AVG SMB Channel Security Watch

Small to medium sized business (SMB) owners need Internet security advice delivered in a format that is easy to comprehend and quick to digest. The AVG SMB Channel Security Watch blog series delivers hard-edged security and business news updates for SMB operators and commercial channel partners to digest, share and use to take practical steps to help take precautions against?the latest vulnerabilities.

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AutoStop Before AutoRun

News is surfacing of an emerging malware threat caused by a bug in the Windows AutoRun software used to launch DVD and USB disk devices when inserted into Windows 7 and Windows 8 computers. Surprisingly perhaps, this bug is classified as four years old and Microsoft has released security patches for older systems over that time.

Other Microsoft patches and updates have been released to ensure that Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs are prevented from launching autorun.inf files, which is technology that dates back to the release of Windows 95.

The threat itself is now thought to be related to unpatched PCs, the use of social media and instances involving the sharing of folders and files. Business owners should ensure that their anti virus protection is up to date and also periodically visit the Microsoft security updates and tools website.

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Your Password is really ?password??

A password management company in California has completed its end of year 2012 survey of commonly used passwords only to find that the number one most commonly used password is indeed ?password?. Surprising enough in this day and age, the top five list also includes the very predictable ?123456?, ?abc123, ?qwerty? and ?12345678?.

There may be some hope for us though, new in the 2012 list when compared to 2011 are the terms ?welcome?, ?Jesus?, ?ninja?, ?mustang?, and ?password1?.

For tips on setting a strong password check out this blog.

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Analysts on why we can?t ignore BYOD

An independent technology analyst from Juniper Research has explained the core ?why reasons? behind the rise of the so-called Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend. This ?reality of the real? is perhaps a wake up call for small business owners who now need to start accommodating for mobile security plans in their firm?s operation.

Juniper?s Nitin Bhas explains that there are ?several factors? feeding this growing trend of BYOD. ?The development of the mobile device market and increased penetration (and usage) of mobile devices in general within the enterprise; wide network connectivity and always-on devices providing access to files and emails anywhere and everywhere; and, critically, the availability of a greater variety of mobile apps and solutions designed for the enterprise.?

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Don?t tumble on Tumblr tumbleweed

A significant bug hit the Tumblr microblogging platform in the last few days and successfully managed to compromise (and infect) Tumblr blogs belonging to Reuters, CNET and USA Today among others. Officials from Tumblr confirmed that the GNAA hacker group had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Although the bug was resolved and fixed within hours, the Tumblr Twitter profile confirmed that 8,600 unique Tumblr users? accounts were indeed affected but not compromised, so further action needs to be taken.

?No accounts have been compromised, and you don?t need to take any further action,? the company said in a statement sent to?eWEEK. ?Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience. As always, we are going to great lengths to make sure this type of abuse does not happen again.?

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You know how to Google, but do you Google+ yet?

Some positive + forward thinking to finish with this week in the shape of Google + and how the search giant?s own social network can be used as a vehicle to promote your brand. The socialmediatoday website advises that on Google+, people who see your brand?s content ? be it your website, a blog post, a video, your Adwords ads, your Google+ page, or a Google+ post, photo or comment, even a Google search result ? can click to ?+1?, or endorse it.

Google+ has been around since June 2011 and already has around 400 million registered users which is obviously some way short of Facebook with its one billion plus users but we think it?s definitely worth signing up!

Source: http://blogs.avg.com/business/avg-smb-channel-security-watch/

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