Before Focusing on Advanced Cyber Threats, US Businesses Better Have Their Cyber Security Basics Well Covered

New York, NY (PRWEB) May 02, 2013

There is no shortage of headline making stories that involve advanced cyber threats, from now famous attacks like Stuxnet and the Flame virus, to sophisticated and organized players like Anonymous, or state-sponsored cyber warfare units with deep pockets like China’s Unit 61398 out of Shanghai, which are just a few among many. But Verizon’s 2013 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), which just came out last week, clearly shows the success of even simple attacks, and the staggering longevity of these compromises before they are ever even detected, is an area that needs serious improvement across the board if US organizations want to survive the assault that comes with doing business in our digital world. Joe Caruso, founder and CEO/CTO of Global Digital Forensics (GDF), took some time to weigh in on the report and the importance of focusing on the basics first.

First step, judging the cyber threat landscape.

“One-size-fits-all solutions may be great for many things, but cyber security is absolutely not one of them. Because like the report pointed out, different industries typically face different threats. A manufacturing company, for instance, is probably a lot more worried about keeping designs, secret manufacturing techniques and other intellectual property (IP) safe and secure. A restaurant should probably be a lot more concerned about securing their POS (Point of Sale) systems to make sure they are keeping their customers’ credit card information from falling into the wrong hands. Financial institutions, on the other hand, have the entire gauntlet of threats to face, from brute-force cyber smash-and-grabs and spear phishing campaigns, to distributed denial of service (DoS) attacks which are launched to incapacitate their websites and make accounts unavailable to their clients, and everything in between. Hospitals, universities and retailers have their own ghosts to face as well. But one thing you can be sure of, if you have cyber “gold” of any kind to mine, there are always attackers with their noses pressed up against the glass just licking their chops for an opportunity to capitalize on any exploitable hole they can find. Our cyber threat assessments are designed to look at the big cyber security picture, from understanding and mapping the entire digital infrastructure and how the data flow interacts with business functions, to determining which threat vectors are likely to be the most problematic and prioritize them accordingly. We also thoroughly review cyber security policies and procedures already in place to identify weaknesses and help clients remediate them, or we help create them if none exist.”

Step two, penetration testing.

“The importance of comprehensive penetration testing cannot be overstated. You can talk to clients until you’re blue in the face, you can show mountains of statistics and you can pull out countless headline stories about successful cyber attacks and the long term financial ramifications victimized organizations have endured, but it still won’t sink in. But run a successful penetration test and eyes will open. It’s the cyber equivalent of a live-fire exercise and just like in the military version, it stresses every system with attacks that simulate real-world incidents to identify weaknesses. When we launch one of our realistic phishing or spear phishing campaigns, for instance, and get seventy, eighty or ninety percent of the company’s employees to divulge their credentials, everyone from the employees and managers, to executives and owners get the message loud and clear. Because if it was a real attacker, they would have had complete access to the entire network to do, well, anything they want. And we pull out all the stops with tradecraft honed by two decades of experience. We’ll set up dummy websites which look like the real thing to entice our targets, we’ll employ a variety of social engineering techniques to bypass air gaps on segmented systems and deliver payloads using things like USB sticks, we’ll leverage WiFi and Bluetooth connections from smartphones and tablets which have exploded onto the scene, and a whole host of other proven methods and techniques we have in our arsenal to infiltrate the client’s unique digital architecture. And when you can show someone how they were just victimized and how to avoid it in the future, the lessons stay with them for a very long time. That alone is a huge step towards the ultimate goal of effective cyber security.”

Getting hacked – you may have an app for that.

“Applications can certainly make life a lot easier in the digital world, so it’s no wonder they keep coming out at a breakneck pace. Whether they are Internet or cloud-based applications, phone apps or simply internal applications to make things run more smoothly, they are also a preferred gateway for cyber intruders. The reasoning is simple. Application designers are typically not cyber security experts. Their focus is generally on functionality, and once they get that down the product gets rushed to market. Needless to say, it is not at all uncommon for many of these applications to have security holes right out of the box which can easily be exploited, and that can be like having an unlocked revolving door which leads right into your network, giving intruders complete access to your most sensitive electronically stored information (ESI). Our application security testing exposes those kinds of vulnerabilities so you, your customers, vendors and employees can use them with confidence and enjoy their benefits instead of suffering catastrophic consequences.”

Surviving a cyber emergency is all in the response.

“There is a harsh dose of reality that must be faced when it comes to cyber security; there is no such thing as perfect protection, and any cyber security “expert” that tells you different is simply lying. The reality is that playing offense on the cyber battleground is a lot easier than playing defense. Internal IT security personnel have a million holes to plug, but an attacker only needs to find one to exploit. That’s why GDF has a network of experienced cyber emergency incident responders available 24/7 that are strategically positioned across the country, and the globe. Our responders can be onsite in hours, not days, to identify, isolate, secure and investigate security breaches. We have also developed specialized tools to immediately begin the process remotely in many cases as soon as we receive your call. Not only will taking the right approach to handling a cyber emergency help you contain the actual damage from the attack and the inevitable aftermath, but it will also go a long way towards calming nervous clients, vendors and investors, as well as satisfying many regulatory compliance headaches.”

