Instragram Hits 200 Million Users — and 20 Billion Photos

Photo and video sharing service Instagram hit 200 million users â€" and 20 billion photos shared this week.

In a post on the official Instagram blog, the company explained:

“The vibrance and diversity of this community has increased as it has grown. Over the past six months, we’ve seen new communities coming together in cities and towns across the world, whether they be in Guthrie, Oklahoma, or Guatemala City.”

Instagram says that growth is based on another 50 million joining the site in that time.

The company also says it experienced a record turnout of participants for its Worldwide InstaMeet 8 two months ago where Instagram users gathered. In places like Greece, Malaysia, South Africa, Turkey and several cities in the U.S., they met other Instagrammers and took and shared photos of the events.

It’s been quite a last six months for Instagram. In November, the site introduced the first ads to its user’s feeds joining Facebook, Twitter and others.

Instagram has worked with a very select group of advertisers at first. They include U.S. fashion label Michael Kors, ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s and Levi’s. Initial data suggests that Instagram ads carry considerable clout with users. Some advertisers saw a 17 percent increase in brand awareness and a 33 point increase in ad recall. (Just imagine what impact your brand is having on those following your Instagram account.)

Meanwhile, marketers and other users have been enhancing the quality of the images they share with an ever increasing number of apps. Here are 20 Instagram apps we recently shared to improve the quality of pics and videos.

Finally, retailers have discovered Instagram in a big way. Small companies like New York boutique Fox and Fawn and big luxury brand Coach  have both discovered the power of sharing to drive online sales.

At Fox and Fawn, items frequently sell out within minutes of photos being posted. At Coach, simply asking customers to share photos of themselves wearing their favorite apparel resulted in a 5 to 7 percent bump in eCommerce conversions and a 2 percent increase in the value of the average online order.

Instagram Photo via Shutterstock

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Twitter is Playing Favorites With People You Follow

Have you lost track of the people and businesses closest to you on Twitter? If you follow hundreds or more accounts, your answer is probably in the affirmative.

As Twitter continues to tinker with potential new layouts and designs, the company has reportedly introduced “Fave People” to some users.

Essentially, Fave People is a way of following your favorite Twitter users in a separate list. Of course, Twitter’s Lists feature already allows you to do this. But that feature isn’t the most user-friendly.

TechCrunch’s Sarah Perez observes:

“In other words, it’s not necessarily a more efficient means of building a list, compared with the built-in Twitter “Lists” function offered today. It’s really just using more accessible terminology (“Fave People”) to highlight the capabilities of that often overlooked feature.”

TechCrunch reports the new Fave People feature can be reached in a side-scrolling menu at the top of Twitter’s mobile alpha app, which is used by its testers.

Adding profiles to your Fave People list involves clicking a star icon. When you click the star associated with a profile, it’s added to your Fave People list. You can configure Fave People to send you notifications when Tweets are sent from the accounts you’ve selected, too.

The future of Fave People will likely depend on how it’s received by testers. If testers find the new service engaging, Fave People could find its way to everyone’s profile after the testing period ends. This would become another way of customizing your Twitter account and perhaps cutting down on the noise.

Twitter has been toying with other potential changes to its layout and user experience. For example, a new logo and a profile page that some believe looks a lot like Facebook may be in the offing at Twitter. The company even tested out the new profile look on some users’ accounts recently.

Twitter Photo via Shutterstock, Screenshot: TechCrunch

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One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure: The (Franchise) Business Of Junk

The junk removal business has come a long way. The one-man horse and buggy business of old has been replaced by entrepreneurs who have been able to take advantage of things like modern transportation and technology.

Some of these intrepid businesspeople have grown substantial independent junk removal businesses. Some have used the franchise business model, which emphasizes things like tight business systems, branding, and local and national marketing programs to take their businesses to the next level.

Let’s take a look at junk removal, franchise-style.

The franchises below all have one thing in common: They focus on picking-up things that are no longer needed or wanted. Some of the things that are commonly picked up include:

• Furniture
• Refrigerators
• Freezers
• Carpet
• TV’s
• Electronics
• Computers
• Printers
• Pianos
• Tires
• Mattresses
• Hot Tubs

As you can see, there are a wide variety of things that can be picked up, and in some cases, even recycled. Below are the top franchises in junk removal.

College Hunks Hauling Junk

Founder Omar Soliman won $10,000 in a Miami, Florida business plan contest, and after graduating from college, moved to Washington D. C. to turn the business into a full-scale operation. He (along with his business partner, Nick Friedman) did so well, they decided to turn their business into a franchise operation. They moved back to Florida, and in 2008, began franchising. Currently, they have 120+ franchises operating in the U.S.

