Anti-virus protection for Mac via F-Secure
First step to keeping safe online
Install virus and spyware protection
I am very happy to recommend F-Secure for online protection, I like the peace of mind it provides on my Windows PC. I'm days away from making a decision to buy an Ultrathin device which will be perfect for when I'm travelling, and I'll definitely be installing F-Secure.
I might even be taking that 'great-leap-of-faith' and changing to a Mac OS.
The good news is F-Secure has a product for the Mac, so all is potentially well in my world. Incidentally, that 'leap-of-faith' I mentioned is to do with my ability to learn a new OS and successfully run the both simultaneously, because most of my SME clients will be using Windows for a long time to come.
A little bit about my exposure to the MacBook Air
I was somewhat hooked by the Currys and PC World Sales guy, I'll admit, but, I also know deep down inside the added security such a robust OS will provide. Many of my friends and colleagues are already Mac evangelists and they've all had a moment in our relationship when they've attempted to convert me.
The MacBook Air is undeniably gorgeous and is the standard that all the new ultrathin devices aspire to. The Acer, Asus and Dell come very close indeed. If I choose the Mac it will be because I consider the keyboard to be more superior than the others. You have to be prepared to spend time using the keyboards on the demo machines to appreciate this – well, you will, if you are a touch-typist.
I liked what Mark the Sales guy had to say about the Thunderbolt feature - he is the store manager, and he had just returned from a seminar at Apple HQ. (I'm very impressed with the standards of CRM at my local store, all the tech guys are delighted to spend time talking with customers, and in my case it was a lengthy time because I was set on getting as much info as possible).
Although I can't make best use of the Thunderbolt port at the moment, due to the delivery of low broadband speeds on ancient copper to my home, there will come a time in the not too distant future, when I'll benefit from greater internet speeds, so I'll be able to hitch up the 27" Thunderbolt Display to the Macbook Air and enjoy some of those awesome features. [I really hope you're reading this @BTCare].
Matt Burns for TechCrunch tells us:
"Thunderbolt is fast — really fast. The standard is rated at 10 Gbps over two channels, which works out to transferring a Blu-ray disc in less than 30 seconds. That’s 20 times faster than USB 2.0, and 12 times faster than the industry speed demon, FireWire 800. Engadget stated in an early Thunderbolt MacBook Pro demo they watched a 5GB file transfer in “just a few seconds.”
Superfast Broadband speed brings superfast delivery of threats too. No matter how fast your Broadband speed is I urge you to take a common sense approach and get protection for your devices.
Presentation Tips
Connecting with your audience
I attended an event recently where several people were presenting.
Each one covered a similar subject but only one of the presentations excited me.
The successful presenter connected with me and ensured I was fully engaged.
The unsuccessful ones were brain-numbingly-long-winded and filled with slide-upon-slide of TEXT.
Oh how I longed for them to end and put me out of my misery!
It was really hard work concentrating on reading the fast moving stream of words while at the same time, attempting to listen to what the presenters were actually saying.
What made matters 10-times worse was the fact that those unssuccessful presenters must have thought we the audience couldn't read because they insisted on repeating every word that appeared on their slides. It was an excrutiatingly painful experience.
I couldn't wait for the pain to end.
Before becoming a Virtual Assistant businesswoman my early career was deeply rooted in education. As a teacher and later a lecturer I had more than the average exposure to great presentations, so this has had the effect of making me hyper-critical of anyone standing on a podium. That being the case, I make no apologies for condemning the presenters at that particular event, and branding them as novices.
There are basics that everyone who is planning a presentation should understand. Groundwork is critical.
These are useful tips which will help you to succeed in making a connection with your audience:
- Know your audience, find out what types of business people are in the mix, and plan to deliver 3 or 4 references in your dialogue which will match their business experiences. Making it, in part, a dialogue with your audience will ensure you reach out to them. No-one likes being talked to, we like being engaged in conversation.
- Stimulate the audience by using plenty of bold images, choose carefully, choose ones which convey the message clearly. (Even if you have to present graphs or statistics, it is possible to liven it up with attractive graphics).
- Involve your audience, by having eye contact with as many as possible.
- Give your audience time to assimilate the visuals, leave gaps in the commentary so that they can concentrate on just what is being presented on the screen.
