OCTOBER 2014 The Antivirus Industry’s Dirty Little Secret T he Antivirus industry has a dirty little secret that they really don’t want anyone to know. Despite their claims, their products are not all that effective. Many of them are only protecting against at best 80% or 90% of the threats out there in the wild at any time. Let’s look at that in a bit more in detail. AV products need to protect against two general types of threats: ones that are known and threats that are unknown. The ones that are known have an identified signature so that anti-virus programs can detect the threat and get rid of it. This is called reactive detection. Then, there are threats that are still unknown, usually new threats created by the bad guys. AV products need to protect against those in a proactive way, and antivirus software can be scored looking at how many of those new threats they block. This type of scoring on both reactive and proactive detection is actually being done by the antivirus industry’s premier site for insiders: Virus Bulletin. They have created so called RAP averages. RAP stands for “Reactive And Proactive”. They test all antivirus products every few months, and measure how each product does in both reactive and proactive detections of a large amount of threats. And they create a graph where these scores are plotted for all tested products. The proactive score is on the X-axis, and the reactive score is on the Y-axis. The results are not pretty. One major antivirus industry player is routinely scoring no better than 75% reactive combined with a 70% proactive. And people wonder how come PCs still get infected by malware. Check out the test results. Click here to see the most recent graph at Virus Bulletin: You can check there how your antivirus vendor is doing also. https://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml The bad guys know this and count on it. Simply having anti- virus protection alone creates a false sense of security. It’s just as important for all employees undergo regular Internet Security Awareness Training and to enforce compliance. Just one employee in a weak moment, clicking on a phishing email, can cause untold grief, losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and potentially massive legal bills. Businesses and consumers definitely need both an endpoint security software solution AND education on the perils of using the internet. We recommend VIPRE Antivirus business edition as it scores very well in the RAP tests and isn’t a resource hog negatively affecting computer performance.
Transcript
OCTOBER 2014
The Antivirus Industry’s Dirty Little Secret
The Antivirus industry has a dirty little secret that they really don’t want anyone to know. Despite their claims, their products are not all that effective. Many of them
are only protecting against at best 80% or 90% of the threats out there in the wild at any time.
Let’s look at that in a bit more in detail. AV products need to protect against two general types of threats: ones that are known and threats that are unknown. The ones that are known have an identified signature so that anti-virus programs can detect the threat and get rid of it. This is called reactive detection. Then, there are threats that are still unknown, usually new threats created by the bad guys. AV products need to protect against those in a proactive way, and antivirus software can be scored looking at how many of those new threats they block.
This type of scoring on both reactive and proactive detection is actually being done by the antivirus industry’s premier site for insiders: Virus Bulletin. They have created so called RAP averages. RAP stands for “Reactive And Proactive”. They test all antivirus products every few months, and measure how each product does in both reactive and proactive detections of a large amount of threats. And they create a graph where these scores are plotted for all tested products. The proactive score is on the X-axis, and the reactive score is on the Y-axis.
The results are not pretty. One major antivirus industry player is routinely scoring no better than 75% reactive combined with a 70% proactive. And people wonder how come PCs still get infected by malware. Check out the test results. Click here to see the most recent graph at Virus Bulletin: You can check there how your antivirus vendor is doing also. https://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/rap-index.xml
The bad guys know this and count on it. Simply having anti-virus protection alone creates a false sense of security. It’s just as
important for all employees undergo regular Internet Security Awareness Training and to enforce compliance. Just one employee in a weak moment, clicking on a phishing email, can cause untold grief, losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and potentially massive legal bills. Businesses and consumers definitely need both an endpoint security software solution AND education on the perils of using the internet.
We recommend VIPRE Antivirus business edition as it scores very well in the RAP tests and isn’t a resource hog negatively affecting computer performance.
From The Desk of
ACTSmart’s Year-To-Date Protection Stats for our “Total Control” clients
For more info about email security, archiving, and encryption go to GoAmerican.com/technology/reflexion
2 3
• 1,040,751 messages delivered successfully
• 6,000,488 messages blocked as spam
• 173,820 messages sent outbound
• 2,765 viruses blocked
• 189,804 messages blocked to unknown recipients
3
OCTOBER 2014
Apple’s iCloud Moves In Mysterious Ways.Apple users fume at surprise free U2 album
By Ricardo Bilton, DigiDay.com
October is the month that many people like to be scared! Haunted houses, Trick or Treating and terrifying movies abound.
Another scary thing that abounds is the threat to our security. I’ve never seen so many attacks in such a short timeframe – CryptoLocker, CryptoWall and now ShellShock have been reeking havoc and holding computers hostage.
We’ve seen what can happen when a company ignores the warnings of their IT department – Home Depot is now estimated to have had 56,000,000 credit cards breached at a tune of $63,000,000! We won’t shop there any longer because of their poor security practices!
It’s all pretty scary! Web links that look familiar and national chains that should be secure are not. Who can you trust?
