The debate has never been livelier and companies are still asking “Which OS provides the best security and management tools for my business”? In the beginning we only had to choose from 2 options: BlackBerry and iPhone. At the time the obvious choice was BlackBerry due to their enhanced security features. But over the last 4 years new OS systems have been released as well as the concept of BYOD (Bring your own device) to work and the OS debate has been reignited. But why is it important you ask? There are 3 things to think about: Phishing, Malware and Brand Abuse. Phishing and Malware have become such a common occurrence these days that it is imperative that the OS system you choose provides the most secure and manageable email system as well as the most up to date and comprehensive malware protection system possible. Protecting private emails, texts and local documents on each employee’s phone prevents fraudsters from stealing that info which could allow them to learn financial, trade and development secrets which could be used to create fake mobile apps (abusing your trademarks) as well as providing them email addresses, contracts etc. which they could use for “traffic diversion”, “counterfeit activity” and “misrepresentation”. So which OS is best: Windows, Android, Apple or BlackBerry?

Windows:  As the Windows OS is still fairly new to the market it is hard to evaluate its performance in an enterprise context. Having said that, the OS itself performs well in general and has a similar security model as Android while providing slightly higher security features and scrutiny.

We are less than a month away from American Thanksgiving which also signals the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season.  Generally considered to be one of if not the busiest[1] shopping days of the year, Black Friday sees crowds of people shake off the turkey dinner fueled haze and line up (often times for hours on end) to take advantage of whatever crazy deals local retailers have to offer.  If standing around in the cold and avoiding the occasional stampede isn’t for you, it might be worthwhile to skip all the hassle and shop online, which, as we might expect, is becoming the preferred shopping method of choice.

Judging by all the hoopla, hype and hysteria last week of the new Apple iPhone 5 release along with all the upcoming or just released new smart phones, tablets and everything in between, I thought it would be a good idea for all of us to take a deep breath and exhale. Now, doesn’t that feel better?

These days, it’s tough to find someone who hasn’t at least been sent a phishing email, let alone responded to one.  Being the go-to computer guy in my family, I’ve had to deal with “can you just look at this email and tell me what you think?” or “Microsoft called me about my computer being hacked, can you come fix it?” on more than one occasion.  And it’s not just my grandparents that I’ve had to educate, but younger family members as well – to support this finding, Norton released their Cybercrime Report last week which showed that Millennials were more likely to fall victim to cybercrime than Baby Boomers.  To think, here I was worried about old dogs learning new tricks, when the new dogs were the ones that needed the most help.

Norton says that cybercrime cost $110 billion over the past 12 months – quite the lucrative venture, it seems, especially when you fail to see much in the way of prosecuting the offenders.  We’ll occasionally hear about some high-profile carder or malware author’s arrest, but it seems that owners of file-sharing companies are of greater importance to law enforcement.  Perhaps the banking associations need to hire the MPAA’s lobbyists.

People often think that Malware only comes from visiting dangerous websites, when in fact that is not true at all. You don’t have to be downloading movies or software to become victim to these attacks. Very often a seemingly innocent ad on webpages or social media sites will prompt you to download an apparent legitimate program that you will need to view something in particular. The source the malware stems from is often legitimate, and the sites themselves are also victim.

Most businesses today understand the need of having their own website, but most of those businesses don’t monitor their websites and even more don’t know how to react when their sites have been compromised.

Even if your company has no plans of entering the mobile market, you need to be on the constant lookout for cybercriminals who wish to use the popularity of your brands for criminal purposes. The mobile market has exploded in recent years and companies have not yet caught up with the security and protection needed to fight back cybercriminal activity. BrandProtect is always committed to providing the latest tools to defend its clients’ reputations. As part of this plan, we have been offering our Mobile App Monitoring service in conjunction with our Identity Theft or Brand Abuse services.

Last year, in response to the explosion of new mobile apps being developed, BrandProtect launched our Mobile App Monitoring service.  Initially, the primary concern was malicious mobile apps that would capture users’ personal information as it was being transmitted, or open the mobile device to control by the perpetrators – both scenarios have been seen in the wild before, and it’s only normal for brands to be concerned that their names would be used to perpetrate this type of fraud.  As a result, uptake for this service was – and remains – phenomenal:  almost every renewal or new contract we’re signing has Mobile App Monitoring included, at the client’s request.

March is Fraud Prevention Month. Whether it is identity theft, phishing, online shopping, social media scams, or credit/debit card fraud, there are always victims and unaware accomplices who fall pray to big international crime organizations. The goal of Fraud Prevention Month is to increase awareness and educate public and private companies to avoid the criminal’s attempts so they can do no harm.

A new generation of Facebook Scams has emerged just in time for the launch of Timeline – Facebook’s new profile layout. And while these changes have more than one user celebrating Facebook’s evolution, there are a large number of defectors who are begging Facebook to let them revert back to their old profiles.