I recently noticed a big spike in sales from one of our security-focused resellers - I called to thank them and asked why the sudden jump in sales? The reseller launched a WOM program (word-of-mouth) for current customers that referred new business - simple twist was for every referral that ended up purchasing, the customer would receive a $10 Victoria’s Secret gift card as a small token of appreciation. 59 referrals in 8 months. 100k in new business. Cost $590. Never under estimate the power of a simple but creative word-of-mouth program, especially those that come with added benefits! Posted in Uncategorized
By: Tim Larocque Admit it, you have done it at least once - courted and said anything to a vendor so that you could close that one big deal! Take the money and run, then place the partnership into the vendor graveyard - piled with other one-hit wonders. Sounds harsh but it is true - most vendor-reseller relationships start off with a flare but do not reach the full potential of their partnership - each party to some extent can take responsibility for the failure. Every quarter, resellers can benefit by reviewing vendor relationships and assessing which vendors you truly are and are not committed to. Regardless of who may be at fault, it is critical to end the relationships that don’t make sense (this doesn’t mean we’ll do renewals but no push product). Take a moment to reflect on your current vendor line-up and ask yourself the following questions: 1) How much of my business is new products versus renewals? A good benchmark is 70% product and 30% renewals. If your renewals are bigger than new business, it will only be a matter of time before the vendor questions your commitment - take action and reach out to the vendor to discuss ways to grow the biz. 2) How many single-sale vendors do I have? Admit it, everyone has chased down a vendor based on a customer request knowing that this will be a one-hit wonder! If there are no active leads or sales in the past 6 months, perhaps it’s time to part ways - everyone from your customer to you and the vendor will benefit. 3) When was the last time I spoke with each vendor? If you haven’t heard from a vendor representative or your distribution account manager in a while chances are you are not doing enough business and not a priority. Clean up these relationships by reaching out to determine if it makes sense to continue or search out new vendor partners and distributors that are maybe smaller but can do more for your business. Focusing on fewer vendors and being proactive can do nothing but improve your partnerships, deliver happier customers and provide better financial success. What’s to lose? Maybe that one big deal. Posted in Uncategorized
From CRN.com http://www.crn.com/security/217800642;jsessionid=0VQICIDDFC03KQSNDLOSKH0CJUNN2JVN Security vendors Symantec (NSDQ:SYMC) and McAfee will be shelling out a combined $750,000, while creating more transparency about consumer subscription terms and renewal policies as part of a settlement agreement authorized by New York’s attorney general. The $750,000 penalty was issued as part of a combined settlement after Symantec and McAfee were found to have renewed consumers’ software subscriptions without their knowledge or authorization. Under the terms of the settlement, both Symantec and McAfee will have to make detailed disclosures to consumers about subscription terms and renewals, and each will be required to pay $375,000 in penalties and costs. Posted in Uncategorized
From Webster’s web filtering blog (read more at www.bloxxwebfilterblog.com) The BBC has reported that a Scottish teacher who posted messages discussing her pupils on a social networking website is being investigated by her employers. You can read the full story here. The secondary teacher in Argyll and Bute is understood to have posted up to 38 updates a day on the Twitter site and based on the times of the tweet, many of them were created during the school day. Anonymous proxy sites are so readily available and many web filters are so ineffective at blocking them, that for many school IT managers, trying to block them has become almost impossible. We have had a couple of examples lately where the Bloxx web filtering appliance has been deployed upstream of a schools existing web content filter. The results have even astonished us! In one instance , where only one school in a large council was being filtered upstream as part of the Bloxx roll-out, the Bloxx web filter analysed, categorised and blocked nearly three hundred requests for proxy sites which had been allowed by the downstream web filter. Bloxx Tru-View Technology is outstanding at identifying anonymous proxies in real-time, and we have recently enhanced the software to provide even better protection against the growing problem of encrypted proxy sites. With the rapid creation rate of proxy sites - there are hundreds of new sites created every day - real-time content analysis is now the only viable way to solve the problem. Based on what we have seen recently, older web filtering technologies such as URL databases or keyword scanning, are no longer up to the task and are making it all to easy for students and staff to surf the entire Web whenever they choose. Posted in Uncategorized
Originally posted from www.rptricks.com/blogA Statement from the Response Point VAR CouncilThe Microsoft Response Point VAR Council is a group of Partners that were invited early on in the development cycle of Response Point to collectively and periodically meet with the Microsoft management and team to give feedback and direction on Response Point from a Partner’s perspective. This group held a conference call to discuss the announcements surrounding Response Point and determine how we could help Microsoft, the Partner Community and the Customer community in support of the product. The consensus was that while concerned on the lack of detailed information about the product roadmap, we partners would and should continue to support, sell and market the product and we would continue express our ongoing concern and support to Microsoft. John Frederiksen, the GM of Response Point, had offered to join the call but had a conflict. We were however joined briefly by X.D. Huang, the original GM of Response Point and John’s direct manager. X.D. assured us that: 1) Microsoft will continue to support partners and customers running all current 1.x versions of Response Point; The VAR Council was encouraged by the call; and while some of us have reservations, we as a group will continue to market and sell Response Point and we encourage and urge others to do so as well. We look forward to the upcoming Microsoft announcement on the direction for Release 2 of Response Point. Posted in Uncategorized