- Don't read out the text appearing on the slides. Instead weave a brief story to explain exactly what the intended message is meant to be.
These guys from 'Slides That Rock' know just what I'm talking about. Feed the visual sense with bold, attractive images, and large text. This Slideshare presentation delivers the message clearly. I hope you enjoy it.
I hope these tips help to get the thumbs up for you, at your next presentation.
View more presentations from Slides That Rock
Encryption: Myths and Must Knows
This article first appeared on the authors website Privacy Guidance.
Rebecca Herold, CIPP, CISSP, CISM, CISA, FLMI
Infosec and Privacy Expert, she is the author of 15 books to date
"The Privacy Professor" ™, has over 2 decades of info sec, privacy and security experience, and is currently the owner and principal for Rebecca Herold & Associates, LLC. Rebecca is also an author and Adjunct Professor for the Norwich University Master of Science in Information Assurance Program. Rebecca is also partner and subject matter expert for Compliance Helper (compliancehelper.com), helping healthcare CEs & BAs. Rebecca has led the NIST Smart Grid privacy group since June 2009. Rebecca has written 15 books to date, chapters in many books and hundreds of articles.
I am looking forward to the day when we can look at the news headlines and not see some report about a lost or stolen computing device or storage device that contained unencrypted personal information and/or other sensitive information.
And, I also want to stop seeing stories reappear about such an incident, such as the stolen NASA laptop with the clear text Space Station control codes that was stolen last year, but is making the headlines yet again today.
NASA is a large enough, and tech savvy enough, organization to know better! However, there are many organizations that simply don’t understand what a valuable information security tool encryption is.
I work with many small to medium sized businesses (SMBs), all of which have legal obligations (such as through HIPAA and HITECH, along with contractual requirements) to protect sensitive information, such as personal information. Over the past year I’ve heard way too many of them make remarks such as…
- “I’m using encryption; I have an email add-on that automatically encrypts all my messages. So, don’t have to worry about security.”
- “Our site uses SSL so everything sensitive is encrypted.”
- “Our IT department created an encryption process to scramble all the data in our server.”
- “I don’t have to use encryption; I’m not in a regulated industry.”
Such misconceptions are why cyber-crooks have long targeted SMBs… they know that the data there is rarely encrypted or insufficiently encrypted.
Here are the common long-held myths related to these misconceptions, and what organizations need to know about these flawed beliefs.
1. Myth: Using SSL or HTTPS encrypts data everywhere.
You Must Know: It is good that organizations are using HTTPS and SSL! However, in general HTTPS and SSL only encrypts data in the pathway between web servers and web browsers. That data will not still be encrypted in storage areas, or in emails, or other locations. There are different types of encryption for different types of data uses and storage areas.
2. Myth: Encryption is too expensive for SMBs.
You Must Know: Encryption is now a fraction of the cost that it used to be. There are also some very good freeware encryption tools available. There is no reason that SMBs, or any other types of organization, or individuals, should not be using encryption; cost is no longer a good excuse. Encryption is simply too effective of a security tool not to use!
3. Myth: Encryption is too hard to use.
You Must Know: Is creating encryption solutions difficult? Well sure, but because of all the options available from a wide range of vendors you do not have to create your own encryption solution. Is it hard to use those solutions? Several years ago using encryption was comparatively difficult. However, now most encryption solutions are good and easy to use. Any type of SMB can use encryption of every kind that they need to use to mitigate risk and meet compliance requirements.
4. Myth: By using encryption we then don’t need to use firewalls, anti-virus, or other security tools.
You Must Know: Au contraire, mon frère! Encryption is indeed a great tool that can protect data. However, there are many other threats to networks, systems, and applications that you also need to have other security implemented to protect against. Firewalls and anti-malware systems and software, just to name a few, are also necessities in today’s high-risk digital environment. This is commonly referenced as the need to have “security in depth” and “security in layers.” You should implement all the layers of security necessary, which also should include physical security controls (e.g., locked doors) and administrative security controls (e.g., policies), to reduce your risks to acceptable levels. You should identify all the necessary administrative, physical and technical (which includes encryption) controls within your business risk management plan.
