Apple and Oracle his top of the list for most vulnerabilities

Danish security firm Secunia recently reported that Apple surpassed Oracle this year as the software developer with the most vulnerabilities.

Apple and Oracle were followed by Microsoft, who has held the number 3 spot in Secunia's list since 2006. Others in the top ten list of software vendors with most vulnerabilities were HP, Adobe Systems, IBM, VMware, Cisco, Google and the Mozilla foundation.

Renowned Apple hacker Charlie Miller said Apple's security problems have grown along with the brand's popularity, but the company has done fairly okay in patching the holes in its products.

"Ironically, even though Apple has many more vulnerabilities than other vendors, you still don't see many actual attacks in the wild," Miller said. "This is a function of their relatively low market share compared to, say, computers running Microsoft Windows. At this point, it makes more economic sense for attackers to focus on the 90% of computers their encounter, namely, those running Windows."

Secunia, which has looked at 29,000 software products from 4,000 software vendors since 2005, also found that despite software developers' hefty investments to improve the security of their products, vulnerabilities are still as abundant as they were five years ago.

You can read the report at http://secunia.com/gfx/pdf/Secunia_Half_Year_Report_2010.pdf

Verizon signs up more new subscribers than AT&T. Did the Droid X have anything to do with it?

Verizon signed up 665,000 new wireless customers during the last three months, while AT&T signed up 496,000. That was actually a 40 percent dip from a year ago for Verizon, but it shows that AT&T's having the exclusive right to offer Apple's smartphone hasn't given it that much of a leg up, at least during the last quarter.

The new Droid X is all the buzz for Verizon. A new promotion allowed current customers a penalty free upgrade to the Droid X. This is a smart move for Verizon since you typically have to wait till renewal time to get a new phone. the move will likely improve revenue from subscriptions since the Droid X requires a $29.99 a month data plan.

Verizon indicated that it had plenty Droid X phone's to go around, but the same day of the release they ran out of product. Users were directed to the Verizon website where they could order the Droid X for for $199 with a two year agreement.

I waited in line the night of the release for forty five minutes to no avail and ended up ordering online. Initial reports from Verizon said the phones would ship July 27, 2010. Later we received an email from customer service indicating the shipment would go out on August 3rd. The new Google Android Phone offers a ton of features, larger screen and 3G mobile hotspot for up to five devices.

No matter if you are a fan of the IPhone or the Droid X it is a good time to be in the market for a smart phone.

Revealing the Hidden Value of Your Web sites

I was doing some surfing this weekend and visiting a web site I use daily, Google.com. After doing some searching I accidentally clicked on show options link. I know that I have seen the options tab around for a while, but never felt the need to see what was buried there. It was no surprise that Google has some great features available.
Many of us go our entire lives using technology products and services with all of the default settings in place, never really knowing what we are missing. Below are just some samples of the things we miss on just one web site. I encourage you to take a minute and look in the options, account settings, and personalize tabs on your favorite web sites to see what additional value you can get.

Google Timeline
Did you ever wonder how popular a word is? I know I have thought about it. Google offers a neat feature called Timeline. Just visit Google and search for a word. After getting your results click Show Options and you will notice a left navigation bar appear out of nowhere. Click Timeline. Below is an example of a timeline search from Google. As you can see the timeline shows you the popularity over time and offers a streamlined way to navigate through years of content. You can also click on a year to focus on the year and drill down to the specific quarters and months within the year.



Examples of Google Timeline:
http://www.google.com/search?q=healthcare+legislation&hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=tl:1&ei=KC2JS9nGDIOWtgfAwZ3qBA&sa=X&oi=tool&resnum=3&ct=tlink&ved=0CDAQpwU

http://www.google.com/search?q=healthcare+legislation&hl=en&sa=X&tbo=1&tbs=tl:1,tll:2008,tlh:2009&ei=Qi2JS62WJpGVtgfl64WaDw&oi=timeline_histogram_main&ct=timeline-histogram&cd=10&ved=0CIABEMkBKAo

http://www.google.com/search?q=healthcare+legislation&hl=en&sa=X&tbo=1&tbs=tl:1,tll:2009/07,tlh:2009/09&ei=7TCJS6rXC5CYtgfl__CwDw&oi=timeline_histogram_main&ct=timeline-histogram&cd=7&ved=0CI0BEMkBKAc

Google Wonder Wheel
There is also a very interesting feature that finds all of the search terms that relate to the one you are searching for. The Wonder Wheel shows your specific search term in the center of the wheel and all of the related terms around the wheel. You can click on one of the related terms to drill down. As you click a related term a new wheel appears allowing you to drill down even further.




Examples of Google Wonder Wheel:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=ww%3A1&q=healthcare+reform

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=ww%3A1&q=healthcare+reform#q=healthcare+problems&hl=en&tbs=ww:1&tbo=1&fp=1

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=ww%3A1&q=healthcare+reform#q=universal+healthcare+problems&hl=en&tbs=ww:1&tbo=1&fp=58940be18eaf5c6b

Many of you may be thinking, "These features have been around for a while." I would argue that while you could have encountered these two features already, you could be hiding the value under an options tab on your web site. Designing web sites takes a lot of planning, wire framing and usability testing, remember every user population is different. Web Design is a balancing act: on one side you want to give the user maximum value and control on the other side you want the site to be easy to use. Carefully consider how you plan, design and test your web sites, because some users may not dig deeper to find its hidden value.

