How to stay safe on the internet

How to stay safe on the internet Press Release from Oconee Co. Sheriff's OfficePublished:

With much of our lives centered around computers, technology and the internet, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office is offering these tips to help keep you and your family safe.

“The Sheriff’s Office has committed itself to providing helpful information to help you and your family from becoming a victim,” according to Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jimmy Watt. “This includes updates periodically on various types of scams but also information, such as is contained in this press release, on how you protect yourself while you enjoy visiting the internet and your favorite sites and staying in touch with family and friends.”

The Sheriff’s Office is offering the following internet safety tips:

• If anyone calls claiming to be from a technology company and you did not initiate the call and they say that your computer contains viruses or malware or has some type of problem and if you pay money they will repair your computer or remove the harmful items, it is a scam and if you allow those individual(s) remote access to your computer, then your computer could be compromised and any personal or financial information could be compromised and other information could be erased or held for ransom. If someone from the outside gains remote access to your computer in this way, contact your local law enforcement agency immediately and do not pay any ransom, as this could further embolden the scammers. Also, make sure you have your files backed up in a virtual cloud environment and/or on some type of thumb drive.

• Change you passwords on a frequent basis and use different passwords for each internet account you have. The more unique you make them and the more difficult to guess, the better the chance you have from becoming a victim.

• You may also want to consider using two-factor authentication, which provides an additional layer of security by using a second known device. For example, when you change something on your account, such as a password, a text can be sent to you phone advising you of the change.

• Set your internet and social media accounts on the highest security level possible and post as little personal information as you can. Anything could be potentially used by individuals looking to scam and/or steal personal and financial information.

• If someone sends you an e-mail with an attachment and/or a link to another site and you do not know that person, do not open the attachment and/or click on the link as this is a way for viruses, malware or Trojans to be downloaded on your computer or allow someone to gain remote access to your computer.

• Be careful in regards to the sites you log into while in public places that offer Wi-Fi service as those hotspots may not provide enough security.

• Make sure you have your computer’s firewall turned on at all times and keep your antivirus software updated and current. Also make sure that the critical updates on your operating system for your computer are current.

• Look out for social media scams that offer gifts cards, for example, as a prize for taking a survey or for online shopping scams that offer merchandise at discounted prices. If an offer sounds too good to be true, more often than not it is and it could be used to steal personal or financial information.

How to stay safe on the internet Press Release from Oconee Co. Sheriff's OfficePublished:

5 Tips to Keep Your Marketing Emails Out of the Trash Folder

5 Tips to Keep Your Marketing Emails Out of the Trash Folder by Charles Vance.  Available from <https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2016/oct/12/5-tips-to-keep-your-marketing-emails-out-of-the-trash-folder/>. [Wednesday, October 12, 2016] Photo Credit: Public Domain Picture

On a typical day, the average professional receives about 100 emails and, according to a recent study, that number is only expected to grow. The average professional also is in the routine of quickly scanning the inbox and deleting emails that don’t quickly catch their attention. It can be tough for any email these days to not end up in the trash bin.

So how can you make your company’s marketing emails stand out in a sea of doomed correspondence?

If you want to get your email opened, the subject line has to be enticing and relatable. This can make or break an email. Give your recipients enough information to know what they are about to read, but not too much. You want to lure them in for the great content inside.

Your recipients are more than likely pretty busy on any given day. So make your email easy to browse. Once they open your email, they need to be able to quickly scan through and get to the information they want and need. Break up the content into short, concise paragraphs. Be sure to include headers and images that grab their attention and pop off the screen.

These days, people read a lot of email on the go. You must optimize your emails to be viewable on smartphones. Use a mobile-responsive design that looks good on smartphones and tablets to be sure your email always looks its best. You may even want to focus more on the mobile layout than the desktop layout, as more than 60 percent of people now view emails on mobile devices.

Make sure it’s simple to subscribe to your email list. A lot of companies have success with signup forms on their homepage. You can also ask for signups on your Facebook page, Twitter page, company blog and, really, anywhere you engage with your customers on a regular basis.

Speaking of customers, if you want help growing the subscriber list, enlist their help by making your emails shareable. Only send content that your audience will want to share, and make it extremely easy for them to share it by adding social media buttons or links within the content.

