you cannot manage alone to them. Even your little one can help garnish a dish you prepare or put the clothes on the line to dry.

DO Outsource

Just as you need to delegate household tasks to your family members, you may also outsource certain tasks to other professionals. For example, if you don’t like to do accounts, or are not good at it, choose an accountant to outsource the task to.

DON’T Be Afraid to Say No

No business can take every opportunity, every client or every project. Some opportunities are just a waste of time and effort. And you know it. You need to learn to say no to such opportunities.

DO Be Flexible

There’s no guarantee that the schedule you have would go as planned. You need to make sure that you are prepared for the unexpected. Flexibility in attitude helps you accomplish this with ease.

With the right business idea and approach you can easily achieve success in your endeavor.

Draw up a business plan and accumulate as much money and a little more. A new business often takes time to earn profits. Before you set business goals, examine whether they are realistic. Maintain balance between family and work and take time out for yourself.

There are no secrets to success. It all boils down to sincere, hard work. As a mother, you learn the key lessons of life. But you don’t stop being a good mom when you face a setback. As an entrepreneur, follow the same rules and you are sure to succeed.

Work at Home Mom Photo via Shutterstock

Symantec confirms and fixes multiple critical bugs

Multiple critical vulnerabilities have been reported in Symantec's Web Gateway.

The technology, part of Symantec's Endpoint Protection which won this year's SC Magazine award for “Best anti-malware solution” contained vulnerabilities that would allow an attacker to run arbitrary commands with the privileges of the “root”, user while an attacker could get unauthorized access to the appliance.

According to research by Austrian firm SEC Consult Vulnerability Lab, the flaws could have permitted visibility of web traffic, interception of HTTP and the plain text form of HTTPS traffic. If SSL deep inspection is enabled, the appliance holds a private key for a Certificate Authority (CA) which if compromised by an attacker, would allow arbitrary certificates to be signed.

It said: “The recommendation of SEC Consult is to switch off the product until a comprehensive security audit based on a security source code review has been performed and all identified security deficiencies have been resolved by the vendor.”

It said that there were six vulnerabilities in total that would allow: reflected cross-site scripting; persistent cross-site scripting; OS command injection; security misconfiguration; SQL Injection; and cross-site request forgery.

Symantec was informed of the flaws on the 22nd February and existed in version 5.1.0.39 of the Symantec Web Gateway, the most recent version at the time of discovery. Symantec releases an advisory and product update on Thursday 25th July and confirmed that previous versions were affected. It recommended users update to Symantec Web Gateway version 5.1.1.

Symantec thanked Wolfgang Ettlinger and Stefan Viehböck from SEC Consult for reporting five of the flaws, and Offensive Security for reporting CVE-2013-4673.

It said in an advisory: “Symantec engineers verified these issues and have released an update to address them. Symantec engineers continue to review related functionality to further enhance the overall security of Symantec Web Gateway.

“Symantec Security Response has released IPS signature 26812 - ‘Web Attack: Symantec Web Gateway XSS' to help detect and block remote exploit attempts. Signatures are available through normal Symantec security updates.”

Simon Berg: Using Collaborative Tools to Build a Storytelling Platform in the Cloud

In order to create effective content to grab the attention of your target audience, it takes more than a bunch of disconnected tweets and Facebook posts.  It takes a compelling story that speaks directly to the heart and minds of your audience.

Simon Berg, CEO and Founder of Ceros, a Cloud based platform looking to change the way brands communicate with audiences, shares his experiences in using collaboration tools to build and run his growing business.  A small business that has employees, partners and customers spread all over the globe.

* * * * *

Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit more about what you do at Ceros?

Simon Berg: It is Cloud-based technology platform and at the core, we’re looking to help brands to inspire an engagement with their consumers through storytelling and inspiration.

Brands such as Gucci, Michael Coors and companies like that, which use that technology to create rich, engaging, storytelling outputs using all of our tools. Pushing them out, using all of our distribution tools, to any channel, platform or any device through email distribution.

Consumers see those and experience them in rich, interactive, engaging experiences. We provide all of the technology to create, distribute, and integrate that with commerce.

Small Business Trends:  I would almost call Ceros a storytelling platform?

Simon Berg: Yes, technology has changed the way in which brands and their consumers communicate. It was buyer beware and now it is more seller beware. You have got to beware of what your consumers are thinking and saying, being in the conversation. And you got to figure out ways to communicate a message in a more applicable fashion.

Tense conversations are massive these days. It is very difficult to create a campaign that says my sneakers are cool, buy my sneakers. That doesn’t wash anymore. Likewise, it is typical to weave a story into a conversation just generally around sneakers. So I think communicating messages in a way that it is acceptable in modern times it is important. My belief there is that open communication ultimately has a common thread. I think that is what we are trying to bring back.

If you take a look at magazines, books, catalogs, brochures, street theater, movies, TV shows, radio shows, you name it - all of these modern western forms of communication and media have a common thread.

