Yes, I understand that security is paramount in every organization, large and small, as it should be.  So, whether you are a Fortune 500 company or the corner deli down the street, everyone wants to protect their customers’ private information.  And, rightfully so.  Because not only is it plain embarrassing if you are a victim but there are guidelines and laws (in some cases) that dictate how you store and protect that information.  Just like you wouldn’t leave your valuables in plain sight, companies must protect this “valuable” customer asset, their private and sacred information, using online security techniques.

I feel compelled then to make a distinction between what’s “totally” secure and what’s not.  I believe the former is “fiction”, the latter “relative”.  Here’s a theory to prove that point.  Putting your valuables in a safe and hiding it in your house isn’t going to prevent someone from trying to break-in and steal it.  For an uber-persistent thief, it’s a matter of “when” not “if” they will be able to make away with those valuables.

Sure, the fact that you didn’t leave these valuables out in plain sight,  (1) made the person less likely to target you and (2) made their job (very) difficult.  You could add some dead bolts, put a combination lock on the safe, etc. to further enhance your security.  But, it’s not impossible.  Nothing is.  You can build a tall fence, but there’s always someone who can build a taller ladder.

So, the dirty little secret about online security is that you can take measures to make it extremely difficult for someone to get access to that information using routers, firewalls, anti-virus, anti-spyware, adding layers of database security etc.  One of our clients operates a SAS-70 facility and they employ a combination of physical (key card access, barb-wire fence) and virtual security like PC isolation, secure disks, virus checks, erase/destroy data etc.  But the bottom line is that if someone really wants to get to that information, they can and will.  If you don’t believe me just ask TJ Maxx, Citibank and Zappos.

We’d love to hear your thoughts/comments and would appreciate if you could share from your personal experience.  Do you know anyone who was hacked?  How did they handle the situation?  How did they bounce back from the incident?

Thanks!

Facebook Post S-1 Filing

- 845 million monthly active users (MAU)

- 100 billion friend connections

- 2.7 billion DAILY likes & comments

- 250 million photos uploaded DAILY

- 2011 Revenue = $4 billion

- Zuckerberg’s Bullion = 28.2%

So, while exercising my First Amendment rights, I propose the following new buttons that Facebook implement immediately so all of us can be heard loud and clear.
LOVE (and, yes, this button must be in uppercase)
Who wouldn’t want this button?

Not Right Now
This is for those moments, pictures and videos that get into your feed albeit at the wrong time.

Not Funny
Well…sorry, but not everyone has the same sense of humor.

LOL! (Yes, with the exclamation!)
This is to share your love of funny pics, videos and status updates from all around the world.

Hmmm…
Not sure about this one but I’ve found myself occasionally saying/thinking it.

And, finally…

Don’t Care
Admit it.  We all wish we had this, even if we didn’t have the “Like” button!

Shut The Front Door
This is to strike a balance b/w Freedom of Speech and Facebook policies.

Got More? Let us know in the Comments section and we’ll update the list.

You Too Should Be On YouTube

- 4 BILLION videos viewed EVERY DAY

- 1 month of uploads is equivalent to 60 years of content produced by the 3 major US networks

- Traffic sources: 30% US, 70% International

- 1 TRILLION playbacks in 2011

- 150 years of YouTube videos are watched on Facebook EVERY DAY

- Every SECOND users upload 1 hour of video. If you spent 100 YEARS watching YouTube videos day in and day out you’d only be able to go through about 10 days worth and that’s assuming the pace of creation doesn’t change!!!

PIPA and SOPA Co-Sponsors Abandon Bill (from Mashable)

Want more info? Check out this Infographic on SOPA/PIPA from Google.

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Update: 1/17/2012

Wikipedia, the sixth most-visited site in the world, plans to protest SOPA by deciding to blackout its website on Wed. More at WSJ.

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The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a controversial bill recently introduced (October 2011) in the US Congress that potentially threatens to shut down websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement.

Corporate supporters of SOPA and PIPA (Pro-IP Act) want to take down any site that hinders their profits. For example, under this act Craigslist could be deemed a marketplace for second-hand goods and deemed in violation of this act because it hurts sales of new goods to consumers.  Would I be held liable for selling that old Sony TV on Craigslist?  What about eBay, Amazon Marketplace, Google?  Under PIPA, Google could be held accountable for illegally aiding and abetting in the process of making copyrighted material available online.

The repurcussions are widespread.  Enforcing the act means that a court order could bar online advertising networks and payment companies from doing business with the alleged website, barring  search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring ISPs to block access to such sites.

I agree with the premise of  both the SOPA and PIPA but am concerned with the Congress providing carte-blance authority to companies under this act.  I am 100% in agreement of the “idea” of protecting a company’s IP and it’s copyrights.  My concern here, however, is with agreeing to and arriving at a definition of what gets classified under “piracy” and “infringement”.  Too narrow a definition will be business as usual while too broad a definition will include may innocent victims (e.g. Craigslist).

I encourage you to educate yourself more on SOPA.   The implications also extend beyond our borders and make all content subject to a country’s definition and interpretation of socio-economic factors, cultural and political views, religious laws, etc.  Let’s be careful before we open this can of worms.

We are creating and consuming an unfathomable amount of information every breathing second of every day.

Facebook: 6 billion photos per month, 1 trillion minutes per month, 2 billion likes/comments DAILY
Twitter: 200 million tweets per day, 25 billion tweets in 2010
YouTube: 3 billion videos watched daily, 48 hours of video uploaded every MINUTE
Netflix: 2 billion hours of video streamed in Q4 of 2011

We live in a NOW economy and it’s definition is constantly changing over time.  I personally remember when “now” used to be a day or within a couple of hours. If you presented results of an online campaign to your client the next day, they’d jump out of their chair out of disbelief! Now if you don’t deliver the same results in a 140-character tweet  within 14 seconds they think you’re behind the curve because about 1,200 people have already tweeted about it or have seen it syndicated someplace else!

If the pace of this continues, we’ll all be delivering information before that “information” has been created.  And, “they” say we’re just getting started!  Everything is getting better, even faster, smarter and “un” private.

I believe this momentum will continue to build at an even faster pace if that’s even possible!  Information will no longer live in “front” of everyone. It will be in everyone’s “palms” or within them through some implanted Twitter-chip (Twitter are you listening?!) the very second it happens! So, you don’t even need an app.  I say, why wait?

Local, Social and Mobile will continue to rule this space coming together to deliver an unprecedented experience across all our devices a.k.a. laptops, tablets, TVs, mobile phones and whatever chip that they may transplant in us in the near future.

EVERYBODY BLOGS

- There were 164 million Blogs as of July 2011

- Tumblr beat out WordPress for the most blogs hosted: 39.4 million blogs

- There are 15.2 billion blog posts on Tumblr and 57 million being added daily

- 2/3 of the Bloggers are Male, 1/3 are Female

- 27% of Bloggers blog on a full-time basis

- Blogging demographics

> 57% are 25-44 years of age

> 20% are 45-54 years of age

> 12% are 55-64 years of age

Both demand and lead generation tactics are designed to increase awareness and sales, thus boosting the company’s profitability.

No longer is demand generation simply about marketing your product with a few ads or a well thought out direct mail campaign.  Today’s consumer is savvy and with the Internet at their disposal there is a world of choice at their fingertips and given every opportunity they use this to their advantage. In todays’ world, companies need to be fully vested in their customers.

With social media playing a huge part in a company’s marketing campaign, demand and lead generation are going social.  Demand and lead generation is increasingly about what “else” you offer – how-to videos, demonstrations, reviews, topic-related blogs, expert ideas, unfiltered opinions, etc.  These are all tactics that show your customers you care about them in the long-term.  Developing “real” relationships with customers is now part of the job.  Listening to customer comments and making changes signals your consumers that their opinions are being valued.  With so many choices, it is the company that listens to its consumers and raises the standard that stands to win their long-term loyalty!

We Love Organic SEO & Here’s Why You Should Too!

- Organic SEO is critical for search engine queries

- 70% of clicks on the first page are on organic links

- The top 3 Links on Google account for 60% of organic clicks

- 75% of the people who search don’t go past the first page of search results

- Average CTR for paid search in 2010 was 2%, although Google makes almost 99% of it’s income from PPC Ads i.e. Google AdWords

In Search of Information…

- The Internet is the largest “virtual” country with a population of 2 billion

- Worldwide searches per month on Google = 88 billion

- 57% of the world’s population searches DAILY

- Every other query is for a product or service

- 20% of searches are for LOCAL businesses