Do You Need Help Staying on Top of Employee Expenses?

Who likes dealing with petty cash on business trips? I know I don’t.

Every time I travel for business, which is often, I come back with a stack of annoying little receipts (the ones I don’t misplace), which my CFO then has to pester me about organizing and passing on to her so she can enter them into our system and expense them. Using credit cards is often easier, but that isn’t an option for smaller purchases.

If you have employees who travel a lot or simply spend most of their day on the road, such as sales staff or service people, keeping track of their petty cash and expenses is a huge pain for everyone involved. Receipts to collect, scan and recordâ€"who needs it?

Business credit cards can simplify the problem of paying for your employees’ expenses on the road, but there are some downsides to these, too. Interest rates can be high, and accidentally missing a payment can push them even higher. Plus, having to keep a high limit on the cards in case of travel, even when employees don’t need it all the time, might make you nervous.

Do you really want your employees walking around with all that spending power in their wallets? When you don’t know what they might spend it on, it’s hard to predict expenses.

Recently, I was on yet another business trip when a colleague told me about PEX business prepaid debit cards, a pretty cool solution to the problem of managing employee expenses. Have you ever given your child a prepaid credit card for school expenses? PEX business prepaid debit cards are kind of the same idea. They function similarly to a credit card, with some important differences:

• You don’t need credit approval.
• You don’t have to worry about high interest rates because the card is prepaid from your business bank account via ACH transfer.

What I like about PEX cards is their flexibility. You can give every employee his or her own personal card; you can also give each of them a different debit limit. If one employee regularly travels overseas, while another only drives within your local area, they can get limits commensurate with their needs. And if that employee on a business trip suddenly needs more money to, say, change a flight or cover dinner when that client she’s entertaining shows up with six colleagues in tow, she can contact you and you can immediately add more funds to her card.

The other nice aspect of the cards is control. Most small business owners are control freaks, at least about their money, so you know what I’m talking about. PEX business prepaid debit cards let you set daily limits on employee spending. If an employee won’t be traveling for a while and you know they have no reason to need to buy anything for business, you can take their limit down to zero and not worry about it. And if someone doesn’t need their card anymore, or leaves the company, the money left on the card can simply be transferred back to your business bank account with no problem.

When PEX did their Mid-Year Survey Report of small business owners in June, they found one of the top four issues keeping small business owners awake at night was “expenses eating into profits” (pictured above). They also found that for the second half of 2013, more than half of small business owners want to either keep their spending levels, on everything from fuel to materials, the same or cut back.

Tracking your cash flow is crucial for small businesses to stay on top of expenses. A tool like the PEX business prepaid debit card can clearly help. In addition to breaking out individual employees’ use of the cards, you can also view aggregated data for the whole company. You can export reports to Quickbooks (the company is working on features that would allow transactions to easily integrate with Quickbooks, which would make it even better).

It didn’t surprise me to learn that PEX is an entrepreneurial company. Founder and CEO, Toffer Grant, started the business when he saw that banks and large credit card issuers weren’t filling the niche for small and midsized businesses to obtain prepaid debit cards. Toffler grew up in a family business and knew from an early age what matters to small business owners.

Don’t you love it when you can solve a business problem with a cool tool created by another small business owner?

Image: Pex Mid Year Survey

How Trek Built Bikes More Productively Using A Better Collaboration Tool and Planning

Trek is a big company with offices around the world. But they had a problem that many small businesses like us face. They have a variety of projects with a variety of people working on the project and their project managers were constantly scrambling to get information on various aspects of the project.

This problem was compounded because there are a variety of files attached to each project.

If Trek can’t produce new bicycle models for its customers each season it’s going to be out of business. Each bicycle model is led by a project leader and each model contains an array of documentation (created by a variety of different software) - this added to Trek’s problem.

The folks at AtTask know that this situation is so common to growing businesses and this is why task management software is so important.