The common thread is that they all have a start, middle and end, all of them - until the advent of the Web. The Web does not have a start, a middle and an end. Of course, you can say to me, “Google is a good start. ” Okay great, we are at the middle and an end. It never ends and there is no middle.

Genetically and culturally we are wired to enjoy story telling. Children still like to be read books at night and that hasn’t changed. They like stories and you wouldn’t read your child a story of random pieces of information about witches.

We like to think storytelling needs to come back and we are giving tools to “the brave” to be able to create stories. And ultimately, as a result, give them a way to communicate in a modern way that works across multiple devices and channels that allows them to interweave a story that leads to a message. Hopefully, this creates some inspiration and a purchase.

Small Business Trends:  How many people actually work with you at Ceros?

Simon Berg: We have about 32 staff members.

Small Business Trends:  So you have a good mix of clients; you have a number of employees and a number of partners. You have people that sound like they are spread across different geographical locations?

Simon Berg: For me personally, and as business actually, Ceros as a tool is very collaborative and very real-time. As a culture, we are also very spread out globally.

Our teams are in a number of different countries and cities and we have got five or six people in London, about eight or nine people in New York City, and we have about 10 guys spread out across North America. In additional to that we have guys in Italy, guys in Japan, guys in New Zealand, guys in Australia, and as a result of that, our culture is one of collaboration and real-time.

We’ve used Google, Google Hangouts, Google Drive and the Google Docs platform. It has become essential. If I walk into our office on a Monday and we have no electricity and no hot water and no cold water, it would be almost as bad if you were to remove the Google Platform from the middle of our business. I don’t say that because Google wanted me to. I said it because it is true. It really stands out for us as being critical. We can’t live without it.

We recently we had a lot of guys form North America who were in the New York office. We had about 15 people in the office and it came time to order lunch and somebody said, ‘What do you want?’ And they walked up to me with a sheet of paper and said, ‘We are going to the X-restaurant? What do you want?’ I said, ‘Where is the menu?’ It was online. So now I am online and I said, ‘Wait a second.’ I threw up a Google Doc and we ended up with 15 people collaborating in real-time in a Google Doc to order lunch. It sounds funny, but it is actually true. Everybody could see the menu and it was a bit fun as well.

That is a small case. At the larger end we have, every two to three months, an ‘all hands’ or ‘town hall.’ The ‘all hands’ are more me speaking about the business and what we are doing. The ‘town hall’ is a Q & A between all of the team and myself. We use Google Hangouts for that. So we will have 25 to 32 people all appearing on the screen, or looking at shared presentations, documents etc. And that would include the guys in New Zealand or Australia, getting up at inconvenient times, trying to line up with the rest of the world.

Because we use Google Drive, there is always a conversation about, ‘Oh, what’s the latest thoughts on the processing styles?’ Or, ‘What are you thinking about for our next content marketing campaign?’ Instead of having to go, ‘Oh wait, just a second I will send everybody a file.’ Within two clicks, I have pulled up Google Docs inside of the Hangouts and now we are chatting around this document and people are commenting on it in real-time.

I can’t image how you do business globally without such tech. I really don‘t.

Small Business Trends:  Basically, this kind of technology allows you to work the way you need to work and lets your employees engage the way they need to?

Simon Berg: Absolutely 100%. We run most of our meetings with clients remotely. You can share a lot using the Hangouts and sharing documents and presentations on screen. Surprisingly, our email is in Google and our drives are in Google andour presentations are in Google. We don’t need anything but an Internet connection and that it is the gospel truth. We even use Google telephone numbers, because they even have a telephone solution, and their answering machine service. So if Google closes tomorrow - which is highly unlikely - Ceros is dead.

Small Business Trends:  It sounds like the Cloud and services like Google have made a huge difference in the way that you have grown Ceros, as opposed to the other businesses you had in the past?

Simon Berg: For sure. It keeps the cost low and it allows you do to more much quickly.

Small Business Trends:  Where can people learn more about Ceros and what you guys do?

Simon Berg: They can visit the website at Ceros.com. You can follow the stories on there and see what our clients are doing and take a look at some of our videos and get a sense of what we are all about.

This interview on using collaborative tools to build a storytelling platform in the clouds is part of the One on One interview series with thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This transcript has been edited for publication.  

Simon Berg: Using Collaborative Tools to Build a Storytelling Platform in the Cloud

In order to create effective content to grab the attention of your target audience, it takes more than a bunch of disconnected tweets and Facebook posts.  It takes a compelling story that speaks directly to the heart and minds of your audience.

Simon Berg, CEO and Founder of Ceros, a Cloud based platform looking to change the way brands communicate with audiences, shares his experiences in using collaboration tools to build and run his growing business.  A small business that has employees, partners and customers spread all over the globe.

* * * * *

Small Business Trends: Can you tell us a little bit more about what you do at Ceros?

Simon Berg: It is Cloud-based technology platform and at the core, we’re looking to help brands to inspire an engagement with their consumers through storytelling and inspiration.

