Why does China want your gmail account?

Google is certain that the latest hacking attempt comes from Jinan, China as a phishing scam to obtain gmail passwords. This type of attack happens all the time, but since senior level US government officials, military personnel and political activists were targeted the intent seems much more sinister. The attacks were common phishing schemes that are not very sophisticated opening speculation that this was testing the water and that the information may be used for broader attacks.


If someone has your username and password, they can hijack your account. Not only will they have access to your email, but they can change account settings, forward email and send email as you. If you are unaware that your account has been compromised, the hacker can play havoc with your information and identity.

Certainly, you have heard these warnings: create a strong password, don't divulge username and password information especially from email requests, use a good anti-virus, have malware protection and keep a good backup. This cannot be stressed enough - create a strong password for your important accounts. Next, use a two-step verification or authentication whenever possible. This is another way to prove it is you. Google uses a strategy where they will send a unique code to your phone that is required to sign in. The problem with this security measure is that it is not convenient as it takes another step and more time. Often users choose convenience over security.

When you use more than one email address and if you send to a mobile device, be sure that you use security measures that adequately protect your information. The more valuable the information, the more protection is needed. and just like physical security, use barriers as deterrents. In the digital and virtual world, barriers are passwords, tokens, PINs and other information that only you will know.

To learn more about the Google 2-step verification, go to:
http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=175197

Social Media Tactics: Part 1

By Katie Sewell, TAG and Mary Hester, LAN Systems

By now you have heard that Social Media is a revolution. A big change is coming in the way businesses market and communicate their message. To understand Social Media you have to spend time studying the concept, method and strategy. Don’t worry if it seems complicated and time consuming at first. We have a few proven strategies that we personally use to give your social media campaign a boost. We’ll start with Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter – Twitter is a social networking site which enables news sharing and connectivity among people and businesses through short updates. It’s hard for some to understand the Twitter sensation. Why would anyone tweet their lunch menu or location? There is a great deal of self-indulgence on Twitter and you should always be conscious of your personal safety. Try these few tips to propel you to the top.

1) Be interactive – reply to and retweet items of interest. Post articles about you and your company. Give information of interest to your community. Minimize the sales pitch.

2) Use and create hash tags for topics and events. TAG promoted the 2011 Technology Summit with #GTS2011 on Twitter. You can use the hash tag term to search and it may “trend” on Twitter which is similar to going viral on YouTube.

3) Keep it real and meaningful – don’t tweet just for the sake of tweeting. Automated tweets and pre-canned quotes and messages are obvious. Twitter is a conversation that you have in your own voice. The voice can be business or personal, but be genuine.

Facebook – If you are going to use Facebook for business, be sure to keep it separate from your personal account. Being on the Internet is like being in a magnified fishbowl where every imprudent act is available to all and kept forever. Even with the risks, Facebook can be a fabulous business tool if used wisely.

1) Create a company Facebook page where you can write about your company values, events and people. Post tasteful pictures and items of interest.

2) Invite Facebook users to “like” your page. Remember, it’s about quality here, not quantity. While it’s important to have a high number of “likes” on your company’s page, it’s more important to keep the content fresh and updated.

3) An important goal to have for your organization’s social media sites, especially Facebook, is to encourage interactive behavior from your users. A good way of accomplishing this is to have contests where a prize is given. When you want feedback and user interactivity, offer a reward or prize that makes it worthwhile for the user to participate. LAN Systems is having a contest for a copy of Microsoft Office Pro 2010 for liking its Facebook page. We’ll let everyone know how it turns out on our page.

4) Share links and Tag others in your posts and status updates. This creates exposure from both sides. Be polite and considerate when sharing.

5) Like and or comment on photos, articles and posts. Depending upon your online persona, you may want to avoid controversial topics. In any case, always review your posts before submitting for content, spelling and grammar. A typo isn’t the end of the world, but it can be embarrassing.

Once you create your Twitter and Facebook page, it’s important to check on a regular basis. Your company needs to appear to be responsive to the users. Answer messages and keep the conversation going!

Next time, tips for LinkedIn and Blogging. Until then, please send us a comment or leave a message.

How to Protect Your Computer Against Malware

Each year the damages from computer malware cost US businesses billions of dollars. These costs are not only in lost productivity, but permanent loss of critical business data. Arguably, most if not all infections are preventable with the proper understanding, training and protection. Don't be the next victim, take the steps now to ensure protection and recovery if the worst should happen.

First, let's understand computer malware. Often the term virus is used to describe all malware. Technically speaking, there are viruses, rootkits, Trojan horses, worms and spyware. The attack method may differ but they are all malicious.

A virus is a program that runs itself and replicates itself. It can affect files or the boot sector and can delete all your data. The "Melissa" and "I Love You" viruses gained global attention.

A rootkit or Trojan horse allows access to your system without your knowledge. Often they look like a useful piece of software but in fact they are back or trap doors.

A computer worm is a self-replicating computer program. It uses a network to send copies of itself to other nodes. Once on the system, worms do not need to attach to another program and can run themselves. Worms cause a denial of service attack making the network unusable. In general, worms target the network and viruses attack files.

Spyware is computer software that is installed on a personal computer to intercept or take control of the PC. Spyware can hijack a computer and cause serious problems by gathering and transmitting personal data, loading undesirable software or redirecting browsers to malicious sites.

Protecting yourself -

1. Have a good backup, just in case you need to restore
2. Use a firewall
3. Keep your system updated with the latest security patches
4. Install and update anti-virus and anti-spyware software (see below for choices)
5. Do not open email from anonymous, unknown or suspicious sources
6. Do not download files or software from anonymous, unknown or suspicious sources
7. Do not navigate to suspicious or promiscuous websites
8. Regularly scan your system for malware (see below for choices)
9. Be sure that you have a good backup so that you can restore your full system if needed
10. If you think you have been attacked, act quickly to isolate the infected computer and remove the malware.

You can purchase anti-virus and malware protection or there are many free versions for home users. For anti-virus, AVG, Avast and others have free versions. For corporate anti-virus, we use Symantec Endpoint. For malware, we like Malwarebytes (personal or corporate edition) and Advanced System Care. With so many choices if you like one better, use it. The important point is that you have to have malware/virus protection.

Use a three prong approach to keep your system safe: educate, protect, monitor. Try to understand the types of threats to your computer. The more educated and informed, the better you can protect your system. Monitor for threats and scan your system often. If it looks suspicious, don't open the email, go to the site or download the file or software.

Please be watchful of the sites you visit, the software you download and the email you open as the threats to your system change daily.

For more technical notes and information go to: www.lansystems.com/technotes.html.