Expanding Your Small Business - 4 Questions To Ask To Know If It’s The Right Time

A small business generally starts out in the home office of its founder or in a small storefront location, moving to a larger space as it grows. But over time, many businesses find that they can grow by adding locations in other areas. Whether you’re trying to serve customers on the other side of town, across the state, or in a different part of the country, timing is everything in expanding your small business.

In a recent article I wrote for Concur’s blog, I shared what a small business owner must think about  before expanding your small business and shopping for a new storefront or additional office space. Here are a few questions you need to ask yourself:

• Why Now?
• Where Are My Customers?
• Can I Afford It?
• Am I Ready To Manage Multiple Locations?

Before making the decision to expand your small business, spend time determining if it’s the right move. You’ll boost your chances of success by carefully researching and choosing the best location and time to grow your small business.  You can read my full blog post on Concur’s Blog site.

Expanding Your Small Business - 4 Questions To Ask To Know If It’s The Right Time

A small business generally starts out in the home office of its founder or in a small storefront location, moving to a larger space as it grows. But over time, many businesses find that they can grow by adding locations in other areas. Whether you’re trying to serve customers on the other side of town, across the state, or in a different part of the country, timing is everything in expanding your small business.

In a recent article I wrote for Concur’s blog, I shared what a small business owner must think about  before expanding your small business and shopping for a new storefront or additional office space. Here are a few questions you need to ask yourself:

• Why Now?
• Where Are My Customers?
• Can I Afford It?
• Am I Ready To Manage Multiple Locations?

Before making the decision to expand your small business, spend time determining if it’s the right move. You’ll boost your chances of success by carefully researching and choosing the best location and time to grow your small business.  You can read my full blog post on Concur’s Blog site.

8 Content Marketing Practices That Power Your Impact

Have you Googled yourself lately?

Go ahead do it now. I do it regularly to get a sense of how my content and marketing is being represented in the online world. Google brands us as we tell it to. It only publishes what we put out there, so if you want to be found and known for certain things - then that is what your content should reflect.

As someone who works with small businesses, entrepreneurs and professional consultants, I do a lot of educating, inspiring and helping them build a ”content marketing culture”.  This foundation for small business branding and success is vital.

We have officially shifted from the sell first model to the serve first model.  What content marketing does so well is help build trust much more meaningfully and personally. Content marketing and the tactics used to publish, share, attract and engage, power your brand impact and reach.

If you don’t create it, there’s nothing to be found. So create it and be found.

1) Make a Commitment

Whatever you decide is the best content strategy for you and your business, make a commitment to doing it. Don’t overwhelm yourself with big, lofty, long term goals. Best to keep them SMART, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.

The key here is achievable and realistic, which could mean a few content activities in short term blocks, like 3 months.

2) Be Consistent

Turn your commitment into a consistent activity. Daily content is the high end of the scale and not for everyone. If you can create and publish a few times a week or even a month, then stick to that and it will build traction for you.

It’s amazing how even moderate activity gets picked up when it’s consistent, key worded and relevant.

3) Focus Your Content

What expertise, values and affiliations do you want to be known for?  Whatever that is, is what you should be creating content around. From food, fashion, business and technology to medical, money, manners and fun, your blog, books, social media posts, Web copy and videos should focus on your knowledge, perspective and experience.

4) Customize Your Content

One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to content medias and tactics. Match your content to your community and the media you are on. LinkedIn and Twitter are more professional platforms. Facebook, blogs and eMarketing can be more personable platforms where you can show more personality, have more fun and post pictures.

Watch, study and emulate others that are active and getting engagement.

5) Be Strategic

Plan, develop and be very strategic about articulating the focus of your brand, what you do and stand for. With the massive barrage of information we get hourly and daily, “being strategic” gives you the best chance of standing out and being remembered.

Less is more, so focus on a few strong ideas, aspects and takes that you want people to take away.

 6) 60/20/20 - Educate, Inspire, Sell

Sales and selling still rank high on the process and results scale, but we are doing this very differently today. Yes, asking for the business is important but building relationships is what paves the way for asking.

The biggest mistakes people are making today are sending mass spam sales emails or social media posts trying to sell with no relationship. Please, don’t do this.