Brands such as Gucci, Michael Coors and companies like that, which use that technology to create rich, engaging, storytelling outputs using all of our tools. Pushing them out, using all of our distribution tools, to any channel, platform or any device through email distribution.

Consumers see those and experience them in rich, interactive, engaging experiences. We provide all of the technology to create, distribute, and integrate that with commerce.

Small Business Trends:  I would almost call Ceros a storytelling platform?

Simon Berg: Yes, technology has changed the way in which brands and their consumers communicate. It was buyer beware and now it is more seller beware. You have got to beware of what your consumers are thinking and saying, being in the conversation. And you got to figure out ways to communicate a message in a more applicable fashion.

Tense conversations are massive these days. It is very difficult to create a campaign that says my sneakers are cool, buy my sneakers. That doesn’t wash anymore. Likewise, it is typical to weave a story into a conversation just generally around sneakers. So I think communicating messages in a way that it is acceptable in modern times it is important. My belief there is that open communication ultimately has a common thread. I think that is what we are trying to bring back.

If you take a look at magazines, books, catalogs, brochures, street theater, movies, TV shows, radio shows, you name it - all of these modern western forms of communication and media have a common thread.

The common thread is that they all have a start, middle and end, all of them - until the advent of the Web. The Web does not have a start, a middle and an end. Of course, you can say to me, “Google is a good start. ” Okay great, we are at the middle and an end. It never ends and there is no middle.

Genetically and culturally we are wired to enjoy story telling. Children still like to be read books at night and that hasn’t changed. They like stories and you wouldn’t read your child a story of random pieces of information about witches.

We like to think storytelling needs to come back and we are giving tools to “the brave” to be able to create stories. And ultimately, as a result, give them a way to communicate in a modern way that works across multiple devices and channels that allows them to interweave a story that leads to a message. Hopefully, this creates some inspiration and a purchase.

Small Business Trends:  How many people actually work with you at Ceros?

Simon Berg: We have about 32 staff members.

Small Business Trends:  So you have a good mix of clients; you have a number of employees and a number of partners. You have people that sound like they are spread across different geographical locations?

Simon Berg: For me personally, and as business actually, Ceros as a tool is very collaborative and very real-time. As a culture, we are also very spread out globally.

Our teams are in a number of different countries and cities and we have got five or six people in London, about eight or nine people in New York City, and we have about 10 guys spread out across North America. In additional to that we have guys in Italy, guys in Japan, guys in New Zealand, guys in Australia, and as a result of that, our culture is one of collaboration and real-time.

We’ve used Google, Google Hangouts, Google Drive and the Google Docs platform. It has become essential. If I walk into our office on a Monday and we have no electricity and no hot water and no cold water, it would be almost as bad if you were to remove the Google Platform from the middle of our business. I don’t say that because Google wanted me to. I said it because it is true. It really stands out for us as being critical. We can’t live without it.

We recently we had a lot of guys form North America who were in the New York office. We had about 15 people in the office and it came time to order lunch and somebody said, ‘What do you want?’ And they walked up to me with a sheet of paper and said, ‘We are going to the X-restaurant? What do you want?’ I said, ‘Where is the menu?’ It was online. So now I am online and I said, ‘Wait a second.’ I threw up a Google Doc and we ended up with 15 people collaborating in real-time in a Google Doc to order lunch. It sounds funny, but it is actually true. Everybody could see the menu and it was a bit fun as well.

That is a small case. At the larger end we have, every two to three months, an ‘all hands’ or ‘town hall.’ The ‘all hands’ are more me speaking about the business and what we are doing. The ‘town hall’ is a Q & A between all of the team and myself. We use Google Hangouts for that. So we will have 25 to 32 people all appearing on the screen, or looking at shared presentations, documents etc. And that would include the guys in New Zealand or Australia, getting up at inconvenient times, trying to line up with the rest of the world.

Because we use Google Drive, there is always a conversation about, ‘Oh, what’s the latest thoughts on the processing styles?’ Or, ‘What are you thinking about for our next content marketing campaign?’ Instead of having to go, ‘Oh wait, just a second I will send everybody a file.’ Within two clicks, I have pulled up Google Docs inside of the Hangouts and now we are chatting around this document and people are commenting on it in real-time.

I can’t image how you do business globally without such tech. I really don‘t.

Small Business Trends:  Basically, this kind of technology allows you to work the way you need to work and lets your employees engage the way they need to?

Simon Berg: Absolutely 100%. We run most of our meetings with clients remotely. You can share a lot using the Hangouts and sharing documents and presentations on screen. Surprisingly, our email is in Google and our drives are in Google andour presentations are in Google. We don’t need anything but an Internet connection and that it is the gospel truth. We even use Google telephone numbers, because they even have a telephone solution, and their answering machine service. So if Google closes tomorrow - which is highly unlikely - Ceros is dead.

Small Business Trends:  It sounds like the Cloud and services like Google have made a huge difference in the way that you have grown Ceros, as opposed to the other businesses you had in the past?

Simon Berg: For sure. It keeps the cost low and it allows you do to more much quickly.

