Millennium Group, Inc.

How "Security Aware" are you?

2012-02-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

See just how "Security Aware" you really are
Do you believe you're a little more Security Aware? Can you identify the threats that exist in your environment and the steps you should take to avoid them? Take the following quizzes and find out.

Phishing http://www.onguardonline.gov/games/phishing-scams.aspx
Spyware http://www.onguardonline.gov/games/beware-spyware.aspx
Identity Theft http://www.onguardonline.gov/games/id-theft-faceoff.aspx
Social Networking http://www.onguardonline.gov/games/friend-finder.aspx

Four Tips to Help Keep Your Computer Secure

2012-02-08T06:31:00.000-08:00

1.     Anti-virus. A reliable, effective anti-virus program with the latest updates. Both licensed and free anti-virus software are available. Whichever you use, make sure it scans incoming and outgoing emails for malware.

2.     Anti-spyware. Reliable effective anti-spyware is a must for securing your computer. Both licensed and free anti-virus software, such as Windows Defender, are available.

3.     Two-way Personal Firewall. Two-way personal firewall software monitors network traffic to and from your computer and helps block malicious communications.

4.     Anti-Keylogger software. Anti-Keylogger software products, like AntiLogger and Keyscrambler Personal, help prevent what you type on your computer, especially sensitive information such as the usernames, passwords, and financial information you use in making online transactions, from being hijacked by Bad Guys. Learn more at www.millennium-groupinc.com

How Kids Can Stay Safe on the Internet

2012-02-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

In 2005, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution designating June “National Internet Safety Month”. The resolution asked safety organizations, educators, law enforcement, civic leaders, parents and others to increase awareness of safe online practices. National Internet Safety Month focuses on ensuring that everyone who utilizes the Internet, including families, parents and children, understands the dangers posed by and uses the Internet as safely as possible.

Allowing kids to go online without supervision or ground rules is like allowing them to explore a major metropolitan area by themselves. The Internet, like a city, offers an enormous array of entertainment and educational resources but also presents some potential risks. Kids need help navigating this world.

You can’t watch your kids every minute, but you do need to use strategies to help them benefit from the Internet and avoid its potential risks. By exploring the Internet with your kids, you greatly expand its capacity as an educational tool. By providing guidance and discussion along the way, you increase kids’ online skills and confidence along with their ability to avoid potential risks. And you might be surprised by what kids teach you at the same time.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 23 percent of nursery school children in the United States use the Internet, 32 percent of kindergartners go online, and by high school 80 percent of children use the Internet.

Browsing the Internet…

Benefits

Browsing the Internet is like having the world’s largest library and entertainment system at your fingertips. Kids are able to read stories, tour museums, visit other countries, play games, look at photographs, shop, and do research to help with homework.

Potential Risks

· It is hard for kids to distinguish reliable sources of information from less reliable ones. Some believe because information is posted online it must be true.

· Kids may come across websites containing adult images or demeaning, racist, sexist, violent, or false information.

Tips to Minimize Potential Risks

· Choose search engines carefully. Some are specifically designed for kids, and others offer kid-safe options.

· Tell kids when they come across any material making them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused to immediately tell you or another trusted adult.

· Help kids find information online. By searching the Internet together you help them find reliable sources of information and distinguish fact from fiction.

Using E-mail…

Benefits
Adults and kids use e-mail to communicate rapidly and cost-effectively with people all over the world. E-mail transmits messages, documents, and photographs to others in a matter of seconds or minutes.

Potential Risks

· Anyone using e-mail is vulnerable to receiving “spam,” messages from people or companies encouraging recipients to buy something, do something, or visit a particular website. Spam may be sexually suggestive or offensive in other ways.

· Kids are able to set up private accounts through free Web-based, e-mail services without asking permission from parents or guardians.

· Senders sometimes disguise themselves, pretending to be someone else — a friend or acquaintance, a well-known bank, a government agency — for illicit purposes. This is known as phishing.

Tips to Minimize Potential Risks

· Talk with your kids about their e-mail accounts, and discuss the potential risks involved. Remind them to never share passwords with anyone but you, not even their closest friends.

· Before you sign up with a service provider, research the effectiveness of its spam filters. You may also purchase spam-filter software separately.

· Teach kids not to open spam or e-mails from people they don’t know in person. Remind them not to respond to any online communication in a sexually provocative way. Ask them to show you suspicious communications.

· If your kids receive e-mail containing threats or material making them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused, report it to your service provider. Your provider’s address is usually found on their home page.

