Web development company, UKNetWeb, which advises businesses on their use of Social Media, has issued the warning after noticing a number of local business people had fallen victim to the virus which spreads itself through messages sent to each member of a their friend list.

The title of the dodgy message varies with messages such as “Maan,yyou’re great!” and “your ass looks not bad in this video” forming part of the message body or Facebook wall posting.

Anyone receiving messages of this kind should not press the link under any circumstances and should delete the message from their inbox or wall immediately.

Once clicked, these links forward you to a site which hunts for a file on your PC referred to as a cookie and prompts the user to update their video or flash software. Once accepted the Trojan virus proceeds to lock the user out of their account and messages each of the friends on their friend list with a similar message, further spreading the virus.

UKNetWeb Managing Director, Toby Parkins says, “Issues of this kind are not uncommon; however, they can be extremely disruptive and annoying to the individuals involved.”

“It is always best to exercise caution and where suspicious do not take any chances. You should ensure that your computer has the latest anti-virus and anti-phishing software installed and run on a daily basis”. He continued.

Facebook has now taken steps to deactivate malicious links in messages through the network; however, it is still possible that some may get through. Anyone worried about their security should seek the advice of their web developer or IT specialist.

Last week, Cornish web developers, UKNetWeb, hosted a free virtual conference for local businesses wanting to know more about the Convergence round of funding for the county.

The conference entitled ‘Insight: Convergence’ was the second in a series of virtual events organised by the company in a drive to help businesses gain deeper insight into a range of topical issues of importance to business in the region.

The keynote presentation came from South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), Innovation and Enterprise Convergence Manager, Josie Linton, supported by other members of the SWRDA team.

The purpose of the Convergence Programmes is to speed up the economic development of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The programme follows on from Objective One which closed for investment on the 31st December 2006.

Josie’s presentation covered how Convergence business support will be implemented; with regards to business support, the aims of the funding and how it will affect businesses operating within the county.

Talking about the conference, UKNetWeb Managing Director, Toby Parkins said,

“We are really pleased that members of the SWRDA team agreed to speak at the event. Local businesses are keen to learn more about Convergence and what it means for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

“Our aim with the Insight Sessions is to give businesses access to more detailed information around a specific issue or subject of a topical nature and you can’t get more topical than the plans for Convergence”. He continued.

A full transcript of the event has been published and can be viewed online at http://www.uknetweb.com/docs/insight-convergence.pdf. Anyone interested in attending future sessions should speak to Aren Grimshaw at UKNetWeb on 01872 555933.

Ends

Notes to Editor:

• For more information on the Convergence Programme visit http://www.objectiveone.com/O1htm/01-convergence/convergence.htm
• For more information on UKNetWeb visit http://www.uknetweb.com
• For information on past UKNetWeb Insight Session please visit http://www.uknetweb.com/blog/tag/insight-sessions/

Cornish web developers, UKNetWeb, have announced the speaker for their next monthly virtual conference session to be entitled ‘Insight: Convergence’.

South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), Innovation and Enterprise Convergence Manager, Josie Linton, will take the keynote speech with other members of SWRDA team supporting her at the conference.

The conference will take place online at 12.30pm on Tuesday 7th October. Guests can log in at anytime from 12 noon on the day by following instructions posted on the site http://www.uknetweb.com.

Josie will endeavour to explain how Convergence business support will be implemented; with regards to business support the aims of the funding and how it will affect businesses operating within the county.

The purpose of the Convergence Programmes is to speed up the economic development of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly particularly through investing in: skills and helping people into work; the development of a more knowledge based economy; business productivity and innovation; and in infrastructure for a more modern economy.

The Convergence Programme follows on from the Objective One Programme which closed for investment on the 31st December 2006.

Talking about the conference, UKNetWeb Managing Director, Toby Parkins said,

“We are really excited to have members of the Regional Development agency on hand to explain more about  Convergence funding and what it means for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Our aim with the Insight Sessions is to give businesses access to more detailed information around a specific issue or subject of a topical nature and you can’t get more topical than the plans for Convergence”.

Insight: Convergence will be the second virtual conference organised by UKNetWeb with the previous session, Insight: Recession, featuring a keynote speech from economist and former Finance Cornwall Chief Executive, Lord Teverson.

The sessions usually last around an hour with a