Small Business Trends:  Where can people learn more about Ceros and what you guys do?

Simon Berg: They can visit the website at Ceros.com. You can follow the stories on there and see what our clients are doing and take a look at some of our videos and get a sense of what we are all about.

This interview on using collaborative tools to build a storytelling platform in the clouds is part of the One on One interview series with thought-provoking entrepreneurs, authors and experts in business today. This transcript has been edited for publication.  

The Best Ways to Get Paid: Solutions For Every Type of Small Business

No matter how small your business, “cash only” is no longer a viable option. But for both businesses and customers, the dilemma of how to get paid by customers and clients still persists. The issues of security, speed, cost and convenience are the top concern, but with so many choices, how does a small business know which one to select?

Below is a comprehensive review of the top choices for small business owners, including price, options, and more. While there  is no one-size-fits-all service for small businesses, by looking at this review, hopefully you can pick the best choice for you.

E-Commerce Sites

Your online storefront needs an easy, secure way to process payments. But in addition to security, your e-commerce payment solution should also provide the ability to export data to your accounting software. The following services are great options for small businesses.

• PayPal Business-Since many customers already have PayPal accounts, providing it as a payment option can increase sales. Instead of having to input a long credit card number, buyers can simply enter a PayPal password to pay. Your business can accept PayPal for free, but to fully integrate it into your site, you’ll need the Pro version, which is $30 per month. Customers without PayPal accounts can pay using a major credit card. PayPal will charge your business 2.9% plus $.30 per transaction.
• Google Checkout-Like PayPal, Google Checkout is a viable option because so many customers already have Google accounts. However, those customers will be required to set up a Google payment account but once set up, they’ll be able to use it for other purchases. There are no setup fees and businesses are charged the same transaction fees with Google Checkout and PayPal for transactions under $3,000. Each transaction is charged 2.9% plus $.30 per transaction.

Mobile Swipe

Card readers have taken off in the past year, with even sole proprietors now able to accept credit card payments on the go. As every business steps forward to offer their own mobile swipe technology, here is a look at the most popular.

• Square-The original mobile card reader is ideal if you plan to stay in the U.S. Currently, the service has no support for international swipes. With a fee of 2.75% per swipe or a flat rate of $275 per month, this reader may be the best choice for businesses that plan to do a high-dollar volume, although there are restrictions on the company’s flat rate.
• PayPal Here-While PayPal boasts “immediate” availability of funds, it’s important to note that those funds are immediately available in a business’s PayPal account. Funds must be transferred to a bank account, which takes up to three days, compared to Square’s next-day availability. PayPal Here may be the best option for businesses with a lower volume of sales, since the per-transaction rate beats Square’s rate slightly at 2.70%.
• Punchey-In an attempt to beat both Square and PayPal Here, Punchey has launched a service with competitive transaction fees. Designed for businesses that sell products or services that cost $50 each or higher, Punchey charges only 0.75% on its side, with the business paying the additional “interchange” fee charged by the bank. This fee generally runs between one and three percent, making it a better choice for businesses with higher transactions.

E-Check Options

For sole proprietors like freelancers and contractors, getting paid can be more complicated than swiping a credit card. For any individual, the best source to process a paper check is his or her own bank. Many banks now offer electronic check capture, by which a customer can simply snap a picture using a smartphone and deposit the funds electronically. For paperless options, here are the best services for sole proprietors.

• PayPal eCheck-For freelancers, PayPal is still the best way to be paid. If, for some reason, a business needs to pay a contractor via check instead of credit card or direct bank account draft, eCheck may be an option. The system isn’t fraud-proof, however, so the traditional way to pay is always preferred. PayPal charges a 2.9% fee plus $.30 per transaction.
• Intuit eCheck-Intuit Payment Solutions allows businesses and sole proprieters to accept a check by simply typing in the customer’s banking information. No more filling out deposit slips or even taking a photo of the check. This is a good option for someone who finds themselves with multiple checks each month, since Intuit charges a monthly fee of $12.95, plus $.30 per check.
• Zipmark - Zipmark is a digital check solution that allows your customers / clients to send money directly into your bank account. Funds are typically available within 24 hours, but the best part is the Zipmark free: 1% of the transaction with a cap of $5.

The world of payment processing is constantly evolving. Chances are, each process will become more streamlined and more convenient as time goes on. Businesses simply need to consider the fees and find the most affordable option for them.

IBM announces launch of vulnerability scanner and manager

A new solution which identify key vulnerabilities in real-time across a network has been launched this week by IBM.

Named the QRadar Vulnerability Manager, IBM said that it helps identify, sort, contextualise and prioritise network vulnerabilities into a single view. According to the company, it can automatically scan the network and perform the analysis, with results aggregated alongside the latest X-Force threat intelligence alerts and incident reports from the National Vulnerability Database.

Also added in this release is an embedded, PCI-certified scanner which can be scheduled to run periodically or triggered based on network events.

