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Manisha Kanetkar

Stenmark PR Winds Up

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Following news last week, that Hill & Knowlton will be replacing Stenmark Organisation as the PR company for Sony Ericsson, it has been confirmed that the Stenmark Organisation’s PR business will be winding up altogether.

According to Sony Ericsson Managing Director, Steve Wilson, “Damien Stenmark has made the decision to wind down the PR and Philanthropy side of his business following the buy-back of STW group’s minority share holding earlier this year. The decision was taken to allow Damien Stenmark to focus on his highly successful TV & online media representation business, and coincided with Sony Ericsson’s decision to follow our regional PR agency direction and consolidate our vendors.   Subsequently it is with sadness that we’ll be saying goodbye to the Sony Ericsson PR team at Stenmark Organisation when we wrap-up with them on 19th October 2007.”

“For over 4 years now, the Stenmark Organisation has provided PR services to Sony Ericsson. They have assisted us in growing the business locally, launching both Walkman and Cyber-shot phones, aided us in times of crisis and product recalls, and secured thousands of fantastic journalist and analyst reviews and articles,” he added.

Stenmark is yet to provide an official statement on the decision. 

 

Government To Deliver Fast Broadband With Optus

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ICT Minister Senator Helen Coonan promises 99 percent of the population will have access to fast, affordable broadband by June 2009, as part of a new legislative initiative called Australia Connected.

OPEL, a new joint venture between Optus and Elders, had been awarded a total of $958 million as part of the initiative, to deliver a mix of fibre optic, ADSL2+ and wireless broadband platforms to rural and regional areas.

“OPEL will use a new 12 Mbps state of the art wireless (WiMAX) technology ensuring that regional Australia gets a network that will be world’s best practice.

“In addition to WiMAX, a further 426 exchanges, representing more than three million premises, will be enabled with very fast ADSL2+ broadband for the first time. The switch on of the 426 exchanges to ADSL2+ will commence immediately across 426 outer metropolitan, regional and rural areas,” Senator Coonan said.

In parallel with the deployment of this new network, Coonan also announced a new commercial fibre optic rollout via a competitive bids process and subsequent enabling legislation.

“To facilitate this process, the Government will establish an Expert Taskforce to ensure an open and transparent process for assessment of bids to build a fibre-to-the-node network,” she said.

The Government will also provide a broadband subsidy of $2750 per household to Australians living in the most remote areas, a consumer help centre called BroadbandNow, and will preserve the $2billion Communications Fund for future regional network upgrades.

“Unlike Labor’s poorly detailed and economically risk plan, this new super fast national network is fully costed, Australia-wide and will reach many Australian homes and small businesses within a matter of months,” Senator Coonan said.

But according to the opposition, the Federal Government’s broadband plan is simply a quick fix before the election, whereas Labor’s plan will deliver “true broadband” to 98 per cent of Australians, at minimum speeds 40 times faster than they currently get.

 

Yahoo! Email Worm Emerges

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A new JavaScript worm targeting Yahoo!’s email program has been found in the wild by Symantec Security Response today.


Symantec said the worm, JS.Yamanner@m, spreads itself to a user’s Yahoo! email contacts when the user opens an email infected by the worm. JS.Yamanner sends these email addresses to a remote server on the Internet.

“This worm is a twist on the traditional mass-mailing worms that we have seen in recent years. Unlike its predecessors, which would require the user to open an attachment in order to launch and propagate, JS.Yamanner makes use of a previously-unknown security hole in the Yahoo! Web mail program in order to spread to other Yahoo! users and harvests user information for possible future attacks,” said Symantec Security Response Director, Dave Cole. 

Only those using contacts with an email address that is @yahoo.com or @yahoogroups.com are affected by the worm. Yahoo! Mail Beta users are not vulnerable to JS.Yamanner.

A message from JS.Yamanner can be distinguished by the following:
From: [email protected]
Subject: New Graphic Site
Body: this is test.

Also, if users open an infected email, their browser window is re-directed to display the Web page with URL: www.av3.net/index.htm.

JS.Yamanner is currently categorised as a Level 2 (out of five) threat by Symantec Security Response.

The company said that since a Yahoo! patch is unavailable, updating anti-virus definitions and deleting any emails received from [email protected] is highly recommended.