Email marketing is a smart way to reach your customers, but you need to do it right. Too often, companies race to get the information out without taking the time to make sure that information will ever even be read. Be sure to follow these tips to ensure you’re giving your audience the information they want and to ensure they avoid immediately deleting when you are the sender.

5 Tips to Keep Your Marketing Emails Out of the Trash Folder by Charles Vance.  Available from <https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2016/oct/12/5-tips-to-keep-your-marketing-emails-out-of-the-trash-folder/>. [Wednesday, October 12, 2016] Photo Credit: Public Domain Picture

SEO vs. Ad Blocking

SEO vs. Ad Blocking by On Yavin.  Available from <http://www.business2community.com/seo/seo-vs-ad-blocking-01673778#zqDkBgb14BTPsACb.97>. [October 11, 2016]

Sea Changes in Marketing Communication

In a way, managing the marketing aspects of a business has always been a major battle for business owners and managers. From the dawn of time to the modern era, the main roadmap for the majority of businesses has remained roughly the same: create a product or service and focus on bringing that product to as many of your potential customers as possible. Since businesses rarely operate in a space devoid of competitors with similar goals and intentions, that means engaging in a battle with your competition in order to win over the customers. However, what is often overlooked is that there is another dimension to the story. There is another group of key players with its own agenda and waging its own battle: the customers themselves.

Just as businesses use various tools and strategies to try and reach their goals, customers do the same. Until recently, customers’ two main goals were finding the products with the best quality and discovering products at the lowest price. Yet, along with the Information Age has come the emergence of customer attention as a new, increasingly important resource, thus significantly changing the metaphorical battleground.

According to a range of studies, the average Internet user is exposed to anywhere from a few hundred to over a thousand advertisements every single day, making the masses ad-weary and fueling the backlash against advertisements in general. So while businesses are continually advancing in their quest to gain more customer attention, customers are simultaneously beginning to resist that change. The result is one of the most dangerous threats to any serious Internet marketer: ad blocking.

Ad Blocking As a Major Threat

While ad blocking itself is not a new invention, a few recent trends have shed a new light on this technology. Adblock Plus – one of the most popular ad blocking tools – was chosen as one of the 100 Best Products by PC World magazine as far back as 2007, an eon ago in Internet time. However, ad blocking technology eventually outgrew its role as a merely useful tool for the tech-savvy and is now a legitimate problem for online advertisers worldwide.

According to an ad blocking related study conducted by PageFair in partnership with Adobe, there were 198 million active ad block users in the world in 2015, a whopping 41% increase compared to just a year before. The real shocker, though, is the amount of money that online publishers lost due to ad block usage. The report estimated that losses amounted to almost $22 billion in 2015 alone.

The trend only continued in 2016, as ad blocking similarly found its way to mobile web browsing, making it one of the hottest topics in the online publishing world. Now just six months after Apple’s decision to allow ad blocking on its iOS devices, the numbers from the mobile web are far from encouraging for the digital media industry as more than 400 million users are currently using ad blockers on their smartphones.

And online publishers are not the only ones bearing the burden as advertisers themselves are equally affected by ad blocking. Not only are they left without traffic on their website which blocked ads could have brought, but they are also billed for those ads because ad blocking software works by blocking the ads on the user’s device after they’ve already been served. In a nutshell, that means that as an advertiser, you pay for ads that your targeted customers will never see.

SEO to The Rescue?

As valuable as SEO already is, it just might become even more valuable for businesses that also rely on paid advertising to get Internet users to visit their site. Not only is the number of people using ad blocking on the rise, but even those who don’t use ad blockers have learned to ignore and avoid ads, essentially making them blind to marketing efforts thrown at them.

Obviously, your best bet as a business in such an environment is to improve your organic search engine rankings as much as you can, and that’s where SEO shines. With that in mind, here are a few tips on how SEO can help you fight against ad blockers by putting less emphasis on paid ads and getting more traffic from organic searches.

Offsite SEO Methods

Offsite SEO is an umbrella term encompassing a variety of methods and tactics used to rank your site better on search engines and it revolves mostly around backlinks. By getting good links for your site from valuable sites in your niche, you will improve your organic search engine rankings and get more visitors without having to rely on paid advertising.

If you don’t already have a solid link building strategy, guest posting is a good place to start. By posting your articles on related sites, you help them by providing them with free content and they help you by giving you links and exposure to their audience. Additionally, you can start looking into other tactics such as directory submissions, blog commenting and social media optimization in order to gain the needed backlinks for your site and build your brand.