Murray Benadie, managing director of Zenith Systems, an IBM business partner, said: “QRadar Vulnerability Manager is a breakthrough for the IT security industry. It can cut a huge list of vulnerabilities in half, if not more. Users will quickly see vulnerabilities on their networks, without trying to mash products together - that is how information falls through the cracks. This is a true game changer.”

Also this week, IBM launched a new version of the IBM Security zSecure Suite, a mainframe security solution with IBM QRadar Security Intelligence Platform integration. This combined solution helps provide organisations with enterprise-wide visibility of mainframe security events, supported with automated real-time threat alerts and customised compliance reporting.

The Best Ways to Get Paid: Solutions For Every Type of Small Business

No matter how small your business, “cash only” is no longer a viable option. But for both businesses and customers, the dilemma of how to get paid by customers and clients still persists. The issues of security, speed, cost and convenience are the top concern, but with so many choices, how does a small business know which one to select?

Below is a comprehensive review of the top choices for small business owners, including price, options, and more. While there  is no one-size-fits-all service for small businesses, by looking at this review, hopefully you can pick the best choice for you.

E-Commerce Sites

Your online storefront needs an easy, secure way to process payments. But in addition to security, your e-commerce payment solution should also provide the ability to export data to your accounting software. The following services are great options for small businesses.

• PayPal Business-Since many customers already have PayPal accounts, providing it as a payment option can increase sales. Instead of having to input a long credit card number, buyers can simply enter a PayPal password to pay. Your business can accept PayPal for free, but to fully integrate it into your site, you’ll need the Pro version, which is $30 per month. Customers without PayPal accounts can pay using a major credit card. PayPal will charge your business 2.9% plus $.30 per transaction.
• Google Checkout-Like PayPal, Google Checkout is a viable option because so many customers already have Google accounts. However, those customers will be required to set up a Google payment account but once set up, they’ll be able to use it for other purchases. There are no setup fees and businesses are charged the same transaction fees with Google Checkout and PayPal for transactions under $3,000. Each transaction is charged 2.9% plus $.30 per transaction.

Mobile Swipe

Card readers have taken off in the past year, with even sole proprietors now able to accept credit card payments on the go. As every business steps forward to offer their own mobile swipe technology, here is a look at the most popular.

• Square-The original mobile card reader is ideal if you plan to stay in the U.S. Currently, the service has no support for international swipes. With a fee of 2.75% per swipe or a flat rate of $275 per month, this reader may be the best choice for businesses that plan to do a high-dollar volume, although there are restrictions on the company’s flat rate.
• PayPal Here-While PayPal boasts “immediate” availability of funds, it’s important to note that those funds are immediately available in a business’s PayPal account. Funds must be transferred to a bank account, which takes up to three days, compared to Square’s next-day availability. PayPal Here may be the best option for businesses with a lower volume of sales, since the per-transaction rate beats Square’s rate slightly at 2.70%.
• Punchey-In an attempt to beat both Square and PayPal Here, Punchey has launched a service with competitive transaction fees. Designed for businesses that sell products or services that cost $50 each or higher, Punchey charges only 0.75% on its side, with the business paying the additional “interchange” fee charged by the bank. This fee generally runs between one and three percent, making it a better choice for businesses with higher transactions.

E-Check Options

For sole proprietors like freelancers and contractors, getting paid can be more complicated than swiping a credit card. For any individual, the best source to process a paper check is his or her own bank. Many banks now offer electronic check capture, by which a customer can simply snap a picture using a smartphone and deposit the funds electronically. For paperless options, here are the best services for sole proprietors.

• PayPal eCheck-For freelancers, PayPal is still the best way to be paid. If, for some reason, a business needs to pay a contractor via check instead of credit card or direct bank account draft, eCheck may be an option. The system isn’t fraud-proof, however, so the traditional way to pay is always preferred. PayPal charges a 2.9% fee plus $.30 per transaction.
• Intuit eCheck-Intuit Payment Solutions allows businesses and sole proprieters to accept a check by simply typing in the customer’s banking information. No more filling out deposit slips or even taking a photo of the check. This is a good option for someone who finds themselves with multiple checks each month, since Intuit charges a monthly fee of $12.95, plus $.30 per check.
• Zipmark - Zipmark is a digital check solution that allows your customers / clients to send money directly into your bank account. Funds are typically available within 24 hours, but the best part is the Zipmark free: 1% of the transaction with a cap of $5.

The world of payment processing is constantly evolving. Chances are, each process will become more streamlined and more convenient as time goes on. Businesses simply need to consider the fees and find the most affordable option for them.

$300 million Russian cyber crime ring broken by US feds

Four Russian nationals and a Ukrainian have been charged with breaking into US financial networks and stealing more than 160 million credit card numbers and more than $300 million.

According to the US Department of Justice statement, they broke into more than a dozen major American and international companies between 2005 and 2012, and ran a scheme to steal information from the cards. The men were named as Russians Vladimir Drinkman and Alexandr Kalinin who allegedly specialised in penetrating network security and gaining access to the corporate victims' systems. Russian Roman Kotov allegedly specialised in mining the networks that Drinkman and Kalinin compromised to steal valuable data.