7) Show Heart and Kindness

Professional fundamentals blended with personal fundamentals drive the “why.” People do business with people - not companies. Big or small, it still comes down to personal relationships.

Show people who you are and they will remember you for how you make them feel.

8) Use Words That Convey Trust

I registered the hashtag #trusthewhy as my synonym for the importance of relevance, solid fundamentals and values on all levels.  The WHY is about being prepared for change, making transition a way of life, being current, following best practices and being authentic. Much of the content I publish is about those things and this hashtag now aggregates my content when I include it. Do you have a hashtag that represents your fundamentals and values? Create one and start adding it to your social media, so people will find you.

What content marketing practices work best for you and have powered your impact?

Five Low-Tech Ways To Keep Your Business Safe

Brought to you by AVG Technologies, the provider of Internet and mobile security, privacy and optimization to 150 million active users. There’s nothing small about small business in our eyes. Get more information how AVG can help your small business stay protected - go to http://www.avg.com/us-en/internet-security-business .

Five Low-Tech Ways To Keep Your Business Safe

While technology can provide an excellent way to make your business run smooth and secure, there are a number of ways in which you can protect yourself without having to use extra technology. If you can go old-school, why not? It’s not like you absolutely need to control your entire building through your smartphone.

Although technology generally makes things more affordable, there are some old-school solutions that are just as good and don’t require monthly payments or per-user deals. There are even some old-school inventions that have been retrofitted to help protect your tech! Let’s have a look at a few:

• “Lost and found” labeling services - When you get a high-value object, whether it’s a device or a vase, you might want to protect it more than everything else you have. There are universal lost-and-found services out there that give you labels identifying your objects. The labels have special identification numbers on them that, when read, help the company reveal your identity. Most of these services offer rewards to the people who find your object, giving them an incentive to be sincere rather than keeping it.

• Privacy screen filters - Nothing is more annoying than having someone peering into your phone (or tablet) to see what you’re doing. It happens more often than you think and you might not even notice it. Privacy screen filters act much like a one-way mirror when viewed from certain angles. So long as you look straight at the device, you’ll see everything you’re doing. When someone else tries to look from another angle, the device will appear black to them. The only disadvantage is that you must look straight into the device to use it.

• Hidden-shackle padlocks - When you’re operating in an area that is known for theft, you should have an added layer of protection. Perhaps you’re already using padlocks to close up shop, but not the right ones. If you use a hidden-shackle padlock, you’ll prevent thieves from using bolt cutters to break in. To add even more protection, opt for a hidden-shackle padlock with a boron-carbide bolt. Also, if you’re using a spring-latch lock on your front door, replace it with a deadbolt. These are very difficult to bypass and is much more likely to make a thief give up.

  

• Got windows? Use a film! - Right now, what’s preventing someone from using a crowbar to break your windows? If you answered “nothing,” you’re putting your business in danger. A good polyester safety film will not only protect your windows from breaking, but they will have an adhesive effect on any pieces that thieves manage to break. Some polyester films have more than 40 microlayers of ultra-resistant material compacted in a way that could also save you money on cooling by preventing the sun’s infrared rays from penetrating through your glass.

• Closing shop for a while? Forward your mail. - Once in awhile, you and your employees need a break. You decide to give everything a rest for a week or so, but your mail’s still coming in. To prevent looking as if you’re not around, forward the business’ mail to a trusted address. It could be yours if you’re staying home.

Thieves and snoops present some of the biggest threats to a small business. Whatever you keep inside your place is an asset. Any loss of those could threaten the business’ ability to continue existing. Prying eyes and witty thieves can cost you lots of money if you don’t invest a little bit in protecting your devices and your building!

Five Low-Tech Ways To Keep Your Business Safe

Brought to you by AVG Technologies, the provider of Internet and mobile security, privacy and optimization to 150 million active users. There’s nothing small about small business in our eyes. Get more information how AVG can help your small business stay protected - go to http://www.avg.com/us-en/internet-security-business .

Five Low-Tech Ways To Keep Your Business Safe

While technology can provide an excellent way to make your business run smooth and secure, there are a number of ways in which you can protect yourself without having to use extra technology. If you can go old-school, why not? It’s not like you absolutely need to control your entire building through your smartphone.

