What's Ahead for Sales Organizations in 2013?

How clearly do you see the road ahead? When we are driving down the highway, we notice that, the faster we go, the more the view blurs – yet the dashboard is clear and bright.

This also applies to sales leaders. While the speed of change accelerates, many sales leaders become confused by the rapid shifts in buying behaviors. While some customers act as if they’re in a boom cycle, other customers react and prepare for tougher times in the road ahead.

As we plan for 2013, salespeople demand more clarity of vision from their sales leaders. An overarching vision has three elements:

1. A guiding vision. It begins with an accurate appraisal of the present. Salespeople want to know the answer to these questions: Where are we now? What are our strengths? What makes us vulnerable? What threats are we facing?

2. A guiding fiction. Nobody can predict the future, but effective leaders have an uncanny ability to direct followers to imagine and find the best opportunities in the market. Uncertain times demand leaders who can stimulate the imagination so their followers can focus clearly on winning more business month after month. The best leaders are merchants of hope.

3. A guiding process. Salespeople need a continuously improved and accelerated process for everything from generating leads to closing the sale. Successful sales leaders need to constantly realign people, process, and technology. 

In many companies, there are as many sales processes as there are salespeople. World-class sales organizations follow a process that’s based on A) the know-how of their best salespeople and B) how customers want to buy. Many sales leaders believe that their well-thought-out sales process reflects the customer’s journey.  So in this issue, we’ve included a special insert that contains the Sales Force Effectiveness Navigator™, created by ZS Associates. Here, you’ll find a complete blueprint for optimizing sales performance at all levels.

While the economy continues to challenge, confuse, and surprise decision makers, effective sales leaders ignore the noise on the sidelines and get busy improving sales productivity across the organization. According to a survey performed by the SalesOpShop, sales leaders’ top two priorities for 2013 are 1) increasing topline growth and 2) improving the sales process. To achieve these goals, sales leaders need to become more innovative when aligning people, process, and technology.

The challenge in most organizations is that people are often too slow, processes are often too old, and technology is often too complex. To meet that challenge, we need to invest 60 percent of our effort in helping people change, 30 percent in improving our processes, and 10 percent in implementing simpler and better technology. The key to winning in 2013 depends on expanding the innovative capabilities of the organization.

Albert Einstein once said that imagination is more important than knowledge, because knowledge tells us what was, whereas imagination tells us what will be. What will be in 2013 depends on adaptive and creative sales leaders, who drive people’s capacity to change and lead them to execute on a customer-focused process that’s accelerated by the best technology available. Success is the result of what you believe you can achieve.

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The 50 Best Companies to Sell for Now

For the twelfth year, the corporate research team at Selling Power has identified and ranked the best companies to sell for among the largest sales forces in the United States.

Our focus primarily remains on companies with sales forces of 500 or more salespeople. An extensive questionnaire was sent to top sales executives, training managers, and human resources managers to request key data important to prospective employees looking to enter the sales profession. In addition, independent research added to the information database.

Each year we examine the data, focusing on three key categories: compensation, training, and career mobility. Companies that are unable to verify vital details within each category are excluded from the ranking.

Within the category of compensation, the corporate research team looks at average starting salaries, incentive pay plans, availability of company cars, and other benefit packages, such as health and wellness.

In the area of training, we examine the time companies invest in both initial selling-skills training and product knowledge training programs. To assess the issues of career mobility, we look at such essential details as frequency of performance reviews, turnover in the sales force, and the number of people promoted from the sales ranks each year.

Next, all information is compiled, analyzed, and scored in order to maintain complete confidentiality for each company’s data. Each company is given an overall score in the three categories and compared in two general industries: manufacturing and service. Selling Power ranks the top 25 manufacturing companies and the top 25 service companies to complete our list of the top 50 companies to sell for now.

The 50 Best Companies to Sell for Now list represents a wide variety of subindustries, including software/systems, food/beverage, health, construction, information/communications, hospitality, transportation, and financial services.

As expected, our detailed rating system placed the top companies extremely close, with 23 manufacturing companies and 21 service companies tied with other companies in the rankings. In these instances, the companies were placed in alphabetical order.

The ranking spread remained fairly consistent in both the manufacturing and service industries when compared to last year. Anyone entering the sales field should begin his or her effort by taking a good look at these top companies.

Content Reuse - All material in Selling Power magazine and on www.sellingpower.com is copyrighted. Reuse in any form without permission of the publisher is a violation of federal law. For information on reuse of any material copyrighted by Selling Power, please contact Customer Service at 1-800-752-7355 or 540/752-7000 or email orders@sellingpower.com

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How To Acquire and Manage More Leads