Russian Dmitriy Smilianets allegedly sold the information stolen by the other conspirators and distributed the proceeds of the scheme to the participants. Finally the activities were cloaked by using anonymous web-hosting services provided by Ukrainian Mikhail Rytikov.

The US Department of Justice also said that Kalinin and Drinkman were previously charged in New Jersey as “Hacker 1” and “Hacker 2” in a 2009 indictment charging Albert Gonzalez in connection with five corporate data breaches, including the breach of Heartland Payment Systems Inc. He is currently serving 20 years in federal prison for those offenses. 

The access was achieved due to using SQL Injection vulnerabilities and malware to create a backdoor on to the network. The statement claimed that the victim companies were targeted for many months, waiting patiently as their efforts to bypass security were underway. 

After acquiring the card numbers and associated data, the conspirators allegedly sold it to resellers around the world who then charged approximately $10 for each stolen American credit card number and associated data; approximately $50 for each European credit card number and associated data; and approximately $15 for each Canadian credit card number and associated data.

To protect against detection by the victim companies, the defendants allegedly altered the settings on the victim company networks to disable security mechanisms from logging their actions. The defendants also worked to evade existing protections by security software.

If convicted, the maximum penalties for the charged counts are: five years in prison for conspiracy to gain unauthorised access to computers; 30 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud; five years in prison for unauthorised access to computers; and 30 years in prison for wire fraud. 

US Attorney Fishman, said: “Those who have the expertise and the inclination to break into our computer networks threaten our economic well-being, our privacy and our national security.

“And this case shows, there is a real practical cost because these types of frauds increase the costs of doing business for every American consumer, every day. We cannot be too vigilant and we cannot be too careful.”

Acting assistant attorney General Raman, said: “The defendants charged today were allegedly responsible for spearheading a worldwide hacking conspiracy that victimised a wide array of consumers and entities, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

“Despite substantial efforts by the defendants to conceal their alleged crimes, the department and its law enforcement counterparts have cracked this extensive scheme and are seeking justice for its many victims. Today's indictment will no doubt serve as a serious warning to those who would utilise illegal and fraudulent means to steal sensitive information online.”

That’s the Best You’ve Got?

I saw a cartoon recently with a genie in a bottle and thought it would be funny to put that genie in the middle of a business meeting to see what might happen.

While all sorts of scenarios like reshuffling personnel, increasing sales and smiting competitors played out, ultimately something boring and buzz-wordy like synergy was the funniest.

I mean, really? Three wishes and that’s the best you’ve got?

That’s the Best You’ve Got?

I saw a cartoon recently with a genie in a bottle and thought it would be funny to put that genie in the middle of a business meeting to see what might happen.

While all sorts of scenarios like reshuffling personnel, increasing sales and smiting competitors played out, ultimately something boring and buzz-wordy like synergy was the funniest.

I mean, really? Three wishes and that’s the best you’ve got?

PhishMe and FireEye partner to educate in the battle against targeted attacks

PhishMe and FireEye have announced a partnership to focus on improving defences against a broad array of advanced cyber threats, including spear phishing and targeted attacks.

Pairing the FireEye platform with employee training through immersion in PhishMe's simulated phishing scenarios, the two companies said that users will be able to promptly assess intrusions and remediate threats.

PhishMe and FireEye said that they hope to create a new organisation-wide mindset that cyber security impacts each employee. Both companies are committed to creating an open environment where employees are educated and aware of potential security threats, as well as the need for a robust security infrastructure.

Didi Dayton, vice president worldwide alliances, at FireEye, said: “PhishMe's unique employee training modules couple well with our advanced threat protection platform, helping organisations minimise the amount of vulnerabilities on the endpoint and the network.” 

Cyber governance health check believed to be struggling to attract participants

A proposed cyber governance health check could face a first hurdle with a number of companies not signing up to take part.

Speaking to SC Magazine, Sarb Sembhi, chair of the ISACA European GRA sub committee, said that he understood that those behind the organisation of the health check had struggled to attract 100 organisations to take part.

He said: “It is requires time to do a health check. If they can only attract 100 companies across the UK to do this, then that is not much at all, but I understand that they have not got enough businesses to do the health check.

“Part of the problem is that this is targeted at small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and they do not understand the need to do a health check. Another part of the problem is it may only be for a limited period and there is a large amount of work that security teams will need to put in too.

Nigel Stanley, CEO of Incoming Thought, said that some businesses will see the benefit of this, but the challenge will be beyond the health check as some businesses will not know their security posture and will not want to know, and bury their heads in the sand.

He said: “A vertical will say ‘how does this help the business' and they will want to know how to measure the success of it, while some will not want to know.”

Stanley went on to say that as few things in life are free, there may be a consideration that there is a hidden agenda behind this. “The bigger issue is considering the business benefit of going through this process,” he said.

“This could be seen as a regulator with a big stick, but what if a government investigation after the fact finds that your security posture is very poor?”

