Lately, we have been hearing about how quickly the Conficker Worm is spreading. News sources have pegged the number of infections in the neighborhood of 3.5 million computers. Given that Microsoft issued a patch for the flaw targeted by the Conficker worm and the use of strong passwords can prevent much of the spread, it seems odd that enterprises (large corporations) with network management would be hurt by the worm. But sometimes enterprise security isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Regardless of your size – small or large you need to make sure you’re taking all available steps to protect your network security. If you’re not sure, get help.

• Read More at eWeek

In 2009, IT experts predict more malware and other attacks on company networks coming from mobile devices, social networks, and faster Internet connections, among other trends.

IT experts predict a substantial uptick this year in the number of small businesses using smart phones — as well as flash drives, social networks, and faster Internet connections. While that might make employees more productive, it also increases the security risks a small business faces.

• Read more at Inc Technology…

Whether the economy is up or down, no matter what is happening in the world, most small business owner’s work hard anyway. It’s never been easy to start a business, nurture its growth and succeed in any line of business. It’s competitive, more so in some industries than others, but every butcher, baker, candlestick maker or software developer started the same way – small.

There are an astronomical number of variables that are involved in any business success, certainly, but there are also some truisms that seem to apply always and everywhere. The primary ingredient in success, of course, is not genius, creativity, a college education or a lot of working capital. The key is persistence, pure and simple.

• Read more at SB Informer…

We all want to minimize costs – both planned and unexpected – but not at the expense of keeping systems and essential equipment running smoothly. Small businesses without an IT department often wait until something breaks to call in an expert for help, or simply rely on the most techy person in the office to take care of the computers in addition to his regular duties.

• Read more at SB Informer…

Online fax services are becoming extremely popular with business owners. There are several reasons why Internet or online faxing has found favor with the business sector. Mainly because it’s easy, fast, available 24/7, truly mobile and perhaps most of all, online faxing is very convenient to use.

No wonder, Internet fax providers like MyFax have reported they’re getting over 15,000 new costumers signing up each month. Many companies, large and small, are switching over to this new way of faxing; while others are adding an online fax service to compliment their traditional office fax machine.

• Read more at SB Informer…

Brand building is indeed a journey. Branding is all about how your product or service is perceived by customers and potential customers. A brand marketer attempts to manipulate brand awareness by associating traits they would like consumers to associate with the brand.

Building a brand has everything to do with capturing the hearts and minds of consumers. Building a brand is much more than just promoting an image. A brand incorporates and conveys the values and traits that a company wants associated with their product or service. It sounds like building a brand is a simple task, but the marketers must do more than just create a brand image. The magnitude of branding encompasses all aspects of a product. With this in mind, we’ve put together a guide for marketers on the journey of brand building…

• Read more at SB Informer…

One of the key characteristics of Web 2.0 is participation, collaboration and moderation through the use of web applications. Web 2.0 sites derive their power from the human connections and network effects from this characteristic that is made possible, and grow in effectiveness the more people use them.

• Read more at SB Informer…

For the past few months I’ve been using a variety of wireless, blue tooth headsets, with my cell phone. The latest head set I’m using does not have clear reception. Often times I can hear the person fine, but they can’t hear me so well.

I love technology, and in fact, the particular blue tooth headset I’m using is made by one of the premier brands.

• Read more at Small Biz IT…

Virus Attack: What to Do on Zero Day

As a kid I used to write messages with lemon juice and when the juice dried I had a secret message (or so I thought) that was viewable when held up to the light.

Of course these child hood secret messages only work in the mind of a child, but not the corporate shield of real business. For your communications between your employees, your partners or your clients you need to ensure that each email message that needs to be secure, is secure.

• Read more at Small Biz IT…