Paper Peviews

External threats coming from partner organisations pose a large risk to corporate data security, according to a detailed report examining five hundred forensic data investigations by Verizon Business.

The Verizon report analyses hundreds of corporate data breaches, included were three of the top five largest ever reported, and found that while threats from insiders were the most devastating in terms of impact, the greater number of data breaches attributable to partner companies made them a greater risk factor.

While external (outside the organisation) attacks were far more common, (possibly because 90% of known technological vulnerabilities exploited had patches available for at least six months prior to the breach) the relative damage of these attacks was found to be alot lower.

“Business partners were involved in around 39% of the data breaches handled by our investigators,” the report states.

“In a scenario witnessed over again, a remote vendor’s details were compromised, allowing an external attacker to command top levels of access to the victim’s computer systems.”

A typical method of a partner security breach, explained Verizon Business’s director of investigative response, Bryan Sartin, involves an organised crime ring approaching low pay employees in call centres or support jobs, and saying ‘if you don’t like your job or your boss, this is the solution’”.

It is a difficult system to crack and fairly safe for criminal organisations because “the person behind it is a pawn”. And despite being easily controllable through good access control ( Photo ID Cards ) on behalf of the outsourcing business, “nine out of 10 victims of partial insider security breaches believe they have unsurmountable controls on the partial insider connection. Sometimes they don’t even know where the data is stored,” he says.

“In around 70% of cases it’s a third party that informs the business, usually banks, law enforcement or customers. The business is usually caught unaware when it finds out. Often we don’t even need specialised forensic tools because the answers are in the data logs in black and white.”

Unexpectedly, the retail and food and beverage industries accounted for over half of the investigation conducted. Financial businesses accounted for another 14% of investigations, while technology services, including software companies, data warehousing firms and telecommunication companies, take up 13% of cases.

Sartin says criminals are turning to easier targets as financial companies become more secure, choosing the path of least resistance.

Restaurant attacks are becoming increasingly common, he warns.

“If two out of three customers complaining of fraud attended the restaurant in the third week of December, we go and ask the proprietor if someone stole the bowl of business cards that was kept on the counter. They often say, ‘How did you know about that?’,” he explains, adding that matching credit card numbers to business cards allows a criminal to develop a valuable picture of the victim’s identity.

“You would expect attacks to be getting more progressive,” says Verizon’s manager principal of forensics Matthijs van der Wel, “but from a criminals point of view it’s easier to go for the soft target.”
The report comes as stockbroker Merchant Securities was fined ?77,000 by the Financial Services Authority for using inadequate data security controls to protect sensitive customer information, including asking them about holidays and hobbies to identify customers over the phone.

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In my life I have literally collected thousands of business cards. When I look through them, I hardly remember the person or business at all! Should a business card not reflect who you are and what your business does?

A proper business card is the first piece of marketing literature that is handed out. It should definitely have your name, address, email address and phone number. But I think that most business cards should have more information. Most are very poorly designed.

How could we improve on the basic business cards? I was thinking about this and I came up with some suggestions for the back of your business card:

1) Hard to Find Places - a mini map giving directions to your premises

2) Takeaways – a miniature menu – remember the 80/20 rule – top sellers only!

3) What about a testimonial?

4) Retail Outlet – what about a discount on presentation of the card?

Here is another great idea for the back of a business card:

Print:

We met at…

On…

For…

What we discussed…

Referrals…

What about the front?

1) Why not add your picture?

2) Use full colour printing

3) Get a Professional to design it

I firmly believe that all business cards should have a photograph of the person especially now that they are so cheap to produce in full colour. Nobody will ever forget who you are if your picture is on the card!

Your business card is probably the first marketing material you hand out to somebody you meet for the first time. It should create a good impression and be a precursor to a further meeting or conversation by phone. For more information refer to business cards

Business cards are never going to do the selling for you, but they need to transfer the right impression of who you are and what your business does. For this you need to use full colour printing and stay away from the standard black and white cards.

I would advise people to stay away from laminated cards. Many people jot down a short note on the back of the card to help them remember who you are and what was said. They cannot write on a laminated card!