In Trek’s case, AtTask said that, One of their biggest challenges came from the broad array of tools used by the team, including Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint slides, Word documents, Microsoft Project, and Inovia project approval software. Attempting to create order from these disparate tools, Lamp’s project managers spent an estimated 30 percent of their time manually retyping timeline items from Microsoft Project into emails to send out to team members, literally crossing items off with pencil as they were completed. Further adding to this inefficiency, Lamp and VP of Operations Steve Malchow were forced to hold status meetings two to three times per week, during which the team assembled in a conference room and via phone to update project spreadsheets one line item at a time.

I know this situation all too well in my own small business.

Of course you know how this story ends, Trek implemented AtTask and these problems were erased.

But there’s a more important story here. Trek took the time to document their business processes and ensure their internal communication procedures were in places - before implementing a technology solution.

Slapping a technology solution on top of chaos just makes things worse.

More than anywhere else, the benefits of AtTask were seen in Trek’s productivity. First, AtTask saved Lamp’s team of project managers and other team members significant amounts of time that had previously been used in project status update meetings, on maintaining spreadsheets and timelines, and in communicating project updates to team members. “I used to go to project status meetings two or three times a week,” Malchow says. “Now, I’ll attend maybe one meeting a month, because I already know.” This sudden availability of time went beyond the vice president to each team member. Malchow continues, “People are much less frustrated. We have our best engineers concentrating on innovation versus spreadsheets and updating tasks. I would say they’re gaining 20 or 30 percent more time behind the CAD station, innovating.”

Whether you decide to use AtTask or some other solution - it’s critical to ensure your teams are communicating as efficiently as possible - growing businesses can’t afford to be in chaos.

Other collaboration tool solutions include Asana (which I use) and 37 Signals has a variety of tools for better communication.

How Trek Built Bikes More Productively Using A Better Collaboration Tool and Planning

Trek is a big company with offices around the world. But they had a problem that many small businesses like us face. They have a variety of projects with a variety of people working on the project and their project managers were constantly scrambling to get information on various aspects of the project.

This problem was compounded because there are a variety of files attached to each project.

If Trek can’t produce new bicycle models for its customers each season it’s going to be out of business. Each bicycle model is led by a project leader and each model contains an array of documentation (created by a variety of different software) - this added to Trek’s problem.

The folks at AtTask know that this situation is so common to growing businesses and this is why task management software is so important.

In Trek’s case, AtTask said that, One of their biggest challenges came from the broad array of tools used by the team, including Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint slides, Word documents, Microsoft Project, and Inovia project approval software. Attempting to create order from these disparate tools, Lamp’s project managers spent an estimated 30 percent of their time manually retyping timeline items from Microsoft Project into emails to send out to team members, literally crossing items off with pencil as they were completed. Further adding to this inefficiency, Lamp and VP of Operations Steve Malchow were forced to hold status meetings two to three times per week, during which the team assembled in a conference room and via phone to update project spreadsheets one line item at a time.

I know this situation all too well in my own small business.

Of course you know how this story ends, Trek implemented AtTask and these problems were erased.

But there’s a more important story here. Trek took the time to document their business processes and ensure their internal communication procedures were in places - before implementing a technology solution.

Slapping a technology solution on top of chaos just makes things worse.

More than anywhere else, the benefits of AtTask were seen in Trek’s productivity. First, AtTask saved Lamp’s team of project managers and other team members significant amounts of time that had previously been used in project status update meetings, on maintaining spreadsheets and timelines, and in communicating project updates to team members. “I used to go to project status meetings two or three times a week,” Malchow says. “Now, I’ll attend maybe one meeting a month, because I already know.” This sudden availability of time went beyond the vice president to each team member. Malchow continues, “People are much less frustrated. We have our best engineers concentrating on innovation versus spreadsheets and updating tasks. I would say they’re gaining 20 or 30 percent more time behind the CAD station, innovating.”

Whether you decide to use AtTask or some other solution - it’s critical to ensure your teams are communicating as efficiently as possible - growing businesses can’t afford to be in chaos.

Other collaboration tool solutions include Asana (which I use) and 37 Signals has a variety of tools for better communication.

How Trek Built Bikes More Productively Using A Better Collaboration Tool and Planning

Trek is a big company with offices around the world. But they had a problem that many small businesses like us face. They have a variety of projects with a variety of people working on the project and their project managers were constantly scrambling to get information on various aspects of the project.

