The ContentWatch Security Blog

Safety Tips for Classroom Tablets

Mon, 08 Sep 2014 16:05:57 -0600

With various teaching and learning resources available on the Internet, it’s not uncommon for schools to introduce tablets in the classroom. Individual access to tablets allows students to learn independent skills and have a more structured, academic practice.

If your school is going to introduce- or has already introduced- tablets to your students, consider setting some guidelines. The positive aspects of using tablets can be magnified if the negative ones are avoided.

Here are a few guidelines and tips to consider when using tablets in school:

1. Set ground rules for use

The primary purpose for having tablets and technology in school is to educate and enhance learning- not to entertain. When introducing these in the classrooms, establish guideline and rules of use.

You can enforce this with Net Nanny’s App Manager for Android and iOS .This will block any unwanted, distracting apps from being installed.

2. Limit usage time

As stated above, tablets are a helpful teaching agent; however, unlimited access can be socially and intellectually restricting. Regulate use of the devices and designate specific times that the tablets may be used.

Net Nanny for Android is just one among many products that provides time control software. With this feature, the administrator manages time so that tablet use may be restricted in an organized and monitored way.

3. Disable Cameras

Cameras can be dangerous. Sharing hurtful and doctored photos can get out of hand easily and lead to cyberbullying and verbal abuse.

Discuss limitations when using the cameras or use Net Nanny for iOS. Net Nanny for iOS easily enables the option to restrict and disable cameras.

4. Be familiar with trending apps and websites

Schools may have a number of popular websites blocked, but there are always new and trending apps.

Stay aware of potential Internet safety threats. Parents and teachers can access Webwise, which is a free resource that is always up-to-date on disconcerting and trending apps.

5. Monitor

Although guidelines may be set and enforced, there is no guarantee that dangerous websites won’t be accessed.

Monitor the tablets by frequently examining past and current log files and recently downloaded apps. Net Nanny for Android provides remote administration and reports- keeping you constantly updated and aware.

For more information and tips about table safety, visit: http://www.netnanny.com/learn_center/

Source: http://www.webwise.ie/2014/teachers/tablets-internet-safety/

Top Ten Productivity Killers

Wed, 09 Jul 2014 10:00:15 -0600

CareerBuilder conducted a study that looked at the top 10 productivity killers in the workplace. Not surprisingly, technology is at the top of the productivity killers.

When asked what the top obstacles to productivity in the workplace are, employers said that cell phone and texting use was the biggest distracter in the workplace: 50% of employers said that cell phone use was a problem. Also in the top-ten productivity killers was three other technology related activities: Internet use, social media and e-mail use.

About 24% of workers admit that they spend about one hour a day on personal e-mails, texts, or phone calls and about 21% of workers spend an hour or more on non-work-related activities on the Internet, such as social media.

73% of employers have implemented measures to curb productivity-killing activities. About 36% of employers have blocked certain Internet sites from being accessed. 22% monitor emails and other Internet usage.

When an employee is wasting time at work surfing on the Internet, it is costing the company money. Instead of working on what they’re supposed to be doing, employees are surfing the Internet or sending personal e-mails.

ContentWatch offers a web filter and monitor that will help your employees stay productive and keep them from wasting time, saving your company time and money.

For more information on this study, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=6/12/2014&id=pr827&ed=12/31/2014

So Many Ways to Waste Time at Work

Wed, 28 May 2014 10:37:12 -0600

There are so many ways that employees waste time at work. Sometimes time is wasted by employees doing things not related to work, such as using Facebook.

However, there are a lot of work-related tasks that could be wasting your employees’ time. A recent report looked at the different work tasks that are wasting employees’ time during a typical eight-hour workday.

At the top of the list was trying to contact co-workers or customers, consuming about 74 minutes per day. This times includes sending e-mails and waiting for a reply. Also, 33 minutes per day are spent attempting to schedule meetings with co-workers and customers.

Another one of the top time-wasters was duplicating communications, which uses about 39 minutes per day. This is time spent re-sending e-mails or forwarding messages. About 29 minutes per day were dealing with unwanted communications, such as spam.

In total, the report states that a total of four hours per day is wasted on work-related tasks. This lost time is also lost money, thousands of dollars per year per worker.

To save time, the report suggests consolidating communication into a unified communication platform. This will create a place where employees can collaborate and work together, communicate more efficiently and schedule meetings.

It also gives a one-stop location for communication and key information. The report says that time wasted on these tasks can be cut up to 75 percent through unified communication platforms, which will save over $18,000 per worker per year.

Source: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/469852173597242262/

Enterprise Organizations Could Help Fight Child Porn

Tue, 27 May 2014 09:38:23 -0600

It is easy for companies to take no action in the fight against child pornography. Perhaps it’s because businesses are not too focused on societal issues, especially those uncomfortable issues.

Child pornography production and use is increasing. It’s a current trend in the porn industry. In the future, you will see more arrests related to viewing, production, and abuse. There was a story in the New York Times this week of 71 people arrested for possession of child porn. The list of those arrested included police officers, a Police Chief, a Rabbi, a Little League coach, a nurse, a paramedic, an architect, computer programmer, and others.

Pelle Gara, founder of NetClean, believes that child pornography can be removed from the Internet but lack of action that businesses take is what keeps that from becoming a reality. The technology and filtering exists to make this happen, but they are too focused on other issues.

Gara said: “I don’t see a reason why we can’t get rid of child pornography. It’s not a technology problem anymore. It’s a policy or politician problem… I think people feel that the subject of sexual crimes against children is so hideous that they don’t want to deal with it.”

It is likely that companies are dealing or will be dealing with this problem internally. Employees that view pornography in the workplace may also be viewing child pornography, which could cause legal implications for the employee and the company.

Part of the solution to this problem is for organizations to incorporate this problem in their social responsibility agenda and apply software that specializes in blocking sites. By doing so, it could cut down on the number of employees that view child pornography in the workplace and will help take child pornography off the Internet. When product demand decreases, supplies seek for other markets.

For example, Google made it possible to tag and report child pornography on their servers, which are then deleted. They also removed over 100,000 websites displaying child pornography and updated their search results when “child pornography" is searched, which now displays mug shots of people arrested for child pornography.

While your company may not be able to do something as large-scale as Google or other large internet companies, there is still a lot you can do. If these images come up on a company computer, you can report these images so that they can be deleted.

Pornography viewing at work is, to say the least, a misuse of time. When an organization does nothing to block porn, the organization loses productivity (time and money).

A simple solution is to install a company-wide Internet filter to monitor the websites that employees visit while in the workplace. ContentWatch provides internet filters and monitors that can help keep child pornography off of your company computers.

Government Employees Viewing Pornography at Work

Wed, 21 May 2014 13:27:39 -0600

Last week, after a government employee’s computer in the General Services Administration (GSA) was infected with a virus, IT staff started an investigation to find the cause. What they found was shocking. The employee had been visiting dating websites for more than two hours a day, regularly viewed pornography, and even had a user account on his work computer for a pornographic social network.

Just a week before this event, an investigation was conducted because another government employee in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was spending up to six hours a day looking at pornographic material at work.

Another high paid government official had over 7,000 pornographic images on his work PC and was viewing pornography when agents showed up to investigate him.

The issue of viewing pornography while at work is becoming a widespread problem with government employees and all employees for that matter.

The US Treasury Department reported that about 30% of computer misuse investigations since 2012 were pornography related. In 2010, the Pentagon was under scrutiny because of military officials downloading pornography. The Security and Exchange Commission had more than 20 cases of pornography viewing at work reported in 2010. Since then, after multiple discussions on how to block websites and install filtering, it has continued to be a problem.

See http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/11/feds-online-porn-surfing-opens-government-computer/ for more details.

Not only is this practice a waste of our tax money, this practice also puts sensitive information at risk. In the case of the GSA employee, a virus from the porn website he was visiting infected his e-mail, and sent a mass e-mail to everyone in his address book.

Sharon Nelson, president of a computer forensics firm, Sensei Enterprises, Inc., says that many free porn sites secretly sell the ability to spread malware to other malicious individuals. The general idea is that the free porn site includes the ability to install Trojans and Viruses on the computers of its visitors and sells this functionality to others.

Nelson adds: “If they give away free porn and they can inject malware, they can make a lot more money from the information they derive.”

Employers can’t be expected to monitor what everyone does online all day but there is a simpler and more practical solution. Installing an Internet filter and monitoring software can alert an administrator of potential abuse, can easily pay for itself, and it is proven to immediately reduce the amount of wasted time at work.

In a recent case study done by ContentWatch, a business increased employee productivity by 35 percent and eliminated the viewing of pornographic content in their work place just by installing a filtering/monitoring solution and telling their employees that “they could be watched.”

In most cases a filtering/monitoring solution such as ContentProtect Professional pays for itself in less than a month with the gain in employee productivity. This type of a solution will reduce the risk of malware infection and can also help reduce company liability from sexual harassment lawsuits and other HR-related issues that result from viewing inappropriate content in the work place.

To learn about the many options available for employee filtering and monitoring please visit http://contentwatch.com

Mobile Phone Data Loss: What Are You Doing About It?

Wed, 14 May 2014 10:06:15 -0600

The consequences of data loss can be devastating for a company. Lost data can result in financial losses and can have a negative impact on the reputation of a company. Recovering lost information and recreating data can be nearly impossible.

At least 78 percent of companies have had at least one data breach in the past two years. And 36 percent of the data lost by these companies is customer and financial data, while 31 percent is employee data. The reason for these breaches can range from angry ex-employees looking to cause problems to professional hackers looking for corporate IP or secrets.

The cause of data loss varies, but most experts believe that due to lack of internet safety, malware, e-mail attacks, or phishing scams from external sources are clear sources of data breaches. Other common causes are employee negligence, lack of IT resources, antiquated security software, and lack of corporate Internet and data policies.

Many companies that suffer data breaches have a very hard time recovering from the effects. Over 72 percent of businesses that had a major data breach were shut down within two years. Because of this, many data breaches go unreported.

Mobile devices are quickly becoming a culprit to lost data. About 23 percent of reported data loss incidents happened because of an employee’s mobile device. At least 15 percent of data loss was attributed to theft or loss of a mobile device.

This fact makes IT professionals concerned because almost everyone now carries access to confidential and important data on personal and company smartphones and tablets. As such, sensitive information is accessible from anywhere on any smart phone.

There are several things you can do to prevent data loss in your company.

Encourage employees to change passwords often.
Create policies about the types of company data that can (and cannot) be stored on mobile devices.
Implement device tracking and location software to help remove data or to lock down or locate a missing or stolen device.
Create company policies about the types of apps that can (and cannot) be installed on mobile devices used for company purposes.

With a mobile device management solution in use, if there is a lost or stolen device containing sensitive company information, you can save yourself a lot of time and work. ContentProtect MDM for Android and iOS can remotely locate or lock a device or remove data from a missing or stolen device and can implement policies for Internet and app use. To learn more about ContentProtect MDM, visit http://contentwatch.com

Boeing Bans Smartphones and Headphones for Some

Tue, 13 May 2014 16:18:00 -0600

At the start of the New Year, Boeing initiated a new safety standard test at 25 plants. Typically, a company will raise their safety standards following a dangerous incident or a production mistake; however, this is not the case with Boeing.

According to some, these recent modifications were motivated more by workers’ productivity loss than by accidents. With the new changes, workers are no longer allowed to use handheld devices (smartphones) or headphones. If they do wish to use their devices, they are required to go to a specified safe zone that is designated for the use of electronic devices.

Smartphones and emails are the top distractions for employees. Gloria Mark, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, studies the effects that digital devices have on our concentration. In the workplace, employees are distracted and interrupted every three minutes. On average, it takes around 23 minutes to re-focus.

Without an Internet filter or software designed to block Facebook and other social media sites, employers are essentially paying their employees to waste time.

Productivity specialist, Mark Graban debates that it is not the actual smartphones that create lackadaisical employees but rather the working environment and quality of employers. Although Boeing’s steps may seem extreme, they are necessary for that type of environment. For other work environments such as offices, there are other solutions.

ContentWatch provides businesses opportunities to control workers’ productivity by cutting out distractions. Administrators can disable access to popular social sites as well as manage time spent on the internet. As employers it is your responsibility if you want quality working time from employees.

Source: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20140509/BIZ/140509000/Boeing-limits-use-of-handheld-electronic-devices

Tips for iOS Safety

Wed, 07 May 2014 11:23:19 -0600

With internet security becoming more of a concern for companies, it is important that your employees know how to protect themselves on social media. Scammers and hackers are getting better at stealing personal or company information without us even knowing. Here are four things your company can do to maintain privacy on your iPhones, iPod Touches or iPads:

Review privacy agreements of social media sites

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., all have different polices about what information is gathered about you. These sites can gather data including, location, phone number, or your IP address. By reviewing their privacy agreements, you can know what these sites have access to and control what is shared. To do this, you need to visit their app and read the privacy agreement.

Be cautious of third-party mobile apps

A lot of apps are allowed to access your social media accounts for information. iOS devices can control which devices have rights to these accounts. To change what apps have access, go to Settings, select the app, and review the accounts which can be accessed. Once you have reviewed the apps, change the slider from the green side to the white side to turn it off.

Take an extra step for protection

Two-factor authentication gives you an extra step of protection against people trying to login to your social media without permission. This feature will send you text messages to a user whenever they try to login to social media accounts from new devices. This text message will have a code that you have to input in order to gain access. Whenever anyone tries to login to your social media, you will get this text message. To enable this on Facebook, go to Facebook’s Security Settings. On Twitter, access the app, go to Me > Settings > Security & Privacy > ‘Send login verification requests to my phone.’

Utilize a password manager

A password manager allows you to save all passwords in one location. Each website that has a separate password is saved and the data is kept safe. When you login to the protected password manager, the stored passwords are accessible and able to be used on the website you’re logging into.

Apple has a password manager built into most iOS devices called iCloud Keychain. To access it, go to Settings > iCloud > Keychain > enable it and then follow the set-up instructions. If your iOS device does not have iCloud Keychain, other password managers are available to download, such as 1Password and Last Pass.

These are just some ways to help you and your employees protect their social media privacy on iOS devices. Also, be cautious of the links you click on and changing the privacy restrictions on your social media accounts.

Pornhub’s Numbers Are on the Rise

Tue, 06 May 2014 14:45:32 -0600

Pornhub, the world’s largest pornographic video sharing website, recently released some staggering statistics about pornography usage around the world. In 2013, 14.7 billion people visited their website, about 1.68 million per hour. Pornhub has become one of the prime destinations for pornography viewers.

On average, Pornhub visitors spend about 9 minutes viewing pornography per visit and revisit the website about six times a day. In the United States, that figure increases to just under 11 minutes per visit. This was an increase of 5.1% compared to usage in 2012.

With the average viewer revisiting the website six times per day, it is very likely that many of these users are spending more than an hour per day on this site while at work. At 267 hours per year and $15 per hour, a company is losing over $4000 per year per viewer. This is a huge amount of money and time lost, and if your company employs multiple pornography viewers, this amount increases dramatically.