Tough times require that sales managers focus on what's really important. To put it simply, that means leads, and lots of them. I am not the only one feeling the increased heat at the top of the sales funnel. According to the 2009 IDC Tech Sales Barometer, sales investment in lead-generation technologies is one of the few bright spots in the current economic meltdown. This year, while most other functional areas are feeling the squeeze, investment in lead generation is expected to see a whopping 40 percent increase. Underscoring the urgency of these investments is another IDC prediction: "Sales organizations that bolster dedicated investments in lead quality and demand generation will be rewarded with significantly higher sales productivity." That implies that there is gold at the end of this recession; however, there are some important considerations before joining the gold rush to revamp your lead-generation approach. While some best practices have weathered the test of time, emergence of social media, proliferation of data about prospects and customers, and broader adoption of customer relationship management (CRM) solutions are forever altering the lead-generation landscape. Alignment These days the lead-generation function is more or less shared between the sales and marketing organizations. Lead generation can either be inbound or outbound, manual or automatic, and can include a continuum of activities, ranging from list-based campaigns, online advertising, and search engine marketing (SEM) to cold calling and "social" calling. Regardless of your lead-generation mix, effective use of your scarce resources - people, time, money - requires marketing and sales alignment. According to the Aberdeen Group Lead Lifecycle Management report (July 2009) by Ian Michiels, 78 percent of the best-in-class companies demonstrate a collaborative effort between sales and marketing when defining a qualified lead, the buying cycle, and the sales cycle, compared to only 37 percent of the laggards. SegmentationWhile sales and marketing alignment is critical, the key to successful marketing has always been targeting the right audience with the right message. According to the earlier-referenced Aberdeen study, best-in-class companies are much more likely to segment and target their prospect and customer databases. Segmentation is crucial to increasing lead-conversion rates and reducing cost-per-lead (CPL) in both acquisition marketing activities and lead nurturing of not-yet-sales-ready leads. Not surprisingly, custom segmentation capabilities emerge as an important consideration when selecting the right lead-generation solution. Data AccuracyWhen it comes to list-driven lead generation, more data about companies and executives is available today than ever before. Online Sources of B2B Data: A Comparative Analysis, by Ruth Stevens and Bernice Grossman (January 2009), does a nice job of comparing 10 B2B data vendors based on three criteria: volume (how many good contacts can I retrieve from this system?), completeness (can I get every field I want?), and accuracy (is the contact information correct?). So more data is good, right? Not necessarily. An interesting takeaway is that it isn't easy to assess accuracy - or the truth - about the contacts within the vendors' databases. Unfortunately, one unintended consequence of data proliferation has been conflicting data between providers, or in other words, incorrect and incomplete information about your prospects.Social-Media IntegrationFew trends hold as much promise in improving sales productivity as the emergence of social media. LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook can bring new perspectives and timely color to lead-generation efforts. Whether tapping into relevant news about your prospects or discovering a connection to make that cold call much warmer, access to social media is quickly becoming indispensable for successful lead generation. But social media can easily become a time-suck, as well. Hence, usable access to relevant social content is becoming a must-have in lead-generation solutions.CRM IntegrationSince CRM has essentially become the system of record for leads throughout the sales cycle, we are seeing more and more lead-generation and marketing-automation system integrations with CRMs. These integrations also allow lifecycle monitoring of leads - from lead source to opportunity conversion, all the way to deal closure - to assess ultimate lead quality. An additional benefit of the integration is improved prospect data quality, as well as increased CRM adoption. As you ponder your lead-generation solution purchase, remember that effective lead generation needs to combine process with technology in order to deliver both the quality and quantity of leads you want at the lowest CPL possible. And never underestimate the power of establishing a culture of measurement in your sales and marketing process, starting with lead generation. After all, you cannot improve what you cannot measure.Pelin Wood Thorogood is a managing partner at Aegean Group (pelin@aegeangrp.com).See also: Lead Generation Buyers Guide, Selling Power, September 2009 issueContent Reuse - All material in Selling Power magazine and on www.sellingpower.com is copyrighted. Reuse in any form without permission of the publisher is a violation of federal law. For information on reuse of any material copyrighted by Selling Power, please contact Customer Service at 1-800-752-7355 or 540/752-7000 or email orders@sellingpower.com

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Risk Management Event on Dec 2 in Prague

The event on "Risk Management – From Risk Analysis to Risk Control" on the 2nd of December is organized by AIM Software together with its local partner in Prague Crede Experto.

Date: 2nd of December 2004, 9.00 – 14.00Venue: Prague, Czech RepublicFor: risk managers, treasury managers, financial market experts

Topics:

Global Trends in Data and Risk Management Outlook on the Global Risk Management Survey 2005Results of the Global Data Management Survey 2004GAIN Risk Management and GAIN DataDesktopHow does data quality affect operational risk in the back office Services and Value Added Solutions

Speakers:

Martin Buchberger, AIM SoftwareJirí Sandanus, Crede Experto PrahaDaniel Albisser, Privatbank IHAG

Fore more detailed information and for registration please visit: http://www.credesxperto.com/

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AIM Software announces strategic partnership in Asia

Xen Business Solutions will serve the Malaysian and the Asian markets through AIM Software's risk management solution, GAIN Risk Management and reference data management solution, GAIN DataDesktop.

AIM Software's integrated solution GAIN will offer financial institutions a comprehensive supplement to Xen Business's treasury and portfolio management systems COMPASS. "The alliance with AIM Software answers our customers' needs for a flexible and proven risk management and data management solution," states Jeffrey Cheah, Director of Sales of Xen Business Solutions.

"Our risk management and data management software solutions can now be directly delivered as valuable business applications for customers in the Asian region," says Martin Buchberger, Head of Marketing of AIM Software. "The direct and local service for our clients and the advantage of offering two complementary solutions working together provide a remarkable added value to our customers in Malaysia."

Klick here for the press release.

About AIM Software

Founded in 1998, AIM Software specializes in data and risk management solutions for financial institutions and conducts global industry researches. With offices in Austria, New York, Switzerland and Hong Kong, AIM Software serves 70+ clients in the major financial centres, making it a global leader in reference data management.

About Xen Business Solutions

Xen Business Solutions was incorporated in 1999. Their principal activity is in software engineering, in particular, in developing software solutions for the financial services industry and corporate markets.

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AIM Software and Avaloq Announce long-term Partnership

AIM Software, a leading provider of reference data management and risk management software for the financial industry, and Swiss banking platform provider Avaloq announced a long-term cooperation to provide an integrated solution for reference data management.

