Ensuring the security of data and content is of paramount importance – laws and rules can do this much and no more. There is no gainsaying that it will be necessary to build, maintain, implement and follow the required processes and methodologies.

With e-commerce going to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming years, the need for a secure system along with the appropriate checks and balances will increasingly be felt across organizations and sectors.

In the midst of the global economic downturn and the resultant low business sentiment, there might certainly be a focus on driving business needs more aggressively – by even possibly cutting a few corners, turning a blind eye to some business happenings and other related matters. In this midst, business owners might not devote the needed time and attention to Data Security and maintaining high standards of Information security in their organizations.

This lower focus might just be the opening that unscrupulous operators of cyber crime might be waiting for to inflict that killer knockout punch to add the the market misery.

I have attempted to capture some key elements that would be of relevance across borders and organizations. These may not be exhaustive – but are directional and will help personnel involved to understand the intricacies and possibly drive the thinking in organisations.

Five Steps towards Building organizational Cyber Security

1.  Employee Training – on Cyber Security needs
Raising the security awareness level of associates, employees and stakeholder through effective training conducted periodically is a positive  way to ensure security is on their radars at all times and reflected in their working behavior at all times.

Employee training is not only a requirement for most businesses, but it is also one of the best ways to minimize the corporate’s exposure to the most damaging type of security attacks – the unintentional ones created by uneducated or careless employees.

Many current attack methods depend purely upon the behavior pattern of unsuspecting users. This could be in the form of the employee clicking on a malicious link or executing a harmful program; being lured to a harmful website, or even by something as innocuous as using a USB drive.

2.  Periodically enforce testing of  operating systems, networks and applications
Most organizations do simple external network and operating system vulnerability testing, which is a great way to identify Internet exposures.  However, these basic vulnerability assessments and penetration testing processes do not perform application level testing which has become a common attack method.

Two application level attacks that are often getting to be seen as a means for cyber crimes include SQL injection and buffer overflows. Application level testing can identify poorly designed and coded programs (such as home grown applications and online backing programs) that are susceptible to these types of attacks.

3.  Always do security testing and validation of newer technology before deploying it
It is absolutely sacrosanct in the changed worldspace that designers and developers strictly test and validate newer technology than resort to their hasty implementation. The usage of new tools across Web 2.0, P2P, virtualization and cloud computing are growing rapidly.

2008 witnessed a strong adoption of virtualization and a gradual rise in cloud computing. However, cloud computing will be the cause of major security concern among security professionals in 2009. This influx of new technologies, both business and consumer technologies, has opened additional avenues for cyber attackers to steal trade secrets and confidential business information.  It sure is good to be the first to launch a new tool and application to be distinct from the crowds.  It is better to be safe and a tad slow than be sorry in haste.

4.  Have a mobile device policy for employees
It would not be far from the truth to state that there are not very many companies that have successfully   implemented a detailed policy for usage of mobile devices within premises and also outside of the workplace.

PDAs, Blackberrys and thumbdrives have become common in the workplace. However, many companies do not have systems to monitor what kind of information is stored on them by employees and users.  Employees need to be educated on what should and should not be on a device used outside of the workplace. Proprietary, private or financial information should be stored only if absolutely necessary. It’s also important to protect sensitive information by passwords in the event such device is lost or stolen.

5.  Use care while using social and professional networking sites
Social networking has gathered momentum with added features in applications like Facebook, Orkut, LinkedIn and the slew of others. 2008 also witnessed the slow rise in attacks in these applications and 2009 can also be expected to see the rise in social networking websites to spread malware. Indication of this was observed in August 2008 when Facebook admitted that up to 1800 users’ profiles were defaced by an attack that secretly installed a Trojan while displaying an animated graphic of a court jester blowing a raspberry.

To summarise, it behoves on each and every user, regardless of rank, designation, extent of technology savviness, location, to be wary and cautious in the usage and watch out for any likely slip ups that could jeopardize the business efforts in a single click.

The work shop offered a platform create awareness of the power of IT/web technologies and how it can be leveraged to revitalize agricultural Industry. Sriram and Nishant attended the session, representing iridium Interactive.

Sriram was also one of the speakers and spoke on Web Standards, Technologies and Standardization. The talk started off well with the audience clued on to the jazz of the presentation but it hit the note when Sriram started talking about the Rural initiatives through CauseanEffect, e Learning bringing insurance closer to rural people, Case Studies of using Web 2.0 to solve business problems for Maruti, NASSCOM, Escorts and ITC e-Choupal and delivery mechanisms through examples of films made to educate people on alternative livelihoods post tsunami.

Agriculture and its audience need to be understood to use technology to bring value close to the rural people. There are so many initiatives that can change lives… eLearning for Agricultural practices, banking and insurance facilities for rural people, latest trends and machinery in farming etc. Hoping this workshop will help generate ideas for rural betterment.

Hence, just to stand out from the crowd, this article refutes this supposition. There are ways and means of generating leads thru social media.

Marketers and business owners have tried in the recent period to leverage their presence on social networks and media sites – to build brands and also to find new leads. However, their tendency to focus on isolated Web 2.0 strategies often has been the cause of their failure.

Some of the positives that have come out of a strategized presence by B2B owners have been:

o Find and nurture new leads
o Find higher quality leads
o Avoid undesirable clients
o Stay connected with industry contacts
o Find potential partners

A simple but sure way towards success is highlighted here – by a current Direct Marketing practitioner.

The attempt is not to advocate any specific approach as the “be all end all” but only to trigger each business owner to see and adapt to her own need.

The experience of this successful practitioner is quoted verbatim – to avoid the expected losses in translation or interpretation.