Sunday is the day that Pornhub has the least amount of visitors. However, once work starts back up on Monday, Pornhub has the highest volume of traffic of the week. Pornography viewers also take breaks for Christmas and New Year’s Eve, with a 28 percent decrease in usage on those days, and breaks for summer vacation, with August being the month with the least amount of traffic. January is the month with the highest volume of traffic.

If this is not alarming enough, Pornhub also released what search term is the top in the world: “Teen.” Pornography users are turning to portrayals of younger people to satisfy themselves. This could be a legal problem for your company and your employees if the underage children are shown.

To protect your company from productivity loss due to employees viewing pornography and any other problems that can result from pornography usage, it is important to block sites such as Pornhub that may contain pornography.

Preventing Data Security Breaches Through Web Monitoring

Mon, 05 May 2014 14:00:17 -0600

In a recent survey, 78% of IT security executives said that they are concerned about a major security breach within their organization and 95% of them consider preventing these security breaches a hight priority. Data security breaches can be devastating to a company’s reputation, revenue and market integrity.

There is an enormous gap however between the IT professional’s concerns and the typical employee’s. Only 45% of employees view security breaches as a concern at all. Many employees don’t even know what a data security breach is, leaving even less concerned about prevention.

To put it simply, the best way to deal with a security breach is to prevent it in the first place. One of the key ways to prevent an employee security breach is by managing and monitoring the things, especially the websites, that your employees access. This sounds almost too simple, but many of the viruses, malware apps and trojan applications that get the ball rolling for a full blown data breach come from users randomly surfing shady or non-work related websites.

By implementing a solution to monitor employee web activity, internet safety and suspicious activity online can be uncovered and dealt with before it becomes a problem. Many times employees govern themselves just because they know that their activities can be monitored and reported.

ContentWatch teaches how to block websites that could harbor viruses and other non-work related content is another way to prevent security breaches. This also increases internal productivity because random and time wasting Internet surfing is eliminated which keeps employees more focused and on task.

Web monitoring and access controls are not the end all solution to all data security breaches, but they are a simple solution that will definitely help and there are other upsides like increased productivity and decreased company liabilities when implemented and used correctly. To learn more about web monitoring and access controls check out the ContentProtect product lines at https://www.contentwatch.com

Sources:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/cyber-security-60-techies-dont-tell-bosses-about-breaches-unless-its-serious-1445072

http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwgeeks/article/Courion-Survey-78-Percent-Of-IT-Security-Executives-Anxious-About-Possibility-Of-A-Data-Breach-But-Do-Other-Employees-Feel-The-Same-20140429#.U2PlnvldUpg

Pornography in the Workplace = Productivity Loss

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 15:26:43 -0600

Have you ever walked into a co-worker’s office to discuss something and, as you approach, you catch a glimpse at the computer screen and see that he is viewing pornography? Upon realizing this, your colleague will probably try to cover it up…but it’s too late.

Unfortunately, events like this are more commonplace; employees are using work time to view illicit material. In 2013, two-thirds of United Kingdom companies caught employees viewing illicit material; by comparison, in 2008 only about one-third of companies had this issue.

Today, most companies have this challenge. About half of Fortune 500 companies have had at least once incident per year related to workers accessing illicit materials and 99% of company networks contained some sort of pornographic material.

Many times, co-workers will turn a blind eye to this behavior, thinking that as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, it’s okay. However, the consequences of an employee viewing pornographic material in the workplace are not limited to that specific worker.

The average time spent visiting pornographic websites on company computers is about 13 minutes per day. This means that a quarter of an hour is not being used for work by all employees, on the average. Very quickly, those minutes spent on viewing illicit material turn into hours of lost time. This leads to a huge decrease of production in the workplace, a loss of thousands of dollars, and lost assets.

More importantly, companies that have problems with workers viewing illicit material see higher employee turnover rates, lower morale, and more sexual harassment cases. Your brand image and reputation can also take a hit when it is disclosed that workers use work time to view pornographic material.

What can be done to prevent this behavior and help workers become more productive?

It is important for companies to establish guidelines and policy. Setting guidelines about the definition of proper computer usage, monitoring workers’ computer usage, and incorporating website filters are just some of the ways an organization can prevent the productivity loss associated with the access of pornographic material.

ContentWatch provides Internet filters for organizations of all sizes. These tools can monitor computer usage and block illicit web material, saving time and money.

To learn more, click here.

Source: http://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/item/36260-average-person-spends-13/

Smartphones Weaken Focus and Productivity

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 11:20:33 -0600

Have you noticed you or your employees’ productivity and focus go down? Studies have shown that their smartphones may be to blame.

Researchers at the University of Florida, Michigan State University, and the University of Washington suggest that being connected to your smartphone late at night decreases productivity the next day at work. The benefits of smartphones at night are offset by the lack of focus the next day at work. Staying up late to send a late night e-mail will make you less engaged the next day.

In order to ensure your co-workers will be productive every day, it’s important to establish a line between work hours and personal hours. If you’re sending a late-night e-mail to other employees, you’ll be sure to get replies just a few minutes later. If it can wait until the next day, you’ll be doing everyone a favor by simply waiting to send that e-mail.

One other way employees’ smartphones are decreasing their productivity is by encouraging multitasking at work. When an employee’s attention is bouncing back and forth between smartphone and computer screen, they are not focusing entirely on the task at hand and their brain is trying to take in information from several sources. This is not just a short-term problem; it also affects the ability to focus in the long-run.

To increase productivity and focus in your workplace, set boundaries about when you will use your smartphone and avoid distracting other employees by sending e-mails after work. Also, avoid multi-tasking with your smartphone and focus on one task at a time.

If Employees Waste Too Much Time At Work, Consider Blocking Facebook and LinkedIn

Tue, 01 Apr 2014 09:22:52 -0600

The 2014 survey from Salary.com reveals that 89 percent of U.S. Employees waste time at work every day. There are a myriad of ways to waste time at work, and web surfing is a large contributor. The top three most-visited websites while at work are Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

To put that into some perspective, consider that there are more than 1.2 billion active Facebook users who have uploaded 250 billion photos. (Source) That is a lot of distracting information. And 64 percent of Facebook users check-in each day—to keep up. (Source)

At the same time, there are 277 million LinkedIn users (source) and 40 percent of them check-in daily. (Source)

C’mon, is this really an issue?

When an employee is on the job, the organization pays for their time, taxes, and benefits. As a manager, if an employee takes supplies home, steals equipment, or goes shopping every afternoon, would you object? Loss of time is a loss of productivity which directly impacts an organization.

Employee productivity, in part, could potentially be improved by limiting or blocking access to Facebook, LinkedIn, or other distracting websites. Unless access to specific websites is part of the employee’s role, such as marketing, they can be a distraction from real work.

What can be done?

There are software and hardware solutions on the market today that can enable blocking (or allowing) specific websites. Not only can you block social networks, but organizations could block YouTube (also a top time-wasting site at work), shopping websites, or even pornography and gambling websites—which are prone to containing malware. Thus, indirectly, an organization can even improve its internal security by blocking malware-prone websites.

Solutions exist to allow or block websites from being viewed based on a particular user or a group. In other words, if your organization wants to block Facebook or LinkedIn, those sites can be out of reach of everyone, or a group, or just a select few. This flexibility lets an organization set policies for those who abuse their web privileges or for those who do not need access.

If this stance seems a bit excessive, you are also able to block websites based on times of day or days of the week. For example, your IT person can set a time range to block a website from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Or, set a policy to give all employees five hours access per week per specific website. This way, the employee can choose when to take their “me” time with Facebook.

Of course, employees will likely use their personal smartphone to access social networks regardless of the policy you establish for the company. However, it may be a bit more inconvenient. And, if you have a policy established, as a manager, you can enforce disciplinary action, if ever needed.

Consider it. Facebook and social network blocking, whether completely or just during specific times of day, can potentially improve employee performance. Let ContentProtect Pro or the ContentProtect Security Appliance resolve these issues for you.

Other tidbits from the recent www.Salary.com survey:

Who wastes the most time at work? Single men in their 20s – 30s without higher education
At work, 91% of men waste time vs. 87% of women.
At work, 91% of employees ages 18-25 waste time daily.
The most time wasted at work is Friday—for 44% of people.
Which industry wastes the most time at work? Finance and banking.
If employers blocked web sites, 56% of employees said they use their own device to view.

Note: This article and the opinions expressed here are from Russ Warner, Internet safety expert and CEO of ContentWatch, makers of parental control software, Net Nanny.

Does Social Media Hinder Analytical Thinking?

Mon, 24 Mar 2014 11:22:17 -0600

With Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites available at our fingertips, our time and productivity in the office are being overtaken. But are these social media sites hampering your intelligence? Research by the Journal of the Royal Society Interface suggests that this may be the case.

In the research, 100 volunteers were asked a series of questions. These volunteers were divided into five social network patterns. One group was connected directly to everyone else in the group, another group was not connected at all, and the other groups had different connectivity to each other.

The results of this research were that the better connected volunteers answered more questions correctly. However, it was because they were mimicking their counterparts, rather than presenting original opinions.

Phys.org states, “The researchers found that in well connected networks volunteers… got better at giving the right answer the more times they were asked and the more opportunities they had to steal their neighbors’ answers. This result showed that when the students had lots of connections to peers they could recognize where they had given a wrong answer and swap it for the right one.”

After finding this, the researchers tested the volunteers’ ability to answer the questions originally. When asked new questions, those that had copied did not improve from the previous question, even when they knew that the questions required deeper thought.

This test showed that as a whole, the well connected groups were able to spread analytical responses quickly and improve their decision-making skills. However, the results for the individual volunteers showed that being well-connected weakened your analytical skills because you never have to think about the problem at hand.

While there are benefits in using social media, it may be good to get away from social media sometimes and do other productive things-especially in the workplace. Net Nanny can help monitor time spent online as well as report suspicious or dangerous activity.

In the Battle Against Phishing, the Real Enemy is Curiosity, Greed, Misplaced Trust, and Boredom

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 13:53:37 -0700

If you are have been using the Internet for a while, you will remember the Anna Kournikova virus that tempted users with a message “to see hot pics of Anna Kournikova, click here.”

You also probably remember the Nigerian money scam where email recipients were offered to receive millions of dollars for providing a bank account into which funds could be deposited to save someone’s inheritance.

We laugh now at how incredibly obvious these scams seem, but at that younger stage in Internet history, most of us were more naive and trusting than we are now.

By 2003, the term “phishing” was widely accepted and used by most technologists to define the method of extracting personal or confidential data from unsuspecting users.

Fast forward to today. Users have become wiser, more pessimistic, and less prone to take the bait of a phishing scam, but scams have evolved to become much more elaborate, deceitful, and dangerous.

Today, phishing scams range from fake websites that appear to look like American Express or Visa to direct phone calls from your bank to verify account information. The data that these scams are phishing for has also evolved.

Modern phishing scams look for spreadsheets and documents on infected computers, or scan contacts and emails for personal identity data and credit card information. Phishing scams are also known to target corporate financials, source code, and even intellectual property (see http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2013/02/22/why-engineers-fall-for-phishing-attacks).

Some technologies have been developed to help safeguard against phishing techniques such as site reputation services, identity monitoring and data loss prevention software. But the truth is, phishing is not really a technology issue but rather a “people" issue.

Legions of IT professionals and millions of dollars spent on high tech solutions will not stop users from providing personal data, installing apps, or clicking on a tempting link in hopes of obtaining riches and being entertained.

The best protection from phishing exploits is largely done by training and constantly enforcing a culture of common sense and caution.

None of the following statements and suggestions are new or groundbreaking. I suggest these concepts be included in personnel training, frequently reviewing them with and including them as part of a corporate Internet usage policy might help breed a culture of common sense and caution.

Don’t believe everything you read, hear, or see online. Actually, be slow to believe.

Just because you received an email or an email seems to point to a reliable website, it is not necessarily true. You are never obligated to open an email or follow a link because it appears in your IN box and, more importantly, you should never do so just out of curiosity. When information works to strongly pique interest, beware.
Anyone with Photoshop skills can author an email or create a website that appears to come from a legitimate or reputable source. Be skeptical.
If someone claims to represent a company via email, phone, or on a website, you do not need to take their word at face value. Follow up, ask questions. If in doubt, check with your IT department. Ask yourself “who wants to know this information and why do they need it?” Offer to call back at the company’s direct phone number.
Do not give out data to anyone or to a website unless you are 100% certain of the source and why the information is legitimately needed. Legitimate companies do not ask customers to email credit card info, social security numbers, or account login credentials.
Never install any software unless you are certain what it does. Free apps that offer access to new search bars, coupons, emoticons, weather updates, downloads, etc. should be treated with suspicion. Ask yourself if your IT department would approve of the app being used at work.
If an offer seems too good to be true, it is. Online offers for “free money” or “free iPads” are simply not credible in most circumstances.

With more than twenty years experience working with technology, I have never heard an IT professional say, “I wish that our users were less cautious with their data and less concerned about the information they give out.”

In the battle against phishing, the real enemy is curiosity, greed, misplaced trust, and boredom. In other words, the problem is human nature. The cure is education and awareness.

Is Porn Losing Popularity in Hollywood?

Fri, 14 Feb 2014 11:24:30 -0700

Scarlet Johansson, Julianne Moore, and Joseph Gordon-Leavitt recently starred in the film, Don Jon. Despite the theme being a popular one, it portrays a subtle opinion that opposes mainstream Hollywood opinions: pornography will hurt you.

Amidst the highly sexualized films being produced by Hollywood, Don Jon stands out being the first of its kind. The main actor (Don Jon) is played by Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, a twenty-something young man struggling to balance his secret addiction to pornography and his “real” love life. His contradicting lifestyle illustrates the same issue that many men (and women) face today. This on-screen acknowledgement indicates that society is beginning to notice that pornography is taking a toll.

United Kingdom’s Telegraph, wrote an article highlighting the issues raised by the film’s release. However the most controversial was that porn habits leave men unable to relate to and engage with real women. Director and actor, Joseph Gordon-Leavitt commented, “[Pornography is] a disconnection from what’s really in front of you. Rather than engaging with a unique individual and listening to what the other has to say, right at this moment, we put people in boxes with labels. We objectify each other.”

One of the (many) problems with pornography is that it changes and alters the way a brain performs when in a relationship. Traditionally, the pleasure centers of the brain were activated and strengthened when in a relationship- solidifying the relationship. However, when a person views porn, endorphins are immediately released and activate the pleasure centers, removing any need for human relations.

Over time, the brain slowly rewires and regards relationships as nothing more than an opportunity to satisfy desires and pleasure. Men and women suffer differently, yet equally from this habit. Pornography is mostly unrealistic and often times, violent. With these false views and expectations, men struggle with relating to women while women have a difficult time understanding what men expect from them.

Relationships aren’t the only ones affected by this; productivity in the workplace has taken a hit as well. 29 percent of US adults have used their work computers to access porn. The more pornography becomes and addiction, the more time is wasted at work.