Avaloq and AIM Software partnered in order to offer an optimized solution package to fulfil the needs of their clients in data management. Avaloq supports multi-data feed integration in their core banking system by using GAIN DataDesktop, the flagship data management solution of AIM Software.

AIM Software can now provide the added value of GAIN DataDesktop to Avaloq clients, such as opening new instruments, and the import of static data and corporate actions with Avaloq optionally managing the resulting security master file. Andres Fischer, Alliance Manager at Avaloq, says: "The decision to partner with AIM was a result of analyzing the features of this solution and the potential synergies of our liaison."

Buchberger adds: "We see this strategic alliance as a symbol for a new era, where solution providers will combine their know-how and expertise for extending the reach of their products and services while focusing on their core competencies."

Click here for the press release

About AIM Software

Founded in 1998, AIM Software specializes in data and risk management solutions for financial institutions and conducts global industry researches. With offices in Austria, New York, Switzerland and Hong Kong, AIM operates globally in the major financial centres with 70+ clients. AIM Software is a global leader in back office data management.

About Avaloq Group AG

Avaloq develops and markets the Avaloq Banking System, an integrated standard software package for financial service providers which can also be used as a modular solution.

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June 15, 2005 | Executive Breakfast on Risk Management in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Basel II-Guidelines and Implementation Strategies in Risk Management

This Executive Breakfast on "Challenges and Alternatives of Risk Management" on June 15, 2005 is organized by AIM Software and its local partner Xen Business Solutions.

Date: June 15, 2005Time: 9.30 am to 12.30 pmVenue: Conference Room, Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Bukit Kiara, 50088 Kuala Lumpur

Topics:

International trends in risk managementInteraction between market, credit and operational risk managementControl of the total risk: Reality or vision?Case study – Strategies in risk managementGlobal Data and Risk Management Survey – An overview about data and risk management of 1,736 financial institutions in 63 countries

For more information and for registration please klick here. 

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AIM Global Data Management Survey 2004 concluded

The results of the AIM Global Data Management Survey 2004 show that financial institutions all over the world undertake considerable efforts to deepen and automate their data management extensively. The background for these efforts, besides cost pressures and increased transaction volumes, are regulatory requirements such as Basel II, which will be put into operation in more than 100 countries in the next few years.

Survey period: January to August 2004Sample: 1,736 financial institutionsNumber of countries comprised: 63Number of phone calls: 6,423Reply rate: 65.9 %Number of hours on the phone: 1,582

The results of the AIM Global Data Management Survey 2004 will be published shortly.

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AIM Software and APB Group announce strategic partnership agreement

AIM Software and APB Group announced a strategic alliance to place AIM Software's GAIN platform on the Indonesian financial services market. The official contract signing will take place in Jakarta on June 16, 2005 during a joint executive event on risk management.

"It is imperative under current uncertainty to manage a company's risk management through a comprehensive yet simple and user-friendly IT-based risk management solution," states Arifin Haris, Senior Partner at APB Group. "By partnering with AIM, we are able to share knowledge and resources."

AIM Software's engagement in the growing Indonesian financial market is another step forward in its global strategy.

Click here to read the full story.

About AIM Software

Founded in 1998, AIM Software specializes in creating innovative data management and risk management software solutions for financial markets. Based on its worldwide distribution and service partner network, AIM Software provides internationally recognized modular software solutions. With offices in Austria, New York, Switzerland and Hong Kong, AIM operates globally in the major financial centres with 80 clients.

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Reuters DataScope Partners with AIM Software for Out-of-the-Box Data Management Solution

Reuters, the global information company, announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance between Reuters DataScope, Reuters' complete back-office solution, and international data management solutions provider AIM Software.

Reuters DataScope is providing its comprehensive real-time and historical reference data for equities and fixed income via AIM Software’s proven data management platform GAIN DataDesktop. Built on the foundation of the expandable GAIN framework, GAIN Light Reuters is the basic version for the processing of Reuters data, acting as an inexpensive entry point into reference data management.

Caroline O'Shaughnessy, Third Party Channel Director for Reuters DataScope EMEA, says: "AIM Software’s state-of-the-art data management platform combined with the unrivalled breadth and quality of the Reuters DataScope service offers clients a truly scalable out-of-the-box solution for managing reference, pricing and corporate actions data across all asset classes."

"GAIN Light Reuters provides a leading edge package combining the renowned and comprehensive Reuters DataScope and AIM Software’s products. This best of breed offering combines the expertise and know-how of both companies and will therefore help companies to speed up the tedious integration process of data feeds", states Matthias Rahmatian, Head of Marketing & Alliances of AIM Software.

About GAIN DataDesktop

GAIN DataDesktop, as the flagship all-in-one solution for data management, enables clients to access and process messages of a multitude of the world’s leading back-office and real-time data feeds. The modular and scalable data management platform GAIN DataDesktop combines automatic cleansing, scrubbing and reconciliation with manual exception handling for reference data, prices and corporate actions.

With offices in Austria, New York, Switzerland and Hong Kong, AIM Software operates globally in the major financial centres with 70+ clients.

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Risk Management Event on Dec 2 in Prague

The event on "Risk Management – From Risk Analysis to Risk Control" on the 2nd of December is organized by AIM Software together with its local partner in Prague Crede Experto.