See: http://securityresponse.symantec.com/

Canon Offers Environment Grants

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Canon is offering five product sponsorships, valued at $5000 each, to organisations working on projects that will benefit Australia’s natural environment.

The company said it will offer a range of consumer imaging products, including digital still cameras, camcorders, interchangeable EF lenses and all-in-one printers, to assist people undertaking environmental work.

“Canon recognises that funding for environmental projects is often scarce. It is our intention that the Canon Australia Environmental Grants support worthy environmental causes by providing the quality equipment necessary to capture, record and document activities,” said Canon’s Shuichi Tsukahara.

Canon said its dedication to environmental protection also extends to its daily operations and support activities. “All of Canon’s products are designed with environmental impact as a key consideration. Not only can successful applicants be confident that they have the latest gear to do their jobs effectively, but they’re also minimising environmental impact at the same time,” Mr Tsukahara said.

The company is also a founding sponsor of the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark cartridge recycling program. Planet Ark Founder and Director, Jon Dee, said “Canon is well known as a company that puts its principles into practice. Not only does Canon make great products, it is prepared to put its money where its mouth is and actively work with the community to improve the environment here in Australia. This is a great opportunity and I urge you to get your applications in.”

Any organisation involved in environmental work is welcome to apply via the Canon Australia Website by 31 August 2006.

See: www.canon.com.au

Website Building Made Easy

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If you don’t have any Web design skills (or the funds to hire a designer) but want a professional Website for your business, the new out-of-the-box Website package, SmartyDesign, by SmartyHost is certainly a smart option.

SmartyDesign is essentially a DIY Web design and hosting package that requires no previous knowledge of HTML coding, or any other Web design skills. The SmartyDesign ‘Sitebuilder’ features an intuitive design wizard to allow users to choose a Website layout and design in a five-step process.

SmartyDesign offers 500 design templates which can be combined with flash intro options, fonts, colour schemes, headlines, layouts and buttons to ensure that your Website won’t look like everybody else’s. As you select a colour scheme, banner, flash intro etc, the design wizard shows you exactly how the page will look once it’s up and running.

“SmartyHost aims to function as a one-stop-shop, a single point where SMBs can satisfy all their online needs. SmartyDesign ‘in-sources’ your Web design, so if you can’t fork out thousands of dollars on employing a web-design agency, this is your best alternative,” said SmartyHost’s Anoosh Manzoori.

“The SmartyDesign Sitebuilder literally makes anyone, regardless of previous web experience, into a web-designer. The included search engine optimisation tool ensures that once you click ‘publish’ your business web-site can be found by the millions of Australians that search the Internet every day,’ he added.

The SmartyDesign package is available in two versions: the ‘Easy’ package which costs $250/year and includes a domain name, 250 MB hosting space and the SmartyDesign Sitebuilder. There is also the ‘Complete’ package, which costs $999/year and includes a domain name, 500 MB hosting space, the SmartyDesign Sitebuilder and add-ons such as such as unlimited email accounts, visitor counter, online visitor forms, online voting tools, photo album, guest book, and customer feedback tool.

See: http://smartyhost.com.au/smartydesign.htm  or to trial the Sitebuilder see: http://smartybuilder.com.au/wizard/index.php


Click to enlarge
Step 1: Choose a design

Click to enlarge
Step 2: Choose a structure


Click to enlarge
Step 3: Edit content

Click to enlarge
Step 4: Add extras

Step 5: Publish

Think Twice Before Forwarding Email

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Virus, spyware and spam analysis company, SophosLabs has discovered a new scam which uses forwarded chain letters to collect email addresses.

The spam email campaign seen by Sophos poses as a research project into chain mail and joke messages, by a person called Gemma.

“Under the pretence of ‘research’, spammers are trying to fool internet users into passing on dozens of email addresses with every message they forward. At best this could result in spam being sent to all of your friends and colleagues, at worst they could be put at risk of identity theft. Computer users should break the chain and not respond to messages such as this one,” said Sophos technology consultant, Graham Cluley.

Part of the email reads as follows:

“I would be very grateful if you would be kind enough to forward absolutely anything and everything that remotely resembles chain mail, forwards of any type (even the rude ones). This project is based over the next year and I need at least 500,000 forwards for this project to be a success, so please keep them coming the more the better.”

Sophos recommends companies protect their email gateways with a consolidated solution to defend against viruses, spyware and spam, as well as secure their desktop and servers with automatically updated protection.

See: www.sophos.com.au

More Australians Banking Online

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Australians are avoiding bank queues more than ever, with a new study showing over 70 percent of online consumers have paid bills or done their banking on the internet.

The study, which was conducted by Forrester, found that Australians are comfortable reviewing their finances online, with 72 percent of internet users checking their deposit accounts online.

By comparison, only 17 percent are browsing their Super or pension funds and only 25 percent are looking at all their investments online. In the latter group, people cited satisfaction with paper statements and concerns about internet security for not managing their investments online.

Main author of the study, Alyson Clarke said in the report “Australians have a strong desire to self-serve and manage their finances over the Internet, but lack of trust and satisfaction with more expensive channels often stops them.”

“Firms can learn from their international counterparts on how to build trust online. For example, E*TRADE in North America overcomes security fears with an online protection guarantee covering privacy, assets, and every transaction made.”

She recommends that financial service firms take advantage of consumer demand for e-services before their Internet-savvy competitors get to consumers first.

More Spam Than Viruses In 2006

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This year, spam has overtaken viruses as the dominant menace, with almost nine out of 10 emails worldwide being spam.

The statistics were reported by security services company MessageLabs in its 2006 Annual Intelligence report.

It found that Australia, along with Hong Kong and Singapore has seen the highest growth rate of spam year on year. In 2006 almost half (48 percent) of our email was spam, though virus levels declined compared to 2005.

The annual average spam rate was 86.2 percent, with botnets responsible for 80 percent of all spam in circulation, the company reported.

Phishing attacks also grew, with an average phishing rate of one in every 274.2 emails. MessageLabs says phishing attacks accounted for almost 25 percent of all malicious emails it intercepted this year.

“2006 was the year that spammers took the security industry by storm and showcased their new tactics and techniques for mass disruption,” said MessageLabs’ Mark Sunner.

Next year, MessageLabs predicts convergence between spam, viruses and spyware, with increasing instant messaging threats and attacks against sites such as MySpace, LinkedIn and Plaxo. In late 2007 the company also expects to see VoIP threats emerge as the technology receives widespread adoption.

See: www.messagelabs.com

Seagate Launches Data Recovery Service

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Computing storage solutions company Seagate has launched its data recovery service in Australia.

The company says it service employs patented SignalTrace technology to enable its service engineers to recover data from all types of storage media – regardless of brands or formats – that have undergone severe physical damage, liquid damage, fire damage, software corruption, system sabotage and accidental file deletion.

Seagate’s SignalTrace technology is drive-independent and allows for data recovery from media that cannot be addressed by traditional in-lab recovery methods, the company says.

Seagate Recovery Services is also ISO 9001:2000 certified.

“Corporations and consumers are increasingly placing a premium on the value of digital content they’ve created for work and play, and they cannot afford the risk of losing digital data that has become such an integral part of them,” said Seagate’s Kevin Lee.

“As such, Seagate Recovery Services provide the last line of defence to recover the loss of these invaluable data quickly & accurately.”

The company says the launch is part of its ongoing expansion of its global data recovery services operations.

See: www.seagate-asia.com

InFocus Intros Doorstep Warranty Program

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Projection specialist InFocus has introduced a new warranty program for its customers which will provide a two-year pick up and drop off warranty service. The warranty will apply to consumer and business use projectors.

Covering both new and recently purchased products (though InFocus advises warranty periods will differ amongst models) the two-year Doorstep Warranty ensures that InFocus customers have the assurance and access to a full-service repair policy if they need it.

Customers wishing to make use of the service, should contact the InFocus Service Centre, where a representative will determine whether the problem can be diagnosed and solved over the phone or if further action needs to be taken.  In the case where additional action is required, the unit is picked up, repaired and returned door-to-door, the company says.

“After-sales service is a vital element of the customer experience to ensure customers remain confident in your brand and product – this is an experience we’re dedicated to improving through this new program,” said InFocus Regional Sales Manager, ANZ, Sean Tobin.

“Our commitment to the highest quality of service is a reflection of our belief in our products; ensuring business, education and home theatre users alike enjoy worry-free projection for years to come,” he said.
 
See: www.infocus.com