We’re working to help maintain your peace of mind with a new universal threat management solution that is designed to prevent intrusion by staying ahead of and thwarting threats rather than having to deal with them once they're already inside your network. Call us for a Threat Assessment evaluation. We promise to take away the scare!
As for your credit cards, take advantage of the Target and Home Depot offers to monitor your credit line for possible identity theft. It’s free and can give you a little more peace of mind. Check out their websites to sign up! protectmyid.com/target & homedepot.allclearid.com
Apple surprised iTunes users last month with free copies of “Songs of Innocence,” the latest album from U2. The album, which was announced at Apple’s iPhone event
last month, is appearing in iTunes libraries on both desktop and mobile — with or without users’ permission.
Apple CEO Tim Cook may have called it the “biggest album launch of all time” — and reportedly Apple paid $100 million for the privilege — but it’s quickly turning into more of a head-ache. Twitter reactions to the move have ranged from befud-dlement to indignation, with some users comparing it to being molested or invaded.
Influential music industry analyst Bob Lefsetz compared the release to “a rape or a murder, but with even less legs.” A bit hysterical, perhaps. But he went on to ask in a post that exco-riated the stunt, “Could it be that Bono’s been living too long in the echo chamber, hanging with forty and fiftysomethings who think they rule the world but truly don’t? Yes, older people build the tools, but it’s young people who utilize them.”
The move is especially odd considering Apple is still dealing with the fallout surrounding the iCloud-enabled leak of celeb-rity photos earlier this month. And while that situation showed that the cloud isn’t as secure as people think, this U2 one shows them that it’s technically not even their cloud in the first place.
“When the average person thinks of the cloud as their private space, and all of a sudden this company is messing with their stuff, it makes it clear that that’s not the case at all,” said Chester Wisniewski, security advisor at security firm Sophos.
U2-topsy Wisniewski said that move feels distinctly off-brand for Apple, which has largely avoided the temptation of flooding its devices with unwanted software from third-party vendors. “Avoiding crapware is why so many people go with Apple in the first place,” he said.
The move, however, may in the end turn out to be a marketing coup. Despite the expected hand-wringing that greeted the album’s release, it’s hard to argue that the album didn’t draw more attention to than it would have gotten otherwise.
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OCTOBER 2014
CLIENT
A.D. Makepeace Company
Makepeace is the world’s largest grower of
Cranberries and one of the largest private landholders in the state. It has been in business since 1890 when Abel D. Makepeace developed new ways to grow, pack, ship and store cranberries. When his company needed lumber, he built a sawmill. That entrepreneurial vision actually still guides the
Makepeace Company today. The cranberry bogs and the sand, gravel and custom soils operations that emerges from bog construction and renovation also provide a unique opportunity to develop distinctive residential and commercial properties.
We recently talked to Bob Simmons, Director of Finance and Technology. They have been our client since 2010 and we’ve enjoyed the many aspects of their business! I asked Bob what was so special about A. D. Makepeace.
“I think we’re unique because of the blend of businesses we’re involved in. There are plenty of real estate developers around, but not many who own 15,000 acres this close to downtown Boston. There are also not many major agricultural producers in this area. From a Technology standpoint, we deal with the same computer issues any company with 100+ employees may have – the difference is that our machines may also control the irrigation, frost protection, and fertilization for 400 + cranberry bogs spread across five towns and 95 square miles.”
So, what’s Bob’s favorite part of his job? “I come from a fairly traditional accounting background-- I was with a Big Eight Public Accounting firm and then went into real estate development. I was the CFO for a national real estate management company before I joined Makepeace, so I have to say the favorite parts off my job are the uniqueness of the company, the wide variety of tasks I deal with on a regular basis--
and, of course, the team of people I deal with each day. We have a “normal” business network – but we also have a large number of machines in remote locations that need to be up and running at all hours and in all weather conditions in order to protect our crop. I have office people who have practically grown up with computers, and I have field users who may never have touched a computer before – all require varying levels of support. --- That’s also one of our biggest challenges. “
You’ve seen a lot of changes in the way you run your business over the years, I imagine. “The use of irrigation control and autostart systems has allowed us to operate our acreage more efficiently and protect our crop from frost more effectively. In the “old days” , guys would spend nights in their trucks watching thermometers waiting for the temperature to drop and then they would start firing up all the pumps to put a protective layer of ice on the plants to prevent frost damage. Now, we can delay that start up until the last moment, and focus the water on where it is truly needed. That saves the cost of running pumps unnecessarily, and reduces the amount of time our guys have to spend driving around the bogs in the middle of the night.”
”We rely on ACTSmart to keep our network running no matter what. There are times of the year where we cannot risk any sort of down time and the ACT Team has always been sensitive to the fact that we have zero tolerance for down time during those crucial periods. They also serve as our eyes and ears when we are considering expansion or the addition of new technology. We have come to rely on their experience and professionalism.”
You can experience A.D. Makepeace for yourself by going to their annual Cranberry Harvest Celebration on October 11 & 12th. The Celebration has been designated as one of the top 100 events in North America. The festival, which features old-fashioned activities and whose admission fee includes bogside demonstrations and cranberry-related activities, was designated as one of the Top by an experienced expert tourism industry selection committee.