So here goes:

1. Facebook

Rosenthal launched the ‘What I Saw at the Direct Marketing Revolution’ Facebook group in November 2007. It has since grown to 1,150 members – one of the largest direct marketing groups on the network.

Members discuss topics such as “Fascinating Direct Marketing Test Results” and “What Essential Tests Should Direct Marketers Run to Stay Up to Date?” There’s also a job exchange.

A. Strategy: Network
Mostly, Rosenthal participates in ‘What I Saw at the Direct Marketing Revolution.’ He contributes to discussions, starts new topics and interacts with group members. It’s been a great way to meet people in the industry, he says.

B. Benefit: Find New Business
“This Facebook group is emerging as a new business source… [We also make] all sorts of interesting industry connections and referral opportunities where we’re able to team up with different organizations,” he says.

C. Challenge: Follow Conventions
Facebook is not a free-for-all. There are rules – some of which have broadsided a few marketers. Save yourself a lot of trouble: Read the terms of service.

“For example, if you launched your identity on Facebook as [your company’s name], I think you’d be in violation on the terms of service because you’d be posing as someone else,” Rosenthal says.

Also, prominent bloggers have had their Facebook accounts canceled for exceeding the 5,000-friends limit. The cap is designed to thwart spammers, Rosenthal says.

2. The Blog

Rosenthal launched his blog, Freaking Marketing, in January 2006. He adds about two posts a week to help “spread the shop’s philosophy,” he says.

A. Strategy: Evangelize
On the blog, Rosenthal tries to convey the company’s “philosophy, our attitude, our priorities, our beliefs.” He also features some of his agency’s work and embeds videos created for clients.

B. Benefit: Higher Quality Leads
“[The blog] is really a filter that sends out a message that attracts like-minded people and even eliminates the people that wouldn’t be good clients… If people go through the blog, they’ll get a good idea of what the shop is about, they’ll know a good deal about me and it really allows for a better fit [with clients],” he says.

C. Challenge: Promote the Blog
Rosenthal spreads the word about his blog by:
-Advertising it to his email database
-Submitting posts to social media sites, such as Digg
-Forwarding posts to bloggers and reporters
-Mentioning it on other social networking platforms

3. Twitter
Rosenthal started using this free micro-blogging service in early 2007. His “tweet” frequency ranges from two a day to two a week, and he has about 400 followers, he says.
A. Strategy: Micro-evangelize and Personalize
“As soon as there are any developments in the shop, or a new post on Freaking Marketing, or an interesting addition to ‘What I Saw at the Direct Marketing Revolution,’ [my followers] know about it,” he says.
In addition, Rosenthal includes tidbits about his daily life to connect personally with his audience.
“I just go on there from time to time and talk about literally what I’m doing, what’s going on in my life. Sometimes I’ll mention that it’s a beautiful morning and my little girl just asked me to go for a ride on the bike,” he says.

B. Benefit: Spreading the Word
The benefits Rosenthal sees to using Twitter are similar to the benefits from blogging. It allows him to convey his company’s philosophy, promote its work and connect with people on a personal level.

C. Challenge: Finding Followers
Rosenthal finds most of his Twitter followers by subscribing to streams of other people who return the favor. Others come by naturally, by finding Rosenthal on the Twitter website, or by linking to his stream from his blog, Facebook profile or LinkedIn profile.

4. LinkedIn

Rosenthal created a LinkedIn profile about three years ago. He now has more than 250 connections, keeping him in touch with former clients and contacts throughout the industry.

A. Strategy: Build Directory
LinkedIn is more of a social directory than a socializing tool. Rosenthal’s main tactic is to know where to connect with former clients and industry contacts. However, he occasionally uses the service to answer direct marketing-related questions, he says.

B. Benefit: Keep Track of Contacts
“A lot of our clients are at software companies, and the turnover at those places is really extraordinary. So, an advantage is — once they’re a LinkedIn connection, no matter where they go, you know where they are,” Rosenthal says.

C. Challenge: Finding More Contacts
Rosenthal suggests allowing LinkedIn to run through your email contacts to find people already on the network. Compatible platforms include Microsoft Office Outlook, Yahoo! Mail and Gmail, he says. Also, any time you meet a new person, send them an invitation to join the network and become a connection.

6 Key Takeaways for Your Strategy

1. Link to all of your social platforms — everywhere
Every one of Rosenthal’s profiles links to his profiles on other networking sites. Together, the tools find new clients and contacts, teach them about the business and keep in touch with them over time.

2. Devote yourself to genuinely connecting
It’s important to focus on making conversation, not sales, when you’re on a social network. “If it’s really a veiled attempt to just push out your product, people are going to pick up on that and they’re going to know you’re not authentic and they’re going to dismiss you right off the bat,” Rosenthal says.

3. Allocate enough time
This strategy’s greatest obstacle is the time required. Rosenthal says it takes about five hours a week to maintain the four tools, but it “varies wildly.” If you have a blog, you have to maintain it. In this milieu, few things look worse than old content.

4. Be choosy with your networks
It’s easy to go overboard with so many available networks, but resist the temptation. “Don’t spread yourself too thin. Pick your spots and do something where you’re able to make a meaningful contribution and not only get it launched but keep it going and do justice to it,” Rosenthal says.

5. Create a backlog
The quality of your conversations and blog posts will suffer if you’re pressed for time. To keep his content quality high, Rosenthal writes enough blog posts to have a backlog of entries he can rely on in emergencies.

6. Mention your social strategy. Again.
Always promote your social strategy. A quick mention, such as, “I’m also on Facebook, if you ever want to connect there” or “We also have a blog you might be interested in” to people you meet in your industry can help build your network. And, if you have a house email list, use it

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