Although technology generally makes things more affordable, there are some old-school solutions that are just as good and don’t require monthly payments or per-user deals. There are even some old-school inventions that have been retrofitted to help protect your tech! Let’s have a look at a few:

• “Lost and found” labeling services - When you get a high-value object, whether it’s a device or a vase, you might want to protect it more than everything else you have. There are universal lost-and-found services out there that give you labels identifying your objects. The labels have special identification numbers on them that, when read, help the company reveal your identity. Most of these services offer rewards to the people who find your object, giving them an incentive to be sincere rather than keeping it.

• Privacy screen filters - Nothing is more annoying than having someone peering into your phone (or tablet) to see what you’re doing. It happens more often than you think and you might not even notice it. Privacy screen filters act much like a one-way mirror when viewed from certain angles. So long as you look straight at the device, you’ll see everything you’re doing. When someone else tries to look from another angle, the device will appear black to them. The only disadvantage is that you must look straight into the device to use it.

• Hidden-shackle padlocks - When you’re operating in an area that is known for theft, you should have an added layer of protection. Perhaps you’re already using padlocks to close up shop, but not the right ones. If you use a hidden-shackle padlock, you’ll prevent thieves from using bolt cutters to break in. To add even more protection, opt for a hidden-shackle padlock with a boron-carbide bolt. Also, if you’re using a spring-latch lock on your front door, replace it with a deadbolt. These are very difficult to bypass and is much more likely to make a thief give up.

  

• Got windows? Use a film! - Right now, what’s preventing someone from using a crowbar to break your windows? If you answered “nothing,” you’re putting your business in danger. A good polyester safety film will not only protect your windows from breaking, but they will have an adhesive effect on any pieces that thieves manage to break. Some polyester films have more than 40 microlayers of ultra-resistant material compacted in a way that could also save you money on cooling by preventing the sun’s infrared rays from penetrating through your glass.

• Closing shop for a while? Forward your mail. - Once in awhile, you and your employees need a break. You decide to give everything a rest for a week or so, but your mail’s still coming in. To prevent looking as if you’re not around, forward the business’ mail to a trusted address. It could be yours if you’re staying home.

Thieves and snoops present some of the biggest threats to a small business. Whatever you keep inside your place is an asset. Any loss of those could threaten the business’ ability to continue existing. Prying eyes and witty thieves can cost you lots of money if you don’t invest a little bit in protecting your devices and your building!

How Entrepreneurial Women Can Forge Global Partnerships

American women continue to embrace business ownership. As the American Express OPEN 2013 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report: A Summary of Important Trends, 1997-2013 (PDF) reports there are an estimated 8.6 million women-owned businesses in the country.

But women all over the world have also taken hold of entrepreneurship as shown by the Gender Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (Gender-GEDI) released in June and the just-released Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2012 Women’s Report, sponsored by Babson College and two international universities.

According to the GEM Report there are more than 126 million women entrepreneurs worldwide. As great as that sounds the Report says:

Much needs to be done for women entrepreneurs to further boost and grow their businesses.

One of the solutions GEM suggests is that women entrepreneurs “build new collaborations and leverage ideas.”

And while a great way to collaborate is global expansion, there’s not a lot of that going on. According to the Report:

Female entrepreneurs in most developing regions report lower levels of internationalization than male entrepreneurs.

Women entrepreneurs in Israel (27 percent) and the developing nations in Europe (24 percent) had the highest levels of doing business internationally. Surprisingly, the United States (including Latin America and the Caribbean nations) has the second-lowest ranking among the regions coming in at a shockingly low 7 percent. Altogether, in developed economies, more men than women (except in Israel) “sell at least 25 percent of their products or services outside their national borders.”

This “overly local focus” concludes the GEM Report, “may represent missed opportunities for women,” particularly in the U.S.

Don’t Let the Numbers Scare You

It is possible and profitable to expand globally. One of the best ways to do it is to find partners in other nations to work with. In June at the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) conference in Istanbul, I talked with several entrepreneurial women who are doing just that.