Trend Micro Boosts Worry-Free Security
Safer, smarter, simpler Worry-Free™ Business Security version 6.0 is now enhanced with new features powered by the Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™. CUPERTINO, Calif., May 19, 2009 – Building upon the “Worry-Free” promise it made five years ago to small businesses with little or no IT support, Trend Micro is introducing the latest version of Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security, now reinforced with unmatched new features that are powered by the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network. This next-generation security infrastructure provides a unique approach to blocking viruses, spyware, spam, and Web threats before they reach business networks. The Smart Protection Network is at the core of both previous and new technologies integrated with Worry-Free Business Security. With its underpinnings of automatic Web Threat Protection, all-in-one, integrated defense against a variety of threats, and zero administration, Trend Micro Worry Free Business Security 6.0 has “smart” new features that deliver a smarter and more effective approach than conventional antivirus: NEW URL Filtering, unique to Trend Micro, helps maintain business productivity and adds another layer of protection against Web threats by proactively blocking inappropriate, risky or non-business related Web sites. Users can configure filter strength, rules, and business/leisure hours. NEW Smart Protection Network-Powered Smart Scan is a breakthrough approach that provides more effective protection than conventional antivirus. Smart Scan scans faster and updates quicker to detect and remove the increasing number of threats, while minimizing the performance impact to protected computers. By leveraging Smart Protection Network file reputation technologies, Smart Scan stops threats by storing the majority of detection technologies (up to 80 percent compared with conventional scanning) on the local security server and accessed as needed. By keeping these technologies off of local PCs and servers, this approach extends the life of hardware and, over time, prevents the slow-down of computers. NEW Smart Protection Network-Powered Smart Feedback, another technology unique to Trend Micro, simply and automatically feeds back security-related issues and events to Trend Micro where it is quickly analyzed, and updates are made to rapidly protect all customers. Smart feedback identifies new threats faster to protect users rapidly. Faster identification and response to new threats means faster protection. ENHANCED Version of Worry-Free™ Remote Manager, Designed for Channel Partners Just another part of Trend Micro’s portfolio of channel-friendly products and solutions, this enhanced version of Worry-Free Remote Manager provides integrated installation with Worry-Free Business Security 6.0. Worry-Free Remote Manager also supports Trend Micro™ InterScan Messaging Hosted Security for stopping spam and other email threats before they reach the network. It allows partners to easily add customers to their console during their initial installation of Worry-Free Business Security. Trend Micro is currently the only security vendor that offers this type of critical tool free of charge to eligible channel solution partners. “Over the years, we have learned that we can rely on Trend Micro to continually enhance the all-in-one solution, and our business benefits with the latest technologies and performance improvements. We stick with Trend Micro every year because it works!” said Bill Buck, the aerospace engineer that was given responsibility for security at AeroTech Research. “Small businesses face the same daunting security challenges associated with protecting crucial data from online threats. However they normally don’t have the staff or other resources required to manage complicated security suites,” said Charles Kolodgy, research director of Security Products at IDC. “For security to be effective within a small business environment it needs to be routine, automatic, easy, and painless. Trend Micro has endeavored to achieve those goals with the latest version of Trend Micro Worry Free Business Security.” Other new features in Worry-Free Business Security 6.0 include: NEW USB Device Threat Prevention automatically protects PCs and servers from infected USB devices, preventing threats from automatically executing and spreading across business networks. Threats coming from removable media devices such as USB sticks are on the rise, meaning small businesses cannot afford to ignore this potential source of infections. NEWLY Enhanced Security Dashboard reinforces Trend Micro’s goal of zero-administration solutions for its small business customers. It provides easy, at-a-glance status checking. Users can sort by dashboard traffic lights to quickly understand security status, which minimizes time and energy spent on analyzing computers status. “If small businesses think increasing protection against threats means decreasing computer performance over time, they need to think again,” said Steve Quane, general manager of Trend Micro’s SMB business unit. “Worry-Free Business Security, with features powered by the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, keeps constantly updated, scans faster while minimizing impact to PCs, and requires minimal user interaction. Trend Micro allows businesses to stop worrying about security so they can focus on their business.” Mark Muller, a reviewer from Bright Hub who recently tested Worry-Free Business Security 6.0 said, “I deployed and tested WFBS 6.0 in my company’s IT infrastructure and can recommend the product without hesitation: WFBS is easy to deploy and manage and offers industry-leading protection against a broad range of threats. In short, Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security Advanced 6.0 puts enterprise-class IT security easily within the reach of smaller businesses. Highly