The bMighty Blog -- Business & E-Business

Backscatter Spam Spreading, Bouncemail Battle Heats Up

Posted by Keith Ferrell 10:56 AM ET | May 9, 2008

Have you been backscatter or bounceback spammed yet? No? Be patient -- if your e-mail address has ever been published on the Web, the odds may be against you.

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Business & E-Business | Internet/Web | Messaging | Security

Web Text: They're Not Reading Much So Keep it Short

Posted by Naomi Grossman 11:29 AM ET | May 8, 2008

Recent research into the reading habits of the average Internet user reveals what we've all long suspected: those visitors to your site are not reading much. The lesson for smaller businesses is obvious: Tighten up that copy and remember to make those words that you put up there count.

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Business & E-Business | Internet/Web | Sales/Marketing

More On Disaster Recovery: Mind The Gaps In Your Plans

Posted by Keith Ferrell 01:49 PM ET | May 7, 2008

We've talked a lot here about disaster recovery, and almost as much about planning for disaster recovery. In considering these, it's well-worth considering -- and looking for -- any hidden gaps or vulnerabilities that might bring even the best-laid plans to grief.

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Business & E-Business | Hardware & Software | IT | Management | Non-Profit | Security | Services | Storage | bMighty

Web 2.0: Videos Can Give Smaller Businesses an Edge

Posted by Naomi Grossman 11:41 AM ET | May 5, 2008

On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog, goes the famous New Yorker cartoon. Nobody has to know you’re a smaller business either – and videos are one of the most effective ways to look bigger and impress the search engines, if you do it right.

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Business & E-Business | Sales/Marketing

How Prepared Are You For Disaster Recovery?

Posted by Keith Ferrell 01:21 PM ET | May 2, 2008

If your business got hit by a natural disaster that resulted in your "losing everything" -- would that "everything" include your company's digital records and history? It shouldn't.

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Business & E-Business | IT | Management | Operations | Security | bMighty

Interop: Smaller Businesses Get Some Attention

Posted by Naomi Grossman 11:26 AM ET | May 2, 2008

There was lots and lots of focus on larger enterprises at Interop, but, if you looked for it, you could find that many tech companies are thinking more and more about the smaller business.

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Business & E-Business | Hardware & Software | Networking & Communications

Interop: The Scary Business of Data Privacy

Posted by Naomi Grossman 03:45 PM ET | May 1, 2008

With Interop taking place in the very unreal city of Las Vegas, it's easy to forget that a smaller business has anything to worry about. But the issue of privacy and database breaches is not only very real, apparently it's getting more and more real every day.

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Business & E-Business | Security

XP Service Pack Delay: What Else Is New?

Posted by Keith Ferrell 01:26 PM ET | Apr 30, 2008

Microsoft's on-again/off-again extension of support for XP may or may not be on-again, but the latest delay of the latest long-awaited XP Service Pack delay may strike some of us as the last straw.

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Business & E-Business | Retail | Security | Windows

Web 2.0 Expo: Looking For A New Home For Your Business?

Posted by Fredric Paul 06:31 PM ET | Apr 26, 2008

The search for space is a never-ending quest for many small and midsize firms. At last week’s Web 2.0 Expo, ZoomProspector was giving out free beta access to its new service designed to help.

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Business & E-Business | Internet/Web | Operations | Transportation

Astaro Survey Sez Your Security Spending Seems Recession-Proof. Really?

Posted by Keith Ferrell 10:58 AM ET | Apr 25, 2008

The results of a recent survey of small and midsize business IT security spending plans are being interpreted/marekted as signs that your security spending is "recession proof." A closer look suggests something quite different.

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Business & E-Business | IT | Management | Operations | Security | Services

E-mail Security System Keeps An Eye Out For You -- But Not On You

Posted by Keith Ferrell 12:32 PM ET | Apr 18, 2008

A new free (for now) mail encryption service uses shared-key question and answer encryption to make sure you and your recipient are the only ones who know what you're corresponding about.

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Business & E-Business | Security | Services

Sweets For The Cheats: Like Passwords For Chocolate

Posted by Keith Ferrell 10:05 AM ET | Apr 17, 2008

It's silly -- and sexist -- season again, as a European security conference lets us know, as it does every year, just how easy it is to acquire passwords from workers. Namely, how many passwords can you get in exchange for a bit of chocolate?

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Business & E-Business | IT | International | Security

CEO Spam Scam: Phishing For Big Fish

Posted by Keith Ferrell 12:19 PM ET | Apr 16, 2008

A new targeted spam campaign uses fake federal subpoenas to trick CEOs into clicking on a malware link. One source indicates that 15-20,000 spams went out. And amazingly, about 10 percent of the recipients responded!