The dangerous sink or swim world of cyber intrusions, data breaches and other cyber attacks is fluid and constantly evolving. Trusted cyber security professionals like Global Digital Forensics can go a long way towards keeping you afloat. So don’t wait to take control, or you may just become another grim statistic.

*Global Digital Forensics is a recognized industry leader in the fields of computer forensics, electronic discovery (eDiscovery), cyber security and emergency incident response, with years of experience assisting clients in the government, banking, healthcare, education and corporate arenas. For a free consultation with a Global Digital Forensics specialist, call 1-800-868-8189 about tailoring a plan which will meet your unique needs. Emergency responders are also standing by 24/7 to handle intrusion and data breach emergencies whenever and wherever they arise. Time is critical if a cyber incident has occurred, so don’t hesitate to get help. For more information, visit http://www.evestigate.com.







Advanced Personnel Systems Releases SmartSearch

OCEANSIDE, CA (PRWEB) May 21, 2013

Advanced Personnel Systems, Inc. (APS), the maker of SmartSearch® recruiting business software announces the release of its new Version 17. The latest version of SmartSearch® features exciting upgrades to its built-in e-mail communication tools that includes a new interface with easy to modify templates such as interview agendas, offer letters, new hire welcome notices, and other time-saving features. Users can now schedule emails and broadcasts to be sent at a specific date and time; and automatically track which recipients have read email messages.

SmartSearch on-boarding tools have also been improved dramatically with configurable workflow functions that include customer-defined task automation such as messaging and notifications, unlimited document management capabilities and electronic signature capture.

“We are very excited about our new communication and on-boarding capabilities,” said Doug Coull, CEO at APS, “Version 17 provides our clients unparalleled control of their messaging and the ability to quickly achieve paperless on-boarding. We love ‘green recruiting’ technology like this and so do our customers.”

Version 17 also features improved Social Media capabilities and significant enhancements to Career Center web portal functionality. SmartSearch users can schedule posting of jobs and marketing messaging to the most popular social media sites and source directly from LinkedIn. Plus, Twitter posts are now encoded with GeoInformation. Customers can also add an optional “Apply with Monster” and “Apply with Indeed” icon to the SmartSearch career center enabling candidates to apply instantly using their profiles from these popular sites – significantly enhancing both the candidates experience and the scope of data collection.

Other exciting new features in Version 17 include enhanced mobile recruiting capabilities with a “mobile friendly” career center for candidates, expanded Job View Analytic Reports that track views by source and originating location, flexible commission tracking for recruiters and sales people in staffing organizations, mapping search results using interactive Google maps, and more.

The SmartSearch® recruiting software is best known for the ability to seamlessly integrate with existing systems and applications for managing all employment-related information from one easy to use interface.

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About SmartSearch®: Since 1986, Advanced Personnel Systems, Inc. has led the way in the development and deployment of quality talent management and recruiting solutions. Having pioneered the field of resume-scanning-based recruiting solutions, APS is a recognized innovator in on-demand technology and recruitment data management. Its signature product, SmartSearch® serves over 165,000 users and 4.7 million job seekers worldwide. For more information, visit: http://www.smartsearchonline.com







Evermore New Media Develops Advanced CakePHP Website for IamExpat.nl

Amsterdam, Netherlands (PRWEB) October 31, 2011

The wheels never stop turning at IamExpat.nl — a successful collaboration between Projekt 45, G Design Studio and Evermore New Media . Designed by expats, for expats, the site was envisioned by four business students when they met in Amsterdam and brought to life over the course of the next year, using talents from all around the world. Evermore’s role in this project was to convert the designs provided by G Design Studio into a fully functional website. While Evermore offers design services too, its role in this project was to incorporate cutting-edge technology, social media integration and cross-platform discussion forums, enabling connectivity with services such as Facebook and Twitter.

All in all, Evermore built a scalable, stable website with plenty of power under the hood, with the kind of clear, clean user interface and minimalist design that benefits a successful, feature packed website that’s easy-to-use. Behind the scenes, Evermore’s development team produced a site capable of handling multiple databases, daily uploads of content, user forums and an ever-growing base of content and traffic. Using collaborative tools of the trade such as 37signals’ Basecamp and the Scrum methodology, Evermore was able to work in collaboration with teams and individuals around the world to deliver a complicated, custom website using CakePHP, an open source web application framework, to create a resilent content management system.

It’s hard work building, maintaining and developing a site the size of IamExpat.nl. That’s where Marina, Evermore’s project manager, comes in. Her role is to organize the team and ensure work gets done on-schedule. Using the Agile approach, the team is able to work on the project incrementally, while still working on the same goal, deliver critical and strategically important functionality first, and ensure that communication is always the top priority. Evermore has used the same methodology to produce other large websites to ensure work gets done — but working with so many people across the world has been Marina’s biggest challenge and an extremely fun adventure at the same time!