A Cabinet Office spokesperson told SC Magazine that the project was just getting off the ground and that letters had been sent out this week to the FTSE 350 businesses, so to question its effectiveness was premature.

They said: “It will look at areas of raising awareness and technical diagnostics, and about the basics. I think it is a bit premature to assess the effectiveness at this early stage as this is a part of a wider range of awareness campaigns for cyber security.

“It is part of the project to encourage awareness on cyber security as businesses have reputations and share holders to protect. The health check is going to be about the security of that group of companies, there will be no tagging or badging of companies, so to criticise it is a bit pre-emptive.

“GCHQ and government agencies are behind this and have written to the FTSE 350 to get them to sign up to this; but if we don't get them all but get 100 or 250, then that will be good.

“This is an opportunity for us to flag that the threat is growing with cyber security, that the scale is increasing and that the complexity is also. Companies need to sit up and take notice of instances and the heightened risk.”

The intention of the Government-backed cyber governance health check was announced by the FT this week. It will involve the chairman of a company and the chair of the company's audit committee completing a questionnaire that will assess how well the company handles issues such as protecting intellectual property and safeguarding customer data.

The second stage of the health check will be detailed discussion with the company's audit firm about areas in which a company may be particularly vulnerable. The results from this will be aggregated on an anonymous basis, to enable companies to see how they rate compared with peers.

Research released yesterday by KPMG showed that on average, 41 usernames, 44 email addresses and five sensitive internal file locations were available for each company in the FTSE 350. KPMG said it is supporting the initiative by helping FTSE 350 companies identify potential flaws in their cyber security procedures.

Malcolm Marshall, global head of information protection and resilience at KPMG, said: “By building an understanding of UK plc's cyber defences, organisations will be in a better position to make the decisions and take the actions necessary to prevent data theft and ensure Britain is not just open, but safe, for business.”

Cyber governance health check believed to be struggling to attract participants

A proposed cyber governance health check could face a first hurdle with a number of companies not signing up to take part.

Speaking to SC Magazine, Sarb Sembhi, chair of the ISACA European GRA sub committee, said that he understood that those behind the organisation of the health check had struggled to attract 100 organisations to take part.

He said: “It is requires time to do a health check. If they can only attract 100 companies across the UK to do this, then that is not much at all, but I understand that they have not got enough businesses to do the health check.

“Part of the problem is that this is targeted at small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and they do not understand the need to do a health check. Another part of the problem is it may only be for a limited period and there is a large amount of work that security teams will need to put in too.

Nigel Stanley, CEO of Incoming Thought, said that some businesses will see the benefit of this, but the challenge will be beyond the health check as some businesses will not know their security posture and will not want to know, and bury their heads in the sand.

He said: “A vertical will say ‘how does this help the business' and they will want to know how to measure the success of it, while some will not want to know.”

Stanley went on to say that as few things in life are free, there may be a consideration that there is a hidden agenda behind this. “The bigger issue is considering the business benefit of going through this process,” he said.

“This could be seen as a regulator with a big stick, but what if a government investigation after the fact finds that your security posture is very poor?”

A Cabinet Office spokesperson told SC Magazine that the project was just getting off the ground and that letters had been sent out this week to the FTSE 350 businesses, so to question its effectiveness was premature.

They said: “It will look at areas of raising awareness and technical diagnostics, and about the basics. I think it is a bit premature to assess the effectiveness at this early stage as this is a part of a wider range of awareness campaigns for cyber security.

“It is part of the project to encourage awareness on cyber security as businesses have reputations and share holders to protect. The health check is going to be about the security of that group of companies, there will be no tagging or badging of companies, so to criticise it is a bit pre-emptive.

“GCHQ and government agencies are behind this and have written to the FTSE 350 to get them to sign up to this; but if we don't get them all but get 100 or 250, then that will be good.

“This is an opportunity for us to flag that the threat is growing with cyber security, that the scale is increasing and that the complexity is also. Companies need to sit up and take notice of instances and the heightened risk.”

The intention of the Government-backed cyber governance health check was announced by the FT this week. It will involve the chairman of a company and the chair of the company's audit committee completing a questionnaire that will assess how well the company handles issues such as protecting intellectual property and safeguarding customer data.

The second stage of the health check will be detailed discussion with the company's audit firm about areas in which a company may be particularly vulnerable. The results from this will be aggregated on an anonymous basis, to enable companies to see how they rate compared with peers.

Research released yesterday by KPMG showed that on average, 41 usernames, 44 email addresses and five sensitive internal file locations were available for each company in the FTSE 350. KPMG said it is supporting the initiative by helping FTSE 350 companies identify potential flaws in their cyber security procedures.

Malcolm Marshall, global head of information protection and resilience at KPMG, said: “By building an understanding of UK plc's cyber defences, organisations will be in a better position to make the decisions and take the actions necessary to prevent data theft and ensure Britain is not just open, but safe, for business.”

VerticalResponse Email Marketing Company Acquired by Deluxe

Customers of VerticalResponse, the email marketing software company, received a surprise email yesterday announcing that the company had been acquired by Deluxe Corporation.  The purchase price  was $27 million in cash.

