October | 2009 | Dave Stelzl's Blog

Archive for October, 2009

Oct

Where is your data?

Categories: Sound Bites
Tags: breach, ethics committee, security

I received this from one of my colleagues while sitting in the Las Vegas airport, heading home from last night’s Seattle event. One of our event topics addressed the whereabouts of your client’s data…where is it? It’s everywhere. And that includes home.

In an article from Today’s Washington Post (Thanks to my official DC Correspondent Tim), sensitive data from the ethics panel (one of the most secretive panels in Congress) is now in the hands of, who knows who? Inadvertently placed on a public network drive, an unnamed government employee was able to access and forward this information to the Washington Post!

“The committee’s review of investigations became available on file-sharing networks because of a junior staff member’s use of the software while working from home, Lofgren and Bonner said in a statement issued Thursday night.”

“Peer-to-peer” technology has previously caused inadvertent breaches of sensitive financial, defense-related and personal data from government and commercial networks, and it is prohibited on House networks. “

While it may be prohibited in government, it isn’t in most organizations. And the likelihood of the average user knowing that their kids have loaded this on home networks is small. This is just one more reason your clients should be constantly assessing, and putting technology I place to control data leakage.

Oct

Reflections on our recent marketing event in Florida

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Categories: Demand Generation and Marketing
Tags: Marketing, sales, security assessment, selling, training

Educational events work! I just returned from a very successful demand generation event in Florida with about 70 attendees representing over 30 companies. Over twenty companies agreed to an assessment in addition to several project related opportunities (just under 75%). The event was mostly covered by vendor sponsorship. Some of the important lessons learned on this type of program:

Focus on education, not product sales, and you’ll get a much better response
In this case we invited both prospects and their spouses. This created a much more relaxed setting and social networking function
The event was held in the evening to allow for bullet two – spouses. We were also able to accommodate doctors’ schedules – important in reaching out to medical organizations.
Mailers are important, but calls build the attendee list – call, call , call.
Attrition is greatly reduced by confirming meals and letting them know this is invitation only. Only about 4 people canceled, and they did call ahead.
Make sure you take the opportunity to set up meetings with companies that can’t make the dinner! This is one of your best opportunities to create appointments with people you don’t know. Again, the call to action is eduction. An update on what your speaker presented.

We don’t have a final count on meetings set up beyond the attendee list, however it’s sure to be strong. This company followed the program exactly as prescribed in my security workshop, and the results are evident.

Oct

Positioning Suicide

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Categories: Marketing

From today’s “Successful Marketing to Managers” teleconference (the biggest group we’ve had all year!)…5 things that bring death to your position with buyers:

Poor self-esteem; fear of rejection when calling high
Character deficiencies – lack of diligence, respect, punctuality, dependability, etc. Find my 49 character trait sheet online at http://www.stelzl.us/thought_leadership.asp
Moving to a product pitch; things like call blitzes are almost always product centric and let others know you’re really just a box pusher.
Lack of business acumen, lack of useful understanding and input.
Not leading with value – evidence that you’re really just looking for another deal.

Oct

Success with Marketing – tomorrow!

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Categories: Opportunities
Tags: Marketing, positioning, sales, training, Trusted advisor

Don’t forget, tomorrow at 11:30 am (east coast time) I’ll be presenting material sales people can use this week! If your marketing department isn’t giving you all the leads you can use (and even if they are), this material will help you accelerate your 2010 sales pipeline. You’ll get:

Ways to dramatically change the cold calling process
A proven strategy for reaching economic buyers
A way of organizing contacts that will keep you on top of every prospect
What to say when you get executives on the phone
A process for moving new contacts to the next level – networking strategies
9 Ways to position yourself as a true “Trusted Advisor”, (even though I hate this over-used term).
And a free copy of my latest book, Data@Risk.

Don’t miss it, sign up at http://www.stelzl.us/business_strategy_TeleS.asp (and select the October option at the bottom). Also check out the upcoming sessions for November, December, and January.

Oct

Great Follow-up Article on TJX – Easy to Duplicate!