Social Networking…

Benefits

Social-networking websites allow kids to connect with their friends and other users with similar interests. Kids socialize and express themselves by exchanging instant messages, e-mails, or comments and posting photographs, creative writing, artwork, videos, and music to their blogs and personal profiles. Some 55% of online teens have profiles on a social-networking website such as Facebook or MySpace.

A survey of 10 to 17 year olds revealed 34% had posted their real names, telephone numbers, home addresses, or the names of their schools online where anyone could see; 45% had posted their dates of birth or ages; and 18% had posted pictures of themselves.

Potential Risks

· Some websites and services ask users to post a “profile” with their age, sex, hobbies, and interests. While these profiles help kids “connect” and share common interests, potential exploiters may pretend to be someone else and can and do use these profiles to search for victims.

· Kids sometimes compete to see who has the greatest number of contacts and will add new members to their lists even if they don’t know them in person.

· Kids can’t “take back” the online text and images they’ve entered. Kids may post information and images that are provocative and inappropriate. Once online, “chat” as well as other Web postings become public information. Anything posted online may be saved and forwarded to an unlimited number of users. Remind kids once images are posted they lose control of them and can never get them back.

· Kids have been reprimanded by their school administrators and families; denied entry into schools; and even not hired because of dangerous, demeaning, or harmful information found on their personal websites or blogs.

Tips to Minimize Potential Risks

· Urge kids to use privacy settings to restrict access to profiles so only those on their contact lists are able to view them.

· Remind kids to only add people they know in person to their contact lists.

· Encourage them to choose appropriate screen names or nicknames — such as those that refer to sports and interests, but are not sexual, violent, or offensive. Make sure the name doesn’t include information revealing their identity or location.

· Visit social-networking websites with your kids, and exchange ideas about what you think is safe and unsafe.

· Ask your kids about the people they are communicating with online.

· Insist your kids never give out personal information or arrange to meet in person with someone they’ve met online without first checking with you.

· Encourage your kids to think before typing, “Is this message hurtful or rude?” Also urge your kids not to respond to any rude or harassing messages or ones making them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused. Have them show you such messages.

Because we use the Internet in different ways, kids and adults may learn from each other. By talking about Internet use with your kids, you are opening the door to discussing the important issues of personal safety and helping them engage in responsible behavior.

Keep your employees motivated with these 4 suggestions

2012-01-09T06:26:00.000-08:00

It can often be challenging to motivate employees when you’re running a small business. Resources are limited, and time is incredibly valuable. Incentives are critical when it comes to motivation, however; finding cheap and easy incentives is vital.

There are a number of ways to motivate employees that don’t include things like big bonuses or expensive benefits. A hand-written thank you letter can go a long way when it comes to showing employee appreciation. Here are a few other ideas:

1. Ask for input

It means a great deal to most employees to know that their thoughts and opinions are considered. By asking for input and implementing the best suggestions, you are showing them that you cherish their opinions and that they play a significant role in the company.

2. Change it up

Sometimes boredom occurs when employees fall into a rut. By mixing up their projects and responsibilities, and allowing them to show off their skills, you are likely to spark a little inspiration that wasn’t there before.

3. Focus on a great company culture

Some of the best companies to work at are those that employees feel are unique. Developing a great company culture can actually be quite simple and may help you to find and keep strong employees. A game room where employees can take a break and decompress when they’re feeling burned out can do wonders.

4. Recognize people for a job well done

One of the biggest de-motivators can be toiling away on something and feeling like nobody is even aware of your hard work. For this reason, it’s necessary to let employees know that you recognize their hard work and appreciate it.

Something as simple as discussing their accomplishments at a company-wide meeting or sending around an email recognizing their triumphs can make them feel appreciated. Although they may avoid attention, they will likely be pleased to know that they’re being recognized.

All of these techniques are simple, affordable and can do wonders when it comes to motivating employees. Try out one or two of these ideas to see how they may affect employee morale and motivation. This article was brought to you by Millennium Group, The leader in access control solutions. http://www.millennium-groupinc.com

ATM User Safety Tips

2011-12-09T06:52:00.000-08:00

ATM users should be advised about what steps they can take to reduce their risk of getting robbed. While it is unlikely that providing safety tips will prevent any particular robbery, the larger purpose is to change ATM users' habits. Safety tips can be provided through mailings to cardholders, signs posted at ATMs, messages printed on ATM receipts, messages displayed on ATM screens, safety presentations, and public awareness campaigns. Listed below are some standard safety tips for ATM users:

o Be aware of your surroundings, especially between dusk and dawn. If you notice anything suspicious—a security light out, someone loitering nearby—consider coming back later or using a supermarket or convenience store ATM.

