Tag Archives: American Express Company

About 755 days ago Blogging and Social Media

Facebook Offers Social Boost for Small Businesses

Eager to learn more about the ins-and-outs of social media and how to apply them to your business? An American Express-sponsored Facebook contest could land you (and four other small companies) a trip to Facebook’s offices in Palo Alto, California, as well as $2,500 in Facebook ad credits and a $20,000 check, ReadWriteWeb reports. READ MORE »

About 1874 days ago Data Security

Is Your Business PCI Compliant?

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These days, even mom and pop companies are being held to payment card industry (PCI) standards. In December, 2006 The TJX Companies, which operates T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores, suffered a data breach in which hackers stole data for more than 45 million credit cards. Beyond canceling their own and their employees’ cards, most small businesses assumed the incident would have little effect on them. But they were wrong. Compliance with data security standards from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council — an independent group formed two years ago by a group of credit-card companies, such as American Express, Discover Financial Services, and VISA International —  has long been a contractual requirement for any company accepting credit card payments. But until recently, few small companies were actually held to the standard. Now, in the face of several high-profile security breaches, credit card companies are requiring compliance from smaller and smaller customers. Security consultants routinely advise clients that every company they do business with should comply with PCI standards. And those who ignore the standard sometimes find they’ve made a costly mistake. “One small merchant did less than 5,000 credit card transactions a year,” reports Rick Dakin, CEO of Coalfire Systems, a security provider that audits for PCI compliance. The merchant had failed to meet PCI requirements, and suffered a security breach, he says. “Between fines, penalties, and the cost of the forensic investigation, that company wound up paying more than $50,000,” Dakin says. The principles of compliance How do you go about achieving and demonstrating compliance? Though larger companies are required to have third-party audits, most small companies can fulfill PCI requirements with a self-audit and attestation that they comply with the guidelines in the standard. Here’s a quick look at the most important of those guidelines: Don’t store what you don’t need. In fact, you’re best off if you avoid storing customer’s credit card data altogether. “Often, smaller organizations don’t store credit card data themselves, they just transmit it directly to a third party as it arrives,” says Marc Othersen, senior analyst, Forreseter Research. That model makes PCI compliance much simpler he says, since it eliminates worry about following storage security guidelines. Encrypt what you transmit. The data you transmit over public networks, including the Internet and especially wireless must be protected by encryption, the standards say, and not just wired equivalent privacy (WEP), but stronger encryption as well. Othersen recommends layers of encryption, in which not only the transmission is encrypted, but the data itself is divided into smaller chunks and sent in encrypted form. Make sure data downstream stays secure. Once you transmit data to a vendor that will actually process payments, it may no longer be in your control. But you’re still responsible for making sure it’s handled securely. That means seeing to it that the vendor is PCI compliant and that your contract not only requires continued compliance but indemnifies you if the vendor suffers a data breach. To help determine if a vendor is PCI compliant, the PCI Security Council provides a list of questions to ask about how it handles your customers’ data. It’s worth taking the time to ask them. “Less than 15 percent of processing vendors are compliant,” Dakin says. If you do store credit-card data, encrypt and isolate it. “Encrypting data while it’s stored is important,” Othersen says. “If someone steals it, it will be much harder to use.” It’s equally important to limit access to the data only to employees who really need it, and to use logs to record precisely what happens anytime anyone accesses the data. Be especially vigilant if you actually handle the card. “Most of our investigations have nothing to do with online fraud,” Dakin says. Instead, investigators spend most of their time on thefts related to point of sales card-swiping devices that can read magnetic-strip data. The PCI Council recommends against ever storing magnetic strip data, and with good reason. “There’s info on the magnetic strip that’s much more valuable than the name, address, card number, expiration date and (sometimes) security code merchants typically gather over the phone or the Internet,” Dakin says. “The information on the magnetic strip can actually be used to re-create the card itself, and it will appear to be perfectly legitimate.” Attesting compliance Once you’ve got your credit-card data security in place you can probably show compliance by filling out one of the PCI Security Council’s Self Assessment Questionnaires and Attestations of Compliance. Which questionnaire you complete depends on whether you actually take imprints of cards, whether you store, or simply transmit data, how that data is sent, and a variety of other factors. Detailed instructions, as well as the questionnaires themselves, can be found on the council’s website. Filling out the assessment may be lengthy — one version is 37 pages long. But it provides a road map for making sure you become compliant and stay that way. And, these days, you can’t afford not to be.

About 1996 days ago Telecom and Wireless

Time to Accept Contactless Payments?

You’re Marty Chamoff, the owner of two Debby’s Hallmark stores in Raleigh, N.C., and Christmas is around the corner. You offer extended hours and have hired extra help to accommodate the growing line of customers. You wonder if there’s some way you can serve more customers without compromising your bottom line. Perhaps installing a contactless payment system is the way to go to speed up transactions and increase your sales volume. You know that radio frequency identification (RFID) technology can be embedded into American Express, Visa, and MasterCards so that all the customer has to do is tap her card or key fob at the point of sale (POS) reader and her account is charged without ever leaving her hand. In addition, mobile phones equipped with NFC, or near field communication technology, can communicate with a merchant RFID reader to complete a transaction. This payment system works best for small transactions, called micro-payments, where the transaction is under $10. For these micro-payments a signature is not required, although for transactions above $25, the customer needs to sign or input a personal identification number for a debit transaction. The next frontier for contactless payments Retail customers already enjoy using their contactless cards at gas stations such as Exxon Mobil and Shell, at fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s and Arby’s, and at drug stores such as CVS, where the transactions are small and customers want to be in and out as quickly as possible. So are small businesses the next frontier for contactless cards? Unfortunately, there are still a few hurdles. “Using contactless payments is a great idea, but unfortunately, my bank doesn’t offer it,” says Chamoff. “Our entire system has to be compatible with this technology in order to be successful and right now it isn’t.” According to Forrester Research, the Cambridge, Mass. IT research company, many merchants hit a wall when the banks and payment system operators can’t agree on who should front the initial investment costs for this new technology. And even if the banks can agree, merchants may not be willing to invest in RFID, or their business may not be the best fit for contactless payments. Concerns remain about contactless cards The types of businesses best suited for contactless payment systems include convenience-type stores or other retail businesses that need to move many customers through the point of sale with low cost purchases as quickly as possible. The infrastructure needed to accept contactless payments includes hardware terminals and the necessary software to integrate the data into the existing accounting system. Many small businesses still have reservations about upgrading. Such is the case for Nollie Jones, owner of a UPS franchise in Raleigh, N.C. He says that he often spends longer with his customers than other businesses “since they wait for us to measure, weigh, and pack their packages.”  Adds Jones, “I’m also concerned that the person swiping the card may not be the owner of that card.” Furthermore, Jones would receive virtually no savings from MasterCard or Visa for switching to contactless payment systems and that it would take a long time to recoup the initial investment costs. Looking ahead, contactless systems will replace cash for small transactions in businesses where there’s high volume and relationship-building with the customer is not the priority. Already 19 million RFID credit and debit cards have been issued since 2003, according to Forrester. However, once the public accepts the ease of payment and trusts that this system is a secure one, more merchants and banks will invest in this technology so customers won’t shop somewhere else. SIDEBAR: Contactless payment systems in the U.S. MasterCard PayPass — launched in 2005 with 10 million registered users. American Express ExpressPay – launched in July 2003 with 3 million registered users. Visa payWave — launched in December 2006 with 6 million registered users. Source: Forrester Research