Finally make sure your business card is durable. Pay slightly more for a thicker card. If you can get a cheaper business card for $90 a 1000 and a more expensive better quality of business card for $150 per 1000… and you only hand out 200 business cards a year… go for the better quality one and make sure you hand out a 1000 in the next 12 months!

How many business cards have you received that immediately said to you “I am not going to do business with that person”? Most of them are probably printed in black and white and on thin cards. Some do not even tell you what that persons business does!

Most people underestimate how valuable a business card really is. When you think about the costs involved it really should be used more effectively. Make your business card stand out so that people are more likely to remember you and get in touch.

There are many organisations offering this resource so how does one decide the exact organisation to choose or indeed the qualities of the same.

Human resource management is a key source but is also a waste of human resources in that it consumes a lot of time effort, and valuable resources. Refer to business continuity training for more information.

There are certain companies out there that specialise in solving these problems thus removing the necessity for business owners to devote the aforementioned problems to be a pressing issue.

In the pursuit of achieving superior business results, the value of these companies cannot be underestimated as they provide a service to enhance a business in all aspects of its qualities.

The information continued within may be, and has been evaluated by corporate solutions specialists and thus is incorporated in designing a solution for the particular organisation.

One essential aspect of the whole process is to understand why people behave and think as they do.

A major concern of any business has to be human resource issues and the folly of this must not be misunderstood.

It is important to take stock of a potential colleague’s attributes and possibly, can anything be done to improve them? For more information refer to business continuity white papers

Training is something that is based on the abilities of the trainer, hence the choice of training is perhaps more essential than the training itself.

So how does one determine the choice of trainer?

There are many qualities to be examined — what qualities do they have, what is their experience, what is their business history etc.

In terms of experience this may be difficult to establish however there are various qualities that can be established without this, namely appearance, character, general conversation and so on. These may be relied upon as well as performing the regular check on financial records of the company.

So reverting to the point in question, that is what training to seek… how does one determine this?

Qualities of individuals are obviously important however the other qualities may be ascertained to be the reliability and quality of the organisation to which they belong to. Visit business continuity training for more information.

One must ask how much training is learned or gained from experience. This is a more important question than first apparent as it is often necessary to achieve the benefits of experience from actually doing the task as opposed to theory-learning.

This is all part of the training process involved in a business and while it may seem unattractive it is essential — it is vitally important for any business to take care of the essential factors as without these being in place the entire structure would fall into disrepair; whether or not this is a matter of the internal organisation being effected or another situation whereby the entire business may be threatened. The two factors must be treated in the same manner, as both can result in the same result.

I suppose the whole onus of the topic is what qualities to look for in training organisations and the quality of training involved in respect of the perspectives gleaned from them.

While online classified ad sites such as Craigslist are popular, newspaper advertising is still the best way to reach local buyers.

Craigslist is an online classified site that offers free ads to individuals. Begun in 1995 by Craig Newmark, the site has grown to include 550 cities and 50 countries, according to the company’s website. While residents of large cities have their own dedicated sites, smaller communities across the United States have been overlooked by online classified sites. Unless you live in or around a larger metropolitan area, Craigslist is not an effective tool for selling items or doing local recruiting. newspaper classified advertising and pennysaver and other free community papers are still the best classified advertisements for people who want results.

• Even in this technological age, not everyone has a computer and those who do still may not have heard of Craigslist or is comfortable doing business online. But they likely read the local newspaper and pick up their free weekly shopper papers each week. If they are looking for an item or service in their community, they will look in the newspaper or in the free weekly shopper papers.

• Craigslist ads can be “flagged.” This means that someone, for any reason, can mark your ad as miscategorized, prohibited, or label it in a variety of other ways. Often these ads will be removed without the poster’s knowledge. Once your ad is in a newspaper or free weekly shopper papers, it cannot be removed!

• WIth Craigslist, you have to set up an account. This not only takes time but leaves your personal information on a server somewhere where it could be sold or accessed by hackers for improper use. Compare this to a quick email or phone call to a local newspaper or reputable agency who will assist you in a personal manner and safeguard your private information.