o If using the ATM at night, take someone with you.

o Park in a well-lit area as close as possible to the ATM.

o At a drive-through ATM, be sure the doors are locked and the passenger windows are rolled up.

o If you withdraw cash, put it away promptly; count it later, in private.

o Put your ATM card and receipt away promptly; never leave your receipt at the ATM.

o Keep your PIN secret—don't write it down, and don't share it with anyone you don't trust absolutely. Your PIN provides access to your account.

o Shield the keypad when entering your PIN to keep it from being observed.

o Avoid being too regular in your ATM use—don't repeatedly visit the same machine at the same time, the same day of the week, for instance.

ATM users should further be advised to close any vestibule doors securely and not to open doors for others. In addition, signs at ATMs should state that the site is being surveilled by cameras.

Some victims resist during robberies either to protect their valuables or because they believe the offender is about to get violent. Some succeed in preventing the robbery through resistance, while others get injured or killed. Offenders want to get the crime over with quickly so they can escape. Any delay increases their nervousness and, therefore, the likelihood they will become violent. Robbers are usually highly agitated and easily perceive the victim's actions as threatening. Drug and alcohol use will obviously influence their emotional state. Some use violence immediately to preempt any resistance. In cases with multiple offenders, the risk of violence increases because each offender is also concerned about appearing tough and in control to the other(s).

As with other violent crimes, victims should assess the particular situation, taking account of nearby assistance, weapons they are threatened with, offenders' behavior and emotional state, their own defensive abilities, and their own psychological need to resist. Given an imperfect understanding of why robbers become violent, compliance is usually the safer course of action for victims, and the best advice for police to offer. Widespread victim compliance, however, undoubtedly leads some offenders to perceive lower risk and, therefore, increases their ATM robbery rates. Stay safe!

For more information on security and access control please visit our website at http://www.millennium-groupinc.com

Is your website optimized for search engines?

2011-11-16T05:43:00.000-08:00

1. Choosing Keywords
The basic premise of keyword optimization is simple: Discover the search words that potential customers are using to find products or services like yours, and then build your Web content around those words. What complicates matters is that countless other websites are trying to do the same thing.

Understand the competitive ratio. Generally speaking, the more popular (or potentially lucrative) the search term, the more websites compete to rank high for that search term. Yes, you want to rank high on popular terms -- but if you don't have limitless resources, it is wise to target search terms for which you have a realistic shot at a high ranking. The best keywords, says Jill Whalen, a longtime SEO practitioner and head of the consultancy High Rankings, are "words and phrases that are being searched but that may have been overlooked by other websites."

An effective way to find such terms is to calculate the ratio of the number of pages a search returns to the popularity of the search term. "You have to look at the competitiveness of every keyword phrase that's relevant to what you offer," Whalen says.

Do the math. First, draw up a list of the keywords -- or, better yet, keyword phrases -- a potential customer might plausibly search if he or she were looking for your product. (A bike retailer, for example, might start with variations on bike, bicycle, and cycling; a specialty shop might also try bike frames and bike components.)

Then, see how often users search for these terms by plugging each into keyword-tracking tools such as Wordtracker (wordtracker.com), Keyword Discovery (keyworddiscovery.com), or Google AdWords's Keyword Tool (adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal). The Google AdWords tool is free, and the website SEOBook.com offers a free, though less robust, version of Wordtracker. Besides showing how many times these phrases are searched on average in a day or month, these tools will suggest other relevant terms. You may learn, for instance, that bicycle parts is a much more popular search term than bicycle components.

Next, run each phrase through Google. The more websites returned, the more competition you will have with that phrase. (In general, Woessner recommends devising terms that generate fewer than one million page hits.)

Finally, divide the number of indexed pages by the number of daily searches. The lower the result, the more promising the term. Ideally, says Woessner, the ratio should be 500 to 1 or less.

Narrow your keywords. If your ratio is higher than 500 to 1, you will probably want to choose narrower or more specific keywords. For example, if you do most of your business locally, you would be smart to add a geographic term to each keyword used on top-level pages. (Bicycle shop becomes bicycle shop Poughkeepsie.) Such a search is less popular, but the competition to win it is much less fierce, so it is likely to generate a better ratio.

There's no need to generate an exhaustive list of phrases. However, because each page of a website has a different focus or objective, each should have its own keywords. The homepage should have the most general terms, and keywords should become more tailored and specific as you burrow deeper into the site.