This problem was compounded because there are a variety of files attached to each project.

If Trek can’t produce new bicycle models for its customers each season it’s going to be out of business. Each bicycle model is led by a project leader and each model contains an array of documentation (created by a variety of different software) - this added to Trek’s problem.

The folks at AtTask know that this situation is so common to growing businesses and this is why task management software is so important.

In Trek’s case, AtTask said that, One of their biggest challenges came from the broad array of tools used by the team, including Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, Powerpoint slides, Word documents, Microsoft Project, and Inovia project approval software. Attempting to create order from these disparate tools, Lamp’s project managers spent an estimated 30 percent of their time manually retyping timeline items from Microsoft Project into emails to send out to team members, literally crossing items off with pencil as they were completed. Further adding to this inefficiency, Lamp and VP of Operations Steve Malchow were forced to hold status meetings two to three times per week, during which the team assembled in a conference room and via phone to update project spreadsheets one line item at a time.

I know this situation all too well in my own small business.

Of course you know how this story ends, Trek implemented AtTask and these problems were erased.

But there’s a more important story here. Trek took the time to document their business processes and ensure their internal communication procedures were in places - before implementing a technology solution.

Slapping a technology solution on top of chaos just makes things worse.

More than anywhere else, the benefits of AtTask were seen in Trek’s productivity. First, AtTask saved Lamp’s team of project managers and other team members significant amounts of time that had previously been used in project status update meetings, on maintaining spreadsheets and timelines, and in communicating project updates to team members. “I used to go to project status meetings two or three times a week,” Malchow says. “Now, I’ll attend maybe one meeting a month, because I already know.” This sudden availability of time went beyond the vice president to each team member. Malchow continues, “People are much less frustrated. We have our best engineers concentrating on innovation versus spreadsheets and updating tasks. I would say they’re gaining 20 or 30 percent more time behind the CAD station, innovating.”

Whether you decide to use AtTask or some other solution - it’s critical to ensure your teams are communicating as efficiently as possible - growing businesses can’t afford to be in chaos.

Other collaboration tool solutions include Asana (which I use) and 37 Signals has a variety of tools for better communication.

Scanning Documents Directly From Printer To Online Storage. I Just Did It. You Should Too.

I just tested out Epson’s WF-3540 printer capability to send a scanned document straight from the printer (scanner) to an online service - it works quite well.

HP, Lexmark, Dell and other vendors have similar capabilities as well.

I’m sure the process will be different with each printer, here’s how I did it with the Epson printer.

1. Download the Epson Cloud Connect software to your computer

2. The software found the printer on my network and connected the printer “to the cloud”

3. I then added Dropbox as one of the online services for the printer to scan to, in the Epson Connect online service web site (I could have added Google Drive, Evernote or others as well)

While Epson could have done a better job in making the process easier, for those who are technically inclined you’ll figure it out pretty easily. For those who are nervous of technology - you’ll figure it out eventually or just call your printer vendor for help, or your local tech consultant.

Cloud printing, which I’ve written about so many times, works and works well.

It’s nice to scan a document and have it sent directly to Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote and etc.

Multi-Screen Ecommerce Strategy: Beyond the Single Shopping Screen

With the emerging growth of technology, we all are becoming screen jugglers. Our preference changes within a wink of an eye. There is a growing need for different means to connect consumers across all types of devices. This is simply because online shoppers prefer to use a variety of devices ranging from smartphones, televisions, laptops, tablets and personal computers to shop online.

So, what is your strategic plan for screen jugglers?

How about integrating a multi-screen strategy for marketing and simultaneously ensuring shoppers with an improved browsing and purchasing experience?

It has been found that the majority of online shoppers search for products and product information on one device and then switch to another device to continue their purchase process.

Here lies the importance of multi-screen shopping.

I am sure you simply hate to leave your shopping experience incomplete. For example, an evening gown on mobile that can only be acquired once you complete the purchase process on a desktop. This can be really annoying.