• You won’t be spammed when you run newspaper classified advertising or classified in a free weekly shopper papers. To Craiglist’s credit, you can run your ad blind and not include your email address or phone number. This will help minimize the possibility that your personal information will get into the hands of people who will bombard you with unwanted and unsolicited advertisements. Still, there is a risk of getting unsolicited email no matter how you place your ad.

If you wish to have your classified online, many newspapers and free weekly shopper papers also have websites. Often the classified ads are included online at no additional charge, or for a small fee. Craigslist does not offer a tangible print publication!

Craigslist is not the only site offering free classified ads. New sites are appearing every day and some are catering to smaller communities. Some communities are creating their own online classifieds. Still, when you want to sell an item, advertise a service, or recruit for a job,newspaper classified advertising or free weekly shopper classified advertising is the best way to guarantee that the people you wish to target will see your ads.

To learn more about the many opportunities that are available nationwide in newspaper classified advertising contact AdvertisingResults.com

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Throughout each recession there are many industries that will sink terribly but then there are those that will increase their profits. This current recession is destroying the mortgage sector and almost all of the other financial industries. However there is a newer market that is witnessing a great increase in business and has shown to be a attractive business opportunity for people with the capital and skills, and that business is the debt relief industry. There are quite a few debt settlement companies doing business right now earning a large amount of capital.

There are a bunch of reasons why it’s become so lucrative to manage debt reduction services at the current moment. To begin with the once huge consumer credit counseling industry simply is not going to be in position to aide many debtors because the expense of the program is too high. The other major option as far as debt relief programs are concerned is a Chapter 13, and home owners are trying if possible to avoid jumping to file for a bankruptcy. The bad effects felt from bankruptcy are enough for many US citizens to have a strong desire to find an alternative to get out of debt.

Debt negotiation is the only other option for many consumers. The monthly payments are much easier to manage and currently people are getting stuck more in debt and do not have the cash to pay off the debt in full. There are firms right now who are servicing thousands of clients on a monthly basis. This honestly is a tremendous business venture for those who have what it takes to obtain clients and deal with the collectors. So many people are left with no option other than to sign into a debt settlement procedure; with high monthly bills they cannot afford and the shadow of bankruptcy many are going this route.

To make the situation even better for this flourishing industry is the big banks are currently accepting extremely low settlements. They merely can’t afford not too, the credit card companies have forfeited so much money over the past few years with the mess in the sub-prime mortgage market that they need the funds flooding in from debt settlement. Starting a debt settlement business may not be the most simply thing in the world to do but if done correctly can be extremely profitable. And the way it seems right now our economy is only going to continue to plummet meaning more people will be doing debt settlement. Granting room for more entrepreneurs to get into the market with a business that will be around for a while.

Did you know that as a UK business owner, you can utilize plastic card printing technology to create attractive items like plastic discount cards for your customers? Printing plastic cards is a great way to promote your business and make your customers feel special. In this article, we’ll present some tips about how best to utilize a plastic card printing service to increase sales and build good will.

Many UK business owners who provide products and services to the public offer some type of plastic credit card or plastic loyalty card to their customers. Such cards can really boost business; this article will reveal how and explore how plastic card printing is done.

Plastic card printing: My Business and Plastic Cards: Why Should the Twain Meet?

Custom plastic cards are a wonderful and cost effective “perk” that increases both goodwill and sales. You must begin with a custom made plastic card printing equipment and a PC to interface with it Once you buy up the physical components, there’s no doubt you’ll get a lot of use out of your plastic card printing machine for all sorts of projects. For instance, after giving cards to your clientele, you may also decide to create customized gift cards, ID cards for workers, and badges for guests - just to name a few ideas.

Plastic card: Companies Currently Using Plastic Card Printers

Which companies are currently benefiting from such printing technology? Here are some good examples straight from the Web:

- “The Store” Provides On-the-Spot Loyalty Cards to Shoppers with Card Printers

- Machines to print cards are a real asset to Qatar’s program for frequent passengers

- Award-Winning Funeral Home creates their own plastic cards for a tribute

- Promotional Products Company generates tailored ID cards for patrons using their printer

Plastic card UK: Cost and Functionality of Plastic Card Printers

Cards like plastic membership cards are easy to customize. A magnetic stripe OCR print, or a bar code may be put on the card. You will enjoy total control over the whole custom plastic card printing campaign. Consider the awesomeness of having the ability to instantly draw up a card with your business logo and specialized artwork. Plastic card printers without the “bells and whistles” will cost you a very reasonable price (approx. $1200 US; ?810 GBP). Advanced tools are used for plastic card printing, and the cards are so useful in many, many ways. Shouldn’t your UK business get them as well?