As for the name, College Hunks Hauling Junk (pictured above), the partners wanted something catchy, and since they were still in college at the time…it worked.

Junk removal information from their website:

“We remove all non-hazardous items from anywhere on your property and always recycle, donate and dispose of them in the most environmentally friendly manner available to us.”

Total investment for a College Hunks Hauling Junk franchise ranges from $101,400 - $207,950.

1-800-Got-Junk

Brian Scudamore started his junk removal business in college, too. But, Scudamore dropped out of school a year before he was supposed to graduate, so he could devote his waking hours to growing his young junk removal business.

Scudamore is the guy known for bringing professionalism to a deeply fragmented industry. At the time, most of the junk haulers were guys with rusty, old pickup trucks who were running their businesses from inside their rusty, old pickup trucks. They weren’t very organized, and no-shows were commonplace.

The 1-800-Got- Junk model brought with it shiny, new trucks, and employees in clean uniforms. They’ve also strived to make the customer experience smooth. From their website:

“Drivers reconfirm each appointment with clients 15-30 minutes before the scheduled arrival time. Clients are booked into 1-2 hour time blocks so they are not kept waiting for a truck to arrive and a standardized price list is presented before starting any work.”

The total upfront investment for a 1-800-Got-Junk franchise ranges from $111,800 - $143,600.

JunkLuggers

By 2010, JunkLuggers had expanded into America’s most populous city with 35 employees and 10 trucks. They were hauling 40 tons a day during the busy season - Spring and Summer. And, that was before they became a franchise.

CEO Josh Cohen (pictured above) focuses on the recycling aspect of junk hauling. He’s aligned his franchise business (launched as a franchise in 2013) with several well-known non-profits that accept donations that can be put to good use. By 2020, JunkLuggers goal is to donate and recycle 100% of all the items they remove from residential and commercial jobs.

Another interesting thing I found on the JunkLuggers website was something that’s often talked about on realty shows, but stops there. It’s called hoarding, and JunkLuggers has a solution for it that comes across in a very human way. From their website:

“Every month, we help clean out multiple homes that could be classified as hoarding situations.  Through these experiences we have learned how to safely and sensitively use our expertise to help individuals and families step into a cleaner, more stress-free living situation.“

The total investment for a JunkLuggers franchise ranges from $79,200 - $113,000.

J Dog Junk Removal

While it’s important for today’s junk-hauling franchises to have tight business systems, superior marketing, and excellent customer service, there are other ways for a franchisor to stand out.

Check this out, from the J Dog Junk Removal franchise website:

“Our goal is to support the men and women who have served honorably or are currently on Active Duty or Reserve as well as military family members in our armed forces with an opportunity to own their own J Dog Junk Removal franchise business. Our business model is offered exclusively to Veterans, Active Duty, Reserves and their family members only and will provide a service needed throughout the U.S.“

There is certainly no shortage of returning military veterans these days. Thousands of our men and women are returning to the U.S. after serving (in most cases) multiple tours of duty. I’ve never seen a franchise being offered exclusively to veterans before. It’s a courageous move and I’ll be watching to see how their business model plays out.

My only concern has to do with money. Most of our returning veterans aren’t cash-rich. They’ll need to find lenders that will work closely with them to help them secure funding.

J Dog Junk Removal sold their first two franchises in 2013, and they’re actively seeking military veterans interested in franchise ownership. Total upfront investment ranges from $42.6K - $70.5K

Junk King

Junk King has big trucks. According to the information on their website, their trucks are 20% bigger than their nearest competitors, and that means more jobs per day….more revenue potential.

The Junk King franchise offers large territories, “king-sized” as they call them, and they’re 25 - 400% larger than their closest competitors.

Company founders (and childhood friends) Mike Andreacchi and Brian Reardon believe in recycling and their franchisees currently recycle over 60% of the junk they haul. Their corporate office even contains furniture and technology salvaged from other businesses.

Interesting fact: At one time, Andreacchi worked for 1-800-Got-Junk.

Their company line is that they offer a premier white collar business system in what is typically a large, fragmented blue collar industry. There are currently 50 franchise units up and running in the U.S. and Canada.

Startup costs range from $83,500 - $150,000.

The junk hauling business is starting to become more well-known, and I see it as a growing business for many years to come.