2. Placing Keywords Strategically
Once you have determined the best keywords to use, you need to employ them strategically, in two places.

In the code. It is the search engine that ultimately associates a keyword with a webpage, and the first place it looks to decipher a page is at the top of the page's coding -- within the so-called head tag that defines the page's overall characteristics. (A webpage's code, of course, isn't normally visible in a browser window; to see it, use the browser's "source" or "page source" command.) Incorporate the keywords you have chosen in the title, description, and keywords tags. These are often called meta tags, and the code often begins with that word.

The title will appear at the top of the user's browser window, and the description is often quoted by search engines, so these should be coherent and concise -- the title should be six to 12 words, according to Bruce Clay, a leading SEO consultant, and the description 12 to 24 words. Your title and description should reinforce each other and the page's visible content. If you have a lot of keywords, choose judiciously, because search engines prize natural-sounding language. You can load all your keywords, even misspelled variants, into the keywords tag field.

In the visible content. Your keywords should appear frequently in the text, as well as in the other elements of a page, including the descriptive "alt" tags that underlie images and in the headlines and subheads atop a section of text. Though there is no agreement among optimizers about how much text a page should include or how frequently keywords should be mentioned, they do agree on this: If people find your copy thoughtful and worth reading, a search engine will, too. Never stuff a page so full of keywords that it doesn't read naturally.

3. Building a Better Website
How your site is organized, designed, and built will affect its search-engine ranking, according to Andy Robson, managing director of the optimizing firm dzine it. Organize content into themed categories, what Clay calls silos. "By lining up your content by the way people search, you define to the search engine what you're about," Clay says. You can either group similar pages together into separate directories of folders and subfolders, or you can create "virtual silos" by using links that guide a user from one page to the next.

Other strategies are more technical, so you may need to rely on a Web developer for assistance. The site must be hosted on a fast server. The page code should be free of bugs and fully comply with the standards for website structure set by the World Wide Web Consortium. (You can test this at validator.w3.org.) Include in the site's code a special protocol known as Sitemap, which makes it easier for visiting search engines to scan the site. Sitemaps can be submitted directly to the search engines.

Seeding Links

Once you have optimized your website, you want to attract links from other sites. SEO consultants offer a fairly prosaic strategy: Build a good site with useful content to which other sites will want to send their readers. Here are a few strategies to grease that wheel.

Lend your expertise. Forge partnerships under which other sites can publish your repurposed or original content on the condition that they link back to your site. "Sharing your expertise about the product or the service can differentiate your brand," says Stephen Woessner. "The brand story is what gets somebody to purchase one product over another."

Find out who's linking to your competition. Many of them probably should be linking to you as well. The "links" tool at faganfinder.com/urlinfo reports the inbound links to a website detected by the major search engines. Many of those links will come from directories that are important to your industry or community. There's no sin in requesting a link -- or in trading content for one.

Be choosy about linkers. "You want the best sites, not the most, to link to you," says Bruce Clay. "If an expert links to you, by association you're an expert" (provided the expert is in your subject area). By the same token, avoid link farms, or websites that exist solely to provide outbound links, and services that sell links outright. Search engines, says Clay, will penalize you for the chicanery.

SEO Subterfuge

The techniques we have talked about here are often described as ethical, organic, or natural SEO. By contrast, black hat SEO embraces manipulative or deceptive techniques to game the search-engine system. Search engines work hard to keep these techniques from working, so they are seldom effective for long and could even get you blacklisted. Here are several strategies that you are best off avoiding.

Cloaking: Presenting two different versions of the same page, one to search engines and one to users.

Keyword stuffing, or spamming: Loading up the meta tags with popular search terms that have no substantive connection with the page.

Hidden links and keywords: Concealing them in the background color, outside the visible margins, or in other code.

A great example of an optimized website is the Millennium Group website www.millennium-groupinc.com

Internal Theft and Fraud Costs Businesses $40 Billion a Year

2011-11-01T05:46:00.000-07:00

Why rob a bank, when it’s so easy to steal from your employer?

• Retail theft rose by 5.9% in 2009, the biggest increase since 2001.
• But it's not the shoplifters retailers have to worry about.
• Dishonest employees steal about 6.6 times more than shoplifters.
• In fact, one out of every 28 retail employees was caught thieving in 2009.

Need a laptop? Just grab one from the office

• In 2005, theft of office equipment cost employers $550 million.
• By 2007, it cost employers $656 million.
• By 2009, it cost $747 million.
• Want that equipment back?
• Good luck.
• 96% of stolen office equipment is never recovered.

