Author: Jonathan & Erik Bernstein

Popular phone apps make an ideal target for data-hungry hackers

Apps of all kinds fill just about every smartphone these days, making the most popular ones ideal targets for hackers. Dating apps may be among the most widely used, making them a perfect target as a recent IBM study discovered.

Reuters reports:

The millions of people using dating apps on company smartphones could be exposing themselves and their employers to hacking, spying and theft, according to a study by International Business Machines Corp.

IBM security researchers said 26 of 41 dating apps they analyzed on Google Inc’s Android mobile platform had medium or high severity vulnerabilities, in a report published on Wednesday.

IBM did not name the vulnerable apps but said it had alerted the app publishers to problems.

Any application you put on your phone, and any program you put on your computer, holds the possibility to grant attackers access to your device, and thus everything you connect to through it. The best crisis management measure to prevent issues stemming from attacks like these is good old education. Teach people how to be safe about what they download, and how to recognize when their devices may have been compromised, and you’ll remove a large portion of potential problems.

Facts to convince anyone dragging their toes on crisis planning

It can be tough to convince someone who hasn’t encountered a crisis themselves to spend on preparation. We’ve found sharing facts and figures is one of the best, and thought many of our readers might find the below infographic, from the ODM Group, a useful asset:

Learning from the case of the delivery driver and the auto dealership

These days, it’s pretty safe to assume you’re always on camera. Whether it’s a cell phone, spy cams that can appear to be just about anything, or, as in this case, a plain old security camera, someone’s watching.

When pizza delivery guy Jarrid Tansey delivered $42 worth of pizza to a car dealership in Westport, Massachusetts, he assumed the $50 he was handed included his tip and headed back to run another route. Employees at the car dealership evidently felt no tip was deserved, though, and called to have him bring the $7 back. When he returned an ugly exchange ensued, and it was caught on tape for the world to see:

As a result, the car dealership was flooded with a deluge of angry calls, social media messages, and online reviews, along with an incredible amount of negative coverage by the media.

Some five days after the incident, the dealership released the (slightly odd) statement below:

“On behalf of the owner who was not present during the taping of this video and management we will like to publicly apologize for the actions that led to this situation, this embarrassing video gone viral on the Internet, was not released by any employee of F and R Auto Sales. In addition to this apology the owner and proprietor will like to offer a cash donation to the delivery man in the video. The actions of the female led to her termination and the other gentleman that was belittling the man in the video was not an employee of F and R Auto Sales and had no permission or authorization to release any security footage from F and R Auto Sales. We are currently straightening out matters on that behalf.”

Although showing you’re taking action against offending parties is an important part of crisis management, this just came off as less-than-genuine, not to mention hacked together, both factors we’re certain contributed to the serious legs this story’s had over the past couple weeks.

Predict the problems that come with your promos, or run afoul of your fans

You would expect Wired, a magazine focused on the world of tech, to be prepared for a promotional offer to go viral, but the ugly aftermath of a promotion from the UK shows it was anything but.

Wired offered new subscribers a “Misfit Flash” fitness watch, an item that typically costs about 5x more than the subscription itself, for free in the print version of its magazine, but after the deal was posted to deal sharing site HotUKDeals demand far outpaced the supply available.

After several days of delays and general unresponsiveness, the magazine began sending highly unsatifying responses to inquiring subscribers who were expecting their Misfit watch, including the one below:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. I am sorry to report that we have run out of the gift.

Even though our offers are always subject to availability, we were supplied with a generous number of items to make sure WIRED readers would not miss out. While this promotion was only published in the printed copy of WIRED, one individual took the initiative to leak the offer on http://www.hotukdeals.co.uk.

As a result we received a large number of orders online after the offer was made public. We are looking into a solution and will be contacting as soon as possible.

Wired completely blew through the stock they had on hand, and put yet more bad communications into practice with its official statement to the BBC:

“The take-up has far surpassed anything equivalent run in the past, and the limited stocks – which were subject to availability as outlined in the terms and conditions – have run out. We have been working hard to find an alternative, and are pleased to offer a six-month extension to the subscription. Letters have been sent to those affected, which they will receive this week. For anyone not satisfied with this, a refund will be available.”

This is hardly an effective form of crisis management messaging, and all we got out of it was the impression of an utter lack of compassion and understanding from Wired for its audience. It may be a downer around the meeting table, but predicting ways promotions could backfire is absolutely essential to avoiding the reputation hit that comes with failing to live up to your word.

Learning the basics of a must for crisis management, and business in general, today

One of the easiest ways to protect and grow your reputation is by getting online. From the ever-growing list of social media platforms to the reviews sites everyone uses, there are many opportunities to get out there and show people you’re an organization worth dealing with. We recently came across a great infographic from Media Mosaic that illustrates exactly how to get started and thought our readers would find it useful. Have a look:

“I’d probably do it again.”

Lance Armstrong’s unabashed lying, and subsequent non-apology, marked his story as one of the biggest falls from grace in sports history. After a series of disastrous media appearances following the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s damning report on his abuse of performance enhancing drugs and other illegal practices meant to boost racing ability while avoiding detection he’s been largely quiet, and judging from a BBC interview published this week he really should stay that way.

Asked by reporter Dan Roan, “When it comes to the doping, would you do it again?”, Armstrong dropped a quote that probably left his PR people having an absolute fit just off camera – “If I was racing in 2015, no, I wouldn’t do it again because I don’t think you have to. If you take me back to 1995, when it (doping) was completely and totally pervasive, I’d probably do it again.”

I’d probably do it again. Immediately when we heard this quote, we thought of a post from the blog of “Mr. Media Training” Brad Phillips, who had posed the question “Is Lance Armstrong a Sociopath?” after his Oprah appearance in 2013, and we can again see the same personality at work here. Even after what was almost undoubtedly extensive coaching, after watching the fallout from his actions play out, Armstrong completely fails to show any real remorse or understanding that what he did was wrong.

From a crisis management standpoint he’s beyond all help, and as long as he continues to utterly fail to accept that showing sincere regret for what he’s done is the first step to repairing his reputation even the slightest bit that will continue to be the case.

Paying attention to reputation is key to prospering as a business today

Taking care of your reputation is more critical than ever thanks to the widespread use of the Internet and social media to share opinions, experiences, and info about businesses of all kinds. Not only is reputation management critical to prospering as a business, but it’s an important part of any crisis management plan.

In a post for The Proactive Report, Social Media Strategist Sally Falkow shared what she calls “The Reputation Feedback Loop”, something we believe every business should be utilizing. Check it out:

1. Find out what is being said online about your brand, your employees and your executives. If you don’t already have a robust monitoring system in place this should be your first action.
2. Listen to what’s being said and analyze the data. This is how you will get the first clues to a crisis that might be bubbling under the surface. If you can identify it early and act promptly it is possible to avert a full blown online crisis.
3. Connect with your customers and other stakeholders online. Figure out where they’re active on social media.
4. Be proactive. Every time a customer comes into your establishment reach out to them and ask for feedback on that visit. Ask them to rate your business and the employees they dealt with.
5. Use a system that automates this process, so that it is not too time-consuming. Choose a system that’s easy for you to administer and make it quick and easy for the customer to rate and review you. It must be mobile-responsive.
6. Use the negative feedback to improve any issues with the business, your product or your employees.
7. Encourage any customer who gives you a 4 or 5 star rating to post it online, so you can build that trust factor.

The prevalence of online review sites and widespread use of social media are certainly double-edged swords. Without care, a few small hiccups can turn into a serious loss of business, but these same platforms present opportunities for you to take your reputation to the next level, boosting your bottom line and protecting against any threats that may appear.

Establishing yourself on the ‘net takes time, so get started today!

Everyone wants a positive online reputation these days, but seem at a loss when it comes to getting the ball rolling. Although it absolutely takes work, it’s not as complicated as you might think, as you can see in this infographic from SiteName.com:

Getting serious about creating a name for yourself on the web

Reputation is your most valuable asset, and these days the ‘net is where it grows…or falters. Follow the advice in this infographic, created by ReputationRepair.org and you’ll have a solid start on building and maintaining your good name:

As long as cyber attacks remain profitable, hackers will be in business

We said 2014 was the “Year of the Cyber Attack”, but as you can see from our recent blogging 2015 is already making a serious run for the title.

The latest attack to come to light is hitting users through Microsoft Office, and results in the Dridex banking malware being installed on the affected system.

eWeek’s Sean Michael Kerner dug deeper into how this particular cyber attack works:

The Dridex banking malware is being used in a malicious spam campaign that is generating 15,000 emails a day, according to security firm Trustwave. The attacks, largely against users in the United Kingdom, are leveraging macros in Microsoft Office documents to infect users.

The way the attack works is that a user receives an infected Office document that includes a macro that triggers a download of the Dridex banking malware. Dridex steals user banking information and attempts to generate fraudulent financial transactions.

So far, Trustwave has not yet identified the group behind the new Dridex attack.

Microsoft Office exists on nearly every work PC, and it’s no rare thing to send and receive Word docs on a daily basis for most, making this a particularly tricky attack.

For this type of cyber-attack, as with so many others, the number one crisis prevention tactic is to educate your employees. If they know how to spot emails containing hack attempts before they ever download and open the programs inside, then they can simply trash them and report to the IT department, and you don’t have to deal with infected systems, stolen information, and all of the headaches that follow.