It’s important to not only protect ourselves, but also your business. ContentWatch offers administrative controls and reports. Reports include logs of instant messaging and email, sites visited and more. In addition to receiving reports, administrators have the control to monitor and/or block employee’s access to certain areas of the internet.

Visit http://www.contentwatch.com/ for more information.

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/42282-has-a-porn-backlash-in-mainstream-culture-finally-begun

Tax Season is an Identity Thief’s Favorite Season

Wed, 29 Jan 2014 11:29:41 -0700

Stealing tax returns is just another method for identity thieves to steal your identity. This occurs when another person secretly uses an individual’s Social Security Number to secure and file a false tax return. Once the actual owner of the Social Security Number attempts to file their own return, they will be rejected because IRS records indiciate that they have already obtained a refund.

Tax identity theft (double filing) is more common than suspected; between 2011 and 2013, there were 14.6 million suspicious returns stopped by the IRS. The following are basic tips to protecting your identity and how to keep your name and record clean during tax season:

Be aware of information you save on your computer. Personal computers hold on to much more information than many are aware of. By installing a firewall and anti-virus software, you can protect your personal computer. When using the internet, use only strong PIN numbers and passwords in order to prevent any breach of online information.
Secure personal finance documents and previous tax returns. Keep these files and other similar documents locked in a filing cabinet or safe. If you throw them away, shred them first.
Never, ever release your Social Security to anyone or website unless absolutely necessary. Loans or filing taxes require Social Security Numbers; if it is anyone else, question them on their motives before divulging any such information.
Monitor. Consistently check for unusual activity on credit reports. The first indication that your identity has been compromised is a questionable credit score.

Be cautious when you or employees are filing taxes. Identity thieves and data breaches are a hassle to deal with. Protect your computers with ContentProtect.

Visit http://www.contentwatch.com/ for more information.

Hackers Steal 150 Million Passwords

Wed, 18 Dec 2013 14:42:27 -0700

Adobe recently announced that they were targeted and hacked. The sophisticated hackers leaked nearly 150 million passwords and usernames and shared all the information on public websites. The classified information spread and affected many social media profiles and other accounts; several pages and inboxes were filled with advertisements and spam.

It is important to different passwords for different accounts. If they are too similar, the chances of getting hacked are much higher. Practiced hackers use programs to speedily check all possible variations of a password within seconds. If you or company has even one password that is leaked onto the internet, hacker will most likely have free reign on all of your accounts. Unless you have Gmail (which will notify an individual of suspicious activity), you will have a lot of clean up to do.

After the Adobe breach, Trustwave, a security company, analyzed each compromised password. Through their research they found that only 5 percent of all the passwords were “excellent” and 17 percent registered as “good.” The remaining 75 percent of the passwords were moderate or worse.

Consider these few tips to make sure that your passwords are strong:

A longer password means a more secure password. The minimum length is typically eight characters but, if you can, create an even longer one.
By using letters, cases, numbers, and symbols combined, the chances of your account getting hacked becomes exponentially fewer. For example, “My!P4SsW0Rd-66” is stronger than “mypassword66.”
When creating a password, do not use words that can be found in a dictionary One popular program that hackers use to crack passwords is by searching through files of dictionary words. These types of programs are coded to read and interpret words with symbols and numbers. Acronyms have proven to be strong passwords.
Do not use the names of close friends, family, company, animals, or dogs. All of this information can be found on social media sites and represents an easy guess for hackers.
Change passwords regularly. Often times a company’s or individual’s password is already floating around the internet without them knowing. In order to prevent hackers from accessing and using those passwords, change them regularly. That simple step will make roaming passwords obsolete.

Large (or small) companies can be transient and you don’t always know who has access to passwords. Solidify your company’s security by applying the tips mentioned above.

How to Protect and Secure Your Mobile Device

Mon, 09 Dec 2013 11:42:06 -0700

Mobile devices are convenient for many reasons; with mobile devices you are always connected, they are easily accessible, and cost efficient. However, as with most things, they have their inconveniences too. Easy to access also means easy to steal (physically.) Being constantly connected makes it easier for hackers to steal personal information and data. For these reasons, it is essential to protect mobile devices. Read the following for some helpful tips.

1. Create a Complicated Password

Some of the most popular passwords are ‘123456’ or a pet’s name. These kinds of passwords are easy for criminals and hackers to decipher. For help with creating a more difficult password, visit http://www.moneycrashers.com/create-password-prevent-hacking-phishing/. Password categories that are effective are old telephone numbers or childhood addresses.

2. Activate Remote Wipe

Remote wipe is a built-in security feature. It allows a mobile device owner or network administrator to remotely send a command to a device and delete data. In the case that your device is lost or stolen, you can erase all sensitive information by tapping a few buttons.

Activation for this feature varies according to the carrier, manufacturer, and device. It is available for almost all devices, excluding e-readers. For those devices , contact customer service as soon as possible.

3. Install Antivirus Software

Contrary to popular belief, antivirus software doesn’t work just on a home PC; it can protect your mobile device as well. Free and solid protection is available from companies like AVG and Avast. For maximum effectiveness, update the software often.

4. Be Careful With Wi-Fi

Places that offer free wi-fi such as airports, coffee shops, and other places aren’t the safest. This is the easiest place for hackers to access your personal information. Never do any banking or purchasing while using public wi-fi. It is safest to only complete those actions via private networks.

6. Don’t Modify Your Device

Do not purchase a device that has been “jailbroken” or “rooted” and do not modify it yourself. If purchased or modified, it makes it easier for others to access your personal information. "Jailbreaking" or "rooting" your device makes it more convenient to customize; however, by disabling the original security restrictions, worms, viruses, spyware and more, will infect your device.

Conclusion

These tips are the most cost effective and easiest ways to protect your mobile devices. If you do want an outside warranty, consider vendors such as SquareTrade which are low-cost. Although protecting your device is important, you don’t have to pay someone else to do it for you.

Mobile is the Unknown Threat for Small and Medium-size Businesses

Wed, 04 Dec 2013 09:53:20 -0700

Mobile devices are becoming incredibly common and more and more companies are allowing their employees to use their personal mobile devices for business use. The term BYOD “Bring your own device” is being a very common practice. The use of personal devices for business purposes is even more common every day. Unfortunately the consequences of using these devices without security measures can cause some very uncommon consequences.

Let’s take a simple Android or iPhone for example. A typical smart phone used for both business and personal use could have a live connection to a company Drop Box account, an open connection to a corporate MS Exchange account, a VPN connection back to the office network, access to company services, access to local files with personal and confidential data, etc.

Most IT departments are already concerned about data security, and many have intentionally selected to avoid “cloud” services and instead try to host their own data. Unfortunately any efforts to secure the network and data is essentially in vane, if any random mobile device can access this data from anywhere in the world and by anyone picking up the device.

In a recent survey two-thirds of small businesses said they are confident that their employee’s devices along with their company data are secure. But later it was also revealed that only 10 percent of these businesses use data protection software and only 9 percent of them use any form of mobile security for the personal devices their employees are using for business.

Businesses that don’t have a security plan for their mobile devices might be putting their whole company in jeopardy. It doesn’t take a sophisticated or complex cyber attack to get into your company’s private data, when a hacker could simply steal a smart phone instead. It seems silly to spend thousands of dollars on firewalls, IDS systems, and other data security measures when the whole thing can easily be compromised when a single employees misplaces their cell phone at an airport.

It’s equally important to have a security solution for mobile devices “both BYOD and company owned” as it is to have a good firewall, data backups and other security measures. Otherwise all of those smart phones and tablets are just walking data plans with random holes in your security system.

ContentProtect MDM is a simple solution that helps to enforce security and usage policies for mobile devices. The solution is simple to use, extremely cost effective and is a great way to get started with a security policy for mobile devices. To learn more about the ContentProtect MDM visit http://www.contentwatch.com/mdm.

You’ve Updated Your Facebook Status But Have You Updated Your Privacy Settings?

Mon, 25 Nov 2013 10:16:17 -0700

How much do you remember about agreeing to Facebook’s privacy policy? The good news is that you are normal if your answer is “not much”; the bad news is that being normal in this situation, might not be a good thing. A new survey conducted by Harris Poll found that half of all adults have never read the most recent privacy policy updates on their social media website of choice.

I don’t think I know a single person who frequents the privacy policy pages for their social media sites, and these policies seem to change a few times a year. This does however bring up an interesting point to consider. If your selected social website is the website that knows the most about you and more than any other website on the Internet, shouldn’t you at least know what they will or will not do with your private and personal information?

The above referenced survey also found that one in five adults have never changed their privacy settings from the default settings for the social media account. This could be a concern because typically the default settings are the least secure and most public. Just clicking “accept” and starting to use your account is a recipe to leave your personal information and private data out in the open, and unintentionally give anyone access to the data you may not want to become public.

Intentional or not, sharing too much is major mistake made by many adults who prefer to have their professional and their personal lives separate. For most social media sites, leaving the default settings “as-is” grants any random associate, employee, boss, potential employer or competitor access to your personal and private information; which for many, isn’t a comforting thought.

Another security risk posed by the lack of changing your privacy settings is identity theft. With easy access to your name, address, pictures, and contact settings, you are setting yourself up for a one-way ticket to identity theft disaster. Identity thieves can’t collect your social security number over a social media website, but that’s not their only target. Much can be done with just the simple details that can be gathered through your social media feed, especially if you think it was just between you and your close friends.

To keep your personal life “personal” and avoid having your identity exploited. Take a minute to review your online privacy policy, learn how to use the privacy controls, and be sure to make as much of your personal information as private as possible. You can always choose to share more info in the future, but the Internet is forever and once your data is public it’s a one way street.

http://www.esecurityplanet.com/network-security/19-percent-of-u.s.-adults-have-never-changed-their-social-media-privacy-settings.html

Affordable Health Care Act Opens Gateway for Scammers

Thu, 10 Oct 2013 15:43:03 -0600

With the implementation of the Affordable Health Care Act, security experts are on edge while Internet criminals are standing by for the attack. Since the new Health Insurance went online last week, scammers have taken the opportunity to phish for thousands’ personal information.

Most of the scams come in the form of texts, letters, emails, and links. Phishers have created a plan to monopolize on the excessive confusion following the Healthcare Act. They know that many people have questions and are using that to their advantage to get your money and personal information.

For those who are expecting to exchange current health insurance for “obamacare,” be careful when receiving and opening emails about the new insurance. Never click on a link and always type the URL into your web browser.

Another method that scammers use is to encourage you to act fast; in reality, there is no rush. Eligible persons have until next April to exchange health insurance without losing any benefits. Do not let phishers scare you into a scam.

The new Affordable Healthcare Act isn’t the only way that scammers are attacking your information. There are several various scams on the internet and people are regularly falling for them. The following steps will fortify your online presence and make you much less vulnerable to online scams.

Do Not fill out online advertisements for free devices and accessories. If it seems too good to be true, it is. Stay away from free iPod offers and anything else “free.”
Be critical. If you stumble upon anything that requires your personal information, question it. By asking simple questions such as “ why do they need my information?” and “what are they going to do with it” you can save your identity and finances.
Be aware of what your children and employees are doing online. Most people are ignorant about protecting personal information, which could affect your company as a result.

ContentWatch provides solutions for potential internet scams. Monitoring a worker’s computer usage, and integrating website filters are just a couple ways an organization can avoid internal damage and save time and money.

Quick Tips on Securing School Data

Mon, 07 Oct 2013 10:49:08 -0600

The collection of data has exploded recently. Though computers have been around for only a few decades, it may surprise you to hear that over 90% of all data stored on our planet has been created and stored in the last 2 years. This is nothing to be overly concerned about; data collection allows for better organizing, quicker access to important information, and allows humanity to live a much more productive life. With that being said, a data security breach where someone can access your personal data is the last thing you would ever want to deal with. In the education sector where schools collect and store private student information, this should be a serious concern.

Most schools today store student data such as personal info, addresses, birthdays, grades, teacher’s comments etc. But schools need to be continually vigilant about the security of the data they collect. Students all across the country have found their identities stolen and then used to open new credit card accounts, get loans or obtain employment. Identity theft has become such a widespread problem that the State of Florida has recently passed a new law that allows parents to freeze their child’s credit record so identity thieves can’t destroy it.

If a school is unable to keep this information secure, there could be long term disastrous consequences for their students. The best protection is to devise a plan now and be proactive in preventing security breach threats for the future.

Here are some suggestions for a school’s IT department to help product student data:

Document and designate: Schools should have a documented list of what data they are storing. The school IT department should designate the specific location where this data is to be stored. Documentation should include who should have access to the data and address scenarios where the data might be moved to another location or device.
Lock it down: Although this seems like common sense, many IT Administrators often focus on the software security part of their data but forget the physical access. Data should be stored on servers or storage devices that are physically protected from theft and access.
Create an access list: Data should only be accessible on a “need to know” basis. IT should have strong security policies implemented to protect the access of data. These policies should include who can access the data, where they can access the data from, and from which device(s) the data should be accessible. To make this effective, old user accounts and access need to always be eliminated immediately when an employee or student no longer needs access or departs.
Secure devices used on the network: Students and faculty have many gadgets of their own that are just begging to access a school’s network. If your school provides free Internet make sure that your data is on a different network. For devices that will access sensitive data, require that management and protection software is installed. Mobile devices are especially vulnerable. These devices are easily lost, stolen or shared with others.
Data encryption: Data encryption ensures that if any of your data is stolen then the culprit won’t be able to access any of the stolen information. Not only should files be encrypted, but any emails sent with personal information should be encrypted as well. Encryption solutions often cost money and require implementation, but it is worth it to save your data.
Wipe data when it’s not needed: The more data you store, the harder it is to manage and keep all of it secure. When a device is de-provisioned, or changes hands, make sure that all data is wiped clean from the previous user.
Make a plan and stick to it: Don’t deviate from your policies and plans just because it’s convenient. Keeping data secure is not a passive activity. Securing data requires work, effort and a constant focus on improving your policies and process.

There are many tools that can help with the management of data. One tool that is especially helpful for data management while providing Internet access management is ContentProtect MDM. This tool provides the basic MDM functions to inventory, remotely lock, wipe and locate mobile devices and includes managed content filtering. You can learn more about this solution and other ways you can protect your devices and data by visiting http://contentwatch.com

The ideas expressed are opinions and suggestions. These ideas certainly are not an all-inclusive guide to data protection. If you have ideas or methods you have found to be useful please share them with others in the blog comments section. Ultimately, we just want to help keep our data safe and secure.

Common Sense Is Best Prevention for Online Scams

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 15:45:54 -0600

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) accepts complaints from Internet crime victims or from third parties to the victims. Each year they receive nearly 350,000 complaints. To put it in daily terms, 1000 people fall for online scams each day. $350 million accumulated dollars are stolen from victims’ each year. Although people are becoming more tech savvy, scammers are still winning.

Think about it from a scammer’s perspective: their main objective is to obtain all of your passwords, account numbers, and every other bit of personal information available. Most scammers don’t use hacking techniques. Instead, they use simple tricks such as fake emails, websites, links, and more. The fact that scammers typically use these menial tricks, means that that there are ways you can prevent theft yourself- the most popular method being common sense.