When the economy plunges, many business owners cut advertising and marketing dollars first. Initially, their reasoning seems sound —”I have to pay my employees, utilities and keep inventory. I’ll cut back on advertising and save money.”

What these business owners don’t realize is that it is advertising and promotions that drive their business’ income that pays the employees and the bills. Lets look at some reasons why it is important to continue advertising in difficult times:

* If you have a viable product, someone is going to need it. How are potential customers going to learn about your business? Word of mouth will only take you so far. Local customers generally read local shopper and subscriber based newspapers for not only news, but bargains!

* According to research , a consumer may need to see an ad seven times before deciding to make a purchase or use a service. If you limit your advertising, consumers may forget about you and use a competitor who is still advertising.

Since you still need to advertise but, like most business owners, may have a limited budget, you must determine where your advertising dollars are best spent . free weekly shoppers will give you the best options and return on your investment for several reasons:

* free weekly shoppers offer a mix of print classified advertising and display ads. You can use both types of ads for maximum exposure.

* Someone may pick up free weekly shoppers to look for a miscellaneous item or service, see your ad, and realize they are also in the market for your products or services.

* Advertising in free weekly shoppers. You can spend thousands of dollars on expensive broadcast advertising and never see a return on your investment. You can reach the same audience for a fraction of the costs by utilizing print classified advertising.

Prosperous times will return at some point in time as the economy is cyclical. Continuing to advertise will maintain your hard earned relationship and legitimacy within the community. Newspaper print classified advertising is affordable and effective. It will stretch your advertising dollar and can be an invaluable tool in economic slowdowns to help keep your business above water. Businesses that consistently promote themselves will be better positioned to thrive when economic times improve.

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Surviving the ebbs and flow of economy is much easier when you are prepared for it. The only mantra to survive during recession is to make smart moves. If you are prepared to handle the situation with all your creativity, things will be at ease. Here are a few important tips to survive and thrive during recession.

Inadequate security control leaves you a potential victim to bogus callers. They may be men or women, dressed in overalls or suits. Not only do they represent a threat to your business assets by possible theft or sabotage, but there is also the potential for violent attacks on staff or in some cases, even terrorist attacks.

Your main priorities when it comes to gaining control over access to your business premises should be safety, security, convenience and cost. Whether you are moving to new premises or revamping your existing access policies, there are a number of matters to consider.

External entrances

It is a good idea to limit the number of outside access points to as few as practically possible. This limits the areas to be monitored, thereby dropping costs. However, you do need to ensure that you meet current health and safety legislation on the required number of fire escapes.

Reception area

Its important to ensure that your reception area is constantly staffed either by a receptionist or security guard. Make failsafe cover arrangements for when they cannot be there, such as lunch breaks, illness, and holidays.

Control devices

There are a number of access control solutions, including:

• Standard Key lock - is suitable for a small number of users requiring infrequent access.

• Numerical Code lock - can be mechanical or electrical and requires a set code to be entered on a keypad to release the lock.

• Magnetic Access Cards - are becoming more affordable and use Photo ID Cards to control access electronically.

• Advanced systems - are available if high level monitored control is needed, such as systems that read eye retinas, fingerprints and ID badges.

Visitors/suppliers

For security and fire safety reasons, it is a good idea to get visitors and suppliers to sign in and out of the location, logging the time and whom they are visiting. You should also consider issuing visitor’s Photo ID Cards, and accompanying them throughout the building.

Internal access

Uninvolved employees and visitors should have no access to certain areas within your premises, such as:
• server racks/rooms
• Data archives
• Warehouses
• Payroll department
• Stationery stores

These areas are sensitive and likely to be the targets of sabotage and theft of both staff and outside intruders.

