Written by: Purple Oak
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PORTABLE DEVICES – ON THE GO GO GO!
Becoming tied to a desk has long been a thing of the past with reasons to sit at a desk becoming ever fewer. It’s also a sad, but a very true, fact that there is no such thing as getting away from the office anymore. Wireless technology means email and Internet access is even available on the beaches of the remotest desert islands.
The functionality of portable devices is going to evolve at a phenomenal rate in 2010 with the eagerly anticipated release of Google Android Version 3.0 which will trigger a species of portable devices. If it can be done on a portable device, then it will. Dedicated Sat Nav is already considered doomed with most new phones shipping it as standard. If you thought the iPhone was good, June 2010 is going to be an exciting time. Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are among some of the more familiar social networking websites and are proving to be an addictive compulsion to many. With applications developed for most new phones, avid social networkers can tweet their every move no matter where they are.
Social networking websites – harmless fun? Have you considered the risks?
Social networking has been everywhere this year and rarely out of the news for good and bad reasons. Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter will all be looking to attract new members in 2010. But, should you sign up?
Let’s meet Mrs Smith. She is 25 years old, she works and lives in a quaint little village in the country, she attended the local schools along with all the other local people, she has a dog called Bobby, her friends are on Facebook, even her mum is on Facebook, and she is excited as she has three days until she goes on holiday to Spain for two weeks. What’s the problem?
We know her name, her maiden name, her date of birth, her email address, her pet’s name, her first school, her high school; and from that it isn’t too difficult to find her address and telephone number.
For those who haven’t got a devious bone in their body, I shall elaborate. . . let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a would-be burglar . . . Mrs Smith has also conveniently told us that she will be out of the country in a few days for a couple of weeks, but we could call her just to make sure! Assuming we find a few utility bills whilst we are there and a credit card and bank statement we could go on a shopping spree, after all, it is nearly Christmas!
Sound far fetched? Insurance companies consider it such a serious problem that they are asking would be policy holders if they have social network site accounts?
Organised crime is targeting social networking sites as anonymous ways into people lives and it’s a lucrative practice but the public are wising up.
Older tactics are proving less effective and organised crime knows this: yes, that’s right, organised crime. It amazes me that most people still class spam as a petty annoyance and don’t consider it for what it is, attempted fraud. OK, I admit I sound like one of those grumpy old men off of the telly, but it’s true.
It isn’t really that surprising considering everyone is banking through their computers and buying online. As a result of this, spam is going to get worse, a lot worse, more complex and be received in much higher volumes!
Spam contributes 94% of all email with 2010 predicting a rise to 97% of all email. That’s 250 billion spam emails sent worldwide every day! It can seem that we spend up to half our working day going through our inbox, leaving us tired, frustrated and unproductive.
A recent study found a third of office workers suffer from email-related stress. And it is costly too. One FTSE firm estimated that dealing with pointless emails cost it £39m a year in wasted productivity.
Now firms are being forced to help staff deal with the daily avalanche in their inboxes. Some hire email consultants, while others are conducting tests with email-free days.
So what’s the diagnosis? It’s simple really: a lot of the trendy things in store for us in 2010, namely, portable devices, online banking, e-commerce and social networking, whilst seeming innocent in their own capacities are an accident waiting to happen. Be careful!
For more information contact
0845 688 9090
nigel.morgan@purpleoak.co.uk
www.purpleoak.co.uk