Lauren Flanagan is the Executive Chair of Current Motor, a company that manufactures all-electric motor scooters and the managing partner of several angel funds. Two years ago, after attending a DWEN conference in Rio de Janeiro, Flanagan partnered with a Brazilian company to expand Current internationally. Next up is expansion throughout the Americas.

Flanagan says it’s not hard to partner with women in other countries. She’s made her international connections by finding “like-minded women open to win-win business opportunities” through organizations like DWEN, Springboard Enterprises and 85 Broads.

That said it can be daunting to work with women in another country. But, Flanagan says don’t let fears of a language barrier or cultural differences stop you. “Most businesswomen from other countries speak English,” she says. To build good business relationships she urges entrepreneurs “make the effort to learn at least a few common words [in other languages] and pronounce them correctly.” Flanagan also believes “it’s important to do some research and explore the country you want to do business in. Try to meet the locals and do as they do, instead of doing American touristy things.”

Eliasabete Miranda is the president of CQfluency, a communications company that offers translation, interpretation and multi-cultural solutions to help companies do business globally. A native of Brazil, when Miranda moved her translation business to America she realized her “hardest transition was not language, but the cultural adaptation.” She transformed her business to one that “facilitates true cultural understanding between people who don’t speak the same language” - essentially to increase their cultural intelligence.

Miranda believes “there is no substitute for face-to-face networking” for making connections with other entrepreneurs. Miranda attributes her involvement with women’s groups for the exposure that led to her being selected to participate in programs like the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women and DWEN. Participating in these organizations says Miranda, is “a source of limitless inspiration, mentors, friends and partnerships.”

Do Your Homework

Miranda agrees with Flanagan that it’s important to do your homework and says social media can help. When attending events she advises you to:

• Get the attendee list.
• Identify the people you want to potentially engage with.
• “Actively listen as much as you can. . .learn early on if the person is someone you want to have as a partner.”

It’s important, she adds, to make sure you and your potential partner share common purposes, values, wants and needs. She also believes language is not a barrier to partnering with a foreign company:

Fortunately, there is a language that everyone speaks - the language of doing good business.

Of course there are risks to pursuing international partnerships. Flanagan ran into problems with a previous international venture and advises entrepreneurs vet their partners (particularly their financial situation) carefully. If someone wants an exclusive arrangement she suggests you get “significant upfront payments.”

Amy Millman, president of Springboard Enterprises, who also has forged several international partnerships says make sure you have a strong legal agreement with your partners. Flanagan agrees and says you need “experienced legal counsel with strong local representation in the country of interest.” She suggests you “structure the deal as win-win with performance-based incentives tied to clearly defined milestones.” If you need help vetting potential partners the U.S. Department of Commerce is a “great resource.”

Millman and Wendy Simpson, the chair of Springboard Australia, advise entrepreneurs forging international agreements to keep an open mind:

Don’t try to fit [everything] in the same box. Always be open to new solutions and be willing to reframe your message.

Miranda believes “partnerships are the best way for small businesses to expand” globally. Despite any language or cultural differences, she adds, there is a trait almost every entrepreneur shares:

[They] do business with people they trust and like. Being curious and learning about your potential partner’s culture can be a huge first step to a successful partnership.

Success Photo via Shutterstock

Is Your Business Information Safe On Skype?

It’s so easy, just set up a username and password and you can save your small business thousands upon thousands of dollars in travel costs for meetings and events, just by using a Voice Over I.P. (VOIP) service like Microsoft’s Skype. And even better yet, it’s free!

And although Skype’s privacy policy states that the company, ”is committed to respecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal data, traffic data and communications content.” That appears only to be the case until the federal government intervenes and requests information.

Recently it’s been reported that the National Security Administration (NSA) was given access to data and information from calls and videos over Skype. The Government reportedly did this using a process they call “PRISM” which is essentially the NSA’s process of collecting private information from major technology companies like Microsoft, Google and Facebook through the Patriot Act. It’s a process being defended as, “a circumscribed, narrow system directed at us being able to protect our people.” President Obama said in June.

Microsoft defended the release of the information in a statement, saying they give out information, “only in response to government demands and we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers.”