By using common sense you can defraud an email from your “bank.” A bank will never ask customers to send banking information and passwords via email. Actually, in most cases, official organizations will never ask to be sent a password. Use that tip to conclude that those types emails are scams.

The more difficult type of scam to detect is a link to an official-looking website. Scammers often replicate official websites similar to your bank’s website or favorite online store. Before giving any credit card or personal information, analyze the website. Make sure the URL is spelled correctly and verify with your bank before proceeding.

Scammers can only take as much as you give them. Slow down and use common sense when online. If a deal looks too good to be true, it is.

The following websites give tips for internet safety and how to block websites that may contain scams.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): Internet Fraud - Information on various investment scams.
ContentWatch - Software for companies that helps keep control and protect from malicious web content.
Looks Too Good to be True - A site administered by several federal agencies that educates consumers about scams and fraud.
Online Scams that Impersonate the IRS - This site describes how scammers claiming to work for the IRS con their victims.

Skip the Lunch, Buy an MDM

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:58:23 -0600

Losing an employee costs the company time and money. Even if the employee is replaced by someone just as good or better, the organization will have to spend precious time and resources interviewing and then training the employee.

A recent study by Deloitte, a professional services company, shows evidence that letting employees bring and use their own devices “BYOD”, can improve employee retention. The study also stated that around 83 percent of surveyed employees that had access to flexible IT policies at their place of employment said they were satisfied with their work.

Allowing a “BYOD” culture is a relatively cheap and easy way boost employee’s perception of their job. However, it does require some internal regulation or it could become a security and management liability. Mobile device management software or “MDM” is the best way to manage a “BYOD” culture while maintaining some security and order to which devices are being used and who is using them.

Enrolling devices into an MDM solution can be as simple as sending a text or email to the device. This message is simply asking the device owner to tap “install” and that’s it. An MDM solution can be quiet, non-intrusive, and relatively inexpensive, but the insurance it provides for a lost or stolen device that has a live connection to your MS Exchange Server, latest financial forecast spreadsheet or shared company DropBox account is invaluable.

For a small business the cost of an MDM solution could be the equivalent to buying lunch 3 times a year for the office. But the improved morale introduced by letting employees use the devices they like and own far outweighs the benefit of feeding them pizza and breadsticks.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions are my own.

Pornography in the Workplace

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:55:00 -0600

An Australian governmental body recently ruled that distributing hard-core pornography at work is grounds for dismissal, even if the employee hasn’t specifically been informed about such policies. According to them, knowing that distributing hard core pornography at work is unacceptable should be common sense.

We agree. Porn has no place in the workplace. It distracts from your real job and has the potential to offend your coworkers if they happen to see it. Additionally, you certainly shouldn’t send it to coworkers. It will distract them from their jobs and can get you in serious trouble for sexual harassment if they don’t want to see it.

The prevalence of NSFW (not safe for work) warnings on various websites should indicate that accessing sexually provocative content while at work is deemed inappropriate. This designation is not about moral preference. It’s about respect in and for professional, public settings. If you don’t know your company’s policy on pornography at work, it’s best to assume there are rules in place that discourage it.

Ultimately, you’re not being paid to look at pornography. You are being paid to work. So get to work.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions are my own.

Mitigating Workplace Stress

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:38:53 -0600

Stress is the singularly biggest reason for sickness absence in the workplace. It can affect people regardless of age, gender or job, be they manual laborers or high-powered directors.

As any employer will be aware, sickness absence doesn't just cost a business financially, it can have a knock-on effect that impacts morale, productivity and profits. That's why it's important for managers to take steps to mitigate stress in the workplace, before issues can escalate. Fortunately, there are many measures that can assist in this endeavour, some of which are detailed below:

Regular communication

One of the best ways to establish whether a direct report is under additional pressure is simply to talk to them. They might be reluctant to mention their concerns ordinarily, but in a one-to-one situation, they may feel more comfortable in opening up. Therefore, regular catch-ups are essential. Similarly, if changes are taking place within the organisation, ensure that your team is updated at every opportunity; not knowing and the resultant speculation can cause unnecessary anxiety.

Education

Many managers are still fearful of anything that constitutes a mental health issue and are thus reluctant to broach it. Similarly, individuals can feel ashamed or embarrassed, aware that there is still a stigma unnecessarily associated with their condition. Therefore, education is key. Training for managers will help them understand that mental health issues need to be discussed, will help them spot symptoms and give them the confidence to deal with any problems. Education can also help managers to create an open culture in which employees might feel more comfortable in bringing up any worries.

Provide counseling

Many companies, as one of their staff benefits, provide an employee assistance helpline, through which employees can speak to qualified experts confidentially. Others may provide private medical insurance which covers anxiety counseling. It's worth communicating these benefits to employees so that they know they can obtain guidance free of charge and in a timely manner.

Emphasise well-being

At a time when job security is low, many employees feel they have to put in all hours to prove their worth. If they are not physically in the office, thousands of others work late into the night, checking emails on their smartphones or tablets. Presenteeism, however, is not something that should be encouraged. Employees all need regular breaks and to rest sufficiently. Manager, therefore, should prompt them to switch off and stop working, to improve well-being. The introduction of other initiatives, such as healthier foods in the canteen, walking clubs and other schemes that emphasize health could help reduce stress.

Flexible working

Allowing employees to choose their hours or work location can dramatically cut anxiety levels. Not having to endure a stressful commute, nor have to pay out so much in fares or fuel is a big relief. Working at home can mean that some individuals can better balance their caring responsibilities, perhaps working later into the evening. Such measures also foster loyalty and retention, while providing great PR for the business.

We all get a little stressed from time to time, but knowing how to recognize the symptoms and address them early can certainly save much anxiety in the long run.

Need for Content Filtering at Work?

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:50:01 -0700

I have heard dozens of opinions about the need, or lack thereof, for content filtering in the workplace. Some employers say, "We are all adults here," and, "We expect our employees to exercise restraint while in the work place." I have actually talked to company CEOs that have said, "As long as they have their office door closed, we don't care what they do on the Internet."

But I have also heard employers say things such as, "While employees are on the clock, we only want them to access the content and websites that we approve," and, "Because the employee is using company-paid services and hardware to access Internet content, we will control, monitor and limit its usage." There are many organizations that choose to fully block access to any website or content that is not specific to an employee's job functions.

When considering the need for content filtering in the work place, here are some facts to consider.

Fact 1: Most employees have admitted to spending at least 2-3 hours per day for personal internet use.

International Data Corp. estimates that 30% to 40% of employee Internet use isn't work-related.
During the holidays, average employees spend over 10 hours a week shopping on the Internet.
According to Nielsen/Net Ratings, 92% of online stock trading occurs from the workplace during work hours.
Of 13 billion URLs used by businesses in the first quarter of 2010, 6.8% of all business Internet traffic went to Facebook.

Do we really want to pay employees to work 40 hours a week if they are really only working for 25 hours and then spending the rest of the time surfing Facebook or emailing their friends? Do we really want to pay employees to shop for Christmas presents, or do online trading instead of their job responsibilities? Let's think about that rationally.

We could theoretically lay off 25% of the work force, implement some Internet controls, and get the same amount of work done. That's an extreme example, but using some type of Internet protection is easily justified by the obvious financial benefit of controlling time spent online and what employees are accessing. As an employer, it is easy to forget that the Internet is a tool to help our organizations be more effective, not an employee “right" to communicate or be entertained.

I recently helped an organization implement a content filtering solution on their computers. They configured the solution to "monitor only," and didn't block any content. Instead they showed their organization that their Internet traffic was being monitored and that they could see what was being accessed. After a 2-week period, company productivity increased by 30%.

Even if you are not concerned about the type of content that your users are viewing, you should be concerned about the productivity of your employees. We don't pay for an internet connection so employees can "stay in touch" or "buy their family nice Christmas gifts". We pay employees to work for our organization for the full 8 hours, not 5 1/2 while surfing the web.

Fact 2: 20% of employees admit to daily viewing of pornography while at work.

The average cost of a sexual harassment case filed against a company in the United States is $275,000.
The latest Nielsen survey on porn at work shows that 21 million Americans accessed pornography from their work computers in March 2011. That's 29% of the total workforce.
Pornography makes up 37% of the total content on the Internet

I spent some time looking for sexual harassment lawsuits that were filed based on an employee being exposed to pornography by another employee. I was unable to find a case where the company was NOT found at fault.

Think about it from a pure business sense. Is your organization willing to take the risk of a lawsuit, just so you can treat everyone “like a grown-up”?

Even if you don't have a moral issue with pornography, the courts will still expect you to pay the fees for the sexual harassment case.

A combination of monitoring frivolous and time-wasting Internet traffic and blocking the content we absolutely do not want is the perfect middle ground to managing employee Internet usage. But in the end it still requires content filtering for the workplace.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

Which Android Apps Are Safe?

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 16:29:07 -0700

I have always heard stories about new Android security issues, but to be honest, I usually ignore them and chalk them up to “some guy installed a random rogue app and it stole his contact list.” Typically, my philosophy has been just don’t install random apps or apps from non-reputable sources, and you don’t have anything to worry about, but I have recently found out that many Android exploits, which take advantage of security flaws, can also be found in popular or well-known apps available from legitimate marketplaces.

In a recent study, researchers inspected 13,500 popular Android apps downloaded directly from Google Play. They discovered “security vulnerabilities related to transport layer security (TSL) and secure sockets layer (SSL)” in 8 percent of the tested apps. For those of us who don’t speak geek, this means that regular apps from reputable sources and publishers can also be infected and exploited.

The detected vulnerabilities could enable hackers to launch a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack, which means that a “bad” application can get access to the network data and intercept sensitive information like login credentials and banking information.

Some IT staff at midsize businesses use mobile device management (MDM) software to control what apps workers can download or access in an attempt to stop their users from installing these bad apps.

The bad news, however, from the study is that even Android apps that appear safe could still be susceptible to these MITM exploits. The researchers, for example, discovered an antivirus application—one with over 1 million installs— that contains this or a similar exploit.

The problem is not to be blamed entirely on the Android OS; much of the blame can be placed on the actual app developers. Many of these vulnerabilities come from incorrect programming methods or lack of understanding when it comes to things like SSL/HTTPS and other network encryption protocols.

Regardless of who causes the problem, it is the consumers, small businesses, and organizations that are installing and using these apps that are at risk of losing confidential or personal data.

Google claims to have plans for an “app scanning” technology that will verify that specific security standards are implemented on apps distributed in the Google Play Marketplace; however, right now no one knows when or if that technology will really emerge.

Android is still getting its arm around this whole security thing, and until it is under control, I suggest that IT departments should consider limiting access to Google Play and other app stores on Android devices, and allow their users to run only pre-approved and authorized apps.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

Millennials & Their Effect on Technology Departments

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:38:33 -0600

There are 80 million Millennials in the United States. Millennials (Generation Y) are people who were born between the early ‘80s and early 2000s. They use digital technologies to an increased degree, utilize many forms of communication, and access many forms of media regularly.

Because of the prevalence of technology in their life, some of their priorities and ideas about employment might come as a shock. (Source: Cymphonix)

50% would rather have no job than a job they hate.
Millennials want a social and enjoyable environment, flexible hours, and less governance.
Almost 50% of Millennials would rather give up their sense of smell over an item of technology.
1 out of 3 would prioritize social media freedom, device flexibility and work mobility over their paycheck.
2 out of 5 would accept a lower-paying job with more flexibility on device choice, social media and mobility over a higher-paying job with less flexibility.
64% of college students said they will ask potential employers about social media policies.
1 in 4 college students said social media policies would be a key factor in deciding whether to accept a job offer.

Why is this important to know? Well, by 2014, 36% of the U.S. workforce will be composed of Millennials and that number will rise to 46% by 2020.

There are many workplace risks associated with the technology habits of Millennials. If they use their own devices for work, employers may risk losing sensitive data and have to pay more to enforce company policies. If there is even a little bit of freedom to use social media, cyber slacking can get out of hand very quickly. There are obvious objections to the demands Millennials are prepared to make, but employers may have to adjust traditional policies if they expect to hire skilled workers. Sacrifices will have to be made on both ends for any sort of compromise to be reached.

What do you think of the Millennial mindset?

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

The Benefits of a Selective Wipe

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:07:53 -0600

A growing trend, if you haven't heard of it before, is bringing your own device (BYOD). Employees are utilizing their personal devices in the workplace to add convenience in task completion. Working away from the office is much easier if you're on board with BYOD.

However, this means companies are required to manage these on-the-go devices. Everything, from confidential e-mails to crucial spreadsheets, is saved on devices that roam every day. Studies show that every 16 months on average, employees will lose or have their devices stolen or they will leave their employer. Because of these regular occurrences, it is essential for IT employees to be able to do a wipe of the device; a complete removal of data, leaving no traces of company data for others to see.

So what is a selective wipe? “Deleting corporate resources from the device and removing access to corporate resources without doing a full factory reset from the Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution….” When one simply wants to remove corporate data but keep personal data and settings intact, it gets tricky if a MDM solution is not in place. Consider installing a MDM solution so that your IT can better micromanage all the devices that contain company data.

To read more on Selective Wipes, read this article by Landesk.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

Workplace Productivity (No, it's Not an Oxymoron)

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:07:53 -0600

For a company to thrive, employees must be efficient and productive. What are some ways to ensure this?

Accountability. As an employer, emphasize work. Help employees see they are responsible for their actions.

Avoid micromanagement. It's natural to want to micromanage; but try to avoid it. Freedom given to employees allows for growth and better results. Employees feel more important and independent when allowed to do tasks their way.

Give compliments and rewards. Employers should compliment employees often, when appropriate. People like to feel needed. When a job is completed with praiseworthy results, don't refrain from giving praise. Praise can motivate employees to strive for similar successes.

Demand reachable targets. Goals that make you stretch are important. Employers should be realistic and set goals that are achievable.

Help build teams. When employees work in teams to complete projects, monitor to see that team members develop good relationships. When team members trust each other, an environment of good ideas and healthy hard work ensues.

Happy workers=productivity. It's true that when employees are happy, they work better. If employees aren't bored and enjoy their work, they will naturally be driven to work harder and to be more productive. If an employee is unsatisfied, s/he will look for better job opportunities.

Hold fewer unorganized meetings. If meetings are unorganized, they are usually pointless. Of course, most employees enjoy the allotted break that comes from them. When you hold meetings, be sure that they are necessary and planned. Forgo unnecessary meetings.

Source of concept: http://tweakyourbiz.com/growth/2010/10/07/12-ways-to-improve-productivity-at-the-workplace/

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:45:52 -0600

How many hours a day do you spend surfing the net or engaging in social network activities while at work? Salary.com surveyed 3,200 workers to find out what people really do when at work.

In the survey, 64 percent said they visit non-work related websites every day during work hours. Of that 64 percent, 39 percent spend one hour or less per week, 29 percent spend 2 hours a week, 21 percent waste 5 hours per week, and only 3 percent said they waste 10 hours or more doing unrelated things.