The news also was officially reported in the Deluxe Corporation earnings release.

In that release, Deluxe reported revenue of $381 million, with net income (profit) of $48 million for the second quarter. About two-thirds of the revenue came from what Deluxe calls “small business services.”  And that’s where the acquisition of VerticalResponse fits in.

In a statement accompanying the earnings release, Lee Schram, CEO of Deluxe, said, “Revenue in the second quarter was at the upper end of our outlook … driven by favorable performance particularly in both Small Business Services and Financial Services. Marketing solutions and other services revenue grew 21% over last year and will further benefit from the acquisition of VerticalResponse. Our strong first half of the year positions us well to grow revenue in 2013 for a fourth consecutive year.”

The acquisition took place in June 2013, although just now reported.  VerticalResponse will continue to be based in San Francisco, its current headquarters.

Deluxe, which many people still think of as the check printing company, has been transforming itself to a small business services provider in recent years, largely through targeted acquisitions. Since 2008 it has bought Web hosting company Hostopia, startup community website PartnerUp, Internet marketing company OrangeSoda, and logo company Logomojo.

The founder of Vertical Response, Janine Popick, wrote on that company’s blog that VerticalResponse had been in numerous acquisition talks over the years.  Deluxe was the company that offered the best fit:

“Over the course of 12 years we’ve had many conversations, and I mean many. Companies big and small, public and private, too many to even think about. And every time we walked away from a conversation it was because the company didn’t value us for our abilities and wouldn’t have given our shareholders what they deserve. But this one was different. It was great, it was time and it was perfect.”

In addition to email marketing, VerticalResponse has broadened its offerings into related areas, including online surveys and marketing postcards.  In late 2011 it acquired social media platform Roost to expand into social media marketing.

According to Popick, one of the things that will change is that more resources can now be placed on product development.

When we spoke with VerticalResponse in late 2011, the company reported 100,000 customers, plus 30,000 brought by the acquisition of Roost.  VerticalResponse’s website today says the company has 800,000 users worldwide - but users and customers are not the same.

VerticalResponse employs 110 employees.  Deluxe is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Security professionals fear government snoopers

Around two-thirds of senior security professionals thought the Government snooped on their corporate data while it resided in the cloud.

According to research by Voltage Security of 300 professionals, 62 per cent believed governments looked at their data without their knowledge.

Dave Anderson, senior director of Voltage, said that this will affect people's views of cloud security, but an organisation's data protection strategy must include proactive data protection controls, which enables the ability to supervise and manage how underlying data levels are secured through encryption, tokenisation and data masking. 

He said: “Any sensitive information, including financials, customer and employee data or intellectual property needs to be protected across the entire lifecycle of that data. Any loss or exposure of that data can result in compliance or regulatory fines, loss of brand and reputation and, as the recent NSA events further validate, a loss of privacy around how we communicate and the content of those communications.

“We believe that this approach, which can protect sensitive data across the entire data lifecycle, can allow companies to leverage the benefits of cloud adoption, and ensure their sensitive data is protected from any prying eyes.” 

 

Speaking in early July, European Commission vice president Neelie Kroes said that European businesses are likely to abandon the services of American providers if they fear that the security of their material is under threat.

She said: “If businesses or governments think they might be spied on, they will have less reason to trust cloud, and it will be cloud providers who ultimately miss out. Why would you pay someone else to hold your commercial or other secrets if you suspect or know they are being shared against your wishes?”

IE ranks high on privacy, low on malicious site blocking

Of the major web browsers, Internet Explorer (IE) offers the best default privacy settings, but it leaves much to be desired in terms of malware defence.

According to a new study by NSS Labs, after examining the privacy features built into Microsoft's IE 10, Mozilla's Firefox 20.0.1, Google's Chrome 26 and Apple's Safari 5.1.7, IE offered users the easiest option for enhanced privacy while browsing.

According to the “Browser Security Comparative Analysis” (PDF) evaluation on privacy, IE ranked the best due to several factors, including its method of blocking certain privacy-invading cookies by default.

In addition to IE 10 having Tracking Protection Lists (TPL), which allow users to choose which visited sites gather data on their browsing history, the biggest factor that pushed it up the rankings was the fact that “Do Not Track” is turned on by default. This feature that does not track users' online browsing habits, is turned off by default in Chrome, Safari and Firefox.

But while IE beat other browsers for its privacy safeguards, it ranked worst in blocking URLs that led users to infected websites.

In another study comparing browsers' website blocking abilities, NSS Labs found that IE 10 performed “relatively poor,” blocking 83 per cent of malicious URLs, while Firefox 19.0.2 had the highest rate of blocking spurious sites, with a 96 per cent rate.

Safari 5.1.7 came in second, blocking 95 per cent of malicious URLs on average, followed by Chrome 25, with a 92 per cent block rate, then the Opera 12 browser (Opera 15 is the latest release), which had an 89 per cent catch rate.