But despite Microsoft’s sensitivity regarding the release of private information, the process of using these video VOIP services raises some new concerns for organizations that are looking to keep their sensitive company data private.

But what should those businesses do now if they need those services to do business?

The easiest solution right now is to turn to another service provider like Vonage, Go2meeting, or RingCredible. These providers are offering services that are protected with what’s known as “end-to-end encryption,”. This is a process that protects the confidentiality and integrity of the information being sent over the internet by encrypting it at the original location and decrypting at the eventual destination. But keep in mind that while these other providers offer a safer alternative for now, they too could also become a target of the NSA and the PRISM process at some point in the future.

Is Your Business Information Safe On Skype?

It’s so easy, just set up a username and password and you can save your small business thousands upon thousands of dollars in travel costs for meetings and events, just by using a Voice Over I.P. (VOIP) service like Microsoft’s Skype. And even better yet, it’s free!

And although Skype’s privacy policy states that the company, ”is committed to respecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal data, traffic data and communications content.” That appears only to be the case until the federal government intervenes and requests information.

Recently it’s been reported that the National Security Administration (NSA) was given access to data and information from calls and videos over Skype. The Government reportedly did this using a process they call “PRISM” which is essentially the NSA’s process of collecting private information from major technology companies like Microsoft, Google and Facebook through the Patriot Act. It’s a process being defended as, “a circumscribed, narrow system directed at us being able to protect our people.” President Obama said in June.

Microsoft defended the release of the information in a statement, saying they give out information, “only in response to government demands and we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers.”

But despite Microsoft’s sensitivity regarding the release of private information, the process of using these video VOIP services raises some new concerns for organizations that are looking to keep their sensitive company data private.

But what should those businesses do now if they need those services to do business?

The easiest solution right now is to turn to another service provider like Vonage, Go2meeting, or RingCredible. These providers are offering services that are protected with what’s known as “end-to-end encryption,”. This is a process that protects the confidentiality and integrity of the information being sent over the internet by encrypting it at the original location and decrypting at the eventual destination. But keep in mind that while these other providers offer a safer alternative for now, they too could also become a target of the NSA and the PRISM process at some point in the future.

Should You Lease Your Website? And other Silly Ideas Businesses Should Run From

I recently got a press release from a company with a “new service”. They’ll let you lease a web site and domain for $99 a month.

While this might sound neat - run from it.

Sure you lease your car and can give it back or ditch it and buy another one.  You can’t or SHOULD NOT do this with your web site.

After 2 years, you’ve hopefully built traffic to the web site, your customers know the web site and ideally a big part of the life of your business is tied to that web site. That’s something you should OWN.

What bothers me is that companies think of these “neat” ideas as marketing gimmicks and then small business owners, who so desperately want help, fall for these things.

Instead of thinking of your web site and business as two separate things - think of them as one. Would you ever LEASE the name of your company? Of course not - it’s an asset you would OWN outright.

Other things to RUN from

• anyone who says they can guarantee your web site a top listing on Google is lying; through hard work this can happen but any guarantees are not true
• don’t pay thousands of dollars for someone to slap a template on your web site and call that an upgrade
• quality help is not free
• don’t try to everything yourself; you’re an expert in what your business sells, hire others to help you run your business

Elance - great source to find and manage tech help

SCORE - free help for your business

Before you invest in your web site or other online aspects of your business make sure you discuss the options with a professional who you trust.

Don’t have anyone you trust? Email me and I’ll help you.

Should You Lease Your Website? And other Silly Ideas Businesses Should Run From

I recently got a press release from a company with a “new service”. They’ll let you lease a web site and domain for $99 a month.

While this might sound neat - run from it.

Sure you lease your car and can give it back or ditch it and buy another one.  You can’t or SHOULD NOT do this with your web site.

After 2 years, you’ve hopefully built traffic to the web site, your customers know the web site and ideally a big part of the life of your business is tied to that web site. That’s something you should OWN.

What bothers me is that companies think of these “neat” ideas as marketing gimmicks and then small business owners, who so desperately want help, fall for these things.

Instead of thinking of your web site and business as two separate things - think of them as one. Would you ever LEASE the name of your company? Of course not - it’s an asset you would OWN outright.