What sites are keeping workers off-task and unproductive? 41 percent socialize on Facebook and 37 percent use LinkedIn.

It seems that time wasting is inevitable and standard at any workplace. But what are the reasons for it?

Those surveyed expressed the reasons they waste time at work: 1- they don't feel challenged enough in their job, 2- they feel the hours they work are too long, 3- the company doesn't give incentives to work harder, 4- they are unsatisfied with their career, or 5- they're just bored.

These reasons explain why 46 percent of workers look for a new job while at their current place of employment.

Although the temptation to web surf is strong, it isn't the only means by which workers waste time. Meetings, co-workers, and fixing others' mistakes are just some of the issues that cause employees to be less productive.

What should companies do to prevent time-wasting? One answer would be to implement a Web filtering tool on company computers. With that, the IT dept. can block web sites not related to work activities.

But those surveyed said even when companies block personal websites, they find ways to access them via personal devices. So, would filters really be efficient?

Salary.com asks “is it really a waste?” Out of the 3,200 surveyed, 71 percent said the short breaks throughout the day help them be more productive.

What can your company do to boost productivity and keep employees satisfied?

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

5 BYOD Revelations You Should Know About

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:25:47 -0700

The mass of research on BYOD (bring your own device) is rightly done. It has hit offices in a global way. But popularity doesn't always mean effective. Should all companies implement this idea to increase productivity? If you are contemplating a BYOD policy for the mobile devices in your company, consider this info from Heather Clancy at smartplanet.com (who cites the findings of Forrester Research).

The Personal vs. Professional Line Is Blurry. Forrester says that 14% of mobile and personal computer devices are used ONLY for professional purposes. That means 60% of devices are used for personal and professional.

Personal Device + 2. For more than half of information workers, using three different devices for work is normal and a no-brainer.

Where is Microsoft? Microsoft is slipping in terms of operating system software-use. One-third of functioning mobile devices do not use Microsoft software. "Forrester predicts that Microsoft's share of mobile devices will slip below 50 percent by 2016."

Bring Your Own Favorite Device. The survey revealed that "one-quarter of the devices were not 'conventional' personal computers". That means that to BYOD does not mean you must conform to the norm. The IT team can test out new concepts.

Back Us Up. With all the hype of BYOD, only 6% of North American and European companies have promoted programs for it. Shockingly, that statistic was only 3% in 2010.

Clancy says, "All of the above will absolutely rewrite the rules of IT spending priorities during the next five years, so it probably is a good idea to reassess whether that budget is being dedicated."

The good news is that BYOD can help your employees be more productive and absolve you from hardware upgrades. But you may need to consider "putting a lot more money of [your] technology budget into updating, securing and setting access policies for all of these 'unmanaged' devices, in order to protect valuable intellectual property [assets] and confidential customer data."

What Not To Do & What To Do when you BYOD

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:19:04 -0700

At organizations around the world, the BYOD (bring your own "mobile" device) trend is here to stay. If you have to abide by a policy, you should know a few do's and don'ts that pertain to personal device use at work. Matt Scott from ComputerWeekly has come up with his own personal list. I like it!

Don't keep adult content on your phone. This helps avoid any sexual harassment cases that could arise. It also is degrading and not appropriate in an office setting.
Don't download too many apps. Do yourself a favor and keep temptations away. Avoid having distractions like apps to deter you from working efficiently and effectively all day.
Don't have an offensive ringtone. If your boss was in the room as your phone went off, would you be embarrassed by the ringtone? Although expressing personality is usually encouraged, be more conservative in the workplace with ringtones. Not everyone likes 50 Cent or Shania Twain blasting as you receive a phone call.
Don't have notifications turned on. A constant vibrating sound due to text messages or Facebook notifications can get annoying after a while. Be courteous and keep it quiet.
Don't save sensitive data. Although you never plan on losing your device, it can happen. The company won't have to fire you if it happens as long as you plan ahead. Keep confidential information from leaking by deleting files as necessary. Consider installing software that allows you to remotely access your device.
Don't show off your latest technology purchases. As much as you might enjoy your new device's accessories, please refrain from flashing it around the office. Keep your friends you've made at work.

The don'ts seem to outweigh the do's are important for your efficiency too.

Do take advantage of collaborative apps. Many applications that make work easier are available at your fingertips.
Do make use of the portability of devices. In the past, not going in to the office meant you couldn't do any work. But now, with the ability to work remotely, you can accomplish just as much as you would in the office. Be creative and use your time wisely to accomplish as much as you can while not in the office!
Do use your smartphone as a Wi-Fi spot. This adds much convenience to an office in need of Internet connection.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

Government Agencies are Forced into BYOD and MDM

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:23:19 -0700

BYOD (bring your own device) is rising in popularity and has government agencies on alert. First, the increase in use of smartphones and tablets by employees in all types of organizations is causing new support challenges for IT. This issue, coupled with limited IT budgets not allowing for internal mobile device purchases or upgrades, is only going to cause an increase in BYOD.

“Mobility is the ‘new normal' for Federal employees. It is no longer a nice-to-have capability, says Neal Campbell, senior vice president of CDW.

According to an article in FierceCIO, "the vast majority [of agencies] have deployed mobile data security policies and training, and most also use mobile encryption. Fewer than half use remote wipe, automatic software updating or data loss prevention software, however."

As government agencies research BYOD further, they are discovering which features would best benefit agencies and organizations.

According to a CDW-G Federal Mobility Report: "Best practices that could benefit organizations facing BYOD challenges include setting up a usage policy, evaluating MDM [mobile device management] needs, making sure tools meet security goals and including personal devices in the agency's mobile device strategy."

These concepts are useful for any company attempting to incorporate BYOD into business process. MDM is going to be around for a long time.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

Malware Blockers Won't Ever Work the Way You Want Them To

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:04:46 -0700

Last week I spoke at a community event, educating 200+ parents on the dangers of the Internet, the ways teens may circumvent parental controls, and what parents can do to help maximize Internet protection in the home. It was time for Q/A when one parent rose her hand to ask, “How can I know if my child is looking at pornography?” I gave my response, which related to child behavior and the signs of addiction, but another parent chimed in to offer another clue: the amount of malware or viruses found on the computer. If the computer is constantly infected by viruses or malware, he explained, it's probably because someone in the house is visiting malware-hotbeds, which often take the form of porn websites.

Your company may or may not have a strict anti-pornography policy in place; however, online porn is not the only source of malware on the Internet. If you are continually removing viruses and malware from an employee's computer, chances are s/he is spending time on sites that don't relate to his/her job function. Of course, email can be the malware interstate, delivering unwanted packages with an innocent click of the mouse, but so can Instant Messaging, chatting, and peer-to-peer file sharing.

The point is viruses and malware are simply a symptom of bigger issues: productivity losses, motivation levels, work ethics, and/or ethics in general. What company's need more than the latest malware protection are clearly stated Internet usage policies and an infrastructure to support that policy. Online activity policies should easily fall into place when reflecting on company culture and values. Using company culture and values as a guide to improve Internet etiquette will avoid major surprises, including implementing third party tools such as Internet filters and content management software. Keep in mind, however, that tools will not solve your malware-woes, people will. The tools are meant to provide real-time visibility and control to support better business operations. It's support from the top, consistent messaging to all, and policy follow-through that will make the biggest changes.

It's nothing more than a simple solution to an obvious question.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

BYOD Survey

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:17:13 -0700

Via smart phones, mobile sites, business applications and more, the consumerization of IT continues to impact the way employees use technology at work. Many organizations are shifting away from company-issued devices and adopting BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies, which allow employees to use the mobile technology they're most familiar with. There's a lot of buzz around the benefits of BYOD in an increasingly mobile workforce, but little discussion around the policies needed to establish rules and guidelines for usage.

Software Advice is gathering information on a survey about "bring your own device" policies at growing businesses, and would like your input! You can take the BYOD survey and find out the results in March.

Can you Stay Safe Using Wi-Fi?

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:42:12 -0700

I'm a dying breed. This President's Day while shopping, I considered upgrading to a smartphone, but chose not to. I may be one of the last who still uses a standard cell phone. We, who choose to remain smartphone-free, do not have to deal with issues such as expensive data plans or malware or rogue apps or cell phone hackers.

For the majority of the population, the concept of getting hacked is becoming a bigger issue. Hackers target smartphones because they're everywhere. Hackers can potentially invade your device and steal your personal data.

In this world of smartphones and Wi-Fi hot spots, how do you protect your device from hackers?

Here are 5 practical tips.

Use good judgment: Simple right? You can never be too safe while using open Internet connections. As you browse, be cautious as to what you click on.
If something seems too good to be true, it is. If an ad seems suspicious, don't click on it. This is Internet browsing 101.
Create strong passwords: Most frequently-accessed websites require a username and password. As you create these passwords, make them difficult to second-guess. You don't want even a family member or close friend to guess what they are. Most people use birthdays, street addresses, or phone numbers to create these passwords. That kind of information is easily hacked. A good password uses special characters, numbers and letters, and even capitalization. Be creative.
Be a multiple password user: Once you have a strong password, create more! The tendency to use the same password for all websites is common. If hackers ever got that password, they'd have access to everything.
Go to popular, respected websites: Only use respectable websites with a good reputation. They will have better protection against hidden viruses and malware. Consider installing an Internet filter, such as Net Nanny, that will block potentially harmful websites.
Don't use open access Wi-Fi hotspots: As enticing as free Internet may be, think twice before using it. Hackers lurk around free hotspots waiting to invade. Consider postponing your sensitive online activities such as banking until a secure internet connection is available.

http://www.globaltoronto.com/internet+safety/6442586702/story.html

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

Protect Your Smartphone Right Before it's Stolen

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:03:27 -0700

In the time it takes you to read this, two laptops will have been stolen. Maybe more if you read slowly. As much as we'd like to discuss crime rates, there's not much we can do when our devices are stolen. We can file a police report, hope for the best, and cringe knowing that the thief now has access to all of our valuable data, right? No. We can do more.

According to Kensington Computer Products Group, the amount lost as a result of a laptop theft is $49,000 on the average. And the device cost is only 3 percent of that total. Up to 80 percent is comprised of data loss.

Laptops are not the only coveted items. Smartphones are also a must-have. Only 7 percent of stolen smartphones are ever recovered. That fact means that your data

What's so bad about BYOD?

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:59:04 -0700

These days, if you don't know what BYOD stands for, you've just never seen the acronym. Companies around the world are implementing this long-term, "cost reduction" plan. In essence, it's happening as your employees bring their own mobile devices to use at work. If you are not seeing the challenges, your IT guys do.

There are two major challenges that surface as companies allow BYOD. First is the lack of complying with BYOD policies. When you allow personal devices to be used at work, you lose control of the content accessed and time spent unproductively by employees. Employees even admit to not following the rules at work. Second, employees store sensitive, company information on their devices. This fact poses a threat of leakage of your confidential information.

Solutions to these challenges are presented by Rieva Lesonsky in a Huffington Post article about BYOD at this link.

Rieva suggests creating and emphasizing a comprehensive, individualized BYOD policy for your company. Be emphatic when implementing said policy and spend time developing it. Spend a little money to fund the project so it becomes effective policy.

If your company has a BYOD program, invest in it! It may take some thought and a little funding, but these types of precautions help avoid the pushback, lashback, and eventual death of a policy.

Police Pornography Viewing

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:49:56 -0700

Are your employees productive in the workplace? A police chief in Vancouver, Canada discovered that even in his own police department he had to raise this question.

During an unrelated internal investigation, 14 officers in the Vancouver PD were viewing and exchanging pornographic material. The issue is not just that they were looking at legal pornography in the workplace and wasting time, the consequences are more severe than that.

There had also been an issue in the department with sexual harassment during an investigation of a missing women. These discoveries question the type of culture present among these police officers. Certainly, it can cause a loss of trust from the community. The lack of control over the officers will cause the police department's reputation to take a hit.

These issues can easily be solved by putting restrictions and tools in place to control what your employees can and cannot access while on the job. Protect your company's good reputation.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

The Fine Art of Successful Sales Interviews

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:11:58 -0700

A job interview is a tense interpersonal engagement. The relationship is really an atypical situation but the stakes are quite high. Even the most polished sales folks don’t get much practice being interviewed. But, when the time comes, job seekers put on their best clothes and brightest smiles and hope to impress.

As an interviewer, your goal is to extract as much valuable information out a brief encounter and stake your interview skills on the new-hire’s success. The hiring decision packs a financial wallop if made well, or similarly if made poorly.

The best approach to a job interview with sales personnel is to get a vision of past sales success. If you ask any job seeker what she “would do” in a given scenario, she will tell you what you want to hear. However, if you ask detailed questions about past sales from prospect-to-contract stage, you get a good feeling for a salesperson’s prospecting skills, how they approach and work with customers, what type ofrelationships are built, and how they deal with pricing pressure, among other things.

You can get a good sense for a person’s sales skill set and how success is achieved by asking many questions about what she’s done, not about what she’ll do. Most people repeat behavior, over and over again. Get the job seeker to paint a clear picture of their behavior. That picture is worth a thousand interview words. Then, get professional references from past customers and call them all.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

Considerations for a Successful Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Roll-Out

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:58:17 -0700

Many companies are feeling the effects of employees bringing their own mobile devices to work. Employees are hoping or expecting to have the IT department help set-up or solve problems, configure email, connect to Wi-Fi, and much more.

The following are some considerations when adopting a BYOD policy. These suggestions are considerations that will apply to most companies.

First, not all employees care about or use a smartphone. I discovered this when polling our employees about their mobile device usage. If your company moves to a policy of paying for employee phones, some employees will be glad to have anything with a battery and screen. Others will be excited if you simply reimburse for the cool phone they already purchased. Still others will be leery about "big brother" checking their usage and calls will feel suspicious. Plan for all types of reactions.

Next, don't try to support every smartphone and tablet on the planet. Just like PCs and printers, your IT department needs to test and support a short list of devices. It's too difficult and complicated to support any and all devices. Remember lessons learned from the past in support laptops and desktops. Also, you need to consider which devices are needed - by department - and get ready for employees who think they deserve more/better devices.

Get ready for the "data plan" challenge. The pay-as-you go data plans can get very costly if some employees freely browse and download audio and video all day long. Establish maximum use policies in those cases. For the "all you can eat" data plans, your costs will be fixed but you should consider productivity and liability of the employee.

Paying taxes? The good news for employees is that the Fringe Benefit Tax Guide says employee-owned devices with occasional personal use don't require reporting as taxable income. The IRS also issued guidelines in Sept. 2011 that employee reimbursements for personal cell phone plans are not taxable if there is a valid business reason.

With respect to privacy, be prepared to create and then enforce privacy and liability policies on employee use of company-provided mobile devices. The Supreme Court determined that employees have "no right to privacy" on a company-provided device. Be certain that employees know what you will have access to read their mail, texts, and documents.

And, you should consider a policy for appropriate use of media, including images and video. For example, use of child pornography can have liability ramifications for example. Use of other images can create a hostile work environment if, for example, an employee is exposed to pornography on other employee's device.