To prevent this, online merchants should consider a multi-screen strategy to make their shopper’s experience enjoyable. The following diagram from Marketing Land shows that 90% of consumers use multi-screens during their day:

Clearly, some consistency is necessary to make the shopping experience and enjoyable one for your customers. So how can you begin to do that? Below are some suggestions.

Design a Responsive Site

Taking a closer look at how consumers react to the multi-screen world will help you design a responsive site. But why a responsive site?

Every online retailer wants to organize the content so that it can be easily read, seen and used, regardless of the types of device and the size of the screen. A responsive site puts emphasis on providing the shoppers with the same useful content whether they see it through their tablet, PC or smartphone. Buying decisions can change if your customer finds it difficult to access a product through their device.

An online store without responsive Web design can suffer severely.

Make Your eCommerce World App-Friendly

According to Google, smartphones are now the backbone of daily media interaction. Mobile phones are a common starting point for the highest number of user interactions. As people are interested in learning about new apps, help them also get familiar with any new apps to find your products. Your app should provide value and they should find the app interesting enough to visit your online store again and again.

Increase Multi-Screen Content Consumption

Offer visitors useful, valuable content. To encourage repeat purchases, your content should win attention. Content plays a major role in presenting the product description and images successfully on your site. In a nutshell, your site content should aim at helping the customers. They should find the content easy to view and understand. Most importantly, keep the same content for a desktop computer that is available on a tablet or smartphone.  Your customers will be more than pleased to see that your site has been optimized for swiping and touch.

Don’t disappoint with different versions of a same content across different devices. For instance, a shopper that sees one of his favorite sought after items suddenly available on his desktop enthusiastically informs one of his friends the item is now available.  The friend is excited, only to find that his current device for purchase, a smartphone, does not have the same item available.

This becomes a truly disappointing shopping experience.

Follow Up with the Message and Shut Off Pop Ups

You need to have a consistent message throughout all your channels. At the same time, you need to be faster and more concise in your message, having several people accessing your site’s content via different screens simultaneously. Do not make them wade through a lot of messages to get to what they’re after. Hit them with an offer right away.

But when it comes to pop up ads, they can be disastrous for many devices. The best way is to use responsive design that can convert any pop-up into a banner or any other form on various devices such as tablets, PC’s and smartphones.

Using a Mobile Domain Usually Does Not Help

Using separate domains for different versions of your website is not recommended. It usually has a negative impact on your store’s search engine ranking and more importantly on branding. Incorporating various domains can be quite confusing to shoppers.

Are you giving your customers a fluid, enjoyable shopping experience across multiple devices?

Responsive Design Photo via Shutterstock

Scanning Documents Directly From Printer To Online Storage. I Just Did It. You Should Too.

I just tested out Epson’s WF-3540 printer capability to send a scanned document straight from the printer (scanner) to an online service - it works quite well.

HP, Lexmark, Dell and other vendors have similar capabilities as well.

I’m sure the process will be different with each printer, here’s how I did it with the Epson printer.

1. Download the Epson Cloud Connect software to your computer

2. The software found the printer on my network and connected the printer “to the cloud”

3. I then added Dropbox as one of the online services for the printer to scan to, in the Epson Connect online service web site (I could have added Google Drive, Evernote or others as well)

While Epson could have done a better job in making the process easier, for those who are technically inclined you’ll figure it out pretty easily. For those who are nervous of technology - you’ll figure it out eventually or just call your printer vendor for help, or your local tech consultant.

Cloud printing, which I’ve written about so many times, works and works well.

It’s nice to scan a document and have it sent directly to Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote and etc.

Dropbox Integration Is A Must For Any Serious Online Company

Dropbox is so popular (heck I have over 200GB of storage space on Dropbox) that I think very soon it’s going to be a DEFAULT for every online service to integrate with Dropbox.

Nimble joins a long line of companies announcing Dropbox integration, as reported by Venture Beat.

While external hard drives and other devices do have some relevance (I just reviewed a Seagate external drive here) it’s online file storage that is going to rein.

As you consider online services for your business ensure that the online services you use are integrated into them - it’ll make your use of these services so much easier.

