Also, the fact that consumers are continuously using their mobile devices and social networking sites to share personal information only makes companies and individuals more vulnerable. For these reasons, Dr. Delgosha believes that cyber security needs to be taken much more seriously than it currently is.

NYIT is hoping to raise awareness of these concerns at its upcoming Cyber Security Conference taking place September 15.

As he explained, consumers need to be cautious when it comes to serious tasks such as online banking. He advises that consumers apply the following steps as they conduct their banking routines:

1.    Beware of copycat sites
2.    Avoid clicking on links in emails
3.    Have strong password phrases
4.    Don’t use third party apps when doing mobile banking
5.    Utilize antivirus software

If these tips are taken into consideration, he believes that the chances of an attack would decrease.

According to Dmitri Alperovitch, the Vice President of Threat Research at McAfee and the author of the report, McAfee has been tracking the cyber espionage since 2006 but just recently determined the full impact of it on the economy. The company calls the attacker a “nation state actor” but does not give any further identification. Several other security experts, however, believe that China is responsible.

Alperovitch told us that every company in every industry that has valuable intellectual property and trade secrets has either already been compromised or would be compromised in the future.

To make matters even worse, Kevin Mahaffey, the CTO and co-founder of Lookout Mobile Security, told us that attacks would increase as more devices are added to the market. Fortunately, there are safeguards that users can take to protect against this harmful activity.

By being smart about where you click and download from, and also by embracing technologies such as Lookout’s Safe Browsing, consumers are less likely to get scammed.

He also points out that these terrorist camps are “well-versed in how to get past our good senses,” which is why they are reaching out on places consumers are comfortable, such a social networks. Another challenge involved is privacy concerns, which creates a two-sided problem.

While this is a very real concern, most people aren’t aware that these issues exist. For this reason, Dodd recommends that consumers get educated on these issues and contact their Congress men and women to encourage them to pay attention to these trends.

According to John Verdi of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the new options are an improvement to Facebook’s previous security measures.

“Facebook has rolled out these tools in an effort to make the website a little bit more friendly to folks who may have previously had a bad experience,” he said.

However, he did express disappointment in the fact that Facebook did not make these new measures the default option for its users.

Brian Layman, the founder of eHermits, spoke to Abby Johnson at BlogWorld, and began by giving this reassuring take on the situation: “WordPress itself is very secure.”

The problem is that many people go off the beaten path. Layman explained, “One of the things that bloggers need to remember is that every time they add something onto their site, they’re adding another attack vector. So if they are adding a bunch of plugins that they’re not familiar with, that aren’t very popular plugins, they’re putting their blog at risk.”

Layman recommended, “Only download themes from WordPress.org, and only use the most popular plugins.”

Bloggers should be sure to keep the WordPress software and all their themes and plugins up to date, as well, and watch for bad links and/or ads in their comments sections.

Taking these steps will help keep WordPress blogs safe for everyone.

The survey polled over 500 IT decision-makers in the two countries and saw that 74 percent of businesses using cloud services have noticed relief internally. What’s more, 73 percent believe cloud services have decreased their infrastructure costs, and 57 percent said their security has improved on the cloud.

Incidentally, cloud computing management company RightScale also announced this month that its customer cloud infrastructure spend has increased 1,000 percent from June 2009 to June 2010. It credits the increase to the following reasons: the number of cloud servers in use by its customers, the servers running for longer periods of time, and the customers using larger servers.

Another indicator of cloud computing growth is that Gartner, the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company, projects cloud service revenue to reach $68.3 billion this year.

Although these statistics show dramatic growth in the transition to the cloud, many businesses are still fearful of making the move. They are concerned about the security and privacy of their sensitive data, the sustainability of cloud service providers, and potentially high bandwidth costs.

Despite the concerns, multiple federal agencies in the US are embracing cloud computing, including the departments of defense and energy. The Securities and Exchange Commission is adopting cloud computing as well. Although the government is aware that concerns are present, it hopes they will be resolved before the 10-year transition is complete.

To alleviate some of these issues associated with the cloud, Gartner’s Global IT Council for Cloud Services constructed six rights and one responsibility for consumers and providers. If implemented, Gartner said these standards would be beneficial for businesses and providers, and also make the transition to the cloud smoother.

What is your view on cloud computing? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, or is it the other way around?

