Internet Marketing Tips That Are Sure To Work

March 18, 2013 by william

While internet marketing has similarities to other marketplaces, it also has its own distinctions and nuances. As an example, in the future title tags may be weighed less by search engines for their rankings. If this happens, you will have to shift your focus to other attention seeking behaviors, such as video marketing.

Build a fantastic website and concentrate on SEO content once you have your site finished. This is where all web businesses should begin. The more aesthetically pleasing your site looks, the less time you need to put into maintaining it.

Do your homework before jumping into a new Internet marketing campaign. Following the lead of someone who’s proven their skill and trustworthiness is a good way to start. It’s possible to find expert advice from people proven in the internet marketing field for little or no cost. Once you have chosen a technique you want to try, stick with it until it proves profitable or shows that you need to move on to a new technique. Although it may take a while to gain momentum, the ultimate payoff is worth it.

Consider the following internet marketing tip. Your site’s landing page needs to lay out a clear objective. On this page, your focus should be on selling your product. Your viewer should be able to see what you’re selling and whether they want it instantly when they see this page. If your viewer needs to dig deep for what they need, they’ll leave quickly.

You’ve started creating your marketing plan, are you now ready to try new ideas? Are you all set to use what you have learned? Can you start improving your plan properly and smartly? If you have answered ‘yes’ to both of these questions, you are ready to begin brainstorming internet marketing strategies. You can be successful by applying these tips right now.

Business Telephones are very important for any business. They can make the difference between success and failure. Would you spend thousands on a computer system that didn’t work?

With so many good business systems in cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh, all you really need is one good and reliable Consultant.

At Just Voice & Data, we are one of the leading Glasgow Based Telecoms Companies.

We specialise in Telecom systems and services and pride ourselves on our ongoing support to our clients.

We have worked with business of all sizes, types all with a variety of budgets.

Filed Under: Interesting Snipets Tagged With: ADSL, broadband, Internet, marketing, Telecoms, telephone, Voip

VOIP Phone Systems

December 6, 2012 by william

I have come across an increasingly high number of clients and prospects investigating the implementation of VOIP, or Internet telephone systems, within their organisations.

The underlying belief is that VOIP is cheaper, in some instances it may well be, set up costs etc etc, certainly can be less expensive than traditional. However, what about security? Save now pay later springs to mind when discussing VOIP.

I recently came across this article from Liquid Communications:

Internet Phone Systems Become the Fraudster’s Tool

Cybercriminals have found a new launching pad for their scams: the phone systems of small and medium-sized businesses across the U.S.

In recent weeks, they have hacked into dozens of telephone systems across the country, using them as a way to contact unsuspecting bank customers and trick them into divulging their bank account numbers and passwords.

Click Here to be re directed to the whole article

This type of fraud allied to Phreaking should make any business think twice before choosing the cheap option.

Filed Under: Telecoms Tagged With: phone systems, Phreaking, Telecoms, Voip

Business Urged to Protect Against Hacking Attacks

September 7, 2012 by william

The UK Government has recently published a guide on Risks associated with cyber attacks.

Questions (below, from the guide), ask CEO’s and board members what the strategic, operational and financial benefits are to their organisation.

Protection of key information assets is critical
1. How confident are we that our company’s most important
information is being properly managed, and is safe from cyber
threats?
2. Are we clear that the Board are likely to be key targets?
3. Do we have a full and accurate picture of:
the impact on our company’s reputation, share price or existence if
sensitive internal or customer information held by the company were to
be lost or stolen ?
the impact on the business if our online services were disrupted for a
short or sustained period?
Exploring who might compromise our information and why is critical

4. Do we receive regular intelligence from the Chief Information
Officer/Head of Security on who may be targeting our company, their
methods and their motivations?
5. Do we encourage our technical staff to enter into information sharing
exchanges with other companies in our sector and/or across the
economy in order to benchmark, learn from others and help identify
emerging threats?

