Netiquette IQ: 2017-02-12

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Netiquette IQ Blog Of 2/18/17 - The dark side of AI - Scary Stuff!

Buy the books at

www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki
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The following is really a frightening outline of the potential of AI in the future. We may be faced with a proxy war, relying on our AI technology to keep us safe!
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SC Magazine US

by Bradley Barth, Senior Reporter

February 17, 2017

The dark side of AI

For all the good that machine learning can accomplish in cybersecurity, the technology is also accessible to bad actors.

For all the good that machine learning can accomplish in cybersecurity, it's important to remember that the technology is also accessible to bad actors.

While writers and futurists dream up nightmarish scenarios of artificial intelligence turning on its creators and exterminating mankind like Terminators and Cylons – heck, Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk have warned AI is dangerous – the more pressing concern today is that machines can be intentionally programmed to abet cybercriminal operations.

Could we one day see the benevolent AIs of the world matching wits with malicious machines, with the fate of our IT systems at stake? Here's what experts had to say…

Derek Manky, global security strategist, Fortinet

“In the future we will have attacker/defender AI scenarios play out. At first, they will employ simple mechanics. Later, they will play out intricate scenarios with millions of data points to analyze and action. However, at the end of the day – there is only one output, a compromise or not.”

“In the coming year we expect to see malware designed with adaptive, success-based learning to improve the success and efficacy of attacks. This new generation of malware will be situation-aware, meaning that it will understand the environment it is in and make calculated decisions about what to do next. In many ways, it will begin to behave like a human attacker: performing reconnaissance, identifying targets, choosing methods of attack, and intelligently evading detection.”

“Autonomous malware operates much like branch prediction technology, which is designed to guess which branch of a decision tree a transaction will take before it is executed… [This] malware, as with intelligent defensive solutions, are guided by the collection and analysis of offensive intelligence, such as types of devices deployed in a network segment, traffic flow, applications being used, transaction details, time of day transactions occur, etc.”

“We will also see the growth of cross-platform autonomous malware designed to operate on and between a variety of mobile devices. These cross-platform tools, or “transformers,” include a variety of exploit and payload tools that can operate across different environments. This new variant of autonomous malware includes a learning component that gathers offensive intelligence about where it has been deployed, including the platform on which it has been loaded, then selects, assembles, and executes an attack against its target using the appropriate payload.”

Ryan Permeh, founder and chief cyber scientist, Cylance

“Bad guys will use AI… not just to create new types of attacks, but to find the limits in existing defensive approaches… Having information on the limits of a defender's defense is useful to an attacker, even if it isn't an automatic break of the defenses.”

Justin Fier, director of cyber intelligence and analysis, Darktrace

“I think we're going to start to see in the next probably 12- 18 months… AI moving into the other side. You're already starting to see polymorphic malware that [infects a] network and then changes itself, or…automatically deletes itself and disappears. So in its simplest form it's already there.”

“Where I think it could potentially head is where it actually sits dormant on a system and learns the user and then finds the most opportune time to take an action.”

Diana Kelley, global executive security adviser, IBM

“Malware is getting very, very situationally aware. There's some malware for example… that can get onto the system and figure out, ‘Is there AV on here? Is there other malware on here, shut it down so they're the only malware. Or even, ‘Oh look, I've landed on a point-of-sale system rather than on a server, so I'm just going to shut down all of my functions that would work on a regular server and just have my ram scraper going cause that's what I want on the point of sale.”

Staffan Truve, co-founder and CTO of Recorded Future

Truve said that AI will be used to automatically craft effective spear-phishing emails that contain victims' personal information, leveraging powerful data resources and natural-language generation capabilities to sound convincing.

“I'm sure it will be…very hard to identify phishing emails in the future.”

Additionally, “We'll definitely be seeing AI that can analyze code and figure out ways to find vulnerabilities.”

“It's going to be an arms race between the good and bad guys… The good side is a bit ahead right now and mostly I think the reason for that is that the bad guys are successful enough with old methods… You can find enough targets that are who unsophisticated enough to be vulnerable to current technologies.”

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Good Netiquette And A Green Internet To All! =====================================================================Tabula Rosa Systems - Tabula Rosa Systems (TRS) is dedicated to providing Best of Breed Technology and Best of Class Professional Services to our Clients. We have a portfolio of products which we have selected for their capabilities, viability and value. TRS provides product, design, implementation and support services on all products that we represent. Additionally, TRS provides expertise in Network Analysis, eBusiness Application Profiling, ePolicy and eBusiness Troubleshooting.