Survey Reveals Workers Are More Productive Than Ever. Here’s 3 Ways To Boost Your Office Productivity

Technology has long been a double-edged sword in the business world. For every new invention, workers have new ways to avoid working on company time. First they were playing Solitaire, then checking forum postings. That gave way to e-mail and social media, until finally, employers are wondering if there will ever be a way to be sure workers are truly working on company time.

According to a new study from Staples Advantage, those employers have nothing to worry about. The study found that 70% of workers and managers found workers are more productive today than they were five years ago. Respondents listed mobile technology, break times, and telecommuting as the top three essential elements to a productive workday. Decreased productivity, on the other hand, was attributed to technology limitations and non-collaborative work environments.

“We’re seeing a trend in the right direction with 70 percent of workers and managers saying they’re more productive now than five years ago,” said Tom Heisroth, senior vice president for Staples Advantage. “Providing employees with the right tools and resources is essential to improving office-wide productivity. At Staples, we make it easy for businesses to be productive with everything they need including technology, break room supplies, furniture and office products.”

Staples recommends businesses take the following measures to ensure workers are as productive as possible:

• Collaborative workspaces. The workplace is rapidly evolving, with “cubicle mazes” being replaced by shorter walls that create a more open, brighter environment. By replacing your office furniture, you can boost productivity by encouraging workers to collaborate throughout the day.
• Comfortable break areas. By filling your break areas with inviting furniture and snack options, you can encourage workers to take frequent breaks throughout the day. Breaks recharge employees and encourage additional collaboration with staff members they might not normally encounter in the course of their work.
• Technology. Productivity can be hampered when employees aren’t equipped with the proper tools to do their jobs more efficiently. Consider replacing daily planners and legal pads with tablets for meetings. Outsourcing software and print services can help free up administrative staff for other duties, as well as having your I.T. operations taken care of.

The study also revealed workers’ feelings about BYOD. With Gartner predicting that by 2017, 50% of employers will require workers to supply their own devices, Staples recommends that small businesses begin moving in that direction. This means creating a policy that addresses the security risks BYOD poses, including setting strong password requirements, setting up “remote wipe” capabilities in case a device containing work-related data is lost, and restricting information that can be saved to personal devices. To remain as productive as possible, respondents recommended limiting meetings, since 44% of respondents listed “too many meetings” as one of the hurdles to productivity. Respondents also listed nice outdoor weather and uncomfortable indoor temperatures as productivity-killers.

Dropbox Integration Is A Must For Any Serious Online Company

Dropbox is so popular (heck I have over 200GB of storage space on Dropbox) that I think very soon it’s going to be a DEFAULT for every online service to integrate with Dropbox.

Nimble joins a long line of companies announcing Dropbox integration, as reported by Venture Beat.

While external hard drives and other devices do have some relevance (I just reviewed a Seagate external drive here) it’s online file storage that is going to rein.

As you consider online services for your business ensure that the online services you use are integrated into them - it’ll make your use of these services so much easier.

Survey Reveals Workers Are More Productive Than Ever. Here’s 3 Ways To Boost Your Office Productivity

Technology has long been a double-edged sword in the business world. For every new invention, workers have new ways to avoid working on company time. First they were playing Solitaire, then checking forum postings. That gave way to e-mail and social media, until finally, employers are wondering if there will ever be a way to be sure workers are truly working on company time.

According to a new study from Staples Advantage, those employers have nothing to worry about. The study found that 70% of workers and managers found workers are more productive today than they were five years ago. Respondents listed mobile technology, break times, and telecommuting as the top three essential elements to a productive workday. Decreased productivity, on the other hand, was attributed to technology limitations and non-collaborative work environments.

“We’re seeing a trend in the right direction with 70 percent of workers and managers saying they’re more productive now than five years ago,” said Tom Heisroth, senior vice president for Staples Advantage. “Providing employees with the right tools and resources is essential to improving office-wide productivity. At Staples, we make it easy for businesses to be productive with everything they need including technology, break room supplies, furniture and office products.”