Pro-active management of the cyber risk at Board level is critical

6. The cyber security risk impacts share value, mergers, pricing,
reputation, culture, staff, information, process control, brand,
technology, and finance. Are we confident that:
we have identified our key information assets and thoroughly assessed
their vulnerability to attack?
responsibility for the cyber risk has been allocated appropriately? Is it on
the risk register?
we have a written information security policy in place, which is
championed by us and supported through regular staff training? Are we
confident the entire workforce understands and follows it?

A copy of the guide is available here

Another useful guide also published by the government to help business with cyber security is called 10 steps to cyber security Click on the link to download it.

The European Commission launched a consultation in July, within the consultation are proposals that could see businesses required to report when their “essential” systems, including the internet, have been disrupted due to “cyber incidents”. The Commission said its aim is to “enhance preparedness, strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure as well as to foster a cyber-security culture in the EU.”

Now, rather than later, is the time to start looking at how to secure your IT Networks, telecom networks and internet sites.

Filed Under: Data Tagged With: Cyber security, Hacking, IP Networks, Phreaking, Telephone Systems, Voip

Phonehacked | A non profit organisations bill shock

September 3, 2012 by william

Vicki Swan works for RAYS, Renton Area Youth and Family Services. The organization provides counseling services for those in need.

“This is a get to the meat of the world job and how we service people,” said Vicki. Vicki’s job is to keep the non-profit’s books balanced, something she says can be difficult in a tough economy. “We are a break even organization.”

In June, RAYS received an unexpected letter that almost broke the bank. It was a $3,400 bill from their phone provider, Integra Telecom. It appeared the organization’s phone system had been hacked.

See the news video and read the full report here

Filed Under: Telecoms Tagged With: phone systems, Phreaking, Telecoms, Voip

VOIP | How secure are your communications?

August 22, 2012 by william

VOIP solutions, and indeed real time IP solutions like social media chat, vide0 conferencing etc could in actual fact be leaving the back door open for hackers.

Lets look briefly at the requirements for PCI DSS, part of the security requirement on the standard is that companies block all non approved channels of communication, screen all traffic and prohibit direct routes for inbound and outbound internet traffic (IP traffic). The trouble is many organisations forget about the communication traffic they cannot see, ones that use highly evasive techniques and are easily able to circumvent traditional security methods used to control the network.

Today, for example, our workforce expects instant messaging and other real-time communications tools e.g. IP Video conferencing (Skype for example), Voice over IP, and social networking to be ‘always on.

Using Skype as an example of how these operate, Skype uses a peer-to-peer connection, is encrypted end-to-end, and very often tunnels through HTTP if that is the only firewall port open to it, negating the use of a URL filtering solution to control it.

This may result in many organisations who do not realise that their users have even installed real-time communications applications, such as Skype.

In August 2011, the ICO (information commissioners office) stated that companies who were not PCI DSS compliant could also be considered to be in breech of the Data protection Act.

Whilst PCI is concerned only with payment card protection, it can and should be used as a measure by which all orginisations secure their network. Payment Card fraud costs the UK over £300m per annum purely on card fraud, this does not take in to consideration other costs, or indeed the cost of network theft (known as Phreaking), which in the UK alone is costing us £1.6Billion.

As an example of what could happen, 45 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen from TKX, owners of TK Maxx, when a computer hacker broke into the TK Maxx wireless network and stole unencrypted credit card numbers. TK Maxx failed to encrypt or truncate the card numbers and the loss to TKX is estimated to be between £328 million for card scheme fines, law suits, costs and management time and £1 billion in terms of loss of business and reputational damage. You can bet your last penny that TK Maxx increased security on their networks after this.

Filed Under: Data Tagged With: data, Phreaking, Telephone Systems, Voip

VOIP How much could it be costing your business?

June 27, 2012 by william

VOIP has been growing in popularity over the passed few years, and no doubt many have converted from good old fashioned lines such as analogue or ISDN to take advantage of the savings available.