About 2179 days ago Computer Security

Locking Down the Network to Block Malware

Dudley King is network security-conscious. He has to be. As principal of Pallas Technology, his customized software development business depends on it. Two years ago, two of Pallas’ major clients, American Express and NetJets Inc., asked Atlanta, Ga.-based Pallas to undergo a vulnerability assessment. The result: Pallas now has an office full of dedicated hardware, dedicated routers, and networks linked to each client, and dedicated intrusion prevention systems. “We have to do what we can to work in this arena,” says King. “Most of the changes we made were not expensive, but involved formalizing our procedures and segregating our work.” With malware proliferation at an all-time high, and overseas hackers making more money from stealing financial information and trade secrets than ever, businesses big and small are at elevated risk. Small- to medium-sized businesses need to do more, not only to safeguard their own systems, but those of their clients. And companies know it: a December 2006 survey of 2,434 North American small- and medium-sized businesses by Forrester Research found that improving IT security was the top concern for 2007. But how can smaller businesses — many without the resources to deploy entire IT departments — best protect themselves? Create an office-wide security policy — and then enforce it If your business doesn’t have a uniform computer-user policy, it’s time to develop one, notes Joe Stewart, senior security researcher with SecureWorks, an Atlanta-based information security firm.  “You’ve got to define a security policy, and then enforce it,” he says. A lot of businesses have installed anti-spyware software, but don’t have any other guidelines or policies, and so employees do whatever they want, Stewart says. But allowing e-mail with attachments, or e-mail coming in from AOL, Gmail, or MSN accounts, can be an open invitation to viruses, worms, Trojans, and the lot. Stewart recommends office-wide “no e-mail attachment” policies and a standard e-mail gateway system. Solutions include a basic Linux mail gateway system, or outsourcing e-mail scanning to companies such as Message Labs or Postini. E-mail protection services have become more affordable, often running less than $100/month for an outfit with less than 100 users. Beware of Instant Messaging and Skype Does your business absolutely need instant-messaging (IM) capability? If not, block it, says Stewart, noting that it’s just one more way malware can infiltrate your network. If you do rely on IM, consider systems like Jabber (an open streaming XML alternative to consumer IM services) and set it for internal use only. Stewart also notes that popular voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) products, like Skype, are not immune. “Skype is an IM platform, not just VoIP,” he says. “The malware people know this.” Set PCs to “limited user” where possible Giving new-user workstations using Windows XP “limited user” privileges instead of “administrator” privileges (the default setting) for everyday tasks will help limit hackers’ ability to nefariously install malware, too. It will also help prevent employees from downloading “freeware” that could expose the office to still more computer diseases. If possible, reset other computers in the office, too, if it doesn’t interfere with existing applications. Consider the Firefox browser If your business can get by without Microsoft’s Internet Explorer as your Web browser, make the switch to Mozilla’s Firefox, says Stewart. Because Firefox isn’t as widely used, it’s safer: Web searches using Google off Internet Explorer are increasingly resulting in “driveby downloads,” malware that’s triggered when a user clicks on a seemingly legitimate Web link. Not all businesses can stop using Internet Explorer — certain business-to-business applications, for example, require its use. But companies can limit its use in favor of Firefox for many tasks. However, Stewart warns, as Firefox increases in popularity, its risk of becoming a malware target will increase, too. While these tips won’t completely safeguard your network, they should eliminate many of the risks. But so long as hacking remains lucrative, Stewart notes, “there is no perfect solution.”