Onsite SEO Tactics

While offsite SEO methods such as link building are concerned mainly with getting people to find your site, the role of onsite SEO is twofold. Although it plays an important role in improving your sites’ visibility on Google and other search engines, it also serves to attract people to actually visit your site and engage with it in a way that suits you best.

The main pillars of onsite SEO are quality content, optimized title tags and attractive meta descriptions, so optimizing them should be among your top priorities. Quality content will help you grow your audience and get more natural, unsolicited links while optimized title tags and meta descriptions can help you stand out among competing websites in the search engine results, therefore getting you more visitors.

Overall, the marketing world is in the middle of a drastic change due to changes in Internet technology. Businesses and customers alike are changing their habits as the Internet becomes an increasingly important part of their everyday lives. Ad blocking has emerged as a major threat to online publishers and advertisers as consumers become wearier and less aware of ads published online. It seems that SEO may be able to mitigate this trend and a quality SEO strategy can help put many businesses back on their customers’ radar.

SEO vs. Ad Blocking by On Yavin.  Available from <http://www.business2community.com/seo/seo-vs-ad-blocking-01673778#zqDkBgb14BTPsACb.97>. [October 11, 2016]

3 tips to help make and manage complex passwords

3 tips to help make and manage complex passwords by Nick Ismail.  Available from <http://www.information-age.com/3-tips-complex-passwords-123462571/> [October 11, 2016] Photo: AdobeStock_21942031-634x0-c-default.jpeg

Passwords, despite the rise of biometrics, are still the most common form of user protection. It is important, therefore, to understand the best methods of producing and managing the most secure passwords possible

Every platform, every service we use requires a password or some other form of authentication.

Remembering dozens, perhaps hundreds, of unique passwords and usernames and keeping all of our devices up to date is difficult, to say the least, and these necessities conflict directly with our desire for maximum convenience.

Most people are guilty of re-using simple passwords across services and of writing them down to make them easier to recall when needed.

In the balancing act between security and convenience, convenience currently has the upper hand at the cost of immeasurable amounts of our most private data.

How can we begin to manage this growing list of passwords in a secure way? Here are 3 key tips and tricks you can use when it comes to password generation and management.

Apply mnemonics

You are probably aware of the rules of password best practice: Passwords must be long; they must contain a mix of characters; they should not be easily guessable; you should never share them; change your passwords often; use different passwords for different applications. The list goes on.

Satisfying all of these criteria can be a challenge, especially when considering that if you create a different password for each service you use you will somehow need to remember each one and avoid writing them down.

An easy way to approach this problem is by applying mnemonics to generating passwords.

For example, take the phrase ‘I would love to fly British Airways first class to Singapore!’ I can easily remember this phrase because it is true and it is not personal.

Also, it doesn’t include a name, an employer, a home location, or any other information about a person that’s easy to guess.

From this phrase, someone can formulate a password by using the first letter(s) of each word, numbers, capitalisation, and special characters.

Suddenly, this sentence creates a strong password that satisfies all the length and complexity requirements set forth by most services: IWLtoFBA1stCtoS!

You can also use other forms of mnemonics, such as misspelling common dictionary words, as a basis for your password instead of just the first letter. Be creative—the important factor is creating a complex password that you can actually remember!

Use a password manager

Though now you know an effective technique for creating passwords, you might still be struggling to remember enough different phrases to cover every account you own.

To help avoid re-using passwords across accounts, you can use password management applications or your web browser’s ability to save and remember passwords.

Password managers typically store passwords in the cloud and secure them all with a master password.

If you or your employer are not comfortable with cloud solutions, some password managers offer local storage as an alternative, giving you control and full responsibility over your password store.

However, bear in mind that though password managers are becoming increasingly feature rich, they can be vulnerable just like any other service.

For example, last year password manager LastPass experienced “suspicious activity” and urged users tochange their passwords.

As an alternative, saving passwords in your web browser is also convenient, as some browsers allow you to set a master password as an extra layer of protection, preventing your password from potentially being displayed in clear text.

Add more layers of protection

As well as passwords, you can add other forms of authentication to the data protection mix.

Authentication can be something you know (password), something you have (smart card, token, or mobile device app), or something you are (fingerprint).

