Spammers were initially quick to utilize social networks (read Facebook & Twitter) to drive their business. However, hackers have also begun targeted attacks using social networks, to run malware installations on victims’ networks; this from a recent report from Mandiant.

They have seen a rise in “Advanced Persistent Threats” that are penetrating legitimate social networks, to use as  command-and-control networks for installing malware on would-be victims. Further reason, if you’ve not yet done so, to upgrade your perimeter security to utilize a multi-functional firewall, for better protection of colleagues whilst they’re online.

Of course, this begs the question: who’s next? With Facebook running over 600 million users, there’s a ready market for the next online predator category in the food-chain to start preying on.

Spammers have come back strongly in 2011, after the holiday break. According to recent data by Commtouch, after a quarter with depressed spam levels, it shot back up again by 45%. Particularly interesting is the correlation between spam activity and major holidays – even spammers take time off!

Piracy and counterfeit goods websites generate 53 billion web site visits per year, according to a survey by MarkMonitor. Hapless visitors are still flocking to fake web sites that tout too-good-to-be-true offers.

All the more reason to ensure you have a robust email and web filter in your organization: to protect your staff and colleagues from ever more attempts to defraud them.

Briefly looking back at 2010, we at Untangle would like to thank all our customers that have come along with us for the ride. The Untangle community has swelled to over 30,000 active customer sites, protecting over 1.7 million people, all over the globe. Thank you for your support in 2010. We wish you a successful 2011.

A money-saving reminder to our US customers: Section 179 of the United States IRS Tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of computer software and equipment – this year. Rather than the usual practice of depreciating computer purchases over 5 years, Section 179 allows the full purchase value to be treated as a tax deduction in 2010. An Untangle subscription and appliance may be 100% tax deductable if purchased and installed in 2010.

To take full advantage of this allowance, we recommend our 2- or 3- year subscriptions of Untangle Premium Package, and an Untangle appliance. Get your orders in ASAP.

The US Department of Education has rolled out their National Education Technology Plan, which advocates using technology to improve teaching and learning.

The goals and recommendations of the plan endorse using social networks to create communities of practice that help educators share tools and resources, evolve skills over time, tap into experts and best practices, and provide platforms for educators to design and develop resources with and for colleagues, according to eWeb.net. The report also provides guidance on internet security:

Balancing Connectivity and Student Safety on the Internet

E-Rate is a federal program that supports connectivity in elementary and secondary schools and libraries by providing discounts on Internet access, telecommunications services, internal network connections, and basic maintenance. Schools, school districts, and consortia can receive discounts on these services ranging from 20 to 90 percent depending on their level of poverty and geographic location.

Schools’ eligibility for E-Rate money is contingent on compliance with several federal laws designed to ensure student privacy and safety on the Internet. The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires any school that funds Internet access or internal network connections with E-Rate money to implement filters that block students’ access to content that may be harmful to minors, including obscenity and pornography. CIPA also requires schools receiving E-Rate discounts to teach online safety to students and to monitor their online activities.

Ensuring student safety on the Internet is a critical concern, but many filters designed to protect students also block access to legitimate learning content and such tools as blogs, wikis, and social networks that have the potential to support student learning and engagement. More flexible, intelligent filtering systems [like Untangle's  Education Premium Package - Ed.] can give teachers (to whom CIPA restrictions do not apply) access to educationally valuable content. On the other end of the spectrum, some schools and districts filter students’ online activities with proxy servers that meet CIPA requirements but are easy to get around, minimizing their utility for managing and monitoring students’ online activity.

CIPA also has posed challenges to accessing school networks through students’ own cell phones, laptop computers, and other Internet access devices to support learning activities when schools cannot afford to purchase devices for each student. Applying CIPA-required network filters to a variety of student-owned devices is a technical challenge that may take schools months or years to implement. However, districts such as Florida’s Escambia County Schools have created technical solutions and accompanying acceptable use policies (AUPs) that comply with CIPA regulations, allowing Web-based learning on student devices to run on networks supported by federal E-Rate funding.

Download the National Education Technology Plan.

For more info on how educators are using Untangle to achieve CIPA compliance – and therefore get access to those federal E_Rate dollars – see our CIPA White paper: A Guide to Understanding the Children’s Internet Protection Act

Infoworld reported today how the banking trojan, Zeus, has become big enough of a threat to take down small community banks. Ironically, it isn’t from a lack of perimeter security by the banks – it’s from their customers’ lack of defences. Zeus infects a small business’ network, then is used by fraudsters to transfer money from the bank account of that small business network. With enough small businesses having their accounts drained, it can cause the equivalent of a run on that bank.

Banks are naturally very worried about this. Despite the investments they have made in IT security, they are facing risks from exploitation of the very interfaces that they do business through with their small business customers. What’s a community bank with razor-thin margins to do?

It seems like we may be moving towards a world where having a secure internet gateway protecting a client organization, may become a standard requirement from banks. At the very least, it might affect their ability to get credit, as banks refine the risk profile evaluation of their customers.

One can do a lot with a little:

Couple this with good hiring, and you’re almost done!

Bob

PC World recently wrote about the recycling challenges faced by IT managers as their hardware gear comes up for a replenishment cycle. Whilst there are many vendors willing to accept a trade-in of the old to secure an order for the new, what about trying to re-use it, rather than recycle that gear instead?

There are currently about 30,000 active Untangle network gateways in operation, shielding about 1.7 million people from online harm. Thousands of these Untangle gateways are using our software, installed on re-used PCs and Servers. Rather than recycling them, enterprising IT managers have re-used them, especially in the face of harsh IT budget cuts, to re-purpose them as unified threat management (UTM) appliances.

So before you toss that old PC, download Untangle, install it and try it out as a network gateway. You may save yourself some money, and have one less recycling headache to worry about.

Just plug it into your phone, and Voila.

Square looks like a potential game-changer for very small businesses. Anyone with a US address, social security number, bank account and an iPhone or Android, can now accept credit cards using the Square service. This really opens the door for firms like freelancers and contractors to be in on the act. The transaction costs are low, the set-up fees are non-existent, and the cute square card scanner reader that plugs into the phone, is free. Can’t wait to get mine, if only to be able to accept cards at my next garage sale.

For the last couple of years Untangle has been purely a software company. Whilst this has been good for our business, it has not been without its challenges for some of our customers….

Many potential new resellers and customers have run into frustrations trying to build their own hardware appliances on which to run a dedicated Untangle server. Several of our Untangle Authorized Partners already offer hardware upon which to run Untangle, and do a fine job of it.  However,  we’ve continued to hear demand for a single source of supply of both the hardware and the software: i.e. “one throat to choke”. To this end, we’ve introduced a range of Untangle hardware appliances, in order to meet that need. They all come with Untangle server software pre-installed, plus an on-site three-year warranty. Just add your software subscription of choice – we recommend the Untangle Premium Package – and you’re set.