Manymoon is one application that desires to meet those user needs. WebProNews had the opportunity to speak with Amit Kulkarni, the company’s Co-founder and CEO, at Google I/O. As he explains, Manymoon is a social productivity tool that helps users efficiently get their work done.

The application allows users to schedule, organize, share, and more. It is currently the #1 team collaboration app in the Google Apps Marketplace.

Manymoon also recently announced a contextual gadget for Gmail. This gadget enables users to manage and complete tasks directly from their email. Users can also make updates to their projects and receive reminders about deadlines.

For more information on Manymoon, visit their site.

Verbatim calls the Tuff-’N'-Tiny drive the “smallest USB drive in the world.” It contains SIP technology, which means all the components are sealed completely inside. The drive is resistant to dust, water, and static, and comes with a lanyard to go on a key ring.

In addition, it includes password protection software so that data is always safe. Tuff-’N'-Tiny is currently available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB. A 16GB will be available in about a month.

Verbatim also calls its Titan XS portable hard drive the “smallest in the world.” This device features a rubber enclosure that makes it very easy for travel. It is expected to be released in February in the following versions: 320GB, 500GB, and 640GB. Verbatim said they are hoping to release a 1TB version by Q3.

Thirdly, Verbatim displayed their InSight USB portable hard drive that is unique for its Always On “cholesteric” LCD display. The first line on the display is customizable and the second line shows the capacity. The device updates when it is plugged in and also when it is safely removed. This product is already available in capacities of 320GB and 500GB.

Before the process began, Mike removed all the data on the machine just in case anything went wrong. The installation itself took 42 minutes and 30 seconds and was a fairly easy and painless process.

Windows 7 promises to have a faster boot up and also promises to reduce the number of clicks needed for common tasks. Mike found that the boot up time is indeed faster than Vista and that several of the new features really would allow for the easy completion of tasks.

One of the most noticeable features is the taskbar. The quick launch toolbar is gone, but the new taskbar is very speedy and user-friendly. In addition, it allows you to pin and unpin programs for your own personalization. Windows 7 also has a snap feature that makes it very easy to compare two windows. Security is also enhanced with 7 and gives users the power to manage the much-hated User Account Control from Vista.

There are many more features and tasks still to be tested, but for now, Windows 7 does seem to be an improvement over Windows Vista. But then again, is there anything that could be worse?

Bing sees blogs, forums, and social media/user generated content as the most problematic areas online. Parthasarathy says these areas have to be monitored closely. To secure your site, he suggests:

1.    Keeping all software up-to-date
2.    Maintaining strong passwords
3.    Checking plugins

He also recommends scanning your site with anti-malware tools or Spyware to further secure it.

Keeping your site protected is very important since it not only affects you and your business, but it also affects your customers. If you would like more information on security, check out this post from Bing’s Webmaster team for a more detailed explanation.

Traditionally, banks and financial institutions were the primary targets for hackers, but now brands are coming under attack. Part of this transition is due to the fact that consumers have grown smarter about giving out their private information on banking sites. However, many of those same consumers are not as cautious on e-commerce sites.

According to Ryan White of VeriSign, there are thousands of new fraudulent sites created each day. To help brands protect themselves and their consumers, VeriSign has a defensive feature to ensure that security. When businesses use Extended Validation SSL, the address bar turns green to show consumers that it is a safe site.

In addition, VeriSign has a Phish or No Phish program in which the company educates consumers on how to distinguish between a genuine site and fraudulent site.

As Samer Forzley explains, the Walk-In program lets users shop online with cash without having a credit card or even a bank account. eBillme has partnered with providers such as MoneyGram International to form a network of over 75,000 walk-in locations across the U.S.

Through the program, if a user makes a purchase online, he receives an ebill and then has the option of either paying it through online banking or through one of the physical walk-in locations. Consumers are not required to provide any credit card information or social security numbers. Instead, eBillme only needs an email address.

Since eBillme wants customers to have “total peace of mind” when they shop online, the company also provides special features including a satisfaction guarantee, best price guarantee, and fraud protection.

The evidence gathered at this point seems to indicate that the attack has ties to a political controversy. The incident is allegedly linked to the ongoing disputes involving Russia and Georgia.

What’s somewhat surprising about this situation is how much of an impact it had on Twitter and other social media users. Businesses, celebrities, and protesters all use various social media websites.

Social media has become a large  part of everyday and business life. When it is taken away, how do you react? Have you grown dependent on social media? When social networks are down, is it simply an annoyance or does it alter your entire day?