Staples recommends businesses take the following measures to ensure workers are as productive as possible:

• Collaborative workspaces. The workplace is rapidly evolving, with “cubicle mazes” being replaced by shorter walls that create a more open, brighter environment. By replacing your office furniture, you can boost productivity by encouraging workers to collaborate throughout the day.
• Comfortable break areas. By filling your break areas with inviting furniture and snack options, you can encourage workers to take frequent breaks throughout the day. Breaks recharge employees and encourage additional collaboration with staff members they might not normally encounter in the course of their work.
• Technology. Productivity can be hampered when employees aren’t equipped with the proper tools to do their jobs more efficiently. Consider replacing daily planners and legal pads with tablets for meetings. Outsourcing software and print services can help free up administrative staff for other duties, as well as having your I.T. operations taken care of.

The study also revealed workers’ feelings about BYOD. With Gartner predicting that by 2017, 50% of employers will require workers to supply their own devices, Staples recommends that small businesses begin moving in that direction. This means creating a policy that addresses the security risks BYOD poses, including setting strong password requirements, setting up “remote wipe” capabilities in case a device containing work-related data is lost, and restricting information that can be saved to personal devices. To remain as productive as possible, respondents recommended limiting meetings, since 44% of respondents listed “too many meetings” as one of the hurdles to productivity. Respondents also listed nice outdoor weather and uncomfortable indoor temperatures as productivity-killers.

Small Business Employment in Recessions and Expansions

Small business employment has grown more slowly than big business employment since the end of the Great Recession. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

Conventional wisdom is that small business employment declines more in economic downturns, but rises more in economic expansions. Small companies, the argument goes, are more nimble, making their employment decisions more responsive to economic conditions.

The evidence was once consistent with this theory, but the pattern has broken down over the past two decades. Between 1977 and 1991 - but not since 1991 - small company employment grew faster than big business employment during economic expansions and shrank faster during economic contractions.

The earliest data available on this question come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Dynamics Database, which provides annual figures on employment by firm size. Consistent with the “nimbleness hypothesis,” small businesses increased employment by 14.2 percent between 1977 and 1980 (a period of economic expansion), while large businesses increased employment by 11.8 percent. Between 1980 and 1982, when the economy experienced two recessions, small businesses shed 1.6 percent of their workforces, while big businesses added 1.2 percent to theirs’. Finally, in the long expansion from 1982 to 1990, small business employment grew faster than big business employment, rising 27.4 percent versus 20.8 percent for larger businesses.

The pattern continues through the 1990-1991 recession. Using more precise monthly data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that are available from 1990 to 2011, I have constructed the table below, which shows small and large business employment growth for the different expansions and recessions. As the table reveals, small business employment fell more than big business employment during the 1990-1991 downturn (-2.03 percent versus -0.27 percent), consistent with conventional wisdom.

But that’s where the traditional story breaks down. During the long expansion from 1991 to 2001, small business boosted employment by 17.4 percent, while big business increased employment by 33.4 percent, nearly twice as much. Then in the recession of 2001, companies with 500 or more employees cut employment by 2.7 percent, much more than the 1 percent decline at small businesses, and counter to what most economists would have predicted. During the 2001 to 2007 expansion, big business increased employment by slightly more than small business (5.8 percent versus 5.6 percent). Finally, while small business shed jobs at a higher rate than big business during the Great Recession (7.4 versus 5.8 percent), small company employment rebounded less during the subsequent recovery (0.9 percent versus 1.2 percent) than conventional wisdom would have suggested.

I can’t tell you why conventional wisdom about small and large business employment growth in economic expansions and recessions no longer holds. I don’t have the evidence to evaluate the impact of technological change, a shift in the regulatory environment, different credit conditions or any of the multitude of other factors that policy makers and pundits say is responsible. All I can say is that the “nimbleness hypothesis” appears to be a thing of the past; small businesses no longer increase employment faster than their big business counterparts in expansions while decreasing employment faster in recessions.

\'Hand of Thief\' Trojan sniffs out banking credentials of Linux users

Not long after the Windows-targeting banking Trojan KINS hit the market, saboteurs have introduced new financial malware capable of infecting Linux users.