5. Myth: Encryption must be deployed everywhere in an organization.
You Must Know: Appropriate types of encryption solutions should be deployed where ever necessary to mitigate risk to sensitive information. And the types of encryption will vary based how the data is stored, transmitted and used. Some areas of your organization, such as in the internal intranet where certain types of data is made available to all employees and protected by an external firewall, typically does not need to be encrypted. Other areas should always encrypt sensitive data. Here are some important areas where the appropriate types of encryption solutions should be used:
- Websites: Typically using HTTPS and/or SSL
- Emails: Often using vendor or freeware add-on solutions. However, many email systems now come with encryption capabilities that you can use.
- Mobile computers: Data in storage using one of many different vendor solutions.
- Mobile storage devices: There are encryption solutions for disks, USBs, CDs, DVDs and tape.
- Wireless transmissions: Using a wide variety of wireless encryption options.
I could write much more about each of these myths, but this should get you pointed in the right direction. If there is enough interest I will write some follow-up posts about each of these.
So, the lessons are that 1) every organization and individual should use encryption to protect data, and 2) sensitive data should always be encrypted on mobile computers and storage devices and in transit through public networks. If all organizations would start doing this you would see the numbers of breaches reduced dramatically.
Also, most organizations have some type of contractual or regulatory requirements for encryption, particularly for personal information. A good topic for another day.
The Race Is On Between Acer, Dell and Apple Ultrathin Devices
The battle has begun for a top spot in the Ultrathin laptop market 2012
This busy Virtual Assistant needs a portable device she can sling into her handbag, admittedly it is a rather large handbag, but she's scouting round for a 13" Ultrathin reliable and robust gadget. It definitely won't be a tablet but some very interesting news hit the ether recently regarding the launch of the iPad 3.
So it seems 9to5mac, and subsequently DigitalTrends Blog are wrong about the launch date for the iPad 3! They thought it might be on Steve Jobs' birthday on 24th February, based on the intel coming out of a report on activies at one of the manufacturers in the Apply supply chain.
Presumably CNet have had wind of the same rumours but they are playing it safe by saying that the Chinese manufactuer is preparing for a March launch. It turns out they are right. Launch date is now set for 16 March 2012.
Adam Rosenberg said in December 2011 that:
Apple is a company that likes sticking to a script, and the script clearly pegs another tablet announcement/launch for the start of the year. Yes, the iPhone 4S launch was shuffled just this year from the usual summer to the fall. My money's still on early '12 for the next iPad though.
So that brings us to the race
I'm not intending on switching to a Mac OS so the MacBook Air is not in the picture for me, but here are two very strong contenders.
Both Dell and Acer are shooting out the latest in their offerings to compete for 'some' of the same space. Yes I know they aren't tablets but they are front runners in the lightweight, slim laptop market. And, if you don't fancy a huge outlay of cash then the price of these new ultrathin laptops could be very tempting indeed.
So I'm seriously considering buying one of these beauties.
My 7 year old Dell Precision Pro is just so heavy! When I'm on site with clients or in meeting prospective clients, and needing to take them through a proposal there and then, I need a device that I can quickly whip out of my handbag, and activate. (I'm a practical type of gal so the fact that either of these would fit very nicely into my current handbag, has great appeal for me!).
Lance Ulanoff wrting for Mashable says:
Here's how you know when a gadget is good – when it ruins you for other gadgets in its class.
He's salivating over the Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook. He calls it a 'sweet machine', awww. I'm listening to him when he says
Because it's so light, I never considered it a burden, and when I took it our of my bag, I got looks.
Time and time again, I was impressed by how well the S3 performed, how quickly it started up and how fast it resumed from sleep.
It's a real, full-sized, full-performance laptop that won't weigh you down or leave you in a lurch by running out of battery life at the wrong time or not resuming fast enough when you need it.
Adam Westley at Acer says he's amazed at home many people were on the set when they shot the Acer S3 ad … guess what Adam, you are not alone …. just take a look at this masterpiece … priced at £899.99.
Thanks to Acer Facebook Page for this greeat promo video
Some fine photographs of the S3 here in the Mashable Gallery too.
I can see what all the fuss is about, it looks absolutely gorgeous!
On to look at the Dell XPS 13
Can the Dell XPS 13 seduce me away from the Acer?