Will you provide unlimited texting as well? Will you allow company-provided mobile devices to be used while an employee is driving a company vehicle? Unless your organization can show that you enforce such policies, you will likely be liable for mobile device-related accidents.

Consider the issue of transferring phone numbers and the associated phone number ownership. If an employee transfers a personal number to the company, will you allow it to be transferred back in the event an employee leaves? And, are you ok with transferring a company-provided phone number to an employee when he leaves the company? Establish policies in advance and have employees sign off on their understanding of said policies.

International travelers bring their own series of issues. If someone travels outside the country, data usage, text messaging and phone calls can rack up exorbitant costs. Those employees must be aware of the challenges and held accountable for costs that will get into the range of thousands of dollars for a few days out of country.

Follow-up with IT on the types and frequency of help desk incidents related to mobile device support. Get ready for the challenges and demands. For example, is IT spending time training on how to use the device? Should IT drop everything when a C-level exec brings in a new iPad purchased at Christmas who wants email and Wi-Fi access? How many times will you re-set passwords? What is the course of action for a lost/stolen device?

This list isn't exhaustive. You'll find your own set of challenges. BYOD is here to stay. There are mobile device management (MDM) solutions on the market today that can help organizations of all sizes to manage device usage. Your IT will need the help.

When Targeting a New Customer Base, Avoid “dabble”

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:01:55 -0700

To achieve optimal sales results when segmenting and targeting a new customer base, it’s extremely important to make an appropriate level of literal and perceived investment. Many times, businesses operate with a minimalist approach when expanding into new markets. In practice, it’s an approach where you ‘dip your toe into the pool’ to gauge the market temperature. It is manifested through a scarce investment in time, people, or resources. Many companies assign few resources to manage a new targetmarket, to recruit partners, and to find customers. They react to market inquiries and interest.

Business partners and alliances, as well as customers, put more value in a long-term commitment to the market segment. The perception that your company is non-committed will impact results. Say no to the dabble approach.

Partners and customers react in a lackluster way to a perceived lack of market attention, lack of support, or a perceived one-sided partnership. Dabbling is a worst case scenario if your goal is to engender trust and confidence. The most important consequence of dabbling is that customers and partners may reciprocate the lack of interest.

You can find ways to make the investment appear more strategic and the market will react. Plan the attack and invest appropriately for best results. Perception is reality.

Standing Up for Mobile Security

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:46:54 -0700

I recently read an article about Chris DiBona, the Google Open Source Program Manager, unleashing a complete rant about the lack of a need for an Anti-Virus program for Android and iOS. The Manager went as far as calling companies pushing this technology “Charlatans and Scammers”.

Finally! I am ecstatic that someone more reputable and with more clout than I is finally speaking up. I am in 100% agreement with his comments. Of course, I would have used different names than Charlatans and Scammers, but his point is completely valid.

Have you ever noticed that most of the “the sky is falling” and “you better buy an Anti-Virus program from your smart phone” messaging is coming from the companies that stand to make money by your purchase? Talk about creating your own supply and demand chain.

Let me start by sharing a quote from a very well known virus company.

Quote: “It's also worth noting that "viruses" don't exist on the Android to date”.

So wait, you are willing to take my money and market fear and urgency to me for a threat that does not “yet” exist? I don’t know if I really get a warm fuzzy feeling about this.

Let me be very clear, I am not saying “there are no threats to data loss or privacy on mobile devices”. I agree that there are many “malicious” or “shady” applications found on the Google Market, and even in ITunes that will steal your information, spy on you, incur data or voice charges, etc. But calling these applications “viruses” is a serious misnomer and is just a ploy by the “Scammers and Charlatans” to get your money.

These rogue/shady application do not “infect” your device, these applications don’t “magically” appear on your phone by opening an infected attachment or visiting a malicious website. These applications only get on your device by “you” the owner of the device selecting to download and install them. If a user does not choose to download and install these apps they will never get on their phone.

This takes me back to a blog post I wrote 8 months ago. The point of the post was that mobile devices need an Application Manager and controls, much more than they will ever need a Virus Scanner. I encourage you to take a look at it.

I submit that there are 3 really easy things you can do to make sure you don’t ever install a “bad app”

Read the reviews of the app you are about to install. Use common sense if there are only a few reviews of the app or if it seems questionable or shady, it’s likely that it is. There is no one requiring you to be the Guinea Pig to try out the new app on the market. Wait a couple days for some reviews and feedback. Google and Apple are working hard to pull apps off their markets and if it really is legit it will stand the test of time.
Don’t get apps from shady places. I know, it is fun to have the random app that no one else has. I know you may feel that it makes you more desirable to the opposite sex if you have downloaded the “crazy cutting edge app” from a random 3rd party site or market. But the truth is, it’s just not worth it. Most of the bad apps come from non-reputable sites and markets. Just stick with mainstream and you are likely to be safer.
Get a good application manager that can identify bad apps, and control the installation and use of applications. The truth is that this technology is still emerging and you may have to wait a little while before you can really get a good solution for this. I know that ContentWatch is releasing a good solution for this very soon, and I suggest checking the site regularly for updates on this technology.

My suggestion is don’t run out and drop money on an AV solution that is really just taking up space on your SD card and sucking your battery life, wait for a real solution that really protects what you need protected. In the meantime hang onto your money and just avoid installing the random “see hot videos app” that was posted online by a random developer from Taiwan 5 minutes ago and you will probably be OK.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

Many Young Workers Admit to Breaking IT Rules

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:33:03 -0700

According to a recent Cisco Connected World Technology Report, 70% of young employees and college students are aware of IT policies at work but admit to breaking the rules with regularity.

What?! I can hear my IT guy starting to rant in the background.

Hold on…to give the "kids" credit, the same study said that most common reason (33%) for rule-breaking is that the younger employees don't know they are doing anything wrong. And, let's face it, we're human and can't always read the manual. And the study also said that 15% of the time, it was a matter of forgetting about the policy.

For these two reasons, boundaries and IT policies need to be established and enforced. To be efficient and productive, IT guys must set boundaries, which in turn, help train younger folks or new hires about rules. Rules are needed to conduct business efficiently, to reduce help desk incidents, to keep costs down, and to keep data safe.

On the other hand, the Cisco study said that lack of enforcement (15%) and the inconvenience of adhering to policies (16%) are also contributors to the IT rule breaking. Now, I can imagine my IT guy getting pretty steamed. I've got to remind him that people are inherently good (at least that's what the study showed).

The trend toward BYOD or bring your own mobile device to work is only making this problem worse. Give the IT guy the tools he needs and then get out of the way.

Is Your Doctor distracted by his iPad?

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 12:02:00 -0700

Smartphones and tablets can be hazardous to your health. Consider that truck drivers and cabbies, police officers and road construction workers, and doctors and nurses like Facebook, texting, and Angry Birds just as much as you. And they do these things while at work, just like you.

iPads and Android tablets give physicians access to important data and many hospitals have invested to encourage data-driven decisions. But the challenge exists to keep doctors focused on the task at hand.

Hospitals are learning that tech can be distracting. The following info is mostly anecdotal, I mean, who's going to admit to this stuff. According toMatt Richtel at The New York Times, there was "the nurse who perused airfares while in surgery and the neurosurgeon who placed personal phone calls in the middle of an operation."

A recent survey showed that among technicians who operate cardio-pulmonary bypass machines, 55 percent admit to talking on cell phones during heart surgery, while 55 percent admit to sending text messages during the procedure.

Organizations need to manage mobile device use, especially when lives are at stake. At the same time, productivity is always at stake. Most organizations could use more productivity versus less. Mobile Device Management (MDM) tools are readily available to help organizations manage this tech-distraction challenge.

Source of stats: FierceCIO, December 16, 2011

BYOD Has Its Risks

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:10:17 -0700

It's a fact. Most IT Departments let anyone "bring their own device" or BYOD to work. It started with the C-level group using iPhones. Then, Android Phones became prevalent, powerful, and cheap. And, iPads and Android tabs are gaining momentum, either replacing a laptop or being used in addition to it.

Everybody's got a cool smart phone or tablet now and the ratio of these devices to PCs is going upside down. In fact, one of the IBM creators of the first PC was quoted recently as saying “the PC is essentially dead, going the way of the typewriter and incandescent light bulbs. (Source: “With Spinoff, HP Looks Like IBM in 2005, Wall Street Journal, Aug 19, 2011).

The problem is that IT can't keep up with the cost of ongoing phone upgrades, increasing data costs, provisioning of duplicate devices for employees, data security risks and, more importantly, with the day-to-day management of these additional phones and tablets. The tools to manage en masse are not here yet.

One glaring security challenge for IT is this… 82% of Small-Medium Businesses (SMBs) and 66% of large enterprises allow non-IT managed devices to access corporate resources. (Source: iPass Mobile Enterprise Report.) That fact means your company data is at risk of loss.

Other security risks for mobile devices include malware and malicious apps. Malware can infect your phone when you visit infected web sites -- which lead to data loss. Malicious apps can undermine other services on your phone, for example, to run up your text messaging count or costs.

Mobile viruses are not prevalent today due to the nature of mobile operating systems (the OS is very closed in the case of iOS and very open in the case of Android).

As time goes on, solutions for mobile protection and management will evolve and mature, to keep up with demand. The mobile security market is estimated to be in the multi-billion range and that means things are going to get exciting and tools are going to be here soon.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

.XXX Domain Names Go on Sale!

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:52:37 -0700

After years of rejecting its applications, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) decided to give the adult entertainment industry the .xxx top-level domain, a move that results in the establishment of a virtual red-light district on the Web. This week, the sale began.

Today, most web site names end in .com, .net, .org, .gov, or .edu. The implication of this proposed change is that an adult content / pornographic web site will have the option of using the .xxx domain name. At first glance, this would seem to make it easier for parents or parental controls software vendors to monitor and protect children and teens from objectionable sites.

In reality, this change would potentially make it very easy for a curious child to quickly get into trouble. I envision children getting immediate access to X-rated materials by innocently typing in almost any word with a .xxx name. Exposure to such images is not quickly forgotten or erased from a young memory.

Knowing how well-funded corrupt businesses operate, I expect pornographers to co-locate their content on existing .comdomains and also on the new .xxx domain, thus increasing the prevalence of pornography sites. Pornographers won’t likely voluntary give up their successful .com addresses to locate solely on the .xxx domain. As a result, pornography content will be more pervasive.

As the owner of a few reputable web sites, I have considered what will happen when .xxx domains go on sale and reputablecompanies are a bit slow to purchase their .xxx domain name to simply protect them. Our company will jump to buy www.netnanny.xxx to avoid the trouble a pornographer can wreak if they do any URL spoofing based on our brand name.

The other overriding challenge is that there is no real legal regulation, in practice. Indeed, Internet pornography is hardcore obscenity and it is illegal. But it is so ubiquitous, it is not usually prosecuted.

It’s not likely that Congress would be able to pass a law requiring pornographers to conform to the .xxx domain. And even if passed, such as law would be relatively unenforced in federal court, if the past is an indicator of the future. Historically, efforts by Congress to regulate smut on the Internet have not been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In short, as .xxx domains go on sale, we will see an increase in the pervasiveness of pornography and its accessibility. Ironically, the Internet is used for so many good things too.

Mobile Antivirus: Don't Believe the Hype

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:45:26 -0700

A few months ago I wrote a blog about the need, or lack thereof, for an Antivirus solution for Android and iOS and that users should instead search for a good Application Manager. You can read this post here if you like.

Today, I am ecstatic that someone more reputable and with more clout than I is finally speaking up. Chris DiBona the Google Open Source Program Manager, unleashing a complete rant about the lack of a need for an Anti-Virus program for Android and iOS. The Manager went as far as calling companies pushing this technology, “Charlatans and Scammers. You can read his comments here.

Let me be very clear. I am not saying, “There are no threats to data loss or privacy on mobile devices. I agree that there are many malicious or shady applications found on the Google Market, and even in iTunes that will steal your information, spy on you, incur data or voice charges, etc. But calling these applications “viruses is a serious misnomer and is just a ploy by the “Scammers and Charlatans to get your money.

These rogue/shady applications do not infect your device; these applications don’t “magically appear on your phone by opening an infected attachment or visiting a malicious website; these applications only get on your device by you, the owner of the device, selecting to download and install them. If a user does not choose to download and install these apps, they will never get on their phone.

My suggestion: Don’t run out and drop money on an anti-virus solution that is really just taking up space on your SD card and sucking your battery life

The City of Boston tackles the BYOD Trend

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:53:57 -0700

Many organizations, large and small, are struggling with the BYOD issue. BYOD stands for "bring your own device" and refers to employees providing and using their own smartphones or tablets while at work.

There are a variety of challenges related to BYOD, including employee productivity loss, organization data and security risks, as well as liability issues, and more. In the case of the City of Boston and the Boston Police Department, the related BYOD issues are no different than a private sector organization.

The City of Boston is taking a proactive approach to the BYOD trend by working to leverage smartphone technology for internal and customer-related purposes. One goal is to improve efficiency rather than be dragged down by employee productivity loss.

The CIO for the city of Boston, Donald Denning, believed that his organization needed to innovate. He believed smartphones "are a force multiplier."

The City of Boston and the Boston Police Department use smartphones for email and calendaring but both plan to establish formal policies for mobile device use. Meanwhile, some police detectives are using contact management apps to track investigation contacts, including photos. Another group is looking at leveraging the existing records management system to interact with mobile apps.

For citizens, they developed an Android and iPhone app called "Citizen's Connect" to allow citizens to take and forward photos of graffiti, pot holes or other public nuisances to the city. The app also serves as a ticketing system, which is tied to a GPS to pinpoint locations of the problems. The city then built an app called "Worker Connect" to schedule the repair of the problems reported.

If that wasn't creative enough, the city held an app contest (crowd source) to find other solutions to solve problems. The competition resulted in an app that creates an onboard accelerator to record "bumps" and collect signatures of potholes as constituents drive around the city.

It only takes creativity to resolve the BYOD trend. What's your organization doing?

(Source: FierceMobileIT, Nov. 22, 2011)

The Impact of BYOD on Your IT Dept.

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:31:57 -0600

It's really not a good idea, on so many fronts, to let employees "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) to work. By this, I refer to employees buying and using their personal smart phone and/or tablet at work, in many cases, to do work. Some of the inherent challenges include productivity loss, security risks, data loss, liability risks, and device management challenges.

Sure, it saves money to let employees spend on the devices. And, the need to be mobile is growing. Forrester Research predicts that as many as 60 percent of information workers will work in a location away from their office during a typical workweek. Mobility is key to the future.

Mandating that employees own specific company-approved devices won't get you very far in many cases. Phones are kind of like cars. Employees pick the device that represents their personality, fulfills their needs, and feels good to use. If an employee chooses their device, the IT group will struggle to keep the large number of disparate devices supported and up-to-date with the latest company policies and apps.

Also, IT guys are used to three to five year upgrade cycles with laptops and desktops. Most people upgrade their phone about every eighteen months. This constant flux will keep IT hopping.