On their own, each form of authentication has its weaknesses, but using multiple forms together – known as multi-factor authentication – strengthens the process.

So, even if your passwords are compromised, a malicious actor still needs another authenticator to access your data. Unless they also have access to that second factor, your data remains secure.

Everyone’s responsibility

Effective cybersecurity is not just a matter of installing the right software.

Technical ability alone is not enough to resolve the issue. If it were, breaches wouldn’t occur in such great numbers and with such frequency.

Only a holistic security stance will enable you to limit the opportunities cyber criminals have to steal your organisation’s data.

Preventing breaches requires encouraging secure behaviour at all levels across your organisation.

Every employee, contractor, third party vendor, intern or volunteer should understand the basics of password protection, as well as the basics of identifying, deflecting and reporting potential threats.

That way, if someone succeeds in breaking through your defences, which unfortunately seems inevitable, having a well-educated and aware user base will only help reduce the damage and identify the problem sooner.
Sourced by Stuart Clarke, chief technical officer, cybersecurity, Nuix

3 tips to help make and manage complex passwords by Nick Ismail.  Available from <http://www.information-age.com/3-tips-complex-passwords-123462571/> [October 11, 2016] Photo: AdobeStock_21942031-634x0-c-default.jpeg

5 Main Tips to Optimize Your Business Online

5 Main Tips to Optimize Your Business Online by Lisa Wheatly.  Available from <http://www.tgdaily.com/business/5-main-tips-to-optimize-your-business-online> [October 07, 2016]

Running an online business has been made so much easier with the emergence of social media, because just about anybody, even your target audience, is there all the time. But, even though you may have a handle on nearly all aspects of running a business online, there are still ways you can improve it. Here are 5 main tips you can implement today and optimize your online business for best results.

1. Create Fresh and Engaging Content

Being able to put up fresh new content consistently will drive your visitors to check out your page more often, which means more chances for them to purchase something from you, and more chances to share your content. And in order for them to share it, they need to find it engaging and useful. It is simple: just create your content so that overlaps with their needs, and provide a solution to their problems. Ultimately, you can hire a writing service liketopaussiewriters.com to assist you with content writing.

2. Create Mobile-Friendly Pages

These days, the majority of searches is done using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, which means your website and/or blog need to feature responsive design, which makes sure that the content is displayed properly, regardless of the screen size. You can create a separate version of your webite for mobile devices, but sooner or later, you will have to start incorporating responsive design, because it is quickly becoming the norm when it comes to web design and online business.

3. Use Analytics Software

One of the best ways to optimize your business would be to make use of analytics software. Analytics software can measure and quantify just about every aspect of your visitors’ behavior. Using this data, you can tweak and improve your efforts, see what works and what doesn’t, and reach your target audience more efficiently. For this, you can useGoogle Analytics (which is completely free) or Moz Analytics, which are able to gather tons of data. Another great tool you need to start using is Crazy Egg, which creates a visual heat map, where you can plainly see which landing pages and sections of your website receive the most clicks.

4. Make Your Business More Search Engine Friendly

Despite what you may have read or heard, SEO is still as important as ever, even though the way you use it has changed. Google no longer prefers keyword stuffing. Instead, it prioritizes quality content that provides real value for the readers. But, instead of waiting for your visitors to come to you, you can come to them. Check out BuzzSumo, which will let you know all about topics and keywords which are currently trending, so you can shift your focus towards providing content that is popular among the people. Also, it can help you keep an eye on your competitors and their activities.

5. Engage with Your Social Media Followers

Engaging with your customers on social media can help you establish trust, as they will be able to see that there is an actual human behind the brand, and that you’ve taken the time to hear them out. But, instead of spending time on all possible social media outlets, focus on those which are suited for your business. For instance, if your business is arts and crafts, social networks like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and even Tumblr may be of use to you, while the same cannot be said for LinkedIn, for instance.

Follow these tips, and you will be able to make the most out of your efforts and improve your business so that it becomes, and stays, a success story.

Author Lisa Wheatly is a long time employee of Top Aussie Writers, a team member with years of experience under her belt. Lisa studied at the University of Queensland, Australia where she gained a degree in business that prepared her for the vast array of assignments that she now works on daily.

5 Main Tips to Optimize Your Business Online by Lisa Wheatly.  Available from <http://www.tgdaily.com/business/5-main-tips-to-optimize-your-business-online> [October 07, 2016]