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Business & E-Business | Government | IT | Management | Security | bMighty

PBX For Small Business: Asterisk Comes A-Callin'

Posted by Matthew McKenzie 08:51 PM ET | Apr 15, 2008

The market for open-source business software today is growing so quickly that it can be hard to single out the really exceptional success stories. If I had to pick just one, however, I think I know which one it would be.

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Business & E-Business | Hardware & Software | Linux | Networking & Communications | Open Source | Technology/Telecom

Thumbs Down: Flash Drives Are Bigger Threat Than Many Of You Know

Posted by Keith Ferrell 11:00 AM ET | Apr 14, 2008

The sheer convenience and affordability of flash drives is matched -- and more than matched -- by the threat potential they possess. And that's according to one of the drives' leading manufacturers.

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Business & E-Business | Hardware & Software | IT | Security | Storage | bMighty

Web 2.0 To Force Changes In Web Metrics

Posted by Fredric Paul 02:30 PM ET | Apr 11, 2008

Is your company's Web site doing its job? Are you sure? What with the rise of Rich Internet Applications, AJAX, and other Web 2.0 technologies, how can you tell?

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Business & E-Business | IT | Internet/Web | Internet/Web | Strategy/Analysis/Biz Dev

Bots Gone Wild: Handful Of Botnets Run A Million Machines

Posted by Keith Ferrell 10:34 AM ET | Apr 10, 2008

How many botnets does it take to grab a million computers and use them to send out billions (and billions and billions) of spams a day? Less than a dozen, according to one security expert.

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Business & E-Business | IT | Internet/Web | Networking & Communications | Security | bMighty

Telecommuting Is NOT A Panacea

Posted by Fredric Paul 04:21 PM ET | Apr 9, 2008

Even as telecommuting and teleworking gather steam in companies large and small, a growing backlash contends it's not always such a great idea, for companies or workers.

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Business & E-Business | Internet/Web | Management | Mobile

Terror Threats From Second Life? Uh, No. Business Value? Uh, No

Posted by Naomi Grossman 10:56 AM ET | Apr 9, 2008

A hearing was held in Congress (!) about the possibility of terrorists using virtual worlds for nefarious means. Second Life founder Philip Rosedale and other virtual reality experts were even called to testify. The verdict? Nothing real about a virtual world – neither for terrorists nor for business.

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Business & E-Business | Internet/Web | Strategy/Analysis/Biz Dev

Symantec Report: Malware Makers Setting Sights Via Trusted Sites

Posted by Keith Ferrell 08:59 AM ET | Apr 9, 2008

Symantec's latest Internet threat report makes clear that the bad guys have shifted the focus of their approach from luring users to malicious sites to placing their malware on legit sites that users know and trust.

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Business & E-Business | IT | Internet/Web | Networking & Communications | Operations | Security

Sophos: One Million Viruses And Counting Fast(er)

Posted by Keith Ferrell 12:04 PM ET | Apr 7, 2008

How many viruses have been created over the past twenty years? Close to a million, according to security company Sophos. How many of those appeared in the last six months? More than a quarter of them!

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Business & E-Business | IT | Internet/Web | Security | Technology/Telecom

Blogging Doesn't Kill. But Running a Smaller Business Might

Posted by Naomi Grossman 10:30 AM ET | Apr 7, 2008

Sadly, two high profile tech bloggers died recently and another one suffered a heart attack. The blogosphere was rife with the notion that the stressful lives these men lead -- thanks to their jobs -- contributed to their tragedies. But their workdays don't sound much different than that of anyone running a smaller business.

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Business & E-Business | IT | Strategy/Analysis/Biz Dev

FBI Cybercrime Figures: Losses Up, Crimes Down

Posted by Keith Ferrell 10:27 AM ET | Apr 4, 2008

The new FBI cybercrime figures offer plenty of statistics to scare us, even more to keep us on our toes, and a smidgen of hope among the bad news.

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Business & E-Business | Government | Internet/Web | Piracy | Security

Grocery Data Breach Offers Important Endpoint Lessons

Posted by Keith Ferrell 08:22 AM ET | Apr 2, 2008

The data breach that struck 300 or so of grocery retailer Hannaford Bros.' stores and snatched over 4 million credit and debit card numbers carries some important lessons in how not to secure your network -- and your customers' private information.

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Business & E-Business | IT | Retail | Security

Death And Taxes On Linux: One Down, One To Go

Posted by Matthew McKenzie 08:21 AM ET | Apr 2, 2008

Of the two inevitabilities in life, Linux can't do much about death. Can it do anything to help you with your taxes?

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Business & E-Business | Finance/Accounting | Hardware & Software | Linux | Open Source