What's more, mobile device users are accustomed to installing apps ad hoc, anytime. The iTunes Store and the Android Market have programmed us to be on-demand driven. Employees will hope to do the same and IT will have to manage updates just like iTunes and the Market.

Malware protection and antivirus solutions exist, but they haven’t been widely used yet. If you allow employees to BYOD, that usage policy needs to change.

In addition, your organization will need to govern what types of data can be stored and used on an employee's mobile device. Consider how easy it is to lose your customer list or your patient's health history. What happens if the phone or tablet is lost or stolen? Can you lock it down to avoid data loss?

BYOD is going to have to be managed in the very near term. We are looking for and developing solutions to resolve the challenges mentioned here.

Employee Productivity Has Gone to the Birds

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:04:53 -0600

With the headline, “The world's love of Angry Birds could be costing U.S. businesses over $1.5 billion in lost wages, it’s a good time to consider the impact the Internet has on employee productivity. (Source: Business Insider.)

Left to themselves, employees get distracted by Facebook, personal email, downloading videos, web browsing, music streaming, fantasy sports, online shopping, online banking, pornography, gambling, and the like.

Some stats suggest that up to two hours a day are spent by the average employee doing non-work-related Internet use. If an organization has 20 employees, and each person surfs the web 1.5 hours per day, and the average wage is $25/hour, then the organization is losing $195,000 per year (assuming a 260-day work year.)

In addition to the time lost while roaming the web, employees don’t realize that just by visiting some web sites, a browser can become infected with malware. Thus, there is a security risk to an organization if it has a “hands off my Internet approach to managing the team.

Finally, if the organization doesn’t take a stand on pornography use on company assets or premises, a sexual harassment lawsuit might result. This would be due to the company’s negligence at creating a “hostile work environment when a female employee is exposed to pornography against her will.

There are tools to filter and limit Internet use by employees. Angry Birds would then be relegated to a hobby done off premise and after hours. It’s your choice.

Match Your Filtering to your Corporate Policy - and make sure you have a corporate policy!

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 18:20:56 -0600

I work as a programmer and try my best to stay out of anything that hints at being anything other than technical. If something comes my way that smells in the least like a corporate, marketing, human resources, or other nasty untechnical topic, I am the first to hide under my desk or run the other way. But like taxes, bullies, and Mother-in-laws, sometimes you can't run or hide from this unsavory subject if the ball rests in your court because you are the technical person in IT who has to administer the infrastructure for internet use.

In previous lives at other companies I was sometimes in the position to handle some aspects of internet monitoring, even during the early days of the internet. You might have expected a lot of potholes in corporate internet usage guidelines and IT implementations enforcing those guidelines ten or twelve years ago (and there were), but not now with all the publicity and horror stories of lawsuits since that time. Alas, that is not always the case, at companies large or small.

In my experience as a technical person in a cubicle, I was not the person to make the policies for internet use; that was the domain of the people in offices with doors and windows. But I learned, sometimes painfully, what you monitor, record, and filter needs to match what your policy demands. Too much, or too little, on the technical side as compared with the policies is not good. That is how I came up with "Ye Olde School of Hard Knocks Guide to Covering Your Technical Tail":

Locate your Corporate Internet Policy
If you can't find it, and you are responsible for implementing it based on hearsay and executive hand-waving, you have found your first pothole. And it could swallow a metro bus. If you are responsible for a non-existent policy, get the Powers-That-Be to make one. There are many resources for creating an Acceptable Use Policy" found on the Internet, and there is not a one-size-fits-all; each company needs to tailor one for their own circumstances, culture, and environment.
Read it, and understand it
I find a few problems with this one, other than the obvious, "It's so boring I can't read it without drooling, or doing a face-plant on my keyboard." My biggest problem is the policy which has no basis in reality, therefore everyone ignores the policy. If the policy can be proven to be ignored, or is not properly communicated to the employees, there is no policy, in my estimation. If there are problems with the policy, get them addressed, clarified or corrected.
Identify your part in the implementation
If it is determined your duty is to setup, or administer some portion of the policy, clearly identify what those criteria are, whether filtering, data retention, data security, etc. Also, make it clear the settings of the solution match the policy, for example, some filtering products have great flexibility in specifying filtering levels for different individuals, groups, or departments within the company. Verify with the policy makers that they are in agreement with what you have setup.
Monitor your implementation's effectiveness
It does nobody any good if you spend a lot of time and money on a solution, only to find out months later it has not been doing what you thought it was. Some products have significant reporting and notification features, but you must make sure you have it configured correctly and monitor for continued proper operation.

Keeping Productivity High

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:47:38 -0600

Last month I read an article about some city hall workers in Dallas Texas. Among other information this article revealed that many of the workers had spent as much as 68 hours on facebook.com over a 3 month period. Personally, I don't find this number shocking at all, there are many other studies showing that many employees spend as much as 1.5-2 hours a day using the Internet for personal use.

What I do find shocking the lack of "action" on the part of employers to curb or limit this kind of time wasting. I do not own my own business but if I were a business owner and found that my employees were wasting 20-25% of their day on "personal" Internet use, I would want to do something about it.

This brings up the long standing debate of "should we just block it?" and "is checking your personal email really that bad of a thing?"

Let me tell you about an organization that had this same issue. For the sake of anonymity I will call them "Company X".

Company X had employees wasting time online, some spent most of their day playing fantasy football, others spent enormous amounts of time updating their facebook.com profiles, while some engaged in long IM conversations with friends about non-work related topics.

After a debate about what "can we block it?" and "should be block it?" company X decided to implement a Content Filtering solution but just set the solution to monitor, instead of block or limit access to certain content.

After implementing the new solution the CEO called a company meeting to show the employees the new solution and advise them that their managers could "potentially see what they do online". The CEO shows a few sample reports of what could be seen and then advised that the solution was implemented to help limit company liability if there was an "event".

After the meeting the productivity of employees at company X increased by 35%, and employees started doing better quality work. It turns out that the productivity increase came from employees exercising self control, based on "my manager might know what I am doing". It also was revealed that some employees would rush through the job to get "free time" to surf the web, chat online, or update their social media profile.

The managers in company X never had to pull any reports, and never even logged in to see the data. The mere fact that it "could" be seen was enough to help employees get back on task.

I can't say I agree with this method of management entirely, but when you think about the money saved with better productivity, it is hard to argue with its effectiveness.

Need for Content Filtering at work?

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:34:07 -0600

I have heard dozens of opinions about the need, or lack thereof, for content filtering in the work place. I have heard the side of, "We are all adults here," and "We expect our employees to exercise restraint while in the work place." I have actually talked to company CEO's that have said, "As long as they have their office door closed we don't care what they do on the Internet."

I have heard the contrasting opinions too. I have heard employers say things such as, "While employees are on the clock we only want them to access the content and websites that we approve," and "Because the employee is using company paid services and hardware to access Internet content, we will control, monitor and limit its usage." There are many organizations that choose to fully block access to any website or content that is not specific to an employee's job functions.

When considering the need for content filtering in the work place, here are some facts to consider.

Fact 1: While numbers vary based on the occupation and computer availability, most employees have admitted to spending at least 2-3 hours per day for personal internet use.

During the holidays, average employees spend over 10 hours a week shopping on the Internet
International Data Corp. estimates that 30% to 40% of employee Internet use isn't work related
According to Nielsen/Net Ratings, 92% of online stock trading occurs from the workplace during work hours
46% of online holiday shopping takes place at work
Of 13 billion URLs used by businesses in the first quarter of 2010, 6.8% of all business Internet (Internet) traffic goes to Facebook

Do we really want to pay employees to work 40 hours a week if they are only working 25 and the rest of the time they are surfing Facebook or emailing their friends? Do we really want to pay employees to shop for Christmas presents, or do online trading instead of their job responsibilities? Let's think about that rationally. We could theoretically "lay off" 25% of the work force, implement some Internet controls, and get the same amount of work done. I know that's extreme, but it seems like the obvious financial benefit of controlling time spent online and what employees are accessing easily justifies some type of Internet protection. As an employer it is easy to forget that the Internet is a tool to help our organizations be more effective, not an "employee right" to communicate or be entertained.

I recently helped an organization implement a content filtering solution on their computers. They configured the solution to "monitor only." This organization selected to not block any content, but instead showed their organization that their Internet traffic was monitored and that they could see what was being accessed. After a 2 week period company productivity increased by 30%.

Fact 2: 20% of employees admit to daily viewing of pornography while at work.

The average cost of a sexual harassment case filed against a company in the United States is $275,000.
The latest Nielsen survey on porn at work shows that 21 million Americans accessed pornography from their work computers in March 2011. That's 29 percent of the total workforce.
Pornography makes up 37% of the total content on the Internet

I spent some time looking for sexual harassment lawsuits that were filed based on an employee being exposed to pornography by another employee. I found some interesting data. First, I was unable to find a case where the company was "NOT" found at fault.

Think about it from a pure business sense. Is your organization willing to take the risk of a lawsuit, just so you can "treat everyone like a grown up?"

Even if you don't have a moral issue with pornography, the courts will still expect you to pay the fees for the sexual harassment case.

It seems like a combination of monitoring frivolous and time wasting Internet traffic, combined with blocking the content we absolutely do not want is the perfect middle ground to managing employee Internet usage. But in the end it still requires content filtering for the work place.

What do you think?

Where are all the "good" Android Tablets?

Wed, 25 May 2011 10:32:43 -0600

Good Android tablets seem to be MIA. Many big name companies showed tablets at the CES event in Las Vegas last January but have either put their Android tablet on hold or have removed it from their product lineup all together. One key reason could be that consumers aren't buying, and demand is really weak. Who can afford to sell something people don't want?

The biggest issues I see with current Android tablets follow. Consumers don't want one because manufacturers haven't given them much to want, yet.

1. Most Android tablets feel like giant phones.

Most of the apps are just “smart phone apps running on a bigger screen. Because the apps are originally designed for phones, the “wow factor is gone when you see it on a tablet. Sure, Angry Birds is bigger, but it's still the same game I can play on my phone. And, it is easier to input text on a decent smart phone than on a 7-inch tablet.

2. People are still trying to figure out “What to use it for?

After the “geek factor wore off, I couldn't find many instances where I really wanted to use the tablet. I looked, but couldn't find many. I saw a TV commercial with a guy using his tablet while shopping at the grocery store; so I thought I would give it a try. I took the tablet to the store and was completely embarrassed. I felt like a big loser trying to use my tablet standing in the aisle. It was hard to type on, required both hands, and the data connection was slow. I could have done the same things on my smart phone and felt less dorky doing it.

3. Really it costs more than an iPad?

My first Android tablet cost $871.00! That is absurd. I know you can get an iPad for less. I know that the hardware for the “Mega Droid may be superior, but I've got to get value from it. You can't tell me that my new “Android Toy will cost more than a 42-inch flat panel TV.

If you can't beat Apple's price, you have no chance at beating Apple.

4. Honeycomb is “the tablet OS

Most of the devices launched up to this point, have been running Android 2.x. Google has been very clear, that the 2.x platform was designed for phones. Google has tried to encourage manufacturers to “wait for Honeycomb but most just figured they would “upgrade when it comes out and took the plunge. As of right now there have been very few tablets released running the Honeycomb 3.0 version of Android.

5. The low end stuff gives Android a bad rap.

There are literally hundreds of “no name companies pushing low end tablets and these tablets give the “real devices a very bad rap. The cheap $89 tablet you buy at the drug store does not truly represent the Android tablet market.

Now the good news………

I don't want to sound like I think that Android tablets are slowing circling the drain or that they are all garbage. I actually see a bright future and an enormous amount of potential in Android tablets. There are some very promising devices just around the corner, these devices can easily be the “best tablets on the market. These devices have dual core processors, things like the “NVidia Tegra 2 chips with plenty of memory and beautiful HD screens. These devices are capable of taking full advantage of the Honeycomb operating system and can run applications that will make the tablets have a true “wow factor.

I just hope that they don't mess it up by thinking we will pay $800 for it, and they can get them launched before we lose interest and all buy iPads.

Ratings are not enough for mobile apps

Thu, 19 May 2011 10:24:27 -0600

A few recent articles discuss CTIA's call for a unified "rating" system for mobile apps. Note: CTIA is the Cellular Telecommunications Internet Association, a nonprofit that includes wireless carriers and suppliers of wireless data products and services. The articles are informative and interesting but the rating system is still in discussion phase.

Rating systems are a practical method to help set expectations. Most are familiar with the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system for movies (NR, R, PG-13, PG, and G) and perhaps somewhat less familiar with the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) system of rating video games.

The mobile app rating initiative is a noble venture. Parents would be enabled to make educated decisions about the apps their children want. Even though most app markets have a version of content ratings, the system needs improvement. For example, in the Android market, you won't see a content rating until you tap the “More drop-down box to get a complete description of the app. Unless a parent is conscious of its location, a rating will go unnoticed. I wasn't even aware of these ratings until I read an article discussing the new system. I consider myself fairly informed, too.

The nice thing about the MPAA and ESRB is that when kids go get to a point of sale at the movie theater or retail store, they should be stopped by the clerk prior to purchasing mature content. In the world of smartphones and tablets, however, there is no one waiting at checkout asking for proof of age.

More important is the issue that unless app management software is installed on a smartphone, a parent won't truly know what apps are installed. Consumers are likely to revolt if asked to indicate their age somehow on their device. This is due to privacy concerns, and even recent lawsuits against Google and Apple regarding location tracking.

A unified rating system would be well received but given the complexity of enforcing the rules, it would seem impossible to protect identities and block mature content without the aid of some type of smartphone app manager. An app manager should be able to block downloads of mature applications, alert parents when downloads have been attempted, and describe the downloaded content.

I hope the CTIA is able to introduce a well designed rating system, but I also think it's important for consumers to recognize that it's only one tool in an overall solution. Without an app manager, kids will sneak past faster than they do at the movie theater.

Android Anti-Virus or App Manager?

Tue, 17 May 2011 10:54:42 -0600

Shouldn't I protect my Android device from viruses, just like I do my PC?

Android security and Personal Computer security are not the same and should not be addressed in the same way. Because of the “secure and “sandboxed architecture of the Android Operating System, many of the “traditional threats that are associated with Personal Computers are not valid or relevant to the Android Operating System. The threat properties of “self propagation, “spreading, “infecting the Operating System or “corrupting other files and programs are nonexistent in the Android Operating System. This does not mean, however, the device is “completely immune to threats.

Threats to the Android Operating System do exist, but not in the same form typically associated with Personal Computers. The threats to the Android Operating System are associated with the “installation and “running of “Malicious Applications. “Malicious Applications are programs that do “work that the user did not intend or have knowledge of. “Malicious Applications are installed by users in the same form “other applications are installed. Unlike a Personal Computer, “Malicious Applications cannot be installed on an Android device without the user's consent.