According to researchers at RSA, the Trojan called 'Hand of Thief' is being sold on Russian underground forums and will soon offer a 'full-blown' suite of malicious features, making it comparable to other major, commercially available banking Trojans.

Limor Kessem, a cyber crime and online fraud expert at RSA's FraudAction Research Lab, said in a blog post on Wednesday that Hand of Thief is currently for sale for $2,000 - with standard functionalities, such as form grabbers and backdoor infection vectors. In the “very near future” however, its sellers will add a suite of web injections that should push the price up to $3,000, she revealed.

On invite-only cyber crime forums, the developer told potential buyers that the new Trojan had been tested on 15 different Linux operating system distributions for desktop users, including Ubuntu, Fedora and Debian. Eight Linux desktop environments, including KDE and Gnome, also support the malware, she said.

The Trojan archives stolen credentials and data - such as timestamps, websites visited and cookies - in a MySQL database, an open-source database management system.

In an email sent to SCMagazine.com on Friday, Kessem said that since Linux has a smaller user base (and, thus, a fewer number of potential victims for saboteurs) and is known for dispatching speedier patches given its open source nature, it's surprising that attackers developed a high-price banking Trojan that specifically targets the operating system.

She said researchers are watching the threat closely as it could indicate that miscreants will increasingly turn to Linux to try to carry out fraud.

"It is quite rare to see real malware for Linux or any Unix OS," Kessem said. "Programmers don't usually target it and cyber criminals don't aim for it because of the smaller user base."

Because of this, she believes attackers may be hard-pressed to earn massive returns on their investments, though that doesn't mean they won't try.

"In my opinion it will be harder for attackers to exploit Linux users in the traditional way (drive-by and email spam). Beyond the fact that open source gets quickly patched by the community, your everyday Linux user is savvier and more security aware, which makes one less likely to run an executable or open files from unsolicited email," she said.

Firefox 23 patches five critical bugs, adds feature to block MitM attacks

In total, the updated browser fixes 15 flaws potentially affecting users.

Mozilla has announced new security features and bug fixes for its Firefox browser users.

With the release of Firefox 23 on Tuesday, the company patched five critical bugs in the browser, which addressed two memory safety flaws that could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial-of-service attack resulting in memory corruption and an application crash.

Other critical flaws that were fixed included a buffer underflow issue that occurred when generating certificate request message format (CRMF) requests, and another CRMF request bug that could allow a saboteur to execute malicious code or carry out cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.

Mozilla also addressed a critical use-after-free problem that occurred when the document object model (DOM) was modified during a SetBody mutation event, which could lead to an exploitable crash.

Firefox 23 also brings a host of browser functionality changes for users, namely a new 'mixed content blocking' feature introduced to block man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks and potential “eavesdroppers on HTTPS pages,” release notes from Mozilla said.

The browser feature would enhance security by blocking certain content by default, such as scripts or images on HTTPS pages. Users would be able disable the feature on a page-by-page basis.

Spam email contains malware, not Apple gift card

There's a good chance you didn't win a $200 Apple Store Gift Card, but if you clicked the link or attachment in the 'winner' email, you probably will claim a nasty piece of malware.

'Dear client! You got our $200 Apple Store Gift Card', the message, crafted to look like a legitimate email from Apple, reads. 'Please click the link or look at the attachment to obtain the Apple Store Gift Card code', it instructs.

Victims that follow the dubious instructions will instead download malware that steals data from their computer. A MacRumors report indicates the malware only compromises Windows-based machines.

The piece of spam currently making the rounds came on the radar of security researchers at Webroot, who detailed the nature of the campaign in a post.

“What's particularly interesting about this campaign is that the cyber criminal(s) behind it are mixing the infection vectors by relying on both a malicious attachment and a link to the same malware found in the malicious emails. Users can become infected by either executing the attachment or by clicking on the client-side exploits serving link found in the emails,” cyber crime researcher Dancho Danchev wrote in the post.

Email phishing, spamming and scamming has been around for years, but lately attackers have become increasingly creative with their campaigns. SCMagazine.com reported in July of a nifty ransomware scam targeting Apple Safari users and reported one week later of a 21-year-old Virginia man who fell for it.