Working with people across the globe, Evermore team’s development, project management and coding skills helped to ensure the success of IamExpat.nl. A typical day in IamExpat:

Omsk, Russia, 9am: Maxim, technical lead, logs in at the office. Ahead of him lies a hard day’s work incorporating feedback from the latest project testing and taking care of the next development sprint. IamExpat.nl contains over 10.000 lines of custom code, built from scratch to suit its content management requirements.

Amsterdam, 11am: Marina logs on to Evermore’s Campfire chat room and begins the daily Scrum catch-up. As the project manager, it’s her task to make sure everyone knows what they’re doing, and when.

Macau, South China, 3pm: Stelios, founder of Evermore New Media, receives a message from Marina asking for clarification on some of the day’s issues. Immediately, Stelios gets to work.

Athens, 7pm: Alexandros refines the latest designs and discusses with the IamExpat Team to ensure that the IamExpat brand identity is well incorporated in and clearly reflected on the website.

Amsterdam, 10pm: Panos logs on, approves the day’s work, and switches out the lights in the office.

IamExpat.nl – created by expats, for expats.

IamExpat.nl was established by four friends who came to the Netherlands for different reasons but found the same reasons to work together. Starting out as students at the Rotterdam School of Management and Tilburg University, they decided to demonstrate their entrepreneurial side and give something back to the country they’d fallen in love with. As they graduated and found work across the globe, they invested their capital in forming the first version of IamExpat.nl, which has gone from strength to strength since then. Now, with the launch of the new version, IamExpat.nl is ready to become the most popular media platform for internationals in the Netherlands and even further..

Using the latest technology, the team has created an easy-to-use, intuitive, user-friendly website that enables customisable user profiles, commenting options, as well as social media integration. It was designed based on feedback from its members, who were consulted at every step of the design process.

Redesigning the site was based on the team’s decision to provide content on a daily basis – in other words, making sure iamexpat.nl never gets old. But building a more active site required a substantial update to the site’s framework. Evermore’s role was to create a reliable website capable of handling a diverse and active user base and a regularly updated database of content, as well as converting G Design Studio’s innovative design into a working website using the CakePHP framework.

About CakePHP

CakePHP is a rapid development framework for PHP that provides an extensible architecture for developing, maintaining, and deploying applications. Using commonly known design patterns like MVC and ORM within the convention over configuration paradigm, CakePHP reduces development costs and helps developers write less code.

About IamExpat

IamExpat.nl is a community-driven, online media platform dedicated to providing up-to-date, “inside” information, dutch news, services and lifestyle suggestions for all English speaking internationals in the Netherlands.

About Evermore

Evermore New Media, founded in 2004, is a full-service digital agency specializing in solutions for Small Businesses. Evermore New Media – Providing cutting edge web solutions across the globe. For more information on Evermore, visit http://www.evermore.eu. Connect with Evermore on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/evermorenewmedia and Twitter: twitter.com/evermoretweets

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Ocius to Demonstrate Advanced Mobile Apps for Apartment Residents at 2012 NMHC OpTech Technology Conference

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) November 12, 2012

Ocius, a leading provider of convergent billing and utility expense management solutions to the multifamily industry, today announced it is demonstrating the My Resident Network App for iOS and Android devices in booth #325 at the NMHC OpTech Conference & Expo, November 12 – 14 at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas.

Ocius is also showcasing its convergent billing and utility expense management services, and will be providing a preview of its soon-to-be released My Property Network℠, property management app that allows Apartment Managers to provide their renters with “anytime, anywhere” access to viewing and paying their monthly rent and utility charges.

My Resident Network App

The My Resident Network mobile app lets apartment residents setup a secure mobile account and pay their rent directly from their smart phone just as they would via the My Resident Network online web portal. Residents can view their current monthly statement, make rent payments, see their utility charges, and review other account information.

My Property Network App

The Ocius My Property Network App provides freedom, flexibility and mobility for busy property managers. Using the app, property managers can view their residents’ utility charges, approve and post resident payments directly to their ledgers, post community messages for residents through a virtual bulletin board, and send text and push messages to residents through a simple one click system. The My Property Network App saves time and improves the efficiency of the property manager’s front office, and strengthens relationships with residents.

“Property managers and residents have gone mobile in a big way. They want to be unchained from the office. With our new apps, they’ll be able to complete everything digitally anywhere they have cell reception or a Wi-Fi connection,” said Keith Nelson, chief operating officer for Ocius. “We’re excited to be able to provide our clients with the tools they need to improve their efficiency and better serve their residents.”

Availability / Compatibility

The My Resident Network mobile app for apartment residents was just released and is now available for iOS devices in the Apple App store and for Android devices from the Google play store. The My Property Network tablet app is scheduled for release in Q4 of this year.

About Ocius

Ocius was the first company to provide convergent billing solutions to the multifamily housing industry and continues to lead this rapidly growing segment. Ocius also provides integrated Transaction Processing, Utility Expense Management, Submetering, and Resident Portal solutions. Ocius serves more than 100 clients and 15 of the NMHC Top 50 Apartment Managers, and processes more than $ 2 Billion in resident billing annually. For more information visit: http://www.ocius.net or call 866-850-3500.