We can be contacted at:

sales@tabularosa.net or 609 818 1802.

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In addition to this blog, Netiquette IQ has a website with great assets which are being added to on a regular basis. I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, “Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". My new book, “You’re Hired! Super Charge Your Email Skills in 60 Minutes. . . And Get That Job!” has just been published and will be followed by a trilogy of books on Netiquette for young people. You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

Anyone who would like to review the book and have it posted on my blog or website, please contact me paul@netiquetteiq.com.

In addition to this blog, I maintain a radio show on BlogtalkRadio and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and Yahoo. I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ and PSG of Mercer County, NJ.

Additionally, I am the president of Tabula Rosa Systems, a “best of breed” reseller of products for communications, email, network management software, security products and professional services. Also, I am the president of Netiquette IQ. We are currently developing an email IQ rating system, Netiquette IQ, which promotes the fundamentals outlined in my book.

Over the past twenty-five years, I have enjoyed a dynamic and successful career and have attained an extensive background in IT and electronic communications by selling and marketing within the information technology market.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Netiquette IQ Blog Of 2/17/17 - An Anti-Bullying Application

Buy the books at

www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki
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From huffingtonpost.com

02/02/2017 11:14 am ET | Updated Feb 02, 2017

This Anti-Bullying App Helps You Brighten Someone’s Day In Seconds

Because we could all use some good vibes right about now. 😊

By Hayley Miller

Austin Kevitch was in high school when he first came up with the idea for an app that would allow users to send compliments to each other anonymously. But it wasn’t until tragedy struck years later that he decided to turn that idea into reality.

Kevitch was studying abroad in South Africa when his friend, Oliver Pacchiana, died in a rock climbing accident. Soon after, positive and loving messages flooded Pacchiana’s Facebook wall. The tributes moved Kevitch deeply, and he imagined how much they would have meant to his friend if he’d received them while he was alive.

“Just hearing one of those comments could change your life,” said Kevitch, now 25 and the CEO of the app Brighten. “I learned a lot about him just from what people were sharing. It was a wake-up call that the world needs something like [Brighten].”

Today, Kevitch runs Brighten out of Santa Monica, California, with a six-person staff. The app, downloaded over 1 million times since its 2015 release, allows users to send out anonymous compliments called “brightens,” although Kevitch says most people choose to identify themselves. Users can also send a snapshot of their smile to the person who complimented them.

Social media can be a minefield of anxiety for many, so Kevitch has made it his mission to create a space that’s focused on spreading positivity.

“It’s all about establishing a positive culture,” he said. “No one is inherently bad. People just have bad days and project that negativity onto someone else.”

Brighten Labs, Inc.

Here’s how Brighten works.

The positivity is now spreading through communities and classrooms, with many educators embracing the app as an anti-bullying tool.

Lauren Naselli, a third-grade teacher in in Bridgewater, New Jersey, began using Brighten with co-teacher Courtney Rothkugel last year, after their principal encouraged them to test it out with students.

Since the school uses Chromebooks, students couldn’t work with the actual app (Brighten is currently available only to iOS users), but Naselli came up with a low-tech way to teach the concept.

Each day, a different group of students received pieces of paper with hand-drawn iPhones on them. The students would write their own “brightens” on the papers and hand them out to different students each day.

“They loved it,” Naselli said. “It created a warm and comfortable environment. ... Our class really lifted each other up and supported one another.”

She reached out to Brighten to see if there was a version of the app she could use in her classroom. Kevitch said his team was so touched by her story that they sent Naselli’s students free Brighten t-shirts. An Android version of the app is currently in the works.

Naselli said she’s “super sensitive” to bullying and was pleased to see how the Brighten-inspired activity created class unity. “There are people with good hearts everywhere,” she said. “And I think this app can help bring that out.”

Tim Cannon/Brighten

Lauren Naselli’s third grade students wrote thank you notes to the Brighten staff on homemade iPhones.

Tim Cannon, who has been friends with Kevitch since high school, left his corporate job in Chicago to lead Brighten’s community outreach program. He now works with more than 1,000 high school and college students who volunteer to promote the app on their campuses.