A cautionary tale from 2010 :

A Miami hacker has admitted he pocketed more than $1m by selling millions of minutes of voice over IP calls and surreptitiously routing them through the networks of telecommunications companies.

Edwin Andrew Pena pleaded guilty to two felonies in connection with the hacking spree, Pena and cohort Robert Moore were accused of carrying out an elaborate scheme that routed more than 10 million minutes of VoIP calls over the networks of a dozen or so telecommunications providers without their permission. They breached the networks by using brute-force attacks that deduced the security telephone prefixes needed to gain access. To disguise the source of the attacks, the pair rerouted them through the computers of third parties.

Because the scheme piggybacked off the resources of others, virtually all the revenue was profit. As a result, Pena was able to sell long-distance calls for as low as four-tenths of a cent per minute, a fraction of what legitimate providers charged

This type of fraud is common place, piggybacking off your system, the bad news is, that whoever’s system they piggybacked off ended up with the bill, and the telephone companies would have charged you if you had been one of the unlucky ones.

Filed Under: Telecoms Tagged With: data, SIP Trunks, Telephone Systems, Voip

VOIP, Be Careful what you connect.

June 25, 2012 by william Leave a Comment

Below is an article that was emailed to me this morning. Whilst previously I may well have considered VOIP for clients, until the security issues are resolved then I would have to advise against using VOIP in business.

June 2012: Be Careful What You Connect

When looking at testing, it’s easy to think in terms of servers and applications – other devices are often overlooked. Most network attached devices are complex computers in their own right, just without screens, keyboards and familiar operating systems.

We recently tested an Internet-based Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone system. A chief concern of the client was, understandably, that calls could be listened to. The system had a DMZ server that connected to the Internet, waiting for handsets to connect on a specific port. Of course, the manufacturer didn’t neglect security; SSL was used to encrypt traffic, each handset authenticates, and if it is a registered phone, it is allowed to connect.

Within a few minutes, we found something interesting. The phone didn’t check that the SSL certificate was valid. I guess it’s hard for a phone to pop up a message about a problem in the same way as a web browser.

So, we set up a proxy with our own certificate, the phone connected to the proxy, and the proxy passed the data to the server, allowing us to examine the protocol, a nice ‘Man-in-the-Middle’ attack. Next, we noticed that the phone used its MAC address to authenticate. Interesting! We quickly put together an application to iterate through the manufacturer’s address allocation, trying a simple authentication with each address. We soon had a list of registered devices.

The next step was to get the proxy to rewrite the MAC of our ‘attacker’s’ phone, to a registered one. Now the server saw a known device, and our phone connected. We tried logging in with the CEO’s extension. Of course, no PIN was set. We could listen to their voice-mail, redirect calls to an external number, or just make calls for free. And, of course, with our man-in-the-middle attack, eavesdropping was also possible – the client’s original concern.

The lesson – think about ALL your devices when it comes to security testing.

I’m not sure where the above article comes from or who wrote it, however if you are looking at VOIP for your business, perhaps it would be wise to stick with traditional.

You wouldn’t have a plumber wire up the electrics in your office, would you?

You know the answer to that, this raises the question as to why anyone would speak with any organisation that does not have the required expertise in Voice/Telecoms.

Filed Under: Telecoms Tagged With: data, Telecoms, Telephone Systems, Voip

VOIP – Is it Secure?

June 20, 2012 by william Leave a Comment

Is VOIP secure?

That is a question I am often asked by clients, especially when they decide to move from traditional voice services such as PSTN or ISDN. What we have to bear in mind is that no telephone service is 100% secure, after all phreaking, or phone fraud as us mere mortals call it, is big business for the criminals of today.

Would I use VOIP on my own telephone system?

Let me try and answer that, I have used VOIP previously, I did have a hosted call centre switch/system a few years back, all using SIP trunks (VOIP telephone Lines) and soft phones on the agents PC’s. I wouldn’t even think about such a set up now!

