Social Media – it IS all the rage! So, to find out what effect the social media explosion is having in the workplace and how companies are responding to its use, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) and its affiliated Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) fielded a survey among compliance and ethics professionals. This is the second survey SCCE and HCCA conducted on business’ response to social media – the first survey was conducted in 2009 – and the research was designed to track how business has responded to the explosion of social media usage.

Survey respondents reported that discipline of employees for their activities on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn is on the rise. According to the survey results 42% of respondents reported that their organization has had to discipline an employee for behavior on these sites. That is up significantly from 24% reported in 2009.

Policies for Social Media Use Away from Work

Yet, while headlines tell of employee firings for Facebook or Twitter rants or privacy violations, only about one-third of survey respondents report that their organizations have adopted policies specifically addressing the use of social media sites outside of work.  The data reveals an increase from 10% in 2009 to 31% in 2011 of respondent who report that their employer has specific policies for social media use when away from work.

Social Media at Work

Companies often set site-specific policies for workplace access to social media. Forty-seven percent reported that “anyone” may access LinkedIn, while lower numbers are reported for Facebook and Twitter – 32% and 31% respectively – and 35% of respondents companies allow no access to those two sites at work. It is interesting to note here that “for profit” companies are more likely than “non-profits” to allow access to LinkedIn. Health care companies (40%) were far less likely to allow access than industry as a whole (77%).

Monitoring Social Media Use

In 2009, passive systems for monitoring social media policies – acting when appraised of an issue – was used by 32% of respondents and yet, despite the exponential growth of Social Media use, the availability of monitoring solutions, and the increase in company policies that restrict its use, passive system are now relied upon by 48% of respondents.

“Business has clearly awoken to the risks and opportunities posed by social media. The increase in business usage of social media sites has been accompanied by increased efforts, at least on paper, to control employee activity inside and outside of work,” said Roy Snell, Chief Executive Officer, SCCE and HCCA. “However, reliance on informal monitoring methods and lack of clear owners of monitoring suggest that many companies have a long way to go in ensuring that their policies are followed,” said Snell. “At the same time we must be very careful not to stifle one of the most effective business tool we have, social media.”

For the complete survey results, click here:

HCCA: http://www.hcca-info.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Surveys&Template=/surveyform.cfm&survey=2011SocialMedia

SCCE: http://www.corporatecompliance.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Surveys&Template=/surveyform.cfm&survey=2011SocialMedia

About the HCCA

The Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA), established in 1996 and headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, is a non-profit professional membership organization made up of compliance and ethics professionals working in the health care industry. HCCA is dedicated to improving the quality of compliance. Visit HCCA’s Web site at www.hcca-info.org. Tel: 888/580-8373.    

About the SCCE

The Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics (SCCE) is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. Its mission: SCCE exists to champion ethical practice and compliance standards in all organizations and to provide the necessary resources for compliance professionals and others who share these principles. Visit the SCCE Web site at http://www.corporatecompliance.org, Tel: 888-277-4977. Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics is located at 6500 Barrie Road, Suite 250, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55435. E-mail: helpteam@corporatecompliance.org.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.  (Profitable.com)  McAfee, Inc. (NYSE:MFE) today unveiled its 2011 Threat Predictions report, outlining the top threats that researchers at McAfee Labs foresee for the coming year. The list comprises 2010’s most buzzed about platforms and services, including Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone, foursquare, Google TV and the Mac OS X platform, which are all expected to become major targets for cybercriminals. McAfee Labs also predicts that politically motivated attacks will be on the rise, as more groups are expected to repeat the WikiLeaks paradigm.

“We’ve seen significant advancements in device and social network adoption, placing a bulls-eye on the platforms and services users are embracing the most,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs. “These platforms and services have become very popular in a short amount of time, and we’re already seeing a significant increase in vulnerabilities, attacks and data loss.”

McAfee Labs Threat Predictions for 2011:

Exploiting Social Media: URL-shortening services
Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook have created the movement toward an “instant” form of communication, a shift that will completely alter the threat landscape in 2011. Of the social media sites that will be most riddled with cybercriminal activity, McAfee Labs expects those with URL-shortening services will be at the forefront. The use of abbreviated URLs on sites like Twitter makes it easy for cybercriminals to mask and direct users to malicious websites. With more than 3,000 shortened URLs per minute being generated, McAfee Labs expects to see a growing number used for spam, scamming and other malicious purposes.

Exploiting Social Media: Geolocation services
Locative services such as foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook Places can easily search, track and plot the whereabouts of friends and strangers. In just a few clicks, cybercriminals can see in real time who is tweeting, where they are located, what they are saying, what their interests are, and what operating systems and applications they are using. This wealth of personal information on individuals enables cybercriminals to craft a targeted attack. McAfee Labs predicts that cybercriminals will increasingly use these tactics across the most popular social networking sites in 2011.

Mobile: Usage is rising in the workplace, and so will attacks
Threats on mobile devices have so far been few and far between, as “jailbreaking” on the iPhone and the arrival of Zeus were the primary mobile threats in 2010. With the widespread adoption of mobile devices in business environments, combined with historically fragile cellular infrastructure and slow strides toward encryption, McAfee Labs predicts that 2011 will bring a rapid escalation of attacks and threats to mobile devices, putting user and corporate data at very high risk.

Apple: No longer flying under the radar
Historically, the Mac OS platform has remained relatively unscathed by malicious attackers, but McAfee Labs warns that Mac-targeted malware will continue to increase in sophistication in 2011. The popularity of iPads and iPhones in business environments, combined with the lack of user understanding of proper security for these devices, will increase the risk for data and identity exposure, and will make Apple botnets and Trojans a common occurrence.

Applications: Privacy leaks—from your TV
New Internet TV platforms were some of the most highly-anticipated devices in 2010. Due to the growing popularity among users and “rush to market” thinking by developers, McAfee Labs expects an increasing number of suspicious and malicious apps for the most widely deployed media platforms, such as Google TV. These apps will target or expose privacy and identity data, and will allow cybercriminals to manipulate a variety of physical devices through compromised or controlled apps, eventually raising the effectiveness of botnets.

Sophistication Mimics Legitimacy: Your next computer virus could be from a friend
Malicious content disguised as personal or legitimate emails and files to trick unsuspecting victims will increase in sophistication in 2011. “Signed” malware that imitates legitimate files will become more prevalent, and “friendly fire,” in which threats appear to come from your friends but in fact are viruses such as Koobface or VBMania, will continue to grow as an attack of choice by cybercriminals. McAfee Labs expects these attacks will go hand in hand with the increased abuse of social networks, which will eventually overtake email as a leading attack vector.

Botnets: The new face of Mergers & Acquisitions
Botnets continue to use a seemingly infinite supply of stolen computing power and bandwidth around the globe. Following a number of successful botnet takedowns, including Mariposa, Bredolab and specific Zeus botnets, botnet controllers must adjust to the increasing pressure cybersecurity professionals are placing on them. McAfee Labs predicts that the recent merger of Zeus with SpyEye will produce more sophisticated bots due to improvements in bypassing security mechanisms and law enforcement monitoring. Additionally, McAfee Labs expects to see a significant botnet activity in the adoption of data-gathering and data-removal functionality, rather than the common use of sending spam.

Hacktivism: Following the WikiLeaks path
Next year marks a time in which politically motivated attacks will proliferate and new sophisticated attacks will appear. More groups will repeat the WikiLeaks example, as hacktivism is conducted by people claiming to be independent of any particular government or movement, and will become more organized and strategic by incorporating social networks in the process. McAfee Labs believes hacktivism will become the new way to demonstrate political positions in 2011 and beyond.

Advanced Persistent Threats: A whole new category
Operation Aurora gave birth to the new category of advanced persistent threat (APT)— a targeted cyberespionage or cybersabotage attack that is carried out under the sponsorship or direction of a nation-state for something other than pure financial/criminal gain or political protest. McAfee Labs warns that companies of all sizes that have any involvement in national security or major global economic activities should expect to come under pervasive and continuous APT attacks that go after email archives, document stores, intellectual property repositories and other databases.

For a full copy of the 2011 Threat Predictions report from McAfee Labs, please visit: http://www.mcafee.com

About McAfee

McAfee, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is the world’s largest dedicated security technology company. McAfee delivers proactive and proven solutions and services that help secure systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world, allowing users to safely connect to the Internet, browse and shop the Web more securely. Backed by its unrivaled Global Threat Intelligence, McAfee creates innovative products that empower home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers by enabling them to prove compliance with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities, and continuously monitor and improve their security. McAfee secures your digital world. http://www.mcafee.com

NOTE: McAfee is a registered trademark or trademark of McAfee, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other marks may be claimed as the property of others. The product plans, specifications, and descriptions herein are provided for information only and are subject to change without notice. They are provided without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied.

ORLANDO, Fla.  (Profitable.com)  PandaLabs, Panda Security‘s anti-malware laboratory, today announced that cyber-criminals are exploiting Twitter to spread malware using festive-themed messages. Using methods akin to Black Hat SEO techniques, hackers are taking advantage of trending topics to position malware distribution campaigns. As the holiday period has begun, topics such as “Advent calendar,” “Hanukkah” or even “Grinch,” are among the most popular subjects used by hackers to entice users.

Thousands of tweets have been launched using holiday-related phrases, such as “Nobody cares about Hanukkah,” or “Shocking video of the Grinch,” along with short URLs pointing to malicious websites. To see an example of a tweet like this, please visit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/5226147792/

Users who click the link will be taken to a page that infects systems with false codecs. These exploit a security hole in PDF files (CVE-2010-2883) and try to trick users into downloading a codec that is really a downloader Trojan, which in turn downloads more malware onto the compromised computer. You can see this image here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/panda_security/5225551137/

In addition to subjects related to Christmas, cyber-criminals are using other hot topics to spread their creations, including the Sundance festival, the AIDS campaign, the Carling Cup and tweets about the actor Morgan Freeman.

According to Luis Corrons, Technical Director of PandaLabs, “Social networks are becoming increasingly popular among hackers as a vehicle for spreading malware. Facebook and Twitter are commonly exploited with malicious intent, giving their ever-increasing number of users the false sense of security that they’re safe posting content on these sites. This is why the number of clicks, and therefore infections, tends to be very high.”

Keep your computer safe this Christmas

With the increased risk over the holiday period, PandaLabs offers users a series of practical security tips for using social media:

1) Don’t click suspicious links from non-trusted sources. This should apply to messages received through Twitter, through other social networks and even via email.

2) If you click on the links, check the target page. If you don’t recognize it, close your browser.

3) Even if you don’t see anything strange in the target page, but you are asked to download something, don’t accept.

4) Install all available operating system updates and patches. Cyber-criminals are particularly skilled at exploiting critical vulnerabilities in operating systems and commonly used applications. Computer users are often silently redirected to a website with a carefully crafted malicious payload that leaves the computer infected with data-stealing malware or extortion-based threats. In addition to updating your system, PandaLabs strongly advises people to update Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader and Java software, which are all commonly targeted by cyber criminals.

5) If you do download or install an executable file and the PC starts to launch messages or behaves strangely, there is probably malware on your computer. In this case, you should check your computer with a free online scanner such as ActiveScan, available at: www.activescan.com.

6) As a general rule, make sure your computer is well protected to ensure that you are not exposed to the risk of infection from any malicious code. You can protect yourself with the new, free Panda Cloud Antivirus solution (www.cloudantivirus.com).

About PandaLabs

Since 1990, its mission has been to detect and eliminate new threats as rapidly as possible to offer our clients maximum security. To do so, PandaLabs has an innovative automated system that analyzes and classifies thousands of new samples a day and returns automatic verdicts (malware or goodware). This system is the basis of collective intelligence, Panda Security’s new security model which can even detect malware that has evaded other security solutions.

Currently, 99.4 percent of malware detected by PandaLabs is analyzed through this system of collective intelligence. This is complemented through the work of several teams, each specialized in a specific type of malware (viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, phishing, spam, etc), who work 24/7 to provide global coverage. This translates into more secure, simpler and more resource-friendly solutions for clients.

More information is available in the PandaLabs blog: http://www.pandalabs.com.

LOS ANGELES  (Profitable.com)  MyLife.com, the web’s leading people search service, is now registering more U.S. users per month than LinkedIn and Twitter.  MyLife registered 2.4 million new members in October 2010, nearly one per second, and unique visitors have increased 80% year-over-year (YOY) to 26 million.  This brings MyLife’s total number of registered users to 41 million, primarily U.S. adults 35 years and older.  

MyLife.com offers the web’s most comprehensive people search service, and consumers have continually turned to the site to create connections for real, valuable reasons.  With more than 205 million total U.S. records, MyLife has:

• Nearly twice the people available to be found in the United States vs. Facebook (116 million U.S.)
• More profiles than Twitter and LinkedIn combined (17 million and 32 million U.S., respectively).  

“It’s easy to lump connections sites into one big ‘social network’ bucket, but MyLife’s focus on robust people search services and dedicated verticals makes us different.  We connect people for valuable reasons – dating, job seeking, hiring and reconnections that are worthy of subscription,” said Jeff Tinsley, CEO of MyLife. “General social networks are great for keeping in touch and sharing photos of your vacation, but our goal is to make important introductions that help Members meet real needs for the benefit of their lives.”  

MyLife.com’s growth strategy includes introducing new vertical search categories to provide greater membership value.  In 2010, MyLife introduced QuickMatch Singles for dating and singles connections, and re-launched Reunion.com for classmate reconnections.  MyLife successfully employs a “freemium” subscription model, and expects revenue growth of more than 50% in 2011.  

MyLife.com is currently the most comprehensive database on unique individuals, with more than 1.2 billion total worldwide records and nearly 800,000 active paying subscribers.  MyLife is the only website that provides users with information and alerts on “Who’s Searching for You” and other important activity related to their own profile.  

About MyLife.com, Inc.

Launched in January 2002 by CEO Jeffrey Tinsley, MyLife.com, Inc. provides the search industry’s most powerful online and offline people search capabilities.  MyLife has the largest database with over 205 million U.S. profiles and more than 1.2 billion records worldwide, allowing people to connect with others for a variety of valuable reasons, rather than just finding friends.  The product of a successful merger between Reunion.com and Wink.com in November 2008, MyLife.com has more than 38 million members, nearly all in the United States.  MyLife.com is based on Los Angeles.

Pizza Fans Show Support with 98 Percent ‘YES’ Vote at Facebook.com/PizzaHut

DALLAS  (Profitable.com)  With a landslide victory at the polls, pizza lovers across the country have united to keep Pizza Hut’s $10 Any Pizza deal – any size, any crust, any toppings for just $10*.  From May 11-June 10, 2010, Pizza Hut asked America to vote on the fate of the incumbent deal at Facebook.com/PizzaHut.  An overwhelming 98 percent of voters clicked “Yes,” resulting in a resounding victory for the $10 Any Pizza deal.

“America has voted and the $10 Any Pizza deal will be extended at Pizza Hut,” said Brian Niccol, Pizza Hut Chief Marketing Officer.  ”The one-sided victory shows that pizza fans remain hungry for the combination of great taste and value.  We’re excited to continue offering that combination with our $10 Any Pizza deal.”

With a determination to keep the $10 Any Pizza deal alive, Pizza Hut Tweetologist Alexa Robinson packed up campaign materials and embarked on a tour across America to rally support.  As campaign manager, Alexa visited state capitols, engaged voters at city landmarks and made media appearances in New York City, Philadelphia, Little Rock, Richmond, Va., Columbia, S.C., and Des Moines, Iowa.

“From New York City to Des Moines, I met with hundreds of loyal Pizza Hut fans who voiced their support of the $10 Any Pizza deal,” Robinson said.  ”And that support resulted in an overwhelming victory in the Facebook vote.  The $10 Any Pizza deal at Pizza Hut is clearly a popular choice.”

Alexa tracked her progress on Twitter (twitter.com/pizzahut) and Foursquare (foursquare.com/user/pizzahut), giving Pizza Hut fans exclusive news of her whereabouts and access to photos from the campaign trail.  Fans can also visit Flickr (flickr.com/pizzahuttwintern) to view photos from the tour.

About the Pizza Hut Tweetologist

Pizza Hut invented the first-ever Twinternship in April 2009 with a call for college students to apply for an internship chronicling the company on Twitter, the micro-blogging platform that challenges users to think in 140 characters or less.  Alexa Robinson was the company’s inaugural Twintern and is now the full time Tweetologist at Pizza Hut.

About Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut, America’s Favorite Pizza, delivers more pizza, pasta and wings than any other restaurant.  The only pizza company to be named a top ten franchise in 2009 by Entrepreneur Magazine, Pizza Hut began 50 years ago in Wichita, Kansas and today operates nearly 10,000 restaurants in more than 90 countries.  Pizza Hut, Inc. is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM).  To check out what’s new at Pizza Hut visit pizzahut.com.

* For an additional charge, customers can enjoy Pizza Hut’s signature Stuffed Crust Pizza.