Trustwave in the firing line in Target lawsuit

March 26, 2014

Legal payout could be significant in a breach whose costs may reach £10.9 million ($18 billion).

Two US banks have sued Trustwave for damages in connection with the major data breach at Target Corporation, the giant US retailer, late last year. 

The lawsuit damages of more than $5 million and names Trustwave Holdings and Target as defendants, says the American Banker, which broke the story. 

The suit cites figures from the Consumer Bankers Association which reveal that US banks have spent more than $172 million reissuing new cards to customers, noting that cost of the breach could top the $18 billion mark. 

The bank suit - from Trustmark National Bank and Green Bank NA - also requests a jury trial and seeks unspecified compensatory and statutory damages, meaning that - if successful - a payout could be in the billions of dollars range. 

Although the lawsuit names Trustwave and Target, the focus of the legal action appears to be against Trustwave, as it alleges that the security vulnerabilities were either undetected or ignored by Trustwave, giving hackers access to customer payment card details and allied information. 

Trustwave has refused comment on the lawsuit. The company filed for an IPO in April 2011. 

At that time it reported annual revenues of $111m, but still remains in private hands, meaning that its figures remain unreported.  The firm has, however, grown in the last few years, and now services more than two million client companies in 96 countries, which suggests the company's annual turnover has increased significantly. 

A report by the US Senate yesterday says that Target missed multiple opportunities to stop the hacker incursions into its systems, adding that Target gave access to its network to a third-party vendor that did not follow accepted information security practices. 

Several security vendors and industry experts - bar one - that SCMagazineUK.com approached refused comment on the case, with many citing commercial reasons. 

Steve Smith, managing director with Reading-based pen-testing specialist Pentura, however, said that virtually all enterprise security solutions need to be installed - and configured - correctly in order to secure a corporate IT system. 

In addition, he says, there is a need for regular updates to maintain protection against new security threats and vulnerabilities. 

"At an enterprise level, few solutions are plug-and-play so it's hard to see how a security vendor alone could be held liable in this type of situation," he said. 

"The lawsuit filed by the two banks names both the security vendor and the end-user as defendants, which implies the case will be looking into Target's internal security practices," he added. 

The lawsuit, however, claims that Trustwave scanned Target's network on September 20 last year and told the retailer that no vulnerabilities were found. 

Target itself has said it believes the attackers stole the data between the 27th of November and the 15th of December last year, using malicious software installed on the EFTPOS point-of-sale devices in regular use by customers at its many hundreds of branches. 

As previously reported, the malware is believed to have used RAM scraping techniques - capitalising on the fact that unencrypted debit or credit card details are held briefly in computer memory, before being encrypted and stored on a server's hard drive.

Hackers preparing \'wild west\' zero-day assault on Windows XP

March 26, 2014

With Windows XP finally set to go end-of-life next week, Microsoft has made one final call for businesses and consumers to update to a newer version of the operating system.

Tim Rains, director of Trustworthy Computing Group, wrote a lengthy blog post on the matter today, but - in amongst all the advice - expressed concern that some SMEs remain reliant on the 13-year old OS.

“Many of the enterprise customers I've talked to recently have finished, or are in the process of finishing, technology projects that move their desktop computing environments from Windows XP to Windows 7 or Windows 8,” wrote Rains.

“However, I've also talked to some small businesses and individuals that don't plan to replace their Windows XP systems even after support for these systems ends in April.  In light of this, I want to share some of the specific threats to Windows XP-based systems that attackers may attempt after support ends, so that these customers can understand the risks and hopefully decide to immediately upgrade to a more secure version of Windows, or accelerate existing plans to do so.” 

Based his findings on data from the most recent volumes of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report, Rains sagely noted that attacks are increasing sophisticated, and said that XP machines will likely be targeted by phishing attacks, ransomware (for which he advised restoring from back-up) and computer worms - likely distributed via infected USB thumb drives - when end-of-life comes on April 8.

He added that changing browsers, email clients or instant messaging services would likely not mitigate the risks, and instead plainly advised for customers to upgrade.

 “…The primary thrust of our advice is clear: the best option is to migrate to a modern operating system like Windows 7 or Windows 8 that have a decade of evolved security mitigations built in and will be supported after April 8, 2014,” wrote Rains.

With the end-of-life deadline looming, EY's director of information security Mark Brown told SCMagazineUK.com that businesses would be well advised to embrace BYOD as an interim measure, but warned that the fact there's been no zero-day since earlier this year suggests cyber attackers are waiting for a cyber “wild wild west” after Microsoft has stopped support (it is, however, expected to continue offering antivirus signatures and security scanning from Security Essentials until at least July 2015).