Often, the most dangerous culprit is someone on the inside

• According to Forrester Research, employee theft of sensitive information is 10 times costlier per incident than any accidental sharing of sensitive data.
• Forrester recommends, “Enterprises should focus more of their resources on stopping the most damaging incidents: deliberate theft by insiders and abuse by outsiders.”

What other crimes should businesses watch out for?

• Theft and fraud costs businesses $40 billion a year.
• It happens without guns, without violence and often, without detection.
• And 40% of these crimes are committed by trusted employees – not strangers.

Any organization could be a target

• It's not just consumer goods and laptops up for grabs.
• Companies need to protect their proprietary secrets, knowledge and processes that:
• Generate revenue
• Increase profits
• Provide competitive advantage
• This information can be stored almost anywhere, from Word documents and presentations to CAD drawings and flowcharts.

How much is that data worth?

• Knowledge-intensive industries accrue 70 to 80% of their portfolio value from proprietary data and secrets.
• What industries are we talking about?
• Manufacturing
• Information services
• Professional, scientific and technical services
• Transportation
• When their important data is stolen, leaked or misused, the impact can be catastrophic.

Visit www.millennium-groupinc.com for information on how to prevent internal theft and fraud.

Millennium Group educational based website redesign

2011-10-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

Millennium Group is pleased to announce the release of their newly designed website! By updating the website, www.millennium-groupinc.com, they have been able to improve navigation, connect visitors with useful information about their expertise, and provide an easy way to contact them for assistance. The primary objective of the new Millennium Group, Inc. website is to educate end users and provide an effective business development tool for their dealers. They are placing an emphasis on making available the appropriate information and resources for their audience to learn about Millennium Group products and industry expertise. Listed below are some highlights from the site:

USER FRIENDLY
Millennium Group's website was designed to be user- friendly and simple to navigate. The new website is designed to allow users to quickly find the content they are looking for from the main page. In addition, its low hierarchical structure allows users to find information easily. ..and smoothly.

DID YOU KNOW?
A brand new feature know as the “Did you know?” section will surely give you a new perspective on the security industry as a whole. Learn the surprising truth about a businesses’ most valuable assets, the new ways businesses are vulnerable to crime and the hidden dangers in some security systems. Did you know internal theft and fraud costs businesses $40 billion a year? You can’t afford NOT to check this section out!

SOCIAL MEDIA
Now follow Millennium Group, Inc. on twitter, get answers to your questions quickly at the Millennium Group LinkedIn page, follow the latest industry information through their blog or like them on Facebook!

SYNERGISTICS
As Synergistics, Inc. continues to evolve, they are always striving to find ways to better serve their customers. Synergistics has merged with and is now part of a larger group, Millennium Group Inc. Synergistics products can now be found under the products section in the Millennium Group website.

TAKE A PEAK
And while you’re there, take some time to complete the contact form and tell them what you think. Millennium Group, Inc. is constantly striving for new and improved ways to connect with their customers. Visitors to the website have the opportunity to win a $100 American Express gift card if you subscribe to the Millennium Group Email List. Please feel free to check out the new website at www.millennium-groupinc.com.

Is your system backwards compatible?

2011-10-03T05:46:00.000-07:00

Providing upgrade paths and supporting backwards compatibility does require more planning by the project architects and you do have to be creative about ensuring that you are not paying a huge performance penalty as a result of the backwards compatibility. These goals can be achieved as evidenced by the thousands of companies and products that deal with this challenge every day.

Maintaining backwards compatibility and providing an upgrade path for users of previous versions is not something that is easy to pull off. In fact, some would argue that it is one of the biggest technical challenges that any software company will face.

Ultimately, every software company must face this decision – make it easy for your users or make it easy for your developers. Give your developers a green field to develop new features or make it easy for your existing customers to upgrade and take advantage of your new features. Millennium Group has always tried to take the path that made it easiest for our users. We believe that ultimately this allows our developers more time to focus on our current platform rather than trying to implement bug fixes in 2 or 3 different branches of our product.

Backwards compatibility is not something provided by every access control company.

At the end of the day, the backwards compatibility issue comes down to how best to serve the customer. The answer is easy – allow them to protect their investments and reduce the cost of implementation over a long period of time. Unlike in the cell phone industry where new customers are treated like kings and old customers are treated like a nuisance, we want all of our customers – past, present and future – to be able to benefit from our latest and greatest platform.

We do our best to make the upgrade process as seamless and painless as possible. Visit www.millennium-groupinc.com for more info.