24 Hour access

If your business operates twenty four hours a day, then ensure that you have in place adequate security and health and safety procedures for the quiet periods. Weekend and night access can greatly increase your security overheads, so consider whether this is really advantageous.

Employee vigilance

Your fresh control measures will benefit in their effectiveness if they are backed up by staff to maximum effect. Train staff to be alert, awareness and vigilant, monitor the actions of visitors, and keep their own valuables (both business and personal) in safe places, and out of sight.

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A plastic card printer is a great piece of business equipment that can help increase sales for many companies in the UK. With so many types and models of plastic card printers available, it can seem to be a daunting task to choose the right one. In this article, we’ll present some basic information on how to choose a printer to make customized plastic cards.

Whether it’s for employee ID cards, customer loyalty cards, or a host of other customized plastic cards, using a plastic card printer has become common in many UK businesses.

Plastic Card Printer UK : Benefits of Plastic Card Printers

Whether it is used for a customer or an employee, plastic card printers make it a quick task to develop any kind of card ranging from a plastic security card to a plastic credit card. It is not difficult to make duplicates for lost cards since the info is kept on a computer. Because the cards are issued on site, the employees or customers don’t have to wait for their cards.

UK Plastic Card : How Do You Navigate a Plastic Card Printer?

Dye sublimation and thermal transfer are the two basic procedures for printing a plastic card. With thermal transfer, ink that has been heated is put right on the card. In the dye sublimation method, heated ink converts to a gas that permeates the card.

Plastic Card : Make certain that the card printer will be able to communicate with the computer software system you are working with. Also, it should contain a USB port and possibly an Ethernet port so it can work as a part of a net or can stand alone. Card design software should be included, so you can quickly and easily design everything from plastic discount cards to plastic membership cards.

Advantages of Electronically Printed Cards

The primary advantage of having plastic card printers is having the ability to make cards that flawlessly combine electronic photos, text, images, artwork, bar codes, and logos. If you have OCR or magnetic stripe requirements, a good card printer can handle those as well.

For UK business proprietors who would like to be cost efficient and maintain full regulation over the safe keeping and the look of printed plastic cards, a plastic card printer is a cheap yet invaluable implement.

Acquiring a plastic card printer for your UK business can help you open new vistas of sales and customer service like gift cards, loyalty cards, membership cards, credit cards and much, much more.

If you’ve been shopping for blank CDs or blank DVDs recently and concerned with cd duplication printing, you may have found yourself a bit confused by all of the choices - CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW. Trying to figure out the abbreviations between them can be a bit mind racking indeed. To make matters worse for those who aren’t up on the lastest marvels of technology is the rate at which the industry of technology is evolving. Just when you think you’ve caught on to the concepts of MP3s and burning CD and DVD media, new twists on blank media hits the market and you found yourself confused more than you were to start with. The “R” found in CD-R and DVD+/-R media stands for recordable. It will tell consumers that these disks are blank recordable media. You can record movies, data, music, and photos on the disc, but the discs cannot be erased.

The “RW” on CD-RW and DVD+/-RW media stands for rewritable. This lets you know that media with RW on them can be recorded and erased several times. Even though the prices for blank CD and DVD media is inexpensive, you can expect to pay a bit more for RW type media. When we are dealing with cd dvd duplication services the biggest source of confusion stems from DVD-R and DVD-RW and how they are different from DVD+R and DVD+RW media. In order to avoid a long technical speech on the differences, you simply need to know that each DVD types can record movies just like the next type. DVD+R and DVD+RW are a newer more expensive technology that offers a few technical advantages over DVD-R and DVD-RW. None the less, DVD-R has greater compatibility with more DVD players than any other format of blank DVDs. If you have a newer DVD player or if you use your computer to play back media, you should have no problems with DVD+R/DVD+RW media. Some say that they provide a better range of quality, although the quality is indeed similar.

When considering tapes to dvd do keep in mind that all recordable CD and DVD media do the same thing regardless of their particular brand or extension. Because there is not an industry standard that involves DVD technology, not every DVD player is compatible with each and every format you see on retail store shelves. For this very reason, you should always check with DVD player manual to see which type of recordable media it will play back. This way, you’ll know what to buy the next time you go shopping for blank CD or DVD media.