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Categories: Sound Bites

If your clients aren’t worried about security, send them this link:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2009-10-08-cyberthieves-network-hackers_N.htm

A simple explanation on how TJX was hacked by accessing data on wireless networks makes it sound easy – and it is. Heartland is also explained; a simple website compromise easily duplicated by just about anyone. The bottom line of this article from USAToday is this (sent in by Randy Sklar, President of Sklar Technology Partners); anyone can do it and they are! It may take a year or more before detection, and maybe never. Also a few updated sound bites:

- The bottom of the page explains why recent reports state TJX losses at 50 million credit cards. TJX reported this number, while reports from Visa show over 94 million. Who knows how many numbers were actually compromised.

- We have over 350 headlines of major companies hacked this year so far. Last year ended with about 650. Note that these are headline reports only, not actual attacks. (The Actual number would be much higher).

I would send this to every client/prospect you have, with an offer to come in and explain what is going on. By the way, follow up on this type of opportunity is the focus of my Making Money with Security program. Dates were released yesterday for two upcoming classes:

January 15, 2010 – Denver, CO

February 11, 2010 – Charlotte, NC

Oct

The Profit Program Workshop

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Categories: Opportunities
Tags: business plan, Marketing, sales, Strategy, training

Mark your calendars for January 20-21, 2010. This will be the first time we’re opening this workshop up to multiple companies – get ready for the most dynamic workshop experience you’ll ever have. We cover strategies on accelerating your business growth in 2010, establishing value based fees, developing financial stability through managed offerings, sales and marketing strategies – just about everything you need to put together a solid plan for 2010. Early registration discounts available now at http://www.stelzl.us/business_strategy_ProfitPrgm.asp.

Oct

Same As Cash – Video

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Categories: Sound Bites

Writing a check is almost like putting cash in the mail. Check out this video demonstrating how easy it is to “wash” the ink right off your check. Perpetrators remove the check from the mail, bathe it in a common chemical that removes the recipient’s name from the “To” field, and then put their own name on it! It’s not data; however, it’s just another illustration of how unsecure our financial systems are.

Oct

Google, Hotmail, Yahoo…what about Cloud Computing?

By Dave Stelzl's Blog Leave a Comment

Categories: Sound Bites
Tags: compromise, Data, email, exposed, gmail, hacked, hotmail, security, yahoo

Recent hacks against Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo have successfully compromised email passwords. While some people rely on these services for innocuous email exchanges, others are using this for business and other important matters. What about cloud computing. If email services such as these are not secure, how will companies move to other cloud services using applications such as spreadsheets?

As for these reported email compromises:

Microsoft admits that several thousand Hotmail accounts were compromised – one source reported 9843 user names and passwords were posted online.
BBC reported lists of both Yahoo and Gmail users exposed as well.

If they’re getting to these email sources, they’ll also get to other applications in the cloud hosted by these companies…and with the investments companies like Google are making in security, it’s hard to believe anyone has it covered out there – yet I hear this all the time from IT; “We’ve got it covered”.

Read SC Magazine’s report on this:

http://www.scmagazineus.com/Yahoo-Gmail-passwords-also-phished-in-far-reaching-scam/article/151616/?DCMP=EMC-SCUS_Newswire

Oct

Thoughts from a Successful Marketing Event

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Categories: Demand Generation and Marketing
Tags: Cybercrime, Information Security, Marketing, sales, selling, Technology, training

I just finished speaking to over 18 companies on the essential mindsets of securing data. Here are some important observations.

Educational events are the most effective way for you to demonstrate value to new prospects.
Surrounding new prospects with great information, a group of your most talented people, and some of your current, satisfied clients is a winning combination
Focusing on urgent needs such as Data at Risk creates the open door you need to start the relationship.
Inviting people with liability is paramount.
Preparing your sales team ahead of time with the right messaging and follow up plan is critical to your success
Finally, regardless of the economy, this approach will lead to success. Once again, 75% of our audience is ready to move forward with an evaluation of risk. After all, it’s not really optional when presented with the real threats.

For more on effective marketing, be sure to attend the October 20^th teleseminar on “Successful Marketing to Management”. Sign up at www.stelzl.us

Oct