Tweeting where you are today? Better think again...

Social networks are growing every day and more people are adopting Facebook and Twitter as a common platform for communication. Most people think only their friends or followers get to see their messages, but that is not always true. Both Facebook and Twitter have capabilities to restrict access to posts, but users do not always know what the options do and how best to secure their information.

The information age has changed the game for the common day thief. Twenty years ago a robber would stake out your home and wait for you to leave, similar to the approach that the "Wet Bandits" took in the movie Home Alone. Today, crooks can just use social networks to harvest data and with some basic data analysis, know who and when to rob your home. If the crooks are very tech savvy they can do some programming and trend your behaviors and travel patterns that are revealed through your location information to improve the odds of their mission. Google Buzz, and Twitter offer a feature called GeoTagging which uses a GPS like technology to tell people where you are when you send a tweet. Crooks can also use websites like Please Rob Me to help sort through social media sites like Twitter to know when someone left home. The site owners of Please Rob Me have said the site's purpose is to raise awareness. Some are skeptical of their approach and think sites like Please Rob Me are dangerous and irresponsible.

You can protect yourself by doing a couple things:

- Think before you Tweet - A lot of times we just share what is on our minds. Think about what you would want your enemies to know. This doesn't mean stop sharing, but be cognizant that you are sharing information on a global scale and not just at a dinner party.

- Turn off GeoTagging - While the technology is interesting you need to think if it is THAT important that people know where you are when you are tweeting or buzzing from. Think about it this way, if a crook knows you are out at the water park which is one hour from your home they and has this information on several people in your area, they can plan their attack using a mapping tool like Google Maps to plan their attack.

- Limit the amount of sensitive data you share - This recommendation is the most common sense, but typically the hardest to follow. People get comfortable with communicating with their network and have shifted their culture from being less likely to share something sensitive to being more likely to share something sensitive online with friends.

Look at your own tweets and you will find information regarding location, best friends, rants about companies they deal with or accounts they have, emotional disposition and details about their family. All of this information can be used for good by friends, but also be used by crooks for social engineering.

Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information, rather than by breaking in or using technical hacking techniques (essentially a fancier, more technical way of lying). While similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term typically applies to trickery or deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-face with the victim.

When it comes down to it sites like Facebook, Google and Twitter are not trying to do harm and while the new technologies are great if used for good, can be easily exploited. It is our job as consumers of the technology to be aware of the risks and be guardian angels to our friends who are less tech savvy. If you want to protect yourself you must Think Before You Tweet, seriously consider the use of GeoTagging and the type of sensitive data you share on social networking websites.

This is what I think, what do you think? Sound off and post a comment or share this blog with a friend.

Twitter - Tweets Fly High Around 50 Million / Day

Do not count Twitter out of the Social Media inner circle. even though micro-blogging website Twitter does not have all of the capabilities of a Facebook or MySpace its simplicity attracts people to its service in droves. Recent reports from Twitter's Blog show Twitter users are tweeting more than ever these days to the tune of approximately 50 million messages every day. Kevin Weil of Twitter said, " Folks were tweeting 5,000 times a day in 2007. By 2008, that number was 300,000, and by 2009 it had grown to 2.5 million per day. Tweets grew 1,400% last year to 35 million per day. "

Hot topics on Twitter can change in an instant. Over the past couple days topics range from the 2010 Olympics to IHOP Free Pancakes to pop sensation Justin Bieber. Do you Tweet? Do you think Twitter has longevity as a social media platform? What Social Media sites do you use most frequently?

That is what I think, what do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Planning a Social Media site for Healthcare Audiences

Social Media in Healthcare is a topic that many health organizations are trying to make sense of now. The main problem health organizations have with social media has little to do about the technology, but more about how social media can be applied to communicate valuable information to members while obeying HIPAA privacy regulations. If you are a healthcare organization you may want to consider the following outline for planning your social media site.

Create a policy
Before you start planning a social media presence you should work with your communications, compliance, human resources, security and legal departments to create a policy for your organization. I have listed some great references out there to social media policies to give you a running start. At this step it might also make sense to create templates for what options you will enable and disable for each social media site to ensure all of your sites are consistent.

Steps for creating a social media site

Define your audience
First; you should determine who you want to communicate with. For example if you want to communicate with a member community you may want to provide the text in multiple languages and ensure that the content is written for the appropriate grade level.

Define your engagement strategy
Next, you should determine how you want to interact with your audience. Healthcare organizations will want to spend a significant amount of time planning their engagement strategy. Some questions you may want to consider:

- Are you here to listen, talk or a little of both?

- Will you only push communication to your audience? If so, what is the effectiveness of a push campaign? What kind of information do you intend to push?