Date: 2nd of December 2004, 9.00 – 14.00Venue: Prague, Czech RepublicFor: risk managers, treasury managers, financial market experts

Topics:

Global Trends in Data and Risk Management Outlook on the Global Risk Management Survey 2005Results of the Global Data Management Survey 2004GAIN Risk Management and GAIN DataDesktopHow does data quality affect operational risk in the back office Services and Value Added Solutions

Speakers:

Martin Buchberger, AIM SoftwareJirí Sandanus, Crede Experto PrahaDaniel Albisser, Privatbank IHAG

Fore more detailed information and for registration please visit: http://www.credesxperto.com/

View the original article here

June 16, 2005 | One-Day Seminar on Risk Management in Jakarta, Indonesia

The event on "IT–based Risk Management Processes" on the 16th of June in Jakarta is organized by AIM Software together with its local partner APB Group.

Date: June 16, 2005Time: 08:30 am - 16:15 pmVenue: ADONARA Room - Financial Club, Graha Niaga 27th Fl., Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 58, Jakarta 12190

Topics:

Getting ready toward Basel II: Challenges in the implementation risk management for Indonesian banksBuilding risk management capacity: GAIN Risk Management of AIM Software as enabler and accelerator for banks (and other financial service firms) to comply with statutory requirements (Basel II for banks, and other standards for-non banks)Enterprise risk management initiative at Matahari Group – Sharing better practicesRisk identification and assessment process through the software "Risk Assessor"

For more information klick here.

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May 26, 2005 | Executive Meeting on Risk Management in Sofia, Bulgaria

Basel II Guidelines and Implementation Strategies in Risk Management

The event on "Risk Management – Challenges and Alternatives" on the 26th of May is organized by AIM Software together with its local partner Cnet Bulgaria.

Date: May 26, 2005Time: 10:00 am - 12:30 amVenue: Triaditza 1 Conference room, Grand Hotel Sofia 1, Gurko str., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria

Topics:

International trends in risk management and reference data managementInteraction between market, credit and operational risk managementControl of the total risk: Reality or vision?Case study: Strategies in risk management

Klick here for more detailed information or send an e-mail to office@aim-sw.com.

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Sydbank AG Opts for GAIN DataDesktop from AIM Software

Danish private bank Sydbank (Schweiz) AG has selected AIM Software's data management solution GAIN DataDesktop for the integration of price, static and corporate actions data provided by Telekurs. This enables Sydbank to fulfil the requirements of the EU Savings Tax Directive, taking effect on July 1, 2005.

"We will be able to completely automate the integration of VDF data into our APSYS banking application which will support us in improving our data quality and in reducing manual processes to a minimum level", says Thomas König, CFO at Sydbank (Schweiz) AG.

"For Sydbank it was vitally important to have a reliable partner with comprehensive know-how and a large client base in order to fulfil the EU's Savings Directive in such a short period."

GAIN DataDesktop - the data management middleware of AIM Software - is designed for the processing of EU taxation data and 15+ back-office data feeds, such as those from Telekurs, Reuters and Bloomberg.

Click here to read the full story.

About AIM Software

Founded in 1998, AIM Software specializes in creating innovative data management and risk management software solutions for financial markets. Based on its worldwide distribution and service partner network, AIM Software provides internationally recognized modular software solutions. With offices in Austria, New York, Switzerland and Hong Kong, AIM operates globally in the major financial centres with 70+ clients.

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Release GAIN DataDesktop 3.6

Essential improvements concern the integration of data providers, the reorganisation of the script editor and an advanced performance in daily data management.

Improved integration of data feeds Bloomberg Data License: Backoffice | Per SecurityReuters DataScope: Portfolio | Equities | Fixed IncomeWertpapiermitteilungenComplete redesign of the script editor (now: workflow editor) Object-oriented access to elements, functions and proceduresForm designerConnection to MQ-SeriesImproved performance when opening and importing oracle databasesImproved performance when mapping dataImproved performance when generating reportsImproved multi-language interface

For further information, please contact AIM Software’s Customer Competence Center by phone +43 (1) 512 46 52-200 or by e-mail support@aim-sw.com

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Successful AIM Risk Management Event in Sofia, Bulgaria

Extraordinary attendance at the executive meeting on "Risk Management – Challenges and Alternatives" held last week in Sofia, Bulgaria together with AIM Software's local partner Cnet Bulgaria.

The overwhelming interest was a clear sign of the growing importance of risk management in South-Eastern Europe.

The focus of the event was on the strategies for a step by step implementation of risk management solutions in compliance with Basel II.

Problems, like insufficient and patchy data, are mostly found in small- and medium-sized banks. Taking into account this phenomenon AIM Software presented its risk and data management platform GAIN, which combines all aspects of data and risk management in a flexible way.

Attendees could also learn about new perspectives of operational risk and several case studies of Bulgarian and Western European banks.

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Successful AIM Reference Data Event in Milan, Italy

The event was organized together with AIM Software's local distribution and service partner SINTEA.

After a well attended event in Milan in June 2004, this year's business breakfast turned out to be a high class event, which attracted representatives of the most important Italian banks and financial institutions.

The focus of this executive meeting was on the strategies for the efficient management of reference data, particularly the optimization of data management with multiple data feeds. Examples for successfully conducted data feed integration projects (GAIN Data Desktop) in Italian banks were presented as well.

In the second quarter of 2005 AIM business breakfasts are planned in Malaysia, Indonesia and Germany.

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Release GAIN DataDesktop 3.70

Product enhancements:

new ADHOC queries complete revision of all functionsnew GUIfunctionality for Reuters and Bloombergclient server technologypassing variables to queries/reportsreintegration of scrubbingincreased performance in control of data structure (Check Writer Datastructure)passing parameters to MQ-Series

For further information on the GAIN DataDesktop 3.70 and for the full release notes contact AIM Software's Customer Competence Center by telephone +43 1 512 46 52-200 or by e-mail support@aim-sw.com.