“To know that I’ve at least given it my all to put something good out in the world ― I wake up every day feeling grateful and appreciative and happy,” he said.

Brighten recently partnered with the gun violence prevention organization Sandy Hook Promise for “Start With Hello Week,” a weeklong effort to fight social isolation. Students in more than 1,700 schools will be introduced to the app.

More than 20 percent of students ages 12 to 18 report being bullied, according to a 2015 survey conducted by the Department of Education.

Anti-bullying expert Dr. Malcolm Smith is optimistic about Brighten’s “power to use social media to do good,” though he is hesitant to embrace the app’s anonymity feature as a way to combat cyberbullying.

“Anytime a child can say something positive to someone ― even if it’s someone they don’t know ― it causes a very positive brain interaction,” Smith said of the app. “But it’s so much better for a person’s soul to give compliments in person.”

First lady Melania Trump announced her desire to tackle online bullying in November. Though President Donald Trump frequently engages in cyberbullying on Twitter, Kevitch said he would gladly partner with the White House if it would spark positive change in society at large.

“I think it’s going to benefit the current generation of high schoolers,” Kevitch said. “Melania, if you’re reading this, text me. Send me a Brighten compliment.”

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Good Netiquette And A Green Internet To All! =====================================================================Tabula Rosa Systems - Tabula Rosa Systems (TRS) is dedicated to providing Best of Breed Technology and Best of Class Professional Services to our Clients. We have a portfolio of products which we have selected for their capabilities, viability and value. TRS provides product, design, implementation and support services on all products that we represent. Additionally, TRS provides expertise in Network Analysis, eBusiness Application Profiling, ePolicy and eBusiness Troubleshooting.

We can be contacted at:

sales@tabularosa.net or 609 818 1802.

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Netiquette IQ Blog 2/16/17 - Six Email Worst-Practices: How to Send Your Emails to Your Customer's Trash

Buy the books at

www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki
====================================================

from marketingprof.com

Six Email Worst-Practices: How to Send Your Emails to Your Customer's Trash

by Dan Hanrahan

February 16, 2017

You've Got (Tons of) Mail

More than 205 billion emails are sent out every day; email is the glue that helps clever marketing stick. Some 72% of US adults say they prefer that companies communicate with them through email, and 91% say they'd like to receive promotional emails from the companies they do business with. And companies oblige: 73% of them agree that email is a core part of their marketing efforts, while 25% rate it as their top channel for ROI.

But many otherwise-savvy marketers are misusing email, turning to tactics that annoy and infuriate customers. Avoid these six faux pas to ensure you don't annoy your way into the Trash folder.

1. Blast the E-Blast

"E-blast: A ridiculous non-word made up by marketing people who think the term 'e-mail' is inadequate to describe the explosive excitement of their mass e-mails." —Someone named Sarah N., April 22, 2008

Gone are the days of a one-size-fits-all approach to email. Crafting one message and shooting it off to your entire list each week in hopes it'll resonate with the multiple personalities you provide services to just won't work anymore. Few things in life are more irritating than receiving a batch email, only to realize any prior communication with the company has meant nothing—you're just an entry on a spreadsheet.

Customers who sense you don't care will delete, ignore, or—worse still—unsubscribe.

And the negative connotations the term holds make us marketers wary of it, too. E-blasts cut a little too close to our collective insecurities in the marketing industry. They imply we're launching a bunch of spam-filled emails across an unsuspecting list of contacts. I'll skip shifting into email marketing therapist mode, but I'm confident I'm not the first marketer who's taken serious offense at the notion that someone, at one point, thought I sounded even the slightest bit spammy.

What to do instead: We want our emails to be strategic, targeted, and personalized. We want our marketing to come off as genuine and authentic, not spammy. And, most important, our emails should be useful. Craft strong messages, with quality content, that will provide real value to your readers. Make your readers the hero of their own story. That doesn't mean you have to craft individual messages. That'd be awesome, but time and money are finite resources. Elegantly timed trigger emails with delectable value props should be your focus. Send the right email, at the right time, for the right reason.

2. Short-Sighted Segmentation

In a micro-fragmenting ecosystem of consumer engagement, contacts have been trained to expect segmentation. Segmentation makes it easier to send content people care about—and only the content they care about. If you're not segmenting by gender, location, age group, and the like, it's no wonder your open rates could use improvement.

But that's just the tip of the segmentation iceberg.