- If you are listening can your audience post questions and will the questions be answered on the social media site? How do you ensure your responses are consistent and reviewed by all the right people? Will you dedicate resources to monitoring social media websites so you can reply timely to comments?

- How can Healthcare organizations ensure that their audience does not post Personal Health Information (PHI) on social media websites? Will you post a disclaimer somewhere? How does your legal department feel about this?

Determine your success criteria and how you will measure from the beginning
Everyone want to build a social media web site for some reason. Hopefully that reason is more than, "our competitors are doing it." Before you move forward with your social media campaign it is important to define what success means for your campaign and how you are going to measure success. Some examples of success criteria and measurements are:

- Achieve 500 Facebook Fans by the end of Q1. Goal is measured using Facebook's analytics.

- Increase referral traffic from Facebook page by x%. Goal is measured using web analytics software.

- Improved health outcomes of members. Goal is measured by tracking members that are fans of your pages and health improvements since becoming a fan. This can be difficult to measure if your systems are not well designed.

Without defining success criteria up front your organization may end up spending a lot of time and money with little return on investment.

Plan your communications
Most healthcare organizations are required at minimum to have internal reviews of their content; some organizations like Medicaid require state approvals before using content. Planning your communication early allows you to get all the necessary approvals and plan for seasonal communications like Flu reminders in the winter or tips about covering up at the beach during summer months. Work with your communications and compliance teams to ensure that your communications are high value but that they also meet HIPAA and state regulations.

Vary each channel
The saying "variety is the spice of life" holds true when it comes to communicating your message to various audiences. Think of your organization's communication like TV channels. We tune into a specific channel because we get specific value. For example, a sports channel like ESPN might provide excitement and suspense, where a channel like the History channel will stimulate your mind. This same idea holds true when it comes to your company's communications channels (portals, web site, email marketing, social media and text message campaigns). Do not just copy the same message you wrote for your web site and post it on Facebook, Twitter and other sites? Users need to have a reason to become a fan or follow you. What is the value of being a member of one or all if you regurgitate the same message on each channel?

Create the page or account
Create a corporate account for managing your social media pages. The last thing you want to worry about is one of your staff leaving the organization and trying to hijack your social media site. Use the configuration defined in the policy stage to setup options like comments and available features. If you spend time up front getting these configurations blessed by your compliance and legal teams it will save you time turning up social media sites.

Test it out
Get some of your staff to become fans of the social media web site before you announce it on your website. Check the site for any misspellings and that you have not missed any details.

Pick a good name
Select a good name for your Facebook / Twitter page. Example if you are a health organization you may want to create a page with a URL like http://www.facebook.com/healthcompanyname. Twitter allows you to pick a name immediately where Facebook requires you to have 25 fans before locking in your URL. Make sure your page name is something that applies to the topic. Page titles are indexed by search engines and jargon and cute marketing terms may hurt your campaign.

Let people know you are out there
Once you have completed your social media project advertise it through newsletters, email and your web site.

That is what I think, what do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

NBC uses Adobe Flash to give viewers of 2010 Olympics a new way to see whats hot on Twitter

This year NBC has raised the game with its social media integration for the Olympics. On the website http://www.nbcolympics.com you can view information from Twitter under the Tweets and Blogs tab. NBC worked with a vendor to create Twitter Tracker which is a visual representation of the amount of tweets on Olympic events and athletes. The more a topic or athlete is mentioned the larger the photo representation of the topic appears. The Adobe Flash application allows for users to click a specific picture to drill down to specific tweets. All in all it is a very interesting way to use Adobe Flash to interact with social media web sites.

Check it out for yourself:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/olympicpulse/tweet-tracker/index.html




That is what I think, what do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Apple and this problem with Adobe Flash

If you have not yet heard, Apple is not a big fan of Adobe Flash technology and plans not to include support for it on the iPhone, iTouch and iPad. From my perspective it seems that Apple is trying to prevent users of their devices from having access to content that is not within their control, let alone more than 75% of the video published on the web.

Over the years Steve Jobs and Apple have made tons of commercials telling people why we should "Think Different," but now is failing to take their own advice. At a time when Apple needs to be more open and embrace standards they are looking to make themselves the new standard by force. Apple also has taken this same stance with "The App Store." Users of Blackberry, Google and other mobile devices can easily author, test and deploy applications to their phones. Apple has "The App Store" and requires developers to have their applications screened by Apple prior to publishing them on a phone. This approach is seems to be the converse of thinking differently, creativity and exploration; all things the Apple brand was known for.

My hope is that Steve Jobs and Apple will look at the pros and cons of not supporting standards like Adobe Flash. Apple also needs to take a hard look at what it means to the long term success of their products when they are the sole gatekeepers of applications for their product. How can Apple be more successful? Apple can embrace standards, promote creativity through open software development similar to Google and Blackberry devices and continue developing useful hardware and keeping the market competitive.

That is what I think, what do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Apple in the news
- Why is Steve Jobs so Flash obsessed
- Apple Criticized for not supporting Adobe Flash
- Adobe chief says Apple is hurting itself by not including Flash