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Adware / Spyware Extortion

                                                Blessed are the Geeks, for they shall internet the earth

Adware / Spyware Extortion
by Douglas Chick

There are innumerable reports of Adware and Spyware removal programs suddenly appearing on someone?s computer and asking for a fee to remove the viruses it has suddenly discovered. Click HERE to download Video. Many of these programs, if not all of them are the ?infection? themselves. The program installs itself on your computer during either a visit to a website, or from a worm that travels the internet looking for an unpatched computer. Some of these computers install other Spyware programs, and will remove them for a fee as well..

SpyFalcon, and SpyAxe are but two programs that are named by Symantec as "Spyware extortion offenders".

http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/spyfalcon.html

Extortion viruses are programs that install themselves on your computer, or you install them under false pretenses. The program may take over your computer, warn you of a dangerous virus, and not allow you to use your computer until you pay what seems a typical $29.99 fee to remove it. In addition to taking your money, they take your credit card number and person information and sell them to criminals, perhaps even a terrorist.

Browser Hijackers:

Browser Hijackers are malicious programs that plugs itself into your web browser, and redirects you to another home page upon opening it. This is a guerrilla style of advertising that ensures that the victim can only go to their website upon opening of a browser. Many advertise the purchase of a program that removes the Hijacker.

Method of Infection:

The typical method of infection for a browser hijacker is through the installation of freeware, (free software) A person may think they are downloading a free virus removal program, most are fake, and instead that are downloading the very program itself.

Popups are another method of infection. You may receive a popup that asked you a question with a yes or no answer button. (Do you want to install this on your computer.) Both buttons may read Yes or No, but both buttons are programmed YES.

Examples:

Adware: Adware is an infectious parasite that hides itself in your computer, and displays advertisement in popups. Adware also can gather information about user?s habits and interests and send it out through a background Internet connection. Such behavior allows adware vendors to deliver targeted advertisements to the end user and collect general statistics. These types of programs are difficult to find and remove.

 Adware behavior:

- Continuously serves commercial advertisements and displays pop-ups.
- Installs advertising toolbars, additional adware programs or undesirable third-party software.
- Creates numerous links to advertising resources, places desktop shortcuts to marketing sites, adds bookmarks to the web browser?s Favorites list.
- Tracks user?s web browsing habits, gathers information about user?s interests, records addresses of visited web sites, logs taken actions and sends some or all collected data to a remote server.
- Degrades overall system performance. Some adware parasites are badly programmed; they waste too much computer resources and cause software instability.
- Updates itself via the Internet and often does not provide the complete uninstall feature.

As it was said above adware parasites are quite similar to spyware threats and therefore cannot be removed with the help of popular antivirus products. To remove them special anti-spyware tools (spyware removers) should be used. These programs scan the system in similar way as antivirus software. However, they have special parasite signature databases, which allow them to detect and eliminate most spyware and adware threats. Powerful spyware removers include real-time monitors that prevent the installation of known risks and unauthorized system modification. The most effective and popular anti-spyware programs are Spyware Doctor, Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta, Spybot - Search & Destroy, Ad-Aware SE, SpyHunter, eTrust PestPatrol.

Examples of adware:

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An Interview with Linus Torvalds

                                                Blessed are the Geeks, for they shall internet the earth

An Interview with Linus Torvalds
by William Nett (May 19, 2006)

So what's going on with Linux and Linus these days? There are a lot of people who are asking, with yet another delay of Microsoft's Vista. Linux could emerge a victor in this voracious vindication for valor with the votive that there is value in the virtues of running Linux. That being said, you may call him Linus... and this was our interView:

Will: Did you ever expect Linux to get as popular as it did?

Linus: Obviously not. Nobody did.

In fact, I have this theory that _if_ you put your expectations high and set lofty goals, you'll just fail. You'll worry about all the things you need to get done, and you'll be discouraged by how much work there is left to do.

So the way I worked (and still work) is to just worry about "today". No huge expectations, just doing whatever makes sense at the time, and enjoy doing it.

Will: Having used myself many different distros of Linux including SuSE, Red Hat, Mandriva, etc... Do you have a personal favorite mainstream distro?

Linus: I used to actively make sure I used several different ones, just to not be biased. So I had a RH box _and_ a SuSE one, and switched between them, for example. At some point I decided it doesn't really matter any more: the market is big enough that nobody cares what _I_ do, so just for simplicity
I ended up doing just one distribution so that my different machines looked as similar as possible.

Of course, the "one distribution" has changed over time. It used to be SuSE, then when I switched to PowerPC it was YellowDog, then when Fedora did a PPC version I switched to that (so that I could have the same thing on my G5 desktop and my regular x86 laptop).

So right now it happens to be FC5. Whether that is "favourite" or not, I'm not sure. It's more of a random choice.

Will: I remember the toils of getting iBrowse to work on my Amiga, and many years has since past, What's your favorite Web-Browser?

Linus: Konqueror was my browser of choice for several years, because it had anti-aliasing early and none of the others did that well. These days they all do more than I tend to need, so I've ended up using konqueror mostly as a file manager, and for actual web browsing I use Firefox just because it's everywhere.

Will: Wife wants to know... what's your favorite geek gadget?

Umm. I'm actually so spoiled that when I go to most electronics stores, I'm not drooling after any gadgets there, since I have better gadgets at home - often stuff that hasn't been released yet ;

Which kind of makes me jaded.

I don't know if it counts as a "gadget", but I drool after the Canon 5D (it's a full-frame DSLR camera, in case you're not into that kind of fetish). I just can't see myself blowing that much money on something that in the end - for me - is just a total toy.

Will: Virtualization is all the buzz in computing today. With companies opening up to alternative OS's running on their hardware, do you think Linux will have a significant role in emerging technologies such as replacement of closed source software?

Linus: I think you already see it. I think that very much for emerging technologies, the flexibility of open source ends up being a big deal. Think TiVo in the DVR space, and now apparently the PS3 in gaming. Places where people do some custom thing of their own, but need a real OS for the
flexibility.

Now, whether virtualization will be such a huge market, we'll see.

Will: And with that our Linux hero disappears off into the Internet sifting through hundreds of e-mails a day, cranking out the next latest and greatest kernel called... Linux.

E-mail your comments to dougchick@thenetworkadministrator.com
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Certification Smart?

IT Wisdom: "One of the greatest things about having a computer job is; someone pays you to obtain enough experience to find a better one." --Douglas Chick

Feature Article

Modern OS Warfare? from the Front Lines.
By William M. Nett

It's 2012, the year of the Mayan End of Days. It?s supposed to be the end of the world, mass mayhem, cats and dogs living together, and cockroaches taking over the planet. Since Judge Kimball passed the gavel which sunk SCO in 2007, you could almost immediately hear Richard Stallman shouting, ?Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!? or in his low toned Mr. Burns voice calling to, ?Release the hounds.?

TheNetworkAdministrator.com???

Douglas Chick

It took me some time to realize that all my complaining about the outsourcing of American jobs was a waste of time. I was never angry at China or India; I was frustrated with my own people. My position has not changed, but I have accepted that the world has, and the United States is apart of the Global market that will never go back to the way it was.

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 Ip Virtual Private Networks

Facts about Facebook: Social Networking 101
Douglas Chick

 

MongoDB is the new MySQL
Joseph Ritchey

Watched out MySQL. MongoDB is here and it is after your blogs. If you have not heard of it yet MongoDB is is an open source, scalable, high-performance, schema-free, document-oriented database. What MongoDB is designed for is problems without heavy transactional requirements that aren't easily solved by traditional RDBMSs, including problems that require databases to span many servers. What this means is MongoDB does not have a table structure like MySQL. You do not have to design your database schema before

Cyber World War 3
Douglas Chick

Einstein said: ?I do not know with what weapons World War 3 will be fought, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones.?
The State Department says that their network is attacked 50,000 times a day; which is probably 40,000 times less than the rest of our networks. Cyber World War 3 began the day the Internet was extended to the rest of the world. The Department of Defense, or ARPANET, Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, created the Internet based on designs by Lawrence Roberts, of the Lincoln Laboratory, to use for advanced communications during war time. Somewhere shortly after and I?m guessing; war didn?t come around fast enough and this network was released as the Internet?and it was on.

Top Tools for Virus Removal
Douglas Chick

As a network administrator, helpdesk tech, or other computer professional, you don't remove that many viruses. Most company networks are secure enough that viruses are not really an issue. The issue is when friends, family and people from work get viruses in their home computers. There are so many request for virus removal that it is easy to be desensitized. I am as guilty as anyone when someone asks for help and I tell them they should take their computer to the Geek Squad, or Nerd Herd. There are literally thousands of viruses, and unless you are a professional virus expert it is impossible to keep up with all the removals. So, listed below are some popular virus removal tools and programs.

IT Wisdom: If I lose the familiarity of an operating system because the newest version changed its graphical interface, then I may as well learn a new operation system that isn't so easily infatuated by viruses. --Douglas Chick

Mean Computer Users
Douglas Chick

I think working in an IT department can be compared to working in a hospital emergency room; people come see you when they are pain and angry, they want to fix it immediately, they don?t care about the others that you are helping, and they are rude. In an emergency room you can at least understand many people are in a crisis medical emergency; so why are computer users this way?

IT Wisdom: Reboot solves more issues than whiskey. --Douglas Chick

Social Networking Pandemic
Douglas Chick
Social Networking sites are like STDs, or STDs are like Social Networking sites. Once you agree to accept someone into your site, you also accept everyone that person has ever been with, I mean accepted. There is:  FaceBook, MySpace, YouTube, Linkedin, , Bego, Classmates, Badoo, Fixster, Flckr, Friendster, Fubar, Habbo, Tagged, Windows Live Spaces, BlackPlanet, and WhitePlanet, oh. I said Facebook already. And don?t forget Twitter! These are just a few examples out of hundreds.

I.T Department Weighed Down
Douglas Chick

There is a definite danger in being too proficient in your job, overlooking the obvious; updates, security patches, extended education, and that is you may never get a full staff again. There are several options in preventing this, and I am not endorsing any of them, I?m just saying?

IT Wisdom: Rebooting a problem computer may fix it,  rebooting a problem computer user may cost you your freedom. --Douglas Chick

No More American Jobs...
Douglas Chick

I do not know how anyone could be surprised by this sudden recession/depression. Computer people began losing our jobs in the 2000 great overseas job migration. Certainly when millions of jobs are sent from one country to another, the economic ramifications are guaranteed. Greed and corruption has done to the United States what our enemies could have only dreamed. Who did this to America, and why? I think the question of "Who did this, and Why?" can be easily answered by following the money trail, and the easy of regulations that were implemented to protect us. ...but they failed.

Author: Falko Timme
This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions on how to install VMware Server 2 on an Ubuntu 8.04 desktop system. With VMware Server you can create and run guest operating systems ("virtual machines") such as Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, etc. under a host operating system. This has the benefit that you can run multiple operating systems on the same hardware which saves a lot of money, and you can move virtual machines from one VMware Server to the next one (or to a system that has the VMware Player which is also free).

A Computer Specialist or Generalist
Douglas Chick

There was a time in the I.T field when specializing in one area was ideal. For example an e-mail administrator only had to manage his or her mail server all day, and a router administrator only looked after the router, and SQL admin only worked on SQL. That was then?

IT Wisdom:
A serious career in IT is one with a bachelor?s degree in computers and a minor in psychology. --Douglas Chick

TOP 10 Geek Gifts

It is not always easy to find a holiday gift for the technologically gifted person in your life. Mostly I mean me. So this year, TheNetworkAdministrator.com has put together the Top 10 Geek Gifts for the geek in your life.

The Human I.T Network
Douglas Chick

One of the key tools for an I.T professional during the arduous process of looking for a job is other I.T people.  In this financial and political climate of layoffs and overseas outsourcing, computer people are going to have to stick together, period.  The I.T manager hiring today, may be the I.T manager looking for a job tomorrow.

OS Review: Ubuntu Linux 8.04 Hardy Heron
Will Nett
Ok, so anyone who knows me knows that I already head a secret society in Linux... well actually not, but I'm a big fan of it anyways, and use it in my everyday computers.  Having returned from a six week stay in Italy and England, I with baited breath downloaded the latest release of Ubuntu (Version 8.04) and after four failed attempts finally got an error free copy. Apparently, I wasn't the only one    hitting their servers for the download a few thousand others were hitting the servers pretty hard. I headed off in my venture for an install-fest...

Linux adaptation problem:
Will Nett I've been reading of the many lamentations of writers touting the lack of Linux adaptation on the desktop. Most of it I view as whining, but still I'll entertain your arguments...

Top 10 Count Down
Saving Money in a Recession
Douglas Chick

Top 10 Count Down on how to save money during hard economic times.

10 Great Snake-Oil Gadgets
Will Nett

So, I'm surfing Digg and woe and behold a link for another top ten list called the 10 Great Snake-Oil Gsadgets (with pics), and after perusing the list... well, I had to call BS flag. Who makes the top ten list? Which panel judges these lists? Who submits these items for consideration?

Top 10 tips for technology recruiters from a geek's perspective!
Will Nett
Ok, so I've been interviewed this month several times for various positions. This prompted me to come up with my top ten clues for recruiters (internally & externally) to effectively hire geeks.

A Day In the Life of a Network Architect
By an Evil Network Architect
Here is a comprehensive  description of the average day of a networker?well, you know.

The Secret Life of E-mail
Dean Chafee
Here is a comprehensive list of the exhausting travels of an email message. 

Disappointed in SuSE
William M. Nett
Open SuSE 10.1 was a bust as is their commercial package, SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, or SLED as its more commonly known. Granted the introduction of a supported Citrix client in SLED is welcomed...

How To Fix Your Memory for Passwords
Dean Chafee
One of the biggest problems that Network Administrators face, is dealing with user passwords. Actually, getting users to use a complex password, rotate it on a regular basis, and remember their passwords. The challenge is that in order to conform to network security policies in most companies with any sizeable network, password usage rules must be enforced on users. Rules like:

Repairing Your Computer with Magic?
Douglas Chick

In my career as a network administrator, I have noticed some most peculiar behavior from people when I comes to fixing their computer. Some will open and close the printer tray 3 times before printing.

Windows Vista
Douglas Chick
Windows Vista
is taking longer to come out than Lance Bass from Insync. And I think the delay is a good thing...I mean for Windows Vista.

Hiding Your Files Made Easy
Joseph Ritchey
What if you have important, or personal files that need to be protected? Would you hide them , encrypt them, or just stash them under your bed?

Without Internet Neutrality
Douglas Chick
Cable and Phone Companies are asking Congress for a piece of the Internet  Video / Phone action. And Congress has passed a bill for just that.

An Interview with Linus Torvalds
by William Nett
So what's going on with Linux and Linus these days? There are a lot of people who are asking, with yet another delay of Microsoft's Vista. Linux could emerge a victor in this voracious vindication for valor with the votive that there is value in the virtues of running Linux.

Adware / Spyware Extortion
by Douglas Chick
There are innumerable reports of Adware and Spyware removal programs suddenly appearing on someone?s computer and asking for a fee to remove the viruses it has suddenly discovered. Click HERE to download Video

Limewire Hackers
by Douglas Chick
Limewire may be a convenient tool for downloading shared music and files, but it can also reveal your personal files. In the attached video, Network Administrator Joe Ritchey, showed Fox News reporter David Martin how Limewire users make themselves vulnerable to hackers.
 

 

Wireless Hacking --War Driving
by Douglas Chick
Wireless hacking, or "Wardriving" is when someone from outside your home accesses your wireless network. The dangers of having a non-secure wireless access-point are: Spammers and send junk mail from your home, hackers and criminals can hack remote locations that are tracked back to your home...

Convergence
by William Nett
There?s been a lot of buzz going on lately about the bold step that Apple has taken by utilizing X86 Architecture for its computer systems. There is even a new plug-in that allows users to install Windows XP, Linux, and even flat out Solaris Unix on their hardware! 

The Next Big Thing: Just-In-Time Data Warehouses
By Greg Bromage
It?s rare when the IT industry lags behind the other, more traditional business models. But one such case has occurred, and it provides an opportunity for business to save millions of dollars of needed expense.

High Jacking Long Distance
By Dell Crill
Tele-Systems Engineer
CRC IT Consulting Services
Today hacking into a main frame computer, stealing an identity or spamming email accounts is an everyday practice for most computer savvy criminals. There is another breed of hackers out there that do nothing but break into Telecom systems and hijack Long Distance dial tones.

Press Release: Hacking the IT Cube:
The Information Technology Survival Guide.
Hacking The IT Cube is a book with a unique insight into the world of information technologies. It mixes humor with everyday real world experience that all other computer books desperately need.

Certification Smart?
William Nett
This article by William Nett, a network administrator in South Florida, compares the network certification differences between network operating systems based from his everyday experience. 

Help Desk Management Software
Douglas Chick
Frequently I receive e-mail from overwhelmed IT people that complain they spend too much time putting out fires and have no time to perform their normal duties. Some of these are a result of being understaffed, but in most cases it is because the computer users are managing your time.

6 Sounds Made by a Crashing Hard drive
Question?: My hard drive is experiencing some strange noises, and I am unsure if the drive is failing. How can I determine if the noises are due to a failing hard drive? Click Here to listen to 6 sound waves made by six different crashed hard drives.

HASH, is not just for smokin'
Internet Security
Joseph Ritchey
A hash function H is a transformation that takes a variable-size input m and returns a fixed-size string, which is called the hash value h (that is, h = H(m)).

Port Knocking
Joseph Ritchey
Back in the 20's there were Speak Easy's setup all over the US. People would go their to drink and dance, but mostly drink (due to prohibition). Lots of these clubs would have a large burly looking guy guard the door.

Router Security Tips
Douglas Chick
Reminded by the latest Cisco security alert, many network managers do not realize that their routers can be the jump point to attack. Router operating systems are just as vulnerable to hacker mischief as network operating systems. 

Security Boss
Douglas Chick
Network security has become top priority for the tireless network administrator. Blocking the path of a potential virus or hacker can be the difference between working late for free, and going home. (Many computer people are paid by salary.) 

Why do people make viruses?
Douglas Chick
 It is interesting, with all the training and knowledge necessary in becoming an IT professional, the number one question I receive is; "Why do people make viruses?" This always makes me wonder if FBI profilers are ever asked; "Why does my computer have so many pop-up ads?"

Techno-Wizard or Geek
Douglas Chick
 Computer people are unique in that they have their own peculiarities, unlike others that work in technological fields, like engineers, or physics, they're just crazy. Computer people have an odd passion for computer hardware and software. Being passionate towards software is particularly peculiar because there is nothing tangible about software. (That is above the quantum level.) 

Off Shore Outsourcing, Riding a Wave of Question
Dell Crill
 Recently, I read an article about a company called SeaCode Inc. that put a bad taste in my mouth. It made me realize that without much effort you can just about sell any idea or gimmick these days. The firms vision is to provide off shore outsourced software design and development services for US based fortune 1000 companies. 

Guide to networking certifications  
Here is a comprehensive list the most common network certifications for network professionals; including Cisco, Nortel, CompTIA, Enterasys, and ISC2. I withheld Microsoft's network certifications for another article.

Advanced Google Searching (Google Hacking)
Douglas Chick Google is a powerful search engine that hackers often use it to find passwords, and confidential or sensitive documents that companies do not realize are even available to the public. Most computer people use Google, but do not know how to use all of its search parameters. The term "google hacking" is a method used by unscrupulous people to not only uncovers sensitive data, but also to expose web server vulnerabilities. Here I list several Google search parameters and examples.

End-User Soup
Douglas Chick
In the past, I've been pretty hard on end-users in some of my articles and I'm not sure all of them deserve to be bunched in together. This is why in my infinite wisdom I have taken it upon myself to create end-user categories. Starting with some of the smarter ones and working our way down to...well, lets just say those that are little computer challenged. 

Interview: Chris Pirillo
Tech TV, Lockergnome.com
Chris Pirillo, a former TechTV personality and creator of LockerGnome.com took the time from his busy schedule to answer a few questions for us. 

Computer Terms and Comprehension 
Douglas Chick
The most difficult part of any computer support position is the misusage of computer terms as used by the computer professional and computer user. Listed here are computer terms and their corresponding meanings.   

Requiem for a Crashed Hard Drive
Douglas Chick
There is no drug or single event in the world that can make a computer person focus more clearly than when a server crashes. The mere act of a crashing hard drive, database or server component can temporarily raise one?s IQ as much as 50 points.

Top 10 things to know about network administration Tom Lancaster
If you're just getting started in the networking field, you've got a lot to learn, and with the rate of changes in networking technology, you can expect to always have a lot to learn, but here are ten essential topics that you should concentrate on (and if you are not just getting started, here are some things to review)

Cisco Router Tips
Top 10 'show' Commands
Tom Lancaster
One of the most important abilities a network administrator can have is the know-how to get information out of his network devices so he can find out what's going on with the network. In most networks, the staple of information gathering has been the "show" commands. Here are my top ten commands to know and love:

Top Network Administrator Tools
Here are some of the top networking tools for sniffing out, scanning, and finding hidden processes, as well as rootkits for 2005 as listed by TheNetworkAdministrator.com. 

Steel Bolt Hacking, Ranks #7 Top Ten Best Sellers List --Douglas Chick
I am proud to report that my book, Steel Bolt Hacking, was rank #7 on Amazon.com Best Sellers List on September 16th, 2004. It has since dropped out of the top ten but...

Interview
Interview with Rob Malda
Creator of Slashdot
Most computer people already know what Slashdot.org is, but many do not know the man behind it. Rob Malda is the man that founded Slashdot.org and is still around today to help maintain it. Slashdot was founded in 1997 and like the name implies, Slashdot started as a Linux form and has evolved into one of the largest tech news sites on the Internet. Rob took some time from his still busy schedule to answer a few questions for TheNetworkAdministrator.com

View the original article here