Whilst on a recent training course about a hosted PCI DSS solution, the developers of the product recounted a tale of their attempts to use SIP on their server, the server cost £1.5million, was housed at a main networks major data centre, millions of pounds spent on security, inside 2 hours of a single SIP trunk being activated on their server, not advertised or promoted anywhere, remember this was during trials only! Inside 2 hours the server was hacked. Needless to say the server was turned off, and SIP has never been used since. Not only that they will not allow their product to be used by businesses who use VOIP!

Here’s the thing, if you use VOIP for your phones in your office, have softphones on your PC, hackers can utilise that VOIP to gain access to your internal network, remember the PCI solutions server was behind millions of pounds worth of network security such as firewalls and was hacked in 2 hours. VOIP in your business, without additional security, is an open door for hackers to gain access to your internal server, with the potential to steal your clients information, a clear breach of the data protection act on your part!

Is VOIP secure? That’s for you to decide, but my opinion, No, it is not.

CONCERNS
There have been raised concerns about VoIP systems amongst users, and especially business clients have been concerned.

Integrity of systems is one concern as voice quality should be excellent and the availability should be 365/24/7 dial-tone.

The confidentiality is another concern raised by business users, as all communication should remain confidential.

Authenticity is a factor ranked high as valid subscribers should be able to access the service provider’s network. And last but not least the regulatory compliance issue is a must. This also makes the need for corporate best practice documentation and routines.

SECURITY THREATS
There are security threats to an IP network which VoIP uses. These threats are of a widespread type. It could be denial of service attacks, called DDOS attacks, Spoofing (caller ID), voice alteration (hijacking) and toll fraud (theft of service). All these types of threats can result in the loss of privacy and integrity of users on VoIP.

You also have the chance of SPIT (Spam over Internet Telephony or VoIP). You will also have the chance of being exposed to advertising that appears in a VoIP voice mailbox. Then there is the chance of Vishing which is the process of persuading users to reveal personal information.

SECURITY MEASURES
So, certain security measures need to take place before serious business use of VoIP systems can take place.

Use of Encryption and VPN systems will become a necessity as well as the use of Digital Certificates. There needs to be a separate VoIP network from the data network in a company or in a household. Computer systems need to have installation of Intrusion Prevention Systems and Firewalls. Use of Session Border Controllers (threshold policy rules) will have to take place. There is a need to implement a campaign to make awareness on using high-risk programs that expose the company or household to outside attacks.

If you are offered VOIP as a solution, remember, think security and ask those offering how secure is it and show me the proof!

Filed Under: Telecoms Tagged With: PCi-DSS, phone systems, Telecoms, Telephone Systems, Voip

Telephone System Fraud

June 18, 2012 by william

Here is a video from callista telling exactly what Phreaking is and how it affects us.

Introduction to phreaking HR

Filed Under: Data Tagged With: phone systems, Phreaking, telecommunications, Telecoms, Telephone Systems, Voip

VOIP

June 12, 2012 by william

Voip is also referred to as voice over internet protocol. It is not just used for voice calls, and the majority of service providers have video call facilities as well. It is accessible right now with there being numerous providers around offering very competitive rates for high quality plans. It has a few disadvantages over traditional phone service but not many. Voip has produced lower phone bills to great extent and is helping at such times of recessions.

Voip has many benefits over the traditional phone system. It is a great way to maintain connection with family and friends whilst travelling, who will tolerate the periodic drop-out. It is getting progressively more prominent these days simply because it is fairly inexpensive, simple to work and accessible.

Voip is not without its pitfalls though, like most new technology it is still ironing itself out. It is one of the best ways to make cheap international calls. It is often has a number of different meanings. It is simply used like other instant messaging software to stay in touch with. Voip can be used for both personal and commercial use.

The Internet is fully loaded with umpteen calling plans. It is a useful platform to locate different information and facts that will aid us with this. It has been very helpful in making people’s lives easy. It is a wide-ranging tool that you can use in looking for the best service for international calls. Internet can be a site for supporting communities and for the creation of virtual community.

Filed Under: Data Tagged With: Cheap Calls, Internet, Voip