Visitors to the Harvest Celebration, which is co-sponsored by the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ and Ocean Spray, are treated
to demonstrations of the wet cranberry harvest, cooking demonstrations, an enormous tent full of juried crafters, paddleboat rides on scenic Tihonet Pond, food vendors, music, and more.
Admission is $10, $5 for seniors and military, and children under 7 are admitted free. Admission includes continuous viewing of our wet harvest operations, animal demonstrations, live music, cooking demonstrations, and many children’s activities. Some activities have fees and others are available by donation to the non-profit organizations that offer them. Parking and shuttle transportation are free.
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OCTOBER 2014
Mobile-Friendly Web Design For Service Companies
by Roland Lacey
Roland Lacey, MediaRight Technologieswww.MediaRight.net • [email protected] • 781-924-1141
Mobile devices have their limitations: the screens are shorter, there’s a limit to how
long a user will spend reading any one piece of content, and the flashier bells and whistles on your traditional website may not work at all. There are two routes available to you: have your web designer create a responsive version of your cur-rent website, so it look and functions well on mobile devices, or have a true mobile site built for you.
The mobile website is fully optimized for today’s popular smartphones and tab-lets, with streamlined navigation, limited functionality, and clear calls to action. This is where the world is going; while a responsive site may serve your needs for the next few years, you need to be aware that before too long, every home improvement business will need a true mobile site.
Strategic Content Use
In traditional website design, having lots and lots of content was a great idea. Search engines, especially Google, love having plentiful unique content and would give correspondingly high site rankings as a result. However, on a mobile device, too much content is just too much. Best practices include a focus on larger images, content-rich headlines, shorter copy, and whenever possible, video. This streamlined approach will make it easier for the mobile customer to
discover exactly what your compa-ny is about without wrecking the mobile experience with too much content.
Clear Calls To Action
On the mobile platform, it’s imper-ative to have clear calls to action & functionality that make it simple for the customer to do business with you. These calls to action need to enhance the online experience, without obstructing content or taking away from the fun of your site, yet be noticeable enough that a customer knows what they have to do without even thinking about it.
Go try your website out on a smartphone.
See if you can discover what services you offer to customers, and how easy it is to book a service call. If you can’t do these two fundamental operations, you’re not prepared to sell to the mobile prospect. Luckily, this is a problem that can be fixed. Not sure where to start? Visit www.MediaRight.net. Getting your website up to speed is simpler and easier than you might think – and then you can concentrate on what you do best!
Last month we held a round table breakfast seminar for dentists and their front desk staff and it was awesome! We had 2 great speakers, Nancy Kagan and Roland Lacey.
Nancy Kagan of Summit Dental Partners was a dental office manager for over 25 years. Nancy is a regular lecturer for the Mass Dental Society as well at Patterson Dental and gave great new ways to increase your productivity while your team works more smoothly together.
Roland Lacey of MediaRight Technologies is an expert in Search Engine Optimization and website design that delivers results! He gave new ways to attract new patients to your website and your practice.
ACTSmart Dental Round Table Breakfast Seminar
Shiny New Gadget - Shuttr The Wireless Remote For Your Smartphone Camera
Shuttr is a tiny Bluetooth remote that controls the camera on your smartphone and tablet. It pairs with your phone in less than 30 seconds and is incredibly small so you can
conveniently take it everywhere.
Finally, No More....
1. Blurry photos caused by shaky and unstable hands.2. Bad angles and unwanted closeups from outstretched arms
and limited photo range.3. Leaving the photographer out of the group or family photo.4. Needing a phone and mirror in every photo to take full
body selfies.5. The slimmest remote control for iPhone, iPad, Android and
Samsung Galaxy / Notes6. Premium, sturdy build quality in a sleek, durable and
portable design.
7. Take great selfies, group photos and videos from as far as 30 feet. Use the included audio jack phone stand to position your phone in a freestanding position. Never be left out of a photo again!
8. Simple and easy setup in less than 30 seconds! There are NO APPS TO DOWNLOAD when using an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Samsung galaxy S5/S4/S3, Note 2/3/10.1, Moto X, Moto G, Nexus 4/5/7/8, LG G2, LG Gro, G Flex, Sony Xperia Z2, HTC One M8.
9. Size Matters! The Shutter is small enough to have with you on your keychain whenever you need it. Gift box also includes a micro fiber carrying pouch to store and clean your Shutter
70 Corporate Park Drive, Suite 1225Pembroke, MA 02359-4953781.826.9665www.GoAmerican.com
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In This Issue...
The Antivirus Industry’s Dirty Little Secret
Mobile-Friendly Web Design For Service Companies
Apple’s iCloud Moves In Mysterious Ways.Apple users fume at surprise free U2 album
ACTSmart Dental Round Table Breakfast Seminar
Client Spotlight:A.D. MakepeaceCompany
Shuttr - The Wireless Remote For Your Smartphone Camera
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