Thanks to Mashable, for this video.
This particular device is the first one apparently which tackles the issue we face when flitting between wireless connectivity zones.
Samantha Murphy writes:
The XPS 13 also comes with a 128 GB SSD hard drive, 4 GB of memory RAM and Intel HD3000graphics. It's also the first ultrabook on the market with Intel Smart Connect technology, which keeps content updated when around wireless connection.
… handy if you are rushing to catch a flight and the device detects the airport's wireless network and automatically pulls in information to your latest meetings, emails and reports so you can work with up-to-date data on the plane.
Now you have to admit that's a great feature, BUT is it one that will make the pendulum sway in its direction?
The cheapest of the options is reported by CNet as being £650, more detail about the specification also available by checking out the CES 2012 video below:
Hmmmmm …… what to do?
I'm keeping a close watch on what Dell and Acer, and more importantly, what other people are saying in the ether about these two super pieces of kit.
It's going to be a close call, but as soon as I've made my decision I'll let you know.
In the meantime if you get wind of the launch dates please, please let me know via @LadyBizBiz on Twitter.
Business Built on Solid Foundations Survive
You Can't Rush The Process of Building a Business
A very sad story might have turned out differently had proper research been carried out before this particular new business was launched.
I hate reading about SMEs that fail. Business owners invest heart and soul into their businesses so failure can send them into a downward spiral.
I came across a horrifying figure quoted in the business press in the last half of 2011 that made me take a very sharp in-take of breath: in Wales 45% of SMEs fail in the first two years despite having had Government assistance.
There are many reasons why a fledgling business fails. We wrote about the steps to take to ensure the best possible chance of survival for small businesses early in 2010 when the first wave of recession had negatively affected many business owners.
This story involves an ill-thought-out business model.
I'll be generous to the people involved and say they were probably overwhelmed with the amount of work landing on their doorstep. Overwhelmed to the extent that a proper business plan evaded them.
SmartyVA was an online training program for Virtual Assistants who specialize in social media management that was based in San Luis Obispo, Calif. It opened in 2009 and closed in February.
At its peak: In 2009 Starr Hall, a public relations consultant who was overwhelmed with requests for social media help, saw an opportunity. She invested $10,000 to create SmartyVA training materials and a website with a search engine that aggregated job leads. The six-week training program cost $1,000 and was aimed at stay-at-home mothers and disenfranchised women, like victims of domestic violence. When graduates took jobs through leads on the site, SmartyVA received 10 percent of their earnings. The company generated $100,000 in revenue its first six months.
What went wrong: SmartyVA’s profitability depended on graduates following up on job leads they received through the system.
“A hundred virtual assistants finished the program, but only 21 of them were working,” Hall said. “If all of them had been working, profits would have been huge.”
Looking back: “I didn’t anticipate how different the mind-set of the women I was training was from my own,” she said.
I can't help thinking that the owner might have carried out more in-depth research into the people she recruited as Affiliates. I think she might have succeeded if she'd stuck to the original target audience.
Not so 'smarty' eh?
This is an attractive business model for some Virtual Assistants who are aware of the number of talented and skillful women sitting at home looking after children. SmartyVA isn't the only VA Agency to enter the ecosphere, there are 10's of dozens already in existence….in fact I'd say there was a proliferation.
The Affiliate Programme is flawed if you don't recruit wisely.
These are the things that need to happen in order for this model to work:
- VAs need to be recruited from a well established community
- Build and Drive that community yourself if necessary: LinkedIn is a perfect platform for this
- Admit to this community only people who fit a pre-determined profile, which you will have thought through in advance, and in all honesty I don't think students or new graduates, fit the criteria
- You must have lengthy and in-depth knowledge of the community members
- The 'target market' should be identified from those members that are the best match to the work on offer
- Work trial tests need to be implemented to confirm skill-sets
- Contracts should be drawn up to guarantee commitment to the relationship
If these pointers are adopted the relationship has a much better chance of succeeding, and service levels guaranteed to be of the highest standard.
Repeat business should result.
Then and only then, will the business model have the best chance of success.
This story was extracted from an article which appeared in The Bulletin on 4th January 2012
Photo Credit: Fotolia ©Lvnel