Other things to RUN from

• anyone who says they can guarantee your web site a top listing on Google is lying; through hard work this can happen but any guarantees are not true
• don’t pay thousands of dollars for someone to slap a template on your web site and call that an upgrade
• quality help is not free
• don’t try to everything yourself; you’re an expert in what your business sells, hire others to help you run your business

Elance - great source to find and manage tech help

SCORE - free help for your business

Before you invest in your web site or other online aspects of your business make sure you discuss the options with a professional who you trust.

Don’t have anyone you trust? Email me and I’ll help you.

Boost Your Productivity With a Portable LED Monitor From AOC

Recent research shows that multi-tasking is a myth. That research states that our brains cannot actually do more than one thing at a time. So when AOC reps offered to send me a 16″ portable LED monitor as a temporary media loaner for product review purposes â€" for my laptop no less â€" I balked.

Why would I bother to carry a second monitor around with my laptop?

Well, after just a short time of using this portable LED monitor (pictured), I could easily fall in love with this lightweight extra device in my bag. Here is how it starts:

• First day: “Two screens is silly; I have worked with one for years.”
• Second day: “Hmm. This is interesting. Maybe I cannot multi-task, but I sure can switch between email or Web and document editing faster by looking between two screens.”
• Third day: “I get a lot more done with two screens … .   Okay, I’m sold.”

This monitor attaches to your laptop with a USB cable.  Once I plugged in the USB cable to connect and power the monitor, I opened up the Windows 7 control panel to check the display settings. There were three main settings. I could duplicate my laptop display, extend it (almost everyone is planning to do this), or run solely on the additional LED monitor.

To be fair, I wouldn’t carry this screen everywhere, especially short trips.  But on trips where I know I will be hunkered down in a hotel room or making presentations in small settings, it would be a lifesaver.

Rather than have everyone huddle around my laptop, which can be pretty uncomfortable, I could simply duplicate the screen on the second monitor.  Then I can turn the AOC LED monitor around to face the group. Sweet.

The “power” cable has a two USB connections on one end because the manual states that you may need both USB connections to provide enough power. But I was able to run on one, even while on battery, so I was thankful for that. USB ports are often at a premium. The LED monitor is compatible with both PC and Mac.

There is at least a warning in the documentation to avoid touching, applying any pressure to the LED screen if and when you change the position or angle. I did find that it feels a bit fragile, but even with a lot of handling it is still going strong.

What I Really Liked about the AOC brand monitor:

• This LED monitor receives both power and signal from a single USB 3.0 cable that you plug into your laptop.  It does not require a separate power cord or VGA cable. Some systems require two USBs to operate the monitor and it comes configured that way.
• It comes with a basic padded case that fits in a laptop bag making it easy to carry it along.  Lightweight, at under 3 pounds.
• It also comes with a fold-out stand on the back.
• Simple to set up with plug-and-play connection. It took a couple of full restarts on my laptop computer for it to acknowledge the additional AOC display, but that’s not uncommon. I probably have a lot more drivers on my system that confused it.
• Excellent image quality with the LED display.  Resolution is 1366 x 786.
• Can be viewed in portrait mode (great for productivity) or landscape mode (perfect for PowerPoint presentations).

What I Would Like to See:

• The location of the USB port is awkward. Frankly, I don’t know where else they could move it, but it sits behind the fold-out stand. Once you get used to it, you remember to plug the USB in after you extend the stand.

If you have wondered about simple ways to improve your productivity, adding a second monitor might boost your daily efficiency. It does not matter what the research shows - having faster access to your applications, and more of them, helps you get more done.  And if you travel out in the field on sales calls or to meet with small groups, having a portable monitor makes the experience so much better.

The AOC 16″ portable LED monitor makes it easy on the eyes and on the budget. You can find it online at Amazon and other eCommerce sites for under $100.

LulzSec Sony Pictures attacker sentenced to year in jail

A 21-year-old man has become the second US member of now-disbanded hacker group LulzSec to be sentenced for an attack on Sony Pictures.

Raynaldo Rivera, from Arizona whose alias is 'neuron', pleaded guilty in October 2012 to the attack. He was sentenced last week to 366 days by US District Judge John Kronstadt, according to federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.

