Hackers Pose Huge Threat to Wi-Fi Users

You may think that the only people capable of prying into your Internet activity are government intelligence agents or possibly a talented teenage hacker holed up in his parents' basement. But some simple software lets just about anyone sitting next to you at your local coffee shop watch you browse the Web and even assume your identity online.

"Like it or not, we are now living in a cyberpunk novel," said Darren Kitchen, a systems administrator for an aerospace company in Richmond, California, and the host of Hak5, a video podcast about computer hacking and security. "When people find out how trivial and easy it is to see and even modify what you do online, they are shocked." Anyone can now hack into your computer and see everything you are doing on your computer. It’s crazy how intense technology is, and terrible that without proper website security and secure trust seals, your computer could be hacked by just about anyone.

Until recently, only determined and knowledgeable hackers with fancy tools and lots of time on their hands could spy while you used your laptop or smartphone at Wi-Fi hot spots. But a free program called Firesheep, released in October, has made it simple to see what other users of an unsecured Wi-Fi network are doing and then log on as them at the sites they visited.

The only sites that are safe from snoopers are those that employ the cryptographic protocol transport layer security or its predecessor, secure sockets layer, throughout your session. PayPal and many banks do this, as well as Trust Guard, but a startling number of sites that people trust to safeguard their privacy do not.

If you have a computer and use the internet, especially in public places like work, school, business meetings, restaurants, parks, etc. then you need to get your computer protected before it is too late. Many online security companies can teach you how to protect your online identity from hackers who are trying to steal your information. And if you own an online business, companies like Trust Guard can run vulnerability scanning to continuously verify that there are no known holes in your website accessible to hackers.

http://www.trust-guard.com/

Social Media Marketing – An Hour A Day

There are many activities that fill up our days besides social media marketing. An hour a day might seem like a lot to give up focusing on increasing our online presence and building our social equity. But there are some bonuses that come with organizing a small portion of our time with activities that really matter.

We’re not just talking about decreasing the amount of TV or movies we watch, although the sacrifice for doing so is minimal. We are talking about organizing our work day so that we can spend a solid hour working on increasing our relationships with customers, clients, partners, co-workers, vendors, and even competitors.

Here are a few specific social media marketing activities that will pay off huge dividends if we are committed to spend an hour a day doing them.

1. Find one social marketing program. We shouldn’t waste our time constantly looking for systems and programs. We could spend months looking at different systems without ever starting to increase our business’ visibility and that is not productive. Preferably, the system we choose should combine search engine optimization (SEO) with social media marketing.

2. Start spending and hour a day working through the social marketing program’s modules. Set aside time during the work day for training that will improve our relationship-building activities. We shouldn’t start a new module until we have extrapolated everything that we can from the module we’re on.

3. Fill up down time with proven habits such as listening to motivational or social media optimization (SMO) training, calling a client just to see how they are doing, and taking advantage of the opportunity to visit our competitors just to see what they have up their sleeves this week.

4. Get to know co-workers and vendors better. I once sold an item that had been on inventory for nearly a year simply by asking our delivery personnel if they knew anyone who might be interested in it! They appreciate our concern and our sincere desire that we have for them to succeed. Spend some time with them and watch their productivity soar!

In an effort to heed my own advice, and not feed you more than you can chew – at least while keeping your mouth closed – I will end there. Follow these simple concepts of focusing on social media marketing an hour a day and you will be successful.

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