About 2330 days ago Data Security

Preventing Credit Card Fraud on Your Website

My husband, who owns a one-year-old retail website, describes credit cards as both the cornerstone of his company’s payment systems and the potential crack in the foundation that could bring the whole business tumbling down. While his company is geared largely to technophiles whom you’d expect to order with a guaranteed third-party payment service like PayPal, fully 90 percent of his customers buy their gifts with American Express, MasterCard or Visa. So far he’s been lucky; out of the hundreds of credit-card transactions he processed last year, not one was bogus. But like other online merchants, he worries about what will happen if somebody does make a fraudulent charge, starting a chain of events that typically doesn’t end well for the seller. The biggest such threat: “chargebacks” or credit-card charges that buyers dispute. Buyers typically win those disputes. If someone successfully uses a lost or stolen credit card in person, the issuing bank is usually liable for the amount.  But in online transactions, also known as “card-not-present” sales, the merchant typically takes the loss. (And even if a bank does agree to assume responsibility for a disputed charge, the incident can return to haunt the seller later. Some merchant service providers — that is, the companies that process the transactions for the banks — assess fees against merchants with too many chargebacks or even threaten to terminate their services.) E-commerce merchants have recently gotten savvier about handling card-not-present transactions, according to the Merchant Risk Council (MRC), a Seattle-based retail-industry association that focuses on fraud prevention. Before 2005, fraud occurred five times more often online than it did in “card-present” sales, according to the MRC’s annual survey. But 2006 MRC research indicates that fraud now occurs at about the same rate online and in person. While that’s positive news, it certainly doesn’t mean that online merchants can relax their vigilance about potential credit-card rip-offs. The following technologies and best practices can go a long way toward keeping any e-commerce business safer from fraud: Use Address Verification Service (AVS). These systems run during the credit-card authorization process, matching the billing address provided for the sale against the billing address on file for that account . The method is useful, but far from foolproof: One industry study indicated that AVS technology identified up to 40 percent of transactions as problematic — many times the number of actual fraud cases. That can be frustrating for e-merchants, who sometimes have to turn the AVS off to enable legitimate transactions. Request Card Verification Codes. If you’ve ordered merchandise online or over the phone in past few years, you’ve probably had to provide not only your credit-card account number, but a short security code as well. If you’re not requesting the same information from your own customers, this is the time to start. Card Verification Codes appear only on the actual credit cards, not on statements, receipts or other documents. So when customers give you correct three- or four-digit verification codes, that means they’re probably holding the actual credit cards, not just stolen account numbers. Again, it’s not perfect protection. Providing the right code doesn’t, of course, guarantee that the person using the card is authorized to do so — only that the card itself is valid. But it’s still another layer of security that can thwart some fraudsters.   Watch for red flags, especially in first-time orders. Among them:  Billing and shipping addresses don’t match (although if the item is being sent as a gift, the shipping address may well be different). Mail goes to a post-office box rather than standard business or residence address. Customer can’t be reached by phone; number is missing or incorrect. E-mail goes to a free Web account rather than one connected with an Internet service provider. Order total is surprisingly large for your business. Order is being shipped overseas (when most of your business is domestic). Of course, none of those circumstances necessarily means that somebody’s trying to rip off your website. But if you find several of them associated with a single order, it’s probably a good idea to investigate further before accepting the charge and shipping off your merchandise. Anne Stuart, a former Inc. senior writer, is a Boston-based journalist who specializes in covering business and technology. For More Information: Authorize.Net Fraud Prevention Center, online security white papers; useful fraud FAQ and glossary. http://www.authorize.net/resources/fraudprevention “Five Tools You Can Use to Prevent Fraud,” article, About.com Retail Industry Guide. http://retailindustry.about.com/library/uc/02/uc_fraud1.htm “Preventing Credit-Card Chargeback: Anti-Fraud Strategies,” article, Taming the Beast e-commerce resource site. http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles2/card-fraud-strategies.htm Fraud Prevention Techniques: Credit Card Fraud, by David Montague (Trafford Publishing, 2006)

About 2422 days ago E-Commerce

Accepting Online Payments

Starting your first online store can be an intimidating and overwhelming experience. One such consideration is giving your customers enough choices upon checkout. But according to a recent report by WebSurveyor, a Herndon, Va. online survey company, one of the reasons why customers abandon a shopping cart is due to “payment issues,” including when the site does not accept their type of credit card. Another survey by Allurent, an Internet commerce applications maker from Cambridge, Mass., found that 37 percent of customers who abandon a shopping cart do so after initiating the checkout process.   “The more payment options you can provide to customers, the greater the likelihood they’ll purchase something at your site,” says Jeffrey Grau, senior analyst for retail ecommerce at eMarketer, a New York-based research firm. “In addition to credit card payments, you should also offer online payment services, such as PayPal, and even accept checks or money orders — the more options the better,” adds Grau. If you’re confused about where to start, consider the following payment pointers. Credit cards Small-to-midsized online businesses say they prefer to be paid by plastic over other payment types, according to results of a 2006 survey by Financial Insights, an IDC-owned market research company in Framingham, Mass. A recent survey of nearly 9,000 employees of online merchants in 22 countries found that credit and debit cards — with familiar brands such as American Express, Visa, MasterCard and JCB — showed the strongest usage among its customers. To get started, Visa encourages merchants to visit its site to help Web store owners go through the steps to apply for a merchant account. Basically, you first need to contact an “acquirer,” a merchant bank or other financial institution that grants a merchant account and enables credit card payments from customers. “My advice to a Web merchant is to use any bank to get started, an institution you already have a relationship is a good idea,” suggests Derek Sivers, rresident of CD Baby, of Portland, Ore. the largest seller of independent music on the Web. Small businesses that accept credit cards advise that there is an initial cost to the business in terms of fees to the merchant bank or other financial institution. After that, every credit card transaction costs you about 2.5 percent of the sale, plus gateway fees, monthly statement fees, etc. Pricing is set between the merchant and their bank based on the number of services provided, and not negotiated by Visa directly. Some businesses advise that the fees are only a short-term problem because once you accept credit card payments, your online sales should increase and you may be able to negotiate with banks on fees.  “The point is to simply get a credit card merchant account and live with it for six or 12 months — and then you can play hardball by pitting multiple banks against one another who want to fight for your business,” says Sivers. Given the global nature of ecommerce, always ask your bank to let your online store accept all popular card types, including ones that may be popular in other countries such as JCB in Japan and Swift in the United Kingdom. As a merchant, you want to accept as many cards as possible. PayPal In case you missed the Inc Technology article, How PayPal Works for Businesses, PayPal is the world’s leading online payment service with more than more than 114 million accounts globally. The Financial Insights report found many of the nearly 9,000 surveyed employees of Web merchants said they also prefer to accept PayPal and other secure online payment solutions. According to the eBay Inc.-owned service, and the millions of merchants who rely on it, PayPal is a quick, safe and relatively inexpensive option for those who want to set up online payments for customers. Merchants can review the different types of accounts at PayPal. The  easiest way to get going is opting for the Website Payments Standard, which simply involves signing up for a PayPal Business Account, verifying your information and then adding a little payment button on the site. While free to buyers, PayPal merchants must pay a fee to use the service. Transaction fees depend on monthly volume: PayPal charges 2.9 percent + $0.30 USD for PayPal payments between $0 and $3000; 2.5 percent + $0.30 USD for $3001 and $10,000; 2.2 percent + $0.30 USD for $10,001 to $100,000; and 1.9 percent + $0.30 USD for $100,001 and higher. Transaction fees are deducted right away, so when a merchant receives $100, it’s really $97.50 (at 2.2 percent + $0.30 USD). Unlike credit card merchant accounts, PayPal does not charge a set-up fee, gateway fee or any monthly fees.

About 2452 days ago Wireless Networks

Inc. 500 Interview: NetQoS

Every size business needs to have networks that run reliably and quickly. NetQoS (for “Quality of Service”) makes software that monitors networks for more than 250 corporate clients, including American Express, Chevron, Cisco Systems, and Halliburton. By preventing network crashes, NetQoS helps clients cut costs. The company, based in Austin, Texas was #43 On the Inc. 500 in 2005. Since then, NetQoS has doubled revenues to $20 million. Inc. Technology spoke with co-founders Joel Trammell, CEO, about how network performance can impact businesses’ success. Inc. Technology: Describe your company’s specialty. Joel Trammell: We help companies optimize the performance of their networks. If it’s taking 10 seconds to get a program to come up on line, or five seconds for the network to respond to a command, our software can help you make it one second. Which for a large corporation can be a huge savings. Inc. Technology: What do business leaders need to know about monitoring their IT networks? Trammell: Network performance issues have increased dramatically in recent years, and the biggest influence driving this trend is the now common user expectation of a ubiquitous and instantaneous network. Some of the challenges of making this happen are data center consolidation, increased numbers of remote users, the rise of voice and video traffic, legacy applications and more complex applications including service-oriented architectures. The organizations coping most successfully with these challenges are the ones using network performance management tools to optimize their network infrastructure. Inc. Technology: Does the customer notice anything? Trammell: Studies have shown that as response times for websites increase, customers are more likely to abandon their shopping carts and not complete a transaction if network performance is under par. Inc. Technology: How are employees impacted? Trammell: If employees use an accounting application with a five second response time across the network, and then the performance improves to one second, they’re thrilled. If, however, it slows to 10 seconds, employees are going to be upset. It could impact motivation.

About 2544 days ago PCs, Laptops, and Notebooks

39 Great Business Bargains

Online Payment Processing If you don’t need a full-blown e-commerce solution, PayPal lets you accept credit card payments with a PayPal shopping cart. There are no setup charges and no monthly fees, just a transaction fee of 2 to 3 percent, plus 30 cents–about what credit card merchant-account processors charge. Payroll Services Outsourcing onerous payroll tasks is easy and quite affordable. For a flat monthly fee, online services such as surepayroll.com and paycycle.com do all the calculations, pay and file federal and state taxes, and make direct deposits into your employees’ bank accounts. PayCycle costs $45 to $73 per month for a company with 25 employees, regardless of how often you run payroll (50-employee maximum); Sure Payroll charges about $87 to process the monthly payroll for 25, and can cut payroll expenses by up to 50 percent. Playing Post Office All mail is not created equal, so if you’re paying equally for all of it, you’re probably paying too much. Go to usps.com/businessmail101 for a primer on the different classes of mail and an explanation of the many discounts available for bulk and presorted mail and for things like dropping mail off at a bulk mail center or a central post office. For flat non-letter-size mail, such as catalogs, simply presorting according to Zip code can save you up to 30 percent on postage, and you can save up to 10 cents per pound by dropping it all off at a bulk mail center. And remember, never send a letter if a post card will do–post cards cost 38 percent less to send than first-class mail. Montblanc Pen: because you don’t want to sign a multi-million dollar contract with a 50-cent pen Seal the deal with a more elegant instrument. Pen maker Montblanc distributes its wares through a small network of authorized dealers, so prices are pretty standardized. A new Montblanc StarWalker Ballpoint sells for $216, including shipping, at writewithstyle.com. That’s not a bad price, but you can do better. The recent eBay price was $142, with shipping–with several more up for bidding. Color, light, and air A fresh coat of paint might be the most cost-effective investment you can make in the look and feel of your workplace. And since paint is so cheap, you can always repaint if you’re not happy. For help finding a color scheme, do what professional designers do: Check out the free color forecasting reports published by the Color Marketing Group. To make sure your new color looks right, switch out harsh white fluorescents with “warm white” ones; their fuller-spectrum light will make everything look better. Finally, improve the indoor air quality with bargain-priced planters from big-boxers such as Lowe’s and Home Depot, warehouse clubs, or Ikea. Carpeting Buy or lease modular carpet tiles, such as those made by Interface. While regular roll carpet is cheaper to buy up front, modular tiles can pay off in the long run because rather than having to buy a whole new carpet, you can just replace the worn tiles. It’s easy to take the tiles with you if you move. Plus, they look a lot cooler. Software Put off software purchases until the end of the year, when you’ll find discounts on programs that are being released in new versions. You may also see discounts at the end of a financial quarter. There’s also plenty of free software out there available for download–from e-mail (Evolution) and e-commerce (osCommerce) to Web browsers (Firefox, Opera) and accounting (GnuCash). Two of the best sources of freeware are tucows.com and CNET’s Download.com. Cheap (and Eager) Labor Entrepreneurship is hot these days, and plenty of students are eager to get experience at growing companies. The key is to offer experiences that truly can’t be had at big corporations, such as real responsibility, individual mentoring, and access to decision makers. William Wright-Swadel, director of career services at Harvard University’s School of Arts and Sciences, suggests that companies build long-term relationships with career centers at local colleges and market themselves through campus events and organizations. On MonsterTrak, the largest student job and internship site, you can target your posting to the schools you want to recruit from; the site charges $30 per posting per school, with a discount for multiple postings. Wherever your job posting appears, get it in as early as possible; students typically start thinking about summer internships at the end of the fall term. And remember: Interns are cheap, but they’re not free. Generally, if you’re paying someone, you have to pay minimum wage; for unpaid internships, certain educational criteria often must be met. Check with your state’s labor department for the regulations in your area. Free Consulting Score, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, is a nonprofit partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration that provides free online counseling on everything from accounting to workflow analysis, provided by a volunteer corps of working and retired business owners and executives. Score also offers free one-on-one and team business counseling at 389 locations around the country; find the one closest to you at score.org. Copy, Right Mid-level business copiers can cost $5,000 and up. Because of the high entry cost, and the near certainty that the “latest technology” will be outdated in a year (if not six months), leasing–which often includes an option to upgrade and can cost as little as $50 a month–is usually more attractive. When signing a lease, make sure to clarify the service and repairs included, and what the response time will be. Beware of contracts that require a minimum or maximum monthly number of copies; work out pay-as-you-go terms instead. And remember, you don’t have to buy paper and toner from your copier supplier–you can usually save money by buying these from an office-supply source. And if you don’t expect to make more than 700 copies a month, you probably don’t need a “business” copier at all–you can get by with a combination printer-copier that costs a few hundred bucks. Ink & Toner Deals abound on generic, remanufactured, and even name-brand cartridges. There are numerous online office supply and ink specialty stores–InkSell.com, 4inkjets, Databazaar.com, and InkjetSuperstore.com–that often have better prices than the superstores and printer manufacturers. For example, in a recent search on comparison site NexTag, we found an HP Laserjet 2400 cartridge for $120; the same product retails for $206 at Office Depot. If you’re willing to use refurbished cartridges, you can pay as little as $70. Meanwhile, OfficeMax recently launched a nationwide refill program for inkjet cartridges, which could translate into cost savings of up to 50 percent. Best for Blogging WordPress.org provides a free, easy-to-use tool for adding an easy-to-update blog to your company’s existing website. If you want to go cheap–and skip a formal website altogether–blogger.com (owned by Google) and wordpress.com (not wordpress.org) will host your blog for free. The only drawback: The generic domain name (blogspot.com or wordpress.com) can look unprofessional. Office Furniture Check out dealer show rooms and keep tabs on any floor models you like. Come June, when NeoCon, the huge convention of office furniture manufacturers, takes place, dealers want to get new stuff on the floor–which can translate into good deals on old merchandise. Discounts of 20 percent or more are not uncommon. For general office furniture, check the lower-cost subsidiaries of the big manufacturers, such as Steelcase’s Turnstone line. And don’t forget eBay, where bargains on durable workplace basics abound. Here are some recent examples: 34 Steelcase telemarketing cubicles: $6,700; eight Herman Miller workstations: $3,995; 12 Steelcase office desks: $1,500. Paper, envelopes, pencils, staples and the rest Rather than buying different items from different vendors, consolidate your office-supplies shopping in one place. The big office superstores all offer online order management, free delivery for orders over $50, and loyalty rewards programs. In addition, OfficeMax Commercial Solutions and Staples Business Advantage are free programs that work like managed-travel programs, helping customers track and reduce total office-supply spending through more efficient ordering and discounts for volume buying. Office Depot offers similar services through its Business Services Division. Negotiating an Iron-Clad Shipping Contract The major package delivery companies–FedEx, UPS, DHL–are all competing for the small-business market. It’s up to you to meet with their reps and determine what services you need, which company best meets those needs, and which one offers the best deal. Beware of add-on charges for things like sending packages to nonurban areas and shipping fragile items; shippers today have more than 100 such charges, compared with about 30 five years ago. Many of these fees are negotiable, though it helps if you have what the shippers call “good shipping characteristics”–high volume, packages that tend to fall in the same size category (say, more than 100 pounds), and lots of deliveries to urban Zip codes (which are less expensive to deliver). Smart negotiating can shave 10 to 20 percent off your shipping bill, says Mike Erickson, president and CEO of AFMS, a consulting firm that specializes in evaluating and negotiating business shipping contracts. Indeed, if you do a lot of shipping, it makes sense to hire a consultant, as shipping contracts are often difficult for laypeople to decipher. A company car–plus a tax break Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, individuals and businesses that buy or lease a new hybrid gas-electric car or truck, or an alternative-fuel or fuel-cell vehicle, are eligible for an income-tax credit of up to $3,400, depending on the fuel economy and the weight of the vehicle. (This credit is in addition to the regular depreciation or lease expense you’re allowed to deduct for any vehicle.) If you buy more than one vehicle, you get a tax credit for each. This tax credit applies to vehicles “placed in service” beginning January 1, 2006. Once a manufacturer has sold 60,000 eligible vehicles, the tax credit for its cars will be reduced, and eventually eliminated. So get on it now. When buying a printer, check out the “print yield” A cheap inkjet may be easy on the wallet today, but it’ll end up costing you more later. That’s because with printers, it’s all about consumables–paper, toner, etc. For example, with a $300 laser printer and compatible cartridge, it costs $30 to print 1,000 pages (black ink only); with an $80 inkjet printer from the same manufacturer, the same print run costs $100. After a little more than 3,000 pages, the more expensive printer has paid for itself. Check out the “print yield” specs for the toner cartridges the printer requires, and divide the price by that number–that’s your cost per page. Let that number, not the cost of the printer, guide you to the real bargains. Retail Space Mall tenants may enjoy foot traffic, but that traffic comes with a steep price tag–incidental costs can run from $18 to $55 per square foot per year. Wherever you set up shop, scrutinize your lease for so-called pass-throughs–charges on top of the basic rent for things like common-area maintenance–and make sure you’re paying a share that’s proportionate to the actual square footage you’re occupying. Another way to save: Minimize your square footage in an expensive retail area by leasing storage space in a cheaper space off the premises. Stress-Free Employees Treating your staff to monthly massages may seem like a needless indulgence, but it can save you in the long run. Research shows that employees are more productive on quantitative tasks after massages and report feeling less stress. There is also, not surprisingly, less absenteeism on days that massages are scheduled. And because office massage specialists provide education about ergonomics and repetitive-stress injuries, you may reduce the costs of such injuries. A 15-minute seated massage–about the time of a coffee break–is all it takes to realize the benefits. On-site massage rates vary by location–expect hourly rates of about $75 and up in larger cities (a massage therapist will typically fit in three 15-minute massages per hour). Go to amtamassage.org and use the locator service to find a qualified provider in your area. Corporate jet: a good option for small groups It’s a bit of a stretch to call a company jet a bargain, but look at the upside. There’s no penalty for booking last minute, so it’s attractive if you make spur-of-the-moment trips. And since jet operators charge by the hour, not per person, a private flight can be a good option for flying small groups (midsize jets can accommodate about eight). Full or fractional ownership requires laying out millions up front, but Sentient and Blue Star Jets‘ SkyCard program offer membership plans that give you planes on demand for less than the cost of fractional or outright ownership. With both companies, you make an initial deposit (minimum $100,000 for Sentient, $50,000 for Blue Star) and funds are deducted as you use flight time (hourly fees start at about $2,000). Deals on PCs Comparison shopping is a no-brainer. But with PCs, you’ll be surprised at how large the price variations are for identical products. A recent search on comparison-shopping site NexTag, for example, turned up about 20 different vendors offering new Toshiba Portege R200 laptops for prices ranging from $1,162 to $2,159. Another useful tool is NexTag’s “Price Drops” section, which tracks the market in a range of tech categories and reveals, for example, that in April, the best price for an IBM Thinkpad T43P abruptly dropped 25 percent. Travel Tips Travel is typically a company’s second or third largest controllable expense, and one way to control it is to implement a managed-travel program. Most of the online booking services have launched programs for small companies. Expedia Corporate Travel ($149 a year) and Orbitz for Business (fees vary according to use) drive down travel expenses by 10 percent or more by lowering transaction fees (an average of $5 per ticket, compared with about $30 for traditional agencies) and negotiating discounted rates with airlines, hotels, and rental car companies. Obviously, the larger the company, the larger the discount a travel service can negotiate. But in some markets, just being able to offer an airline or hotel a 10 percent incremental increase in your company’s business can be a potent bargaining tool. American Express’ small-business travel program (starts at $500 a year; $100 for small-business cardholders) offers discounts on airfares of up to 15 percent on domestic flights and 35 percent on international trips. AmEx also promises to beat any fare you find online. Website Hosting and Design Some broadband providers offer free hosting with their service. If yours doesn’t, consider one of these low-cost options, all of which include easy-to-use design and e-commerce tools and templates to get your site up and running quickly. Yahoo Hosting and domain registration: $12 per month and up E-commerce: $40 to $300 per month, depending on sales volume Homestead Hosting and domain registration: $20 to $50 per month (plus $20 setup fee) E-commerce: $7 to $60 per month Microsoft Office Live Hosting and domain registration: Basic service is free; added features cost $30 a month Web Traffic Analysis Google Analytics is a free and useful Web analytics tool–if you can get it. Right now there’s a waiting list that doesn’t seem to be budging. Fortunately, Google is far from your only affordable option. Check out ClickTracks‘ Analyzer, a basic hosted service that charges $49 per month (or buy the software for $495); Web analytics program SmarterStats 3.0, free for use on a single website (available at download.com); StatCounter, free for up to 250,000 page views; and Site Meter, which starts at $9.95 per month. Numerous free trial versions of other programs are available, too–which can at least hold you over if you decide to wait for your Google spot to open up. Industrial Space Even in the information age, manufactured goods can’t telecommute. That’s why industrial space–factories, warehouses, distribution centers–always costs more the closer it is to large population and transportation centers. Prices decline the farther out you move, but then transportation costs go up–so what appears to be a bargain often is not. The right balance is easiest to strike in less pricey “second-tier” cities such as Columbus, Indianapolis, and Louisville, as well as on the fringes of primary markets–places such as eastern Pennsylvania, lower New York state, and northern Los Angeles County. Aeron Chairs Go to authorized Herman Miller dealers first and think of the advertised price as a starting point. Even if you’re buying just 10 or 20 chairs, you can bargain. “Every contract is individually negotiated,” says Herman Miller spokesman Bruce Buursma. Dealers often have used chairs coming back from leases, which can cost 20 percent less than new ones. Consider lower-cost models too–Herman Miller’s basic Celle chair, for example, offers Aeron-like features for about $499, compared with $699 for a basic Aeron. If you’re not making progress with the brick-and-mortar dealers, go online. Here’s what a recent price comparison turned up (all prices include shipping): New Aeron Chair $699 at officedesigns.com, ultimatebackstore.com, sit4less.com, homeofficesolutions.com (volume pricing available) “Like New” Aeron Chair (floor models or returns) $519 at luxurychair.com, $560 at trendychair.com, $539 at sit4less.com’s clearance section Aeron Look-alikes Sit4Less “E” Chair, $399 at sit4less.com Ergonomic eChair, $319 at luxurychair.com Mesh eChair, $269 at designerseating.com A serious coffeemaker–and serious coffee If you consider a super automatic espresso machine to be a super productivity booster, check out the “outlet” section of wholelattelove.com, which sells manufacturer-refurbished machines at deep discounts–a Jura-Capresso Impresa S9 (list price, $2,400) goes for $1,399, shipping included. As for beans, get the gourmet stuff from old-school coffee roaster D’Amico Foods, which ships nationwide from its store in Brooklyn–at great prices ($6 a pound for the house blend espresso). The best rate on credit cards Start by checking out what your bank offers, then do some comparison shopping. As with personal credit cards, there are numerous no-annual-fee cards out there, so avoid paying such charges unless you truly require the particular services or reward-program benefits of a certain card. At sites like CreditCardGuide.com, CreditCards.com, and MyRatePlan.com (go to the credit card section), you can compare cards and apply online. Fun and Games Nothing succeeds in conjuring that giddy dot-com mood quite like little plastic soccer players. A new Striker foosball table retails for $699. But you almost always can find better deals at online specialty stores, many of which also include free shipping–which is no small matter, since delivery of a foosball table can cost a couple hundred bucks. Here’s a sampling of some of the best deals on office amusements: Foosball Table Striker foosball table $499, shipping included, at justfoosballtables.com      Air Hockey Carrom Premium Hydralumina With Scoring, six-foot model $540, shipping included, at christophersgames.com    Ping-Pong Table Prince Competitor table tennis table $359, shipping included, at dickssportinggoods.com Pool Table Charleston eight-foot table $1,787, crating and air freight included, at pooltables-direct.com    Pinball/Arcade Simpsons game $4,800, with shipping, christophersgames.com 1979 Space Invaders cocktail table arcade game $700 (plus $350 shipping), recently listed on eBay     Turn Your Office Into an Art Gallery Why buy pricey art for your office walls when you can rent? A number of major art museums have rental programs–and many will even help you choose the best pieces for your space. The Artists Gallery at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art charges about $350 to rent a $5,000 painting for three months; a $1,000 painting rents for $170. Like most museum rental programs, SFMOMA’s program focuses on local talent and has thousands of work in all media; photography tends to be the least expensive option. Other museums with rental programs include Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Portland Museum of Art, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Racine Art Museum in Racine, Wisconsin. Local galleries may also rent to businesses.    The Office of Your Dreams Right now, the cheapest downtown Class A rents in major markets can be found in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, and Seattle–places where $20 per square foot can land you palatial digs that would cost three times as much in New York City. Wherever you live, make sure you keep up with local business news. When companies close, downsize, or move out of town, they’re often left with time on their existing leases. “Subleasing is where a smaller business can really pick up a bargain,” says Andrew Abramson, a senior vice president with Grubb & Ellis in Washington, D.C. Abramson points out that in addition to lower rent, expensive improvements that were made by the previous tenant–such as phone systems and furniture–are often thrown into the deal as an incentive. Meantime, if you forgo a view and instead take lower-floor or obstructed-view space, you can save anywhere from 10 to 30 percent on rent. (Go to grubb-ellis.com/research to check pricing in markets throughout North America.) Location, Location, Location How much do real estate prices fluctuate nationwide? To find out, we searched for Class A office space in three major markets–Denver, Atlanta, and San Francisco. In each city, we found a plush office of about 6,000 square feet (enough for about 20 people) in a fancy, downtown building with all the amenities-health club, concierge services, covered parking, etc. The annual lease rates, of course, were all over the map. San Francisco $37 per square foot Denver $25 per square foot Atlanta $29 per square foot The Wall Street Journal A staple of office waiting rooms everywhere, the Journal does not offer corporate discounts for bulk orders to new subscribers. Check for special offers on the comparison-shopping sites as well as newspaper specialists subscription-offers.com and discountednewspapers.com. And check the paper’s website, too. At the time of writing, an offer for new subscribers made dealing directly with the publisher the cheapest option out there by far (56 weeks for $99); only one third-party distributor was able to beat the regular yearly subscription price of $215. (Note: This special offer was available online only; operators at the Journal‘s 800 number did not mention or even acknowledge this option.) The Clean-Up Crew Any cleaning service you hire should be bonded and insured–if cleaners mess up your stuff, or themselves, you don’t want to get stuck with the bill. Prices for that will be higher than for under-the-table help, but worth it. Remember, cleaning people often work when the office is empty; you need to be able to trust them. Make sure the company does background checks on workers, and check multiple references. Old-school long-distance service Negotiate directly with carriers or go through resellers, or CLECs (competitive local exchange carriers), which tend to price more aggressively and be more focused on the needs of smaller businesses than the large telecoms. There are many sites that let you solicit bids and compare rates, including PhoneSaver.com and BuyerZone. As you compare services, look for one that will bill the shortest time increments possible for long-distance–one- to six-second intervals, rather than 30-second ones. The smaller increments can translate into savings of 10 percent or so. International calling It’s not a substitute for a traditional phone system, but Skype, which lets you make calls directly from your computer, is a useful supplement if international calls are a big part of your phone bill. The quality usually can’t match a good phone connection, but the prices can’t be beat. Calls to other Skype users (through your computer) are free wherever you’re calling from, and calls to landlines and cell phones in the U.S., much of Europe, China, and Japan cost about two cents per minute. Broadband: Why You Need a Broker Unless you have a strong preference for a particular provider, you’ll generally get better rates through a broker–brokers do the comparison shopping for you, and because they buy in bulk, tend to have greater negotiating leverage. Typically, there is no charge to the consumer in working with a broker; instead, the providers pay the brokers a fee. Look for resellers that have been in business at least a few years, and make sure they show you quotes from several providers. Broadband is an extremely competitive market, so avoid getting locked into a long-term contract. Most companies require a two-year minimum commitment–don’t sign up for a longer term. You can solicit quotes from multiple vendors and resellers at comparison-shopping sites. Office Design Most professional designers charge between $75 and $200 an hour. But hiring one can actually wind up saving you money. Designers often see possibilities that you do not. A designer might suggest ways to use inexpensive materials and built-ins–using melamine boards in place of desks, for example–that can help reduce the amount of office furniture you need to buy. And when you do buy, designers get discounts of as much as 50 percent. The trick is to keep your designer on a short leash by defining the task at hand as narrowly as possible. To find a designer, go to asid.org, the website of the American Society of Interior Designers, and click on the “Find a Designer” link. Before You Buy Thanks to the Web, comparison shopping is a cinch. Sites such as Bizrate.com, PriceGrabber.com, Shopping.com, and NexTag.com may turn up the deal you’re looking for on any number of items. The following sites may be helpful for specialized searches. Broadband service Broadband.com Broadbandbroker.com Buyerzone.com EverythingT1.com Business equipment leasing Buyerzone.com Commercial real estate Equityoffice.com Cushwake.com (click on “Property Listings”) Grubb-ellis.com (click on “Properties”) Computers/software Shopper-zdnet.com Shopper.cnet.com Credit cards Creditcards.com Creditcardguide.com Myrateplan.com Newspaper subscriptions Subscription-offers.com Discountednewspapers.com Phone plans and systems Phonesaver.com Buyerzone.com

About 3213 days ago PCs, Laptops, and Notebooks

The One-Box Solution

Is your data all over the place? You might have marketing information in a spreadsheet, client addresses in your PDA, sales and financial information in an accounting program and inventory in yet another program. Having your critical business and customer information in separate places that don’t communicate with one another can have a big, negative impact on your business. It can reduce the efficiency of your business and does not permit you to better manage grow your companies growth. Here’s one example: Imagine your favorite customer telling your phone customer service representative that they no longer want peanut butter in the mix of nuts that they regularly order due to an allergic reaction. Since your new sales person does not have access to the database where this information was entered (by the customer service employee), they include a peanut butter mix in the next nut shipments! This kind of mistake could be literally deadly for customers with allergic reactions — and for your business. Daniel Carr, President, Computer Decisions International, LLC notes that companies could be losing money due to uncollected receivables. Better communication between your systems can make a huge difference on your bottom line and customer satisfaction. Another benefit of integrated information is the ability to up-sell your customers on additional products. If you purchase pens or anything from Office Depot online you are also presented with a list of related items, such note pads that you might be interested in purchasing. Imagine how much money you are leaving on the table by not offering your customers complimentary services or products based on their existing purchases. To get more out of the software you use, consider taking an integrated approach. This is often referred to as enterprise resource planning (ERP). Resistance to Change As you consider moving from silos of information to a more integrated approach it is important that your sales, customer service, marketing and other staff support it. Help your staff understand that integrated information will result in more satisfied customers, therefore more money for your business overall, making a better income opportunity for your staff. Implement policies that will help you reward individual contributions while embracing the importance of team work. For example: Staff who contribute the most helpful updates to customer profiles should be recognized. The sales person who passes the most leads to others could be rewarded. Implementation Eric Worth, a managing director of American Express’, Tax and Business Unit with more than 25 years of experience in the ERP business suggests you first pose the following questions before you consider an ERP approach: Can I do more for less? Can I answer more phone calls with fewer employees? Can I pay my invoices faster? Can I sell more but reduce inventory? Will my business be more efficient? Maybe your staff wastes a lot of time going to a fax machine and faxing daily purchase orders to suppliers. Can an e-business tool do this for you automatically? Will our productivity increase? If it now takes you 4 days to process a customer order, can a new system help you do a new customer order in 1 day? These are questions you should ask yourself as you pull together a strategy. If an ERP solution can give you positive answers to these questions, you can better determine the value such a solution would be for your business. Know Your Stuff An ERP vendor can easily blow you away with talk about their product’s solution to all your problems, so know exactly what your business objectives are before talking to them. A vendor’s product may be able to make and cut bread and send it to your PDA – in 3 seconds. But if these features are not important to you and will not ease the points of pain you outlined – it’s not for you. Intimately knowing your business processes and how the parts of your business work together is important to ensure that the software you implement logically follows your business processes. The software should fit your needs, you should not have to fit the software. Find a vendor who knows your particular business (retail, wholesale, agriculture, real estate, manufacturing, etc). Ask them to explain to you what implementations, in your industry, they have done in the past. Mihir Karia, Managing Director of Searce, an ERP firm catering to the SMB market, advises that you look for a vendor that might have already mapped out the businesses processes for your industry or a particular process in your industry. Working with a company that already knows your business can save you money an time in the long run. Carr also advises that it is vital to retain with the right consultant because software can only do so much. You need well-informed humans to maximize its use. However, you do not want a consultant who is more technically inclined but does not know about business processes. It is important that you work with a consultant who is experienced in business processes and can help you understand what solutions you really need. Don’t implement all at once, but in stages. By implementing in stages you can filter out any problems and get ongoing feedback from those who will be using the software. Instead of tearing out your old software and implementing a new solution all at once, it’s best to plan an evolutionary change. You might change the inventory system on Monday. The next week as things are working well, roll out the customer relationship management component. Ensure you set up a training program for you staff. You want your staff to use the new software, get value from it and not be hampered in its use. Investing in quality training will ensure these goals are met. Resource List These solutions provide a full suite of ERP solutions: NetSuite SAP myBusiness Icode Best Software Microsoft Business Solutions These following solutions are not as comprehensive as the preceding solutions but may offer specific solutions to your needs as well: Centage Budget Mastro Pragmatix, Inc. Metastorm Automation Centre Tracker Suite 65 PFSweb Inc. Intuit Quickbase BenefitPoint Groove Networks Project Edition JAYA123 Athenahealth (geared toward physicians) IE-Engine Interfacing Technologies Charter Standard

About 3335 days ago Computer Security

Safe in Cyberspace

Malevolent hackers. Psychotic e-mailers. Vengeful ex-employees. What do these folks have in common? Your computers. Day and night they’re relentlessly probing your defenses, looking for trade secrets, customer credit card numbers or simply the adrenaline rush of wiping out a loaded hard drive. It may be only a matter of time before they pay dirt. Doing business in the Internet age is a little like Frodo Baggins’ Lord of the Rings journey to Mount Doom — moments of triumph interspersed with sudden vicious attacks from out the blue. In 2001, a hacker penetrated Conshohocken, Pennsylvania’s Webcertificate.com and demanded a cash payment to keep him from exposing the personal information of 350,000 customers. Early this year a massive assault by a virus-like worm called Mydoom took down the Web servers of SCO Group, a software company in Lindon, Utah. Danger lurks in every Web interaction. “Malware,” a new-fangled term for viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other electronic microbes, cost companies $55 billion last year, according to Trend Micro, a developer of antivirus software. Data theft and targeted denial-of-service attacks are even more expensive. The problem has become so bad that Bill Gates recently advised Microsoft customers that “security is as big and important a challenge as any our industry has ever tackled” and pledged to make it the company’s top priority. Don’t take comfort in the fact that your business isn’t an obvious target like the Pentagon or American Express. Viruses are equal-opportunity assassins. Cyber-predators look for easy prey, and small-to-midsize companies often fit that bill. The good news — yes, there is some! — is that you can protect your data without spending a small fortune. Inexpensive antivirus software from Trend Micro, Symantec, Network Associates, Panda and more than dozen other companies zap bugs on sight. Firewalls built into Microsoft’s Windows XP and Apple’s OS X deter hack attacks by making your company’s computers invisible on the Web. Third-party firewall programs from Tiny Software, Zone Labs, BlackIce and other vendors go even further, keeping virus-like Trojan horse programs from surreptitiously sending your confidential data through hidden back doors. Hardware firewalls, often built into network routers made by Cisco, Asante, Linksys, SMC and other vendors, add yet another layer of protection. Many also let you create encrypted “virtual private networks” on the Internet, securely linking field offices and telecommuters. Companies with especially sensitive data and deep pockets can install ultra-sensitive intrusion detection systems that continuously sniff inbound and outbound traffic for signs of trouble, such as unusual server activity at 2 a.m. But technology alone won’t do it. You also need a smart game plan. Most experts say a truly effective defense strategy needs to address these issues: Software configuration. Make sure antivirus programs are on every machine, no exceptions, and that they are set to scan every downloaded file and incoming and outgoing email. They should also thoroughly inspect hard disks on a daily or weekly schedule. Adjust each computer’s firewall to the highest level possible without impeding the ability of the user to function productively. Password protect those settings to prevent intentional or unintentional changes. Software updates. Let antivirus software install the latest virus definitions as soon as they become available. Promptly apply operating system security patches to eliminate newly-discovered vulnerabilities. Windows XP can do so automatically. Be on the lookout for upcoming “service packs” for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, which will include a number of security enhancements. File access. Protect your company’s intellectual property and other sensitive data by restricting access to certain files. If you are running Windows XP Professional and Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, use built-in controls to set individual user permissions. Back ups. Make copies of all files nightly to minimize damage if a hard drive is trashed by a virus or malfunction. A RAID system that simultaneously writes data to two disks provides continuous protection against drive crashes, but a virus that destroys one drive will probably get the other, too. Put important stuff onto a removable medium, such as a tape or rewritable CD or DVD where a virus can’t get it, and store it off premise so it’s protected from theft or fire. Laptop protection. Require users to take special precautions, such as using a startup password and encrypting data so a thief can’t access the information. Avoid sending highly sensitive materials over public Wi-Fi networks, where it may be easily intercepted, and subject each machine to a virus scan before it is reconnected to the company network. Education. Teach employees Internet security procedures, stressing the potential threats to company and their livelihood. Make it clear what kinds of Web sites are to be avoided and instruct them to delete unexpected (and possibly virus-infested) email attachments without opening them. There are no guarantees here. But a well-conceived strategy, backed up by good technology and common sense can make you an intimidating target, and feel a little bit safer.