Following his time in prison, Rivera also faces 13 months of house arrest and 1,000 hours of community service, on top of paying more than $605,000 in restitution.

According to prosecutors, LulzSec's goal in the attack was to see the “raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy".

In April, Kronstadt handed out a nearly duplicate sentence to 25-year-old Cody Kretsinger - known as 'recursion'. Kretsinger, also implicated in the Sony Pictures attack, initially pleaded innocent, but eventually pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors said Kretsinger and Rivera studied together at the University of Advancing Technology in Arizona, during which time Kretsinger joined LulzSec and then recruited Rivera to join the group.

Shortly after the attack, the intruders boasted about it - referring to it as 'Sownage' - on a newly created LulzSec website. They said its members exploited a common SQL injection vulnerability to gain access to internal Sony networks and websites.

Also posted on the website was the 'booty', which consisted of passwords, email addresses, home addresses, birth dates and other account information belonging to more than one million users, as well as 3.5 million music coupon codes that could be used to redeem songs that appear in film soundtracks. Rivera was charged with posting the information belonging to more than 138,000 people.

The attack came just a couple of months after the rampage of Sony's PlayStation Network, when roughly 77 million registered users had information compromised, including credit card numbers. It has never been determined who was responsible for that incident.

Attackers exploit Android bugs to steal Bitcoins from \'wallet\' apps

Criminals have found a way to steal Bitcoins from users' 'wallet' apps by exploiting major vulnerabilities in the Android mobile operating system.

According to an online community of Bitcoin users, who spoke out on a Bitcointalk.org forum over the weekend, cyber thieves have made off with at least 55 Bitcoins, which amounts to about $5,800, given Bitcoin's current exchange value.

Mike Hearn, a Bitcoin developer, who reported the bugs to Google, blogged about the security issue on Sunday and explained that the flaws lie in how Android generates secure random numbers used to make private keys. Because of the vulnerabilities, all private keys generated on Android devices are susceptible to be cracked, giving attackers the ability to steal Bitcoins from 'wallet' apps made for Android users.

In an email sent to SCMagazine.com on Monday, Hearn explained how private keys are essential to authenticating the owners of Bitcoin currency.

“A Bitcoin address is a bit like an email address, except that it's linked to a ‘private key' which is a bit like the password for the money sent to the address," he said. "Except you don't get to pick the password, the phone/tablet/computer does, on the assumption that it's better at picking unpredictable codes than you are..."

According to a blog post at Bitcoin.org, a website managed by Bitcoin's core developers and supporters of the currency, a number of wallet apps in Google Play are impacted by the vulnerabilities.

The wallets hold Bitcoins, which are currently valued at a volatile $104 each and are a form of virtual currency created in 2009 that can be transferred anonymously from person to person online, without going through a bank. They are accepted today by some online merchants and can be traded for actual dollars at online currency exchanges, such as MtGox.com.

To fill one's Bitcoin wallet, a user's machine must solve mathematical problems that become increasingly harder and result in smaller payments as one progresses, or 'mines', the currency.

Bitcoin Wallet, BitcoinSpinner, Mycelium Bitcoin Wallet and Blockchain were named as some of the popular wallet apps vulnerable to the threat, though any Android app that generates private keys on the device could be exploited, the blog post explained.

For Bitcoin Wallet app users, update 3.15 to the program fixes the problem so the vulnerability does not affect users. Subscribers to the other apps will have to wait for similar patches.

To fix the bugs, apps will generate a new Bitcoin address and send all the money in users' wallets back to them at a new address, Hearn explained.

When asked about the exact number of Android vulnerabilities involved, Hearn directed SCMagazine.com to Google, which did not immediately respond.

In a blog posted on his website on Monday, security researcher Graham Cluley explained how serious the flaws are to Bitcoin users.

“If someone else can work out the private key to your Bitcoin wallet, that's rather like knowing the PIN code for your bank account,” Cluley wrote.

Update: Subscribers to BitcoinSpinner and Mycelium can upgrade to version 0.7.0 of Mycelium, as the apps have the same developers. BlockChain users can download version 3.54 of the app for a fix.