When MailChimp stats were measured across segmented campaigns, open rates were 14.13% higher than for non-segmented lists. Clicks were 63.03% higher, and abuse reports were 6.36% lower.

What to do instead: Group your audience by buying behaviors; use dynamic content; allow subscribers to let you know which topics pique their interests. Know your buyer personas, then identify your ideal consumer as individual personas. Then, break down your groups to drive a more relevant message. Relevance ramps up revenue.

3. Dear <first_name>,

"Dear <first_name>," is not personalized content.

A slim 18% of consumers say they trust business leaders today. At its core, business is human. It's a person talking to a person about a product or service. No business sells to another business, per se; we sell to another human who happens to work for another business. People want to do business with those with whom they can relate. They want to buy from people who have been in their shoes, and they have found the hidden key to success (your product). And they want to know that they're important to you and that you can give them real value through resources, not just blanket offers across your customer list.

What to do instead: Netflix knows what kind of shows you're going to watch next. Pandora plays obscure, sub-genre music you'd never have known you loved—predictively, all based on your playlist. Facebook feeds your News Feed with relevant content, custom-tailored just for you.

Personalized content helps customers relate with you, then allows them to create their own journey toward purchase. Injecting a reader's name into the design, segmenting based on location, or creating real-time personalization by using content for specific variables such as weather, offers up the most relevant messages to your contacts and drives big results.

4. From: joe@company.com "Hey, I'm Joe. Nice to talk to you. My name's Joe."

So, you're at a party and you have this conversation:

Person 1: Hey man, I'm Joe
Person 2: Hey Joe, nice to meet you, I'm Dan.
P 1: Do you work around here?
P 2: Yeah, right on the Circle, actually.
P 1: Sweet! I'm right down the block off Market. Well, I'm going to go say hi to the host.
P 2: Right on, man, catch you around!
P 1: You too. My name's Joe.
P 2: …?

It looks and sounds just as vacuous as in your email signature:

P.S. Just in case you're totally oblivious to how email works, here's my email address at the bottom of my email from the email address you just received this email from.

Thanks,

Captain Redundant

What to do instead: Keep your signature tight! Stick to relevant and useful information, and cut your email address.

5. Crazy Email Add-Ons

Picture this: After a one-to-one email message, but before the signature, you see a two-paragraph text block detailing the company background, mission, and vision. What do your eyes do? Where do you focus? Nowhere. And you slide that baby into your trash bin faster than Usain Bolt hit the pavement in Rio.

Other add-ons to skip are irrelevant or an excessive number of social sites, every phone number you've ever been reachable at, inspirational quotes, and, of course, your email address.

What to do instead: Cut back on the frivolous definitions and unneeded text to allow your message to resonate with your audience. Brevity is your friend here, people. Again, keep your messages tight and your signature clean and easy to read.

6. Lack of Contact Information

While we're on the subject of your email signoff, let's not forget to actually include real information in your email signature. That signature doesn't merely tell the recipient who the email is from; it can also help re-establish your relationship with your customers and promote your brand and messaging to your clients. The only thing worse than adding every piece of contact information you have... is to not have any information.

What to do instead: It's small, it's humble, but your email signature has the power to beef up your marketing plan by enhancing your brand and dishing out relevant content. Include the basics, such as your name, phone number and title. Use two or three social media handles (but no more), and add small and bold graphics for a personal touch.

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Good Netiquette And A Green Internet To All! =====================================================================Tabula Rosa Systems - Tabula Rosa Systems (TRS) is dedicated to providing Best of Breed Technology and Best of Class Professional Services to our Clients. We have a portfolio of products which we have selected for their capabilities, viability and value. TRS provides product, design, implementation and support services on all products that we represent. Additionally, TRS provides expertise in Network Analysis, eBusiness Application Profiling, ePolicy and eBusiness Troubleshooting.

We can be contacted at:

sales@tabularosa.net or 609 818 1802.

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Saturday, February 18, 2017

Netiquette IQ Blog Of 2/18/17 - The dark side of AI - Scary Stuff!

We can be contacted at:

Friday, February 17, 2017

Netiquette IQ Blog Of 2/17/17 - An Anti-Bullying Application

We can be contacted at:

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Netiquette IQ Blog 2/16/17 - Six Email Worst-Practices: How to Send Your Emails to Your Customer's Trash

We can be contacted at: