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October 2018
7462 Old Hickory Drive, Mechanicsville, VA 23111 • www.sklartechnology.com • 804-730-2628
Blacksburg Bank Breached Twice
Hackers Make Off With $2.4 Million
control of additional software, removing security controls and enabling them to withdraw money from hundreds of ATMs. After walking away with over $1.8 million, the hackers deleted all evidence of the fraudulent debits. Insurance Won’t Pay At this point, you might be thinking, “That sucks, but at least banks are insured, right?” As it turns out, cybercrime is still a gray area for insurance companies. While National Bank says it had insurance that covered cybercrime losses, the insurance provider, Everest National Insurance Company, insists the policy in question doesn’t cover the breach National Bank suffered. This whole mess is pretty complicated, and I’m not an insurance guy, but here’s the long and short of it: Because the losses occurred at physical ATMs, the insurance company claims they aren’t cybercrimes and therefore fall under a policy that covers debit-card losses, which
How much could you afford to pay if one of your employees fell for a phishing email? If you’re National Bank, the answer is around $2.4 million. Major Withdrawal In May of 2016, an employee at National Bank opened a suspicious email that allowed hackers to install malware on the victim’s PC. The hackers quickly gained access to the software that handles debit card transactions and National Bank customer accounts nationwide. With this access, the hackers were able to disable anti-theft and anti-fraud protections on ATMs across the country. In a matter of days, they made off with $569,000. Bad Response National Bank hired a cybersecurity forensics firm to investigate the heist. The attack seemed to come from a Russian-based internet address, but there was little chance of apprehending the criminals. National Bank had to decide what steps to take to keep this kind of thing from happening again. The decision they made was the wrong one. The bank added new security protocols to help flag specific types of repeated transactions. Unfortunately, this didn’t do much to root out the problems already in their system. Less than eight months later, National Bank suffered another attack, again triggered by a bank employee opening a phishing email.
National Bank learned their lesson after the second heist.
Stop Ignoring Your Weakest Link National Bank lost millions of dollars because someone on their team fell for a phishing email not once, but twice! It’s what I keep saying: Your fancy security doesn’t mean anything if your employees are inviting criminals to walk in through the front door. When National Bank realized they’d been hacked, they thought they could solve the problem by adding new security protocols. But the protocols weren’t the reason they got hacked! They got hacked because someone at National Bank doesn’t know how to recognize a dangerous email. If they hadn’t stopped with security and had taken the time to educate their team on the dangers of phishing emails, they could have saved themselves $1.8 million.
caps out at $250,000. National Bank is calling BS and says that because the robberies wouldn’t have happened had they not been hacked, the heist is a “computer and electronic crime.”
So, I’ll ask it again: Can you afford for someone on your team to fall for a phishing scheme?
–Randy Sklar
The courts will have to settle this case, but I hope
The second email contained a booby-trapped Microsoft Word document that let the hackers take
A REFERRAL IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF FLATTERY. WHEN A CLIENT REFERS FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES TO US, IT REPRESENTS AN APPRECIATION OF A JOB WELL-DONE. IF YOUR FRIENDS OR ASSOCIATES COULD BENEFIT FROM OUR SERVICES, I’D BE HONORED TO HAVE YOUR REFERRAL!
Simple Rules for Optimal Snacking SNACK ATTACK
Marketing HORROR STORIES
A Lesson in What Not to Do Every marketing professional wants their campaign to be memorable. They want consumers to take notice — or take the bait — and make their company a big profit. But sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned. The campaigns below certainly won the attention of consumers, but in each case, what started out as a marketing dream quickly turned into a nightmare. In 1992, women across Spain received anonymous letters inviting them to go on a “little adventure.” The letters stated, “We met again on the street yesterday, and I noticed how you glanced interestedly in my direction.” Fearing a stalker, many women locked themselves in their homes. A few days later, another letter arrived, revealing the identity of the “secret admirer” as the new Fiat Cinquecento. Yes, the creepy letters were part of a marketing campaign by the Italian car company. Fiat apologized and ended the campaign after criticism from consumer protection groups, Social Minister Cristina Alberdi, and the 50,000 women who received the letters. FIAT’S DIRECT MAIL DISASTER • Back when “Oprah” was the biggest show on television, KFC ran an ad offering a free two-piece chicken meal with two sides and a biscuit for anyone who went to their website and downloaded a coupon. Over 10.5 million coupons were downloaded, and KFC had to give away $42 million in free food. • In the 1990s, Hoover Company in the United Kingdom offered two round-trip plane tickets with the purchase of a vacuum. Unfortunately, even in the ‘90s, most vacuums were still cheaper than plane tickets, and Hoover lost 50 million pounds in what remains the biggest promotional disaster ever. Guerrilla marketing can create valuable word of mouth — think about the success of the movie “IT” last year. The marketing for the film included simple red balloons tied to storm drains. But Cartoon Network didn’t have quite the same luck in 2007 when they tried to promote their show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”When the network put electronic devices featuring a character from the show all over Boston, city residents thought the strange contraptions looked like bombs and called the police. This triggered a terrorist scare that ultimately cost the general manager of Cartoon Network his job. CARTOON NETWORK CAUSES A BOMB SCARE KFC AND HOOVER CAN’T DO MATH A shocking number of companies hold giveaway promotions without calculating exactly how much they will cost. Here are a few examples.
When you decide to eat healthy, the focus is typically on your big meals. You say goodbye to the drive-thru window and teach yourself the secrets of whole foods and homemade meals. But what about the rest of your eating habits? Even if you find a solution to emotional eating and cut out mindless munching while watching TV, does that mean you also have to put an end to all snacking between meals? The truth is that having a snack between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner can help you on your path to healthy living. A well-placed snack between meals can prevent you from overindulging later and help keep your blood sugar and energy levels up. If your meals are 3–4 hours apart, it’s okay to have a healthy snack. Depending on your schedule, the best times to plan a snack are midmorning (around 10:30 a.m.) and sometime between lunch and dinner (roughly 3:30 p.m.). The keyword here is “plan.” If you let yourself grab a snack every time you feel hungry, you might fall into the bad habit of snacking because you’re bored. Planning a time to snack cuts down on grazing and keeps you from consuming calories you don’t really need. More important than when you snack is what you snack on. A candy bar from the vending machine or a semi-stale doughnut from the break room isn’t going to do you any favors. Choosing a cup of coffee as your afternoon pick-me-up isn’t the best option in the long run, either. When it comes to effective snacking, go for the healthy options. Think whole-grain toast with almond butter, an apple, or some vegetable soup. Smart snacks planned throughout the day can be your secret weapon for overall healthy eating. So if you’re feeling hungry and your lunch break is still hours off, go ahead and treat yourself to a little snack — just make sure you have a healthy option in mind before you reach for the fridge.
Why Put a Cap on What Works?
Build the Best Business Budget
Consult All Departments One person should not be in charge of working out the company budget all alone. It doesn’t matter if that person is the head of finance or the CEO themselves. Reach out to all departments in your company and find out their expectations for the coming year. Find out each department’s costs, revenue assessment, and any possible concerns on the horizon. This will allow you to create a budget that better reflects your company’s current state, rather than relying on a projection for the future. Pay Attention to Financial Relationships No part of your budget exists in a vacuum. If you increase or decrease the funding for one area, something else will have to be modified, too. For example, if you intend to grow your team by 15 percent, you can’t just increase the payroll budget by 15 percent. You’ll
The federal government’s fiscal year comes to an end this month, so now is as good a time as any to talk about your company’s budget. Building an appropriate budget is one of the simplest, most crucial steps in keeping your business afloat throughout the year. Exactly how much you should budget for depends on the projected needs and current circumstances of your business. However, there are some overall strategies to consider when going through your budget. Don’t Stifle Your Marketing This doesn’t mean you should give your marketing team a blank check to experiment with any idea they think of. But if you have a marketing strategy that works, why put a cap on it? Once your company figures out a marketing investment of $1 that converts to $3, for example, give yourself the freedom to be flexible with your budget and throw some more cash their way.
need to look at the cost of employee benefits, the supply budget to accommodate new team members, and how the cost of the annual Christmas party will increase when 15 percent more employees bring along their plus-ones. The most important thing to remember about your budget is that it’s never really done. You shouldn’t put your budget away until next October. If you monitor your budget on a monthly basis, look for trends and change things as needed, your business will be much better off.
Spiced Pumpkin Seed Crunch This recipe combines pumpkin seeds, a seasonal favorite, with cashews, sunflower seeds, and spices. It’s a perfect homemade snack for the fall.
Ingredients
• 1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds • 1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds • 1/4 cup raw cashews, coarsely chopped
• 1 large egg white • 1 teaspoon light agave syrup • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala or curry powder • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
Directions 1. Heat oven to 300 F.
4. Using a slotted spoon, strain spoonfuls of mixture over bowl and transfer to baking sheet. Discard excess egg white mixture. 5. Bake 20–25 minutes, tossing once. 6. Let cool and serve.
2. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. 3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together egg white, agave, salt, and spices. Add nuts and seeds and toss until evenly coated.
7462 Old Hickory Drive Mechanicsville, VA 23111 www.sklartechnology.com 804-730-2628
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Inside This Issue
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Why Insurance Won’t Cover This Bank Heist Would You Survive These Marketing Nightmares? Craving a Snack?
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3 Secrets to a Great Budget Spiced Pumpkin Seed Crunch The Keto Diet Explained
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The Keto Diet Most of us love our carbs — sugar, bread, pasta — but on the ketogenic diet, these foods are a no-go. Instead, The Foods You Can Eat and the Foods You Can’t Of course, many people shy away from the keto diet because they think the restriction of carbs means the food will be boring, but that assumption is far from the truth. Here’s a quick look at a few foods that are allowed on the keto diet:
the keto diet is all about eating low- carb, high-fat foods, which may seem counterproductive considering the keto diet is
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Dark Chocolate
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Collards Avocado Nuts and Seeds
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Poultry Seafood Broccoli Spinach
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Eggs
Cheese Butter Cream
sometimes called “the fat-burning diet.” Under normal circumstances, the body metabolizes carbs and uses glucose as energy. When you consume excess carbs, your body stores this excess as fat. The keto diet is extremely effective at eliminating fat from the body. When you avoid consuming carbohydrates (even the natural ones), your body enters a state of ketosis. The liver breaks down fat into a usable energy source called ketone bodies. The ketone bodies enter your bloodstream and replace glucose as the energy source for the body. Ketone bodies are also naturally produced when people fast. When blood sugar drops, the body turns available fat stores into energy. This means that every night while you sleep, unless you ate a carbohydrate-rich meal before bedtime, your body will convert some of its stored fat to ketone bodies until you break your fast in the morning.
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Berries
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Coconut Oil
Kale
Meat
These foods are high in fat or protein (or both) but low in carbs. Even better, many of these foods, including eggs, seafood, and broccoli, are packed with tons of nutrients that are beneficial for the body. A lot of people give up on dieting because they get bored eating the same foods over and over again. While the keto diet does have limitations, it also has plenty of advantages with regard to food choices, from bacon and eggs to steak and vegetables. You can have a tasty and nutritious meal without even realizing you’re on a diet, and even better, since fat is more satiating than carbs, you’ll feel fuller for longer.
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