“When was the last time there was a zero-day exploit for XP? Maybe earlier this year. There's a school of thought that hactivists are storing up their targeted exploits and preparing for some kind of wild wild west zero-day,” said Brown, who added that point-of-sale systems and critical infrastructure - like public control systems - are especially at risk. EY data, Brown said, suggests that 30 percent of businesses are still running XP, with this as high as 75 percent for POS.

Brown continued that the risk of a ‘wild wild west' attack - something which F-Secure also hinted at in its H2 2013 Threat Report - could even force Microsoft's hand and offer support for a greater amount of time.

“Will Microsoft be free and able to continue that support beyond what they've currently said? I don't know that.”

To mitigate some of the risks, Brown - a former CISO at SAB Miller - advised switching to an up-to-date browser (IE9, Chrome and Firefox were cited as examples), and said that SMEs should tell customers of the situation with “concise, punchy advice”.

Qualys CTO Wolfgang Kandek, meanwhile, added that Google Chrome should be the browser of choice, in an email to SCMagazineUK.com.

“I recommend Google Chrome, which will be supported for at least another year on Windows XP. It has modern security architecture with sandboxing and it updates without needing intervention form the user. It also takes care of two other common attack vectors: Adobe Flash by embedding the Flash engine and providing the same seamless automatic updates and PDF files by including a simple PDF viewer that can be used to substitute the often attacked Adobe Reader.”

He also urged Outlook and local IM client users to use webmail, as well as disable autorun to shut down attacks through infected USB sticks, and said that users should ensure they have a supported-version of anti-virus on the machine.

President Obama proposes limiting NSA access to phone calls

March 26, 2014

The proposal will have to pass muster with the US Congress, SCMagazineUK.com, but the proposed Bill looks likely to pass without too many issues. 

As previously reported, the `record everything and store for five years' approach by the NSA has caused a public furore worldwide as the scale of the operation started being revealed by whistleblower - and former NSA contractor - Edward Snowden in May of last year. 

Under the new proposals, US government agencies will have to get permission from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review data about the time and duration of phone calls that it believes may be connected to terrorism attacks. 

Although the White House has not linked the proposal with Obama's meeting with most of the G8 group in the Hague on Monday, the two events are likely to be related, especially given German Chancellor Merkel's outspoken views on the practices in the US and the UK back in January. 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has welcomed the proposal, but cautions that they still require significantly more judicial review, owing to the need to review all the search requests. 

According to a comment posting from the civil liberties organisation, the EFF has requested that the US Government will stop misusing section 215 of the Patriot Act and section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act and Executive Order 12333 - "and whatever else it is secretly relying on to stop mass spying." 

Professor John Walker - with Nottingham-Trent University's School of Science and Technology - said that Obama's proposals should be viewed against the backdrop of that, since 9/11, things have changed for the US and world at large. 

“The US now has a lot of laws designed specifically to support its investigation into potential terror attacks. The post 9/11 laws in the US fundamentally change people's previous rights for their activities to remain private,” he explained.

As a result of this, Walker - who is also Director of CSIRT & Cyber Forensics at Integral Xssurance - says that the post-9/11 approach of the US security agencies is all about the security of the nation, with most other issues becoming secondary. 

According to digital forensics specialist Professor Peter Sommer of De Montfort University, however, the position in the UK - and also much of Europe - is that communications data is retained by the telephone companies and ISPs for a given period. 

In the UK, he says, this period is usually 12 months and guards against possibility of receiving a legal order to produce specific information. 

"Here in the UK and for the purposes of criminal investigation this is a senior law enforcement officer who must justify on a case-by-case basis applying necessity and proportionality tests. This separation of powers does not currently exist in the US, hence the need for revision in order to rebuild trust in the NSA," he explained. 

Sommer went on to say that the UK position is a little more complicated. 

"Firstly, many people believe that - other than for the most basic inquiries - orders to produce should come from the courts, not law enforcement officers. Secondly, it looks as though the security and intelligence agencies obtain access on a much less controlled and supervised basis,  using section 94 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 as opposed to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000," he said. 

"There is also a further problem, not addressed in the Obama proposals - and applying in the UK and Europe as well - that is the task of separating metadata (or communications data) from content is a non-trivial exercise when dealing with Internet traffic such as webmail and social media sites," he added. 

The problem, says the professor, is that content can easily be accidentally acquired on an order or warrant limited to communications data. 