To help users avoid installing “Malicious Applications or applications that do things that the user does not approve, Google has created a “registration of intent process and screen. This screen tells the user that an application will have “access to specific information or services on the phone or tablet. For example, when installing an “email client the installation could inform a user that, “This application will have access to, an Internet connection, the contacts stored on the phone, and the 3g of 4g data connection. The purpose of the field is to tell users “what the application will do. Unfortunately most users have no idea what this screen is telling them, and many users never bother to read the screen and just tap continue or install. There is also no penalty or action taken against application developers that misrepresent an application's “intent during the installation process. In short, this step does little to prevent the installation of a “Malicious Application on an Android device.

The solution to protecting an Android device from “threats is the implementation of an “Application Manager. In its simplest form an “Application Manager can control which applications are added or run on the device, eliminating the introduction of threats found within “Malicious Applications. For an “Application Manager to be effective it needs to provide 3 important features.

Audits and reports showing the applications installed on the Android device
Controls to allow or limit the “locations from which applications can be downloaded and installed.
Controls for which applications can or cannot be installed or run

Persons concerned with securing Android devices should focus their efforts in purchasing and implementing an “Application Manager instead of a “Malware or Anti-Virus solution. An “Application Manager will not only provide the necessary security, but will give users “management tools and introduce DLP “Data Loss Prevention features to help ensure a fully “protected experience.

New Awards - Live From CTIA 2011

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 02:21:24 -0600

Well, I've spent the week at CTIA Wireless in Orlando showing off our newest beta versions of our Net Nanny Mobile and CP Pro Mobile products with some revolutionary technology for Android (we also have an iPhone version coming out this Summer).

Traffic has been steady as people (especially at CTIA, the world's largest wireless technology conference) are very interested in protecting smartphones and tablets. We've done a LOT of demos.

And one demo in particular paid extra dividends.

Laptop Magazine gave us their Best Business App award over everything shown at CTIA for the soon to be released ContentProtect Professional for Android.

Yay us.

No, really, we are very proud of the award, and we are very excited about the direction we are going with our Mobile product line, especially on Android and iOS (iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch). Expect to see cool stuff coming out from ContentWatch in 2011 for both business customers and home users. We are committed to protecting people on the Internet, whether they surf from a PC, Mac, or from a smartphone or tablet.

Stay tuned for even better things.

Viruses, Malware, Spam? On Smartphone?

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 11:29:19 -0700

We here at ContentWatch have been offering Net Nanny Mobile for over a year, and we are feverishly working on improving and expanding the way we protect mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Net Nanny Mobile (and soon to be ContentProtect Pro Mobile, for businesses, schools, and enterprises) has always provided anti-virus and anti-malware functionality.

Ironically, we get asked pretty frequently why we do that. People, including writers and bloggers and users, sometimes say “phones don’t have viruses and malware, that’s a PC/Desktop problem.

We beg to differ. The world is moving to mobile, and the virus makers, spammers, and malware-ers (yes, I just made that word up) are moving with it.

Just look at yesterday’s headline from the Guardian:

More than 50 Android apps found infected with rootkit malware

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2011/mar/02/android-market-apps-malware)

Quoting from the article:

“More than 50 applications on Google's Android Market have been discovered to be infected with malware called "DroidDream" which can compromise personal data by taking over the user's device, and have been "suspended" from the store.

Google removed the apps from the Market immediately on being alerted, but it is not clear whether it has removed them from devices to which they have been downloaded. As many as 200,000 Android devices could have been infected.

It’s just the beginning.

Which is why we take our work on mobile very seriously. The Guardian article says:

“It now looks likely that security companies will begin to compete to offer antivirus and anti-malware products for Android devices.

Yes, they are. We have been for over a year. And we’ll be there next year. And the year after that.

It’s what we do.

Content Filtering and DLP

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:48:00 -0700

I met with Mike Vizard, who writes for CTOEdge.com among other publications, and while we talked about a lot of things related to content filtering and bandwidth management, on desktops, from the cloud, and on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones, we somehow kept returning to the subject of DLP (Data Loss Prevention).

Data Loss Prevention is a big deal to companies who need to keep proprietary data, well, proprietary. And it turns out, deciding what content is proprietary and what isn't fits right into the same kind of technology that determines what content is inappropriate and what is benign.

Read the article here.

.XXX Domain Names Might Soon Go on Sale. Be Prepared!

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:39:26 -0700

After years of rejecting its applications, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) decided in June to give the adult entertainment industry the .xxx top-level domain, a move likely to result in the establishment of a virtual red-light district on the Web. Approval of the domain does not mean Web sites with URLs ending in .xxx will appear anytime soon. There are still many details and a pending contract to resolve. (Source: InformationWeek, June 28, 2010.)

Today, most web site names end in .com, .net, .org, .gov, or .edu. The implication of this proposed change is that an adult content / pornographic web site will have the option of using the .xxx domain name. At first glance, this would seem to make it easier for parents or parental controls software vendors to monitor and protect children and teens from objectionable sites.

In reality, this change would potentially make it very easy for a curious child to quickly get into trouble. I envision children getting immediate access to X-rated materials by innocently typing in almost any word with a .xxx name. Exposure to such images is not quickly forgotten or erased from a young memory.

Knowing how well-funded corrupt businesses operate, I expect pornographers to co-locate their content on existing .com domains and also on the new .xxx domain, thus increasing the prevalence of pornography sites. Pornographers won’t likely voluntary give up their successful .com addresses to locate solely on the .xxx domain. As a result, pornography content will be more pervasive.

As the owner of a few reputable web sites, I have considered what will happen when .xxx domains go on sale and reputable companies are a bit slow to purchase their .xxx domain name to simply protect them. Our company will jump to buy www.netnanny.xxx to avoid the trouble a pornographer can wreak if they do any URL spoofing based on our brand name.

The other overriding challenge is that there is no real legal regulation, in practice. Indeed, Internet pornography is hardcore obscenity and it is illegal. But it is so ubiquitous, it is not usually prosecuted.

It’s not likely that Congress would be able to pass a law requiring pornographers to conform to the .xxx domain. And even if passed, such as law would be relatively unenforced in federal court, if the past is an indicator of the future. Historically, efforts by Congress to regulate smut on the Internet have not been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In short, if .xxx domains go on sale, we will see a dramatic increase in the pervasiveness of pornography and its accessibility. Ironically, the Internet is used for so many good things too.

ContentWatch Makes the Internet Safe for Schools

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 08:41:20 -0700

Don't block the Internet

Why IT Guys Hate Sales Guys

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:40:45 -0700

Written by a typical IT Guy that we have a very close relationship with here at ContentWatch (and not me, but it was too good and true not to share)

1.       Sales Guy doesn't care about IT needs. He is interested in selling product; if the product is not a fit, Sales Guy doesn't truly care. Sales Guy will try to ask “find out questions to see where he can insert the product. Many of Sales Guy's questions are things that IT Guy views as confidential and IT Guy is bothered that Sales Guy asks. Keep in mind, IT Guy does not want Sales Guy to “evaluate his needs, IT Guy feels that “knowing his needs is part of IT Guy's job and IT Guy does not need help doing his job.

2.       Sales Guy never follows up after selling the solution to IT Guy. Sales Guy does not care to see if IT Guy likes the solution, or if it works. IT Guy feels bamboozled by past Sales Guys and feels they are all the same. All IT Guys have purchased something that did not work as advertised and feel that it put their job in jeopardy. IT Guy feels he might be betrayed by Sales Guy.

3.       Without fail, Sales Guy will try to sell IT Guy the most expensive solution even if he could have gotten by with something less expensive. IT Guy does not trust Sales Guy to sell a product to fit his needs, instead he worries about over-buying or buying something he will not use. IT Guy feels he can get a better price online. IT Guy knows it must cost more from Sales Guy, because Sales Guy is getting paid commission.

4.       Typically Sales Guy is not technical enough to answer IT Guy's questions. Typically Sales Guy is too arrogant to accept he does not know, so IT Guy rarely gets forwarded to someone who does know. Because Sales Guy is all-knowing, he will present solutions as if they are new and cutting-edge technology. IT Guy knows about technology and has known about Sales Guy's solution for a long time.

5.       Sales Guy will regurgitate the same information IT Guy has already read on the web; if IT Guy asks something additional, Sales Guy is stumped.

6.       Because IT Guy is cynical by nature, he is offended when Sales Guy tries to create a “relationship of trust by asking personal questions. “So are you a snowboarder? IT Guy is very aware that Sales Guy is faking it and couldn't care less about him personally. Keep in mind that IT Guy thinks that Sales Guy was one of those jerks that made fun of him in high school and that they only reason Sales Guy is acting nice now is to get the deal.

7.       Because IT Guy has a little bit of a “God complex, he doesn't think there is anything Sales Guy can tell him that he doesn't already know, and IT Guy thinks he already knows much more than the Sales Guy about the product and competition.

8.       When IT Guy asks a direct question about functionality and that functionality or feature does not exist in the product, Sales Guy will skirt the issue, or not give a straight answer. Along these lines, Sales Guy typically will not give the IT Guy a straight answer on price, instead IT Guy will have to “wait for a quote then wonder how much the Sales Guy has jacked up the price.

9.       Part of being an IT Guy is feeling you are bringing value to your company by having technical knowledge. If an IT Guy has to admit to “learning about something new from Sales Guy he feels his value to the company is diminished.

10.   When IT Guy is polite about the lack of “need or “interest in the product, Sales Guy will not take a hint, and continues to pester him. This results in angering the IT Guy or having the IT Guy avoid Sales Guy. Sales Guy continues to say “IT Guy is just really busy, and doesn't have time. Frankly, if IT Guy cared, he would have time.

11.   Lastly - don't forget. IT Guy has a bunch of IT Guy friends and they love to brag about how they have screwed Sales Guy. Remember that IT Guy thinks of Sales Guy as the jock in high school that teased him and IT Guy resents Sales Guy. For IT Guy and his friends, Sales Guy is the handsome guy that has always had things handed to him, that always had dates in high school while IT Guy was playing with his calculator. IT Guy feels he had to work to get where he is and that Sales Guy does not.

Got employee Cybersurfing Problems?

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:15:51 -0600

In the workplace, the Internet has enabled a slew of business advances in communication, scheduling, information transfer, and e-commerce. But it is also the world’s biggest distraction. Studies show that employees admit to cybersurfing up to two hours a day while at work. Yes, TWO HOURS a day!

And they aren't just reading news or visiting sports sites either. Your employees are watching movies and sports, are hanging out on social networking pages such as Facebook, are looking at pornography, are spending time on gambling sites, and are streaming music. All these things degrade your company’s bandwidth and cost you money. Oh, and they also waste company time too. On top of that, cybersurfing employees expose your organization to risks.

Two such risks are risk of lawsuit and risk of malware and viruses. Newsweek reported two years ago that office workers view more pornography sites at their office than at home, and were doing that 23% more than the year prior. Consequently, sexual harassment lawsuits are arising from employees inadvertently becoming exposed to pornography or graphic images when passing by the cubicle of other employees who are looking at that content.

As a business manager, you can either add this issue to your list of things to manage proactively or you deal reactively with the fallout. Sometimes the fallout can be very costly.

The second risk source associated with cybersurfing is malware, viruses and Phishing. Commtouch reported (Internet Threats Trend Report- Q1 2010) that during the first quarter of this year, Web sites most likely to be compromised with malware or phishing are pornographic and sexually explicit sites. On the list of Web categories likely to be hosting hidden phishing pages were sites related to sex education and socially-oriented sites such as games, chat, and social networking.

Again, as a business manager, you can either add this issue to your list of things to manage proactively or you deal reactively with the fallout. In these cases, using reliable Internet content filtering software can stop the problem in its tracks.

For parents with cybersurfing children, the risks are the same as those mentioned above but the outcome is different. Predators, cyberbullies, and pornography are the common enemy, and the medium or source is the same.

In both cases

We're On Your Side

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:24:44 -0700

There is no question, pornography is a dangerous and debilitating scourge. It can destroy families and it degrades women (and men).

However, at work, you probably have more immediate or practical concerns than just keeping your employees or users healthy

It's Your Computer--Let Us Help You Protect It

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:41:35 -0700

The Internet has proven one of the most stunning innovations of the modern world. You can get information on almost any topic, from history, to current events, to weather, driving directions, movie times, and much, much more.

Unfortunately, the Internet, like most useful tools, has a dark side

Good news—ContentProtect Professional 3.0 is here.

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:50:55 -0600

ContentProtect Professional has always been the ideal product for organizations that don’t want the hassle of a dedicated server, and especially for distributed environments (that is, laptops, laptops, everywhere). Because the filtering takes place ON the box, users can’t get around the filter just by changing locations or access.

If you’re already using CP Pro, here’s the deal: The CP Pro back end server is live, so your “manage-from-anywhere web console is already updated. All you need to do to take full advantage of the new functionality of the new CP Pro is update your clients. And, of course, like all updates and upgrades, it’s all included in your subscription, no extra charge.

Here are the four major updates in this new release of CP Pro 3.0:

Full SSL Filtering

Getting Dynamic

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:58:01 -0600

You probably don’t know about it, but a debate rages between Internet Filter vendors over whether it’s better to filter the Internet based on a big fat list of bad URLs, or to use a smart filtering engine to analyze every URL users visit to make the BLOCK/ALLOW call.

We at ContentWatch, of course, know the right answer

Two Hours . . . Per DAY

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:36:31 -0700

Two hours. That’s how much time a fairly large chunk of American workers with access to the Internet fess up to spending surfing the web, each day. EACH DAY.

Now, two hours is a lot of time. It’s enough time to drive from Los Angeles to San Diego (if the traffic is good

It's Hard To Keep Up--We Can Help

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:21:03 -0700

Times have changed. There was a time when you could put up a big URL list and block every distracting or inappropriate website your employees or students could ever think of going to.

Well, you can still do that, but now all the surfers have to do is use httpS instead of http, and they're off and surfing the bad waves again. Plus, half the content your users are accessing isn't even browser-based. You've got Bit Torrent, You Tube, Hulu, Pandora, whatever. So now it's not just content, but it's also bandwidth.

Did you know that? And even if you did know that, what's the solution? Most Internet filters fix the secure site problem by simply blocking secure traffic. Which is great until you actually need secure web traffic. What about bank sites? What about 401k sites? What about, you know, ALL the secure sites you use every day? Blocking all SSL traffic could cripple you.

The ContentProtect Security Appliance does what other products can't

Is the Content You're Getting the Content You Want?

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:11:38 -0700

You'll hear me say this pretty often on this blog: Is the content you're getting the content you want? With the economy this bad, nobody can afford even a little reduction in productivity. And really, our products are as much about economics as anything else.

Your Internet pipe, or access, is a valuable commodity for your organization, just like your printer, your computers, even your supply closet. If the members of your organization were using the printer to print and distribute flyers for a neighborhood barbeque, or taking boxes of pens from your supply closet to give to family members, you would rightfully object, and even lock the printer or supply closet. It's the same with your Internet connection. If your employees are clogging up your pipe with Bit Torrent, or YouTube, or Peer to Peer file sharing, you have multiple problems. I'll talk about each of these issues in more detail in other blog posts, but for now, let's look at the big picture:

Your people aren't working. The internet is a miracle of productivity