recommended!” http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/reviews/35039.aspx Pricing & Availability for North America Worry-Free Business Security 6.0 is expected to be available for download on May 29. Per user pricing varies by seat count and price decreases with volume. For a 1-year license of Worry-Free Business Security Standard, the 2-25 seat level is $37.75 per user. For a 1-year license of Worry-Free Business Security Advanced, the 2-25 seat level is $62.02 per user. Worry-Free Remote Manager support will be available alongside Worry-Free Business Security 6.0. Worry-Free Business Security 6.0 also protects businesses running the latest Windows Essential Server Solutions: Microsoft™ Small Business Server 2008 (for small businesses with fewer than 75 PCs); and Microsoft Essential Business Server 2008 (for mid-size businesses with fewer than 300 PCs). It also protects Microsoft™ Exchange 2007 on Windows™ Server 2008 users. About Trend Micro: Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in Internet content security, focuses on securing the exchange of digital information for businesses and consumers. A pioneer and industry vanguard, Trend Micro is advancing integrated threat management technology to protect operational continuity, personal information, and property from malware, spam, data leaks and the newest Web threats. Visit TrendWatch at www.trendmicro.com/go/trendwatch to learn more about the latest threats. Trend Micro’s flexible solutions, available in multiple form factors, are supported 24/7 by threat intelligence experts around the globe. Many of these solutions are powered by the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network, a next generation cloud-client content security infrastructure designed to protect customers from Web threats. A transnational company, with headquarters in Tokyo, Trend Micro’s trusted security solutions are sold through its business partners worldwide. Please visit www.trendmicro.com.
From ChannelWeb - http://www.crn.com/security/216403568 5:25 PM EDT Wed. Apr. 08, 2009 <!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Cambria Math”; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1107304683 0 0 159 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> Posted in Uncategorized
From Yahoo: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090401/technology/us_it_internet_crime_software_conficker_microsoft SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Computer security top guns around the world watched warily as the dreaded Conficker worm squirmed deeper into infected machines with the arrival of an April 1st trigger date. The malicious software evolved, as expected, from East to West, beginning in time zones first to greet April Fool’s Day. “Planes are not going to fall out of the sky and the Internet is not going to melt down,” said threat analyst Paul Ferguson of Trend Micro computer security firm in Northern California. “The big mystery is what those behind Conficker are going to do. When they have this many machines under their control it is kind of scary. With a click of a mouse they could get thousands of machines to do whatever they want.” A task force assembled by Microsoft has been working to stamp out the worm, referred to as Conficker or DownAdUP, and the US software colossus has placed a bounty of 250,000 dollars on the heads of those responsible for the threat. The worm was programmed to modify itself on Wednesday to become harder to stop and began doing that when infected machines got cues, some from websites with Greenwich Mean Time and others based on local clocks. Conficker task force members tracking Internet traffic in Asia and Europe after clocks struck April 1st there said there was no sign that the worm was doing anything other than modifying itself to be harder to exterminate. Conficker had been programmed to reach out to 250 websites daily to download commands from its masters, they said, but on Wednesday it began generating daily lists of 50,000 websites and reaching randomly to 500 of those. The hackers behind the worm have yet to give it any specific orders. An estimated one to two million computers worldwide are infected with Conficker. Computer security specialists warn that the Conficker threat will remain even if April 1st passes without it causing trouble. “It doesn’t seem to be doing anything right now,” Ferguson said as Conficker made its way to the western United States. “I hope April 1st comes and goes with no trouble. But, there is this loaded pistol looming large out there even if no one has pulled the trigger.” The FBI said Tuesday it is working with the Department of Homeland Security and other US agencies to “identify and mitigate” the Conficker threat. “The public is once again reminded to employ strong security measures on their computers,” FBI Cyber Division assistant director Shawn Henry said in a release. “That includes the installation of the latest anti-virus software and having a firewall in place…Opening, responding to, or clicking on attachments contained in unsolicited e-mail is particularly harmful and should be avoided.” The worm, a self-replicating program, takes advantage of networks or computers that haven’t kept up to date with security patches for Windows RPC Server Service. It can infect machines from the Internet or by hiding on USB memory sticks carrying data from one computer to another. Malware could be triggered to steal data or turn control of infected computers over to hackers amassing “zombie” machines into “botnet” armies. Microsoft has modified its free Malicious Software Removal Tool to detect and get rid of Conficker. The infection rate has slowed from a fierce pace earlier this year, but computers that are not updated with a software patch released by Microsoft remain vulnerable, according to security specialists. Conficker was first detected in November 2008. Among the ways one can tell if their machine is infected is that the worm will block efforts to connect with websites of security firms such as Trend Micro or Symantec where there are online tools for removing the virus. Cyber-criminals have taken advantage of Conficker hype by using promises of information or cures to lure Internet users to websites booby-trapped with malicious software. Posted in Uncategorized |
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