"Obama's US proposals, of course, are limited to protecting US citizens, not anyone else," he said, adding that all of these things - and more - are supposed to be under review in the UK by the Intelligence and Security Committee, but progress seems incredibly slow. 

The Committee's call for submissions, he said, closed at the beginning of February and so far they have not had a single public session. 

The Dos and Don’ts of Winning Over Reporters

Reporters need marketers as much as marketers need reporters. Without the daily influx of story pitches, some feature reporters would be challenged to come up with original topics. Still, it’s important that businesses ensure they are pitching useful, newsworthy information that appeals to each media outlet’s audience. Here are a few do’s and don’ts of winning over reporters and building a solid relationship.

  Brought to you by PRWeb, a leading online news and press release distribution service used by 40,000+ organizations. From Fortune 500 companies to small business, companies are using PRWeb to increase their online visibility, improve search engine rankings, drive traffic to their site and increase sales. To get a free expert guide on writing press releases + 25% off your first release, go to PRWeb. 

Dos and Don’ts of Winning Over Reporters

Over time, marketers can develop ongoing relationships with reporters, allowing them to return each time they have a new twist on an interesting story. To build the foundation for that relationship, though, it’s important that marketers get off to the right start. One wrong move could end that relationship before it even begins.

Here are a few dos and don’ts of communicating story ideas to reporters.

Do: Customize each pitch to both the journalist and media outlet.

While it may seem easier to launch a blanket pitch to 1,000 outlets at once, the idea is to build relationships. Research the reporter’s posts and create a pitch that is in line with what he or she normally writes. This shows you’ve done your homework and are interested in forming a mutually-beneficial working relationship where you provide great articles and the journalist gives your business a mention. You may even find the journalist occasionally contacts you in search of a quote.

Don’t: Send follow-up complaints once the post is live.

If the reporter made a potentially devastating error, feel free to request a correction. Otherwise, take the loss as part of your ongoing relationship. Never, ever contact the journalist’s boss to point out an error. Doing so will almost guarantee you’ll never be mentioned in anything that reporter writes again.

Do: Be gracious.

Once the coverage is live, feel free to reach out with a “thank you” email. Another great way to thank reporters is to promote the post through your social networks. This gets your coverage noticed, while also giving the publication additional readers. Additional readers are always a good thing for any website or print publication, no matter how successful they are.

Don’t: Pester them.

If a journalist had a dime for every time the following email appeared in his or her inbox, there would be no need to work. “Just following up to see if you received my press release…” Sure, your email might just happen to hit on a slow news day, but if you’re trying to build a relationship, you won’t establish yourself as a pesky salesperson. Instead, seek out a new reporter who might be interested in your news coverage.

Do: Make it newsy.

The release of an update to your time management app might be news to you and your customers, but it likely isn’t news to the many business and tech news outlets out there. However, reporters for those outlets might be interested in a list of ten tips for squeezing more hours in the day or a study on how more businesses are turning toward apps to manage their days. That angle is far more likely to get coverage, while also squeezing your business’s name in as the provider of the tips or host of the study.

SBA Announces Small Business Person of the Year Winners

The U.S. Small Business Administration has chosen winners for the 2014 “Small Business Person of the Year” in the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Every year the SBA chooses its Small Business Person of the Year in each state and territory.  The awards recognize business owners and key executives in small businesses for their outstanding achievements and successes in their businesses and also their contributions to the nation.  SBA Assistant Administrator Fred Baldassaro told the winners:

“Your hard work, innovative ideas, and dedication to your community have helped you succeed. The SBA is pleased to recognize your achievements and your role in driving our nation’s economic growth.”

This year’s winners will be honored in Washington during National Small Business Week, on May 15-16, 2014.  A national-level Small Business Person of the Year winner will also be announced at that time.

Every year since 1963 the President has proclaimed a week as “National Small Business Week” and President Obama is expected to issue a similar proclamation.

This year’s winners include owners of technology companies, a tattoo business, construction businesses, consulting companies, and a brewery.  Here is a list of the 2014 winners â€" if you know any of them, be sure to congratulate them:

ALABAMA
Harvey Nix  - Proventix Systems, Inc.

ALASKA
Ginna Baldiviez  and John Baldiviez  - House of Bread, Anchorage

ARIZONA
Cynthia Miracle Reed - MIRACORP

ARKANSAS
John Michael Gueringer and Paul Arthur Reesnes  - Custom Aircraft Cabinets, Inc.

CALIFORNIA
Ricardo Robles, Pablo “Rene” Robles and Jacqueline Robles - Anita’s Mexican Food Corp.

COLORADO
Jan Erickson - Janska LLC

CONNECTICUT
Max Kothari and Parag Mehta - Express Countertops, Kitchen & Flooring LLC

DELAWARE
Marian R. Young and Mark A. Lannan - BrightFields, Inc.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
LaKeshia Grant  - Virtual Enterprise Architects

FLORIDA
Amir A. Varshovi - Green Technologies LLC

GEORGIA
Jusak Yan Bernhard and Jeffrey Allen Manley - TailsSpin

GUAM
Thomas Shieh, MD - Dr. Shieh’s Clinic

HAWAII
Dave Erdman - PacRim Marketing Group, Inc. & PR TechLLC

IDAHO
Gary B. Multanen, Susan A. Multanen, Megan L. Multanen and Jay M. Multanen - Best Bath Systems, Inc.

ILLINOIS
Elizabeth Colon - Metaphrasis Language & Cultural Solutions LLC

INDIANA
Mike Suth - Hoosier Spring Company, Inc.

IOWA
Mary Connell - Air Control, Inc.

KANSAS
Alex Harb - Ribbit Computers LLC

KENTUCKY
Tommy Ray Cornett - Bleed Blue Tattoo & Piercing, Inc.

LOUISIANA
Keith A. DuRousseau - Keiland Construction LLC

MAINE
Alan Spear and MaryAllen Lindeman - Coffee By Design

MARYLAND
Stephanie Novak Hau - Chesapeake Environmental Management, Inc.

MASSACHUSETTS
Valerie Bono, Maria Malloy, Eric Bresciani and Edwin Bresciani - Golden Cannoli

MICHIGAN
Michael O. Nevins - Full Spectrum Solutions, Inc.

MINNESOTA
Scott H. Warzecha - Netgain Technology, Inc.

MISSISSIPPI
Bhupender “Bruce” Ramesh Patel - Fusion Hospitality

MISSOURI
Nilson Goes, Ph.D. - Infinite Energy Construction, Inc.

MONTANA
W. Randall Hafer and  Janna Sue Hafer - High Plains Architects

NEBRASKA
Douglas Garwood and Scott Garwood - Garwood Enterprises, Inc. Dba Cardinal Farms

NEVADA
Jarrod Lopiccolo, Season Lopiccolo and Michael Thomas - Noble Studios

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Chris Licata - Blake’s All Natural Foods

NEW JERSEY
Kiran K. Gill - PARS Environmental, Inc.

NEW MEXICO
Michelle (Shelly) Herbst - Marron and Associates, Inc.

NEW YORK
Michael Allen - Z-Axis, Inc.

NORTH CAROLINA
Andrew Kratz and Joel Graybeal - Triangle Rock Club

NORTH DAKOTA
Dean Atchison - Spectrum Aeromed

OHIO
Michelle Therese Kerr - Oxford Consulting Group

OKLAHOMA
William Larry Mocha - APSCO, Inc.

OREGON
William Charles Taylor and Brook Ann Harvey-Taylor - Pacifica

PENNSYLVANIA
Michael Cherock - AE Works

PUERTO RICO
Eniel Torres-Ojeda - Productos La Finca, Inc.

RHODE ISLAND
Lisa Mattiello - Pranzi Catering & Events

SOUTH CAROLINA
Nancy Porter Ogburn - Tomato Palms LLC

SOUTH DAKOTA
Ryan McFarland - Strider Sports International, Inc.

TENNESSEE
Tracy Solomon - Tevet LLC

TEXAS
Gregory R. Hudson - Genesis Concepts & Consultants

UTAH
Sandeep Sharma - Global Consulting International, Inc.

VERMONT
William Cherry and Jeffrey Neiblum - Switchback Brewing Company

VIRGINIA
Kevin L. Knight - Knight Solutions

WASHINGTON
Fred Schule and Paul Clark - Cobalt Enterprises, Inc.

WEST VIRGINIA
Kenneth H. Allman II - Practice Link Ltd. & MountainPlex Properties

WISCONSIN
Thomas Jagemann and Ralph Hardt - Jagemann Stamping Company

WYOMING
Jennifer C. Merrill - Merrill, Inc.

DDoS attacks soar as cyber-criminals hit Basecamp

March 26, 2014

Distributed-denial-of-service attacks are being bigger and more common, with Prolexic saying that these attacks are exceeding 100 Gbps on a regular basis.

A new report claims there were almost 278 DDoS attacks taking place every hour against major companies around the world. 

In parallel with this, Basecamp, the veteran web-based online collaboration and project management service, was hit a massive DDoS attack on Monday, with the cybercriminals asking for a ransom to stop the attack. 

The report from NSFocus Information Technology analysed almost a quarter of a million DDoS attacks in Tier-1 and Tier-2 data centres operated by ISPs and major companies throughout 2013. The DDoS analysis and remediation specialist says that DDoS attacks are now frequently being used to hide APT attacks.

In addition, the company says that DDoS amplifications attacks are also on the rise and are continuing to be a challenge for all business internet users, owing to the volume of data generated. 

The problem with DDoS attacks, reveals the report, is that anyone with an internet connection and a credit card can now pay for an attack to take place - a trend that the report calls `Hackernomics' and typically involves sophisticated techniques designed to inflict the maximum amount of damage using the fewest resources. 

NSFocus' analysis backs up another report from Prolexic Technologies, which earlier this month issued a high threat alert to its clients, warning that high-bandwidth NTP amplification DDoS attacks have soared by more than 370 per cent during February. 

The company says the attack methodology has surged in popularity this year, driven by the availability of new DDoS toolkits that make it simple to generate high-bandwidth, high-volume DDoS attacks against online targets. 

“During the month of February, we saw the use of NTP amplification attacks surge 371 per cent against our client base,” said Stuart Scholly, Prolexic's general manager of security, who added that the largest attacks seen so far this year have all been NTP amplification attacks. 

Prolexic says that a number of new DDoS attack toolkits have made it easier for attackers to launch these types of attacks using just a handful of servers. With the current batch of NTP amplification attack toolkits, the company adds that malicious actors could launch 100 Gbps attacks - or larger - by leveraging just a few vulnerable NTP servers. 

This leveraging trend appears to be what drove the attack against Basecamp. This started on Monday, with the firm's IT staff re-routing DNS calls to restore partial service without paying the requested ransom to the cyber-criminals. 

Basecamp - which claims to be signing up more than 6,000 new clients each week - says it has now restored about 95 per cent of its normal service. 

David H. Hansson, the creator of Ruby on Rails and who is closely involved with Basecamp, says the main effects of the attack stopped after a couple of hours on Monday, but cautioned that the trend with these type of attacks suggests they are on-and-off in nature. 

"We're collaborating with the other victims of the same group and with law enforcement. These criminals are sophisticated and well-armed," he said in his company blog, adding an apology to the service's clients.  

Commenting on the DDoS attack issue, Jag Bains, CTO of DOSarrest, said that DDoS is getting more sophisticated. 

"DDoS in its simplest form attempts to bombard a server with so many requests that it can't handle the volume and therefore just shuts down, making a Web site inaccessible," he said, adding that the conventional understanding of DDoS is that it is typically massive in terms of bandwidth, packets per second and connection. 

"Blurring the lines between DDoS and Hacking - DDoS and hacking have traditionally been seen as two mutually exclusive security initiatives, each requiring its own set of mitigating strategies,” he said, adding that DDoS is now being used as the ‘feint' used to cover backend attempts for data theft.

J & J Staffing: The Best Advertising Is A Job Well Done

Sean E. Malady, his father Jack, Founder and President, and his brother Mike, Vice President of Operations, (right to left above) run J & J Staffing Resources today.

As Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the company his father launched back in 1972, Sean Malady says he advertises through a variety of channels. They include billboards, newspapers, and online ads, including ads on professional networking site LinkedIn.

But Malady says he believes the best advertising is finding an applicant a great job:

“When you successfully place a person in a job, that person becomes your salesman for the next 10 years at least. And later, if things really work out and they become a manager, they’ll be the ones calling you when they need to hire someone.”

So how does a staffing company help other businesses find the workers they need?

Well, suppose you have a new product or service or are expanding your business. You may need some employees to help out. You don’t know whether the new product or service is going to be a success or you’ve had bad hiring experiences in the past. So you’d really like to find a way to try an employee out first and make sure they’re a good fit.

That’s where a staffing company like J & J comes in, says Malady.

With its corporate headquarters in Cherry Hill, NJ, the company tends to supply office professionals like receptionists, customer service representatives and office managers. But it also supplies warehouse workers, employees in light manufacturing and “pick and pack.”

J & J is perpetually interviewing and maintains a data base of potential employees. When contacted by a company in need of workers, the staffing company suggests a rate of pay and searches its data base under the necessary job description.

In the case of temporary employees, the client pays J & J which effectively acts as the employer. That means handling drug screening, background checks and, if the employee has to be let go, also assuming responsibility for unemployment.

If, at some point, client companies want to make these positions permanent, they have a choice. They can either keep paying for temp services until the staffing company has recovered its recruiting investment or they can pay a fee to make the employees permanent immediately.

J & J also recruits direct hires. But these are usually people who are already employed and are looking for better opportunities. Since they already have a job, they’ll only leave for a solid offer.

Today, J & J Staffing Resources is a successful business billing between 600 and 800 companies a week for its services. The company has 43 employees, eight offices in three states and a strong company culture.

That culture includes taking pride in placing the right people in the right positions. It also includes a tradition of giving back to the community, as in the fundraiser for Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania shown in the photo below.

But how did Jack Malady get this company started so many years ago?

Back in 1970, Malady was controller for a manufacturing company but was also on the lookout for an opportunity of his own.

The entrepreneurship bug had bitten the elder Malady at an early age. Raised by a father who had his own grocery store, Malady had learned many of the basics of small business ownership while growing up.

He had gone with his father to collect on bills. He had learned the importance of picking the right products to meet customer demand. (Making the wrong choices meant the Malady family would be stuck eating whatever didn’t sell.)

He finally found his opportunity in a franchise known as American Girl Services and, despite the fact that he had no experience in the staffing industry, decided to take the plunge.

But two years later, in 1972, American Girl Services went bankrupt. While many franchisers might have thrown up their hands and given up, Malady was made of stronger stuff. His own staffing business had remained viable, so he decided to simply go independent instead. His son Sean relates:

“One day he had an American Girl sign in the window. The next day he had a J & J Staffing sign in the window.”

The company has gone through some hard times, like closing two of its offices and shrinking its staff from more than 50 just a year and a half ago. The decision was emotional and painful â€" but necessary, says Sean Malady.

Staffing agencies generally know about an ailing economy before anyone else, he adds, because client companies stop hiring. Despite the reductions, Malady says the growth he has seen over the past nine months also shows an economy on the rebound.

* * * * *

iCIMS, a leading provider of talent acquisition solutions for growing businesses, is proud to be the official sponsor of Small Business Trend’s “Small Biz Spotlight” of J & J Staffing. Like iCIMS, J & J Staffing understands the value of providing clients with a positive experience. iCIMS is delighted to have the opportunity to support the passionate drive and dedication of companies like J & J Staffing through the sponsorship of the “Small Biz Spotlight.” (Visit the “Small Biz Spotlight” series archives and stay tuned for more small business stories there.)

Images: J & J Staffing Services

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One Small Business Turns the Tables on a Union Campaign

One small business in Kansas has turned the tables on a local union’s aggressive campaign against it.

A Wichita, Kansas, carpenter’s union recently took umbrage with the fact that a local Subaru dealer did not hire union help to build its new showroom. The union put up a sign in front of the dealership that read: “Shame on Subaru of Wichita.”

The union has apparently tried similar tactics with churches, businesses and non-profit organizations in the Wichita area.

Rather than allow the union to have the last word, the Subaru dealer turned the potential public relations nightmare on its head. The dealer displayed its own sign right next to the union’s sign. It read: “For Having Unbeatable Prices.”

In a post on Subaru of Wichita’s official blog RideHomeHappy, the company stated it’s own case explaining:

“We invite you to consider the facts and decide for yourself if Subaru of Wichita is “Desecrating the American Way of Life,” as the Carpenters Local 201 claims:

-We hired Wichita-based Key Construction, Inc.

-We hired Wichita-based GLMV Architecture

-We financed through Wichita-based Equity Bank

-Our company employs 140+ Witchita-based Employees

Key Construction bid out the drywall portion of this project to several companies, both union and non-union. The project was awarded to the lowest qualified bid and completed well before protesters arrived.”

This is a good lesson for any small business on how to make the most out of a seemingly bad situation. It’s hard to imagine anything worse or more intimidating than a crowd of protesters outside your business. But Wichita Subaru found a way to take lemons and make lemonade.

The company took a potentially volatile situation and turned it into a great marketing opportunity, and did so with humor and flair.

In fact, so effective was the overall impact that at least one commenter on a Washington Post column mentioning the incident doubted there was even a real labor dispute at all. Instead, the suspicion was raised that the whole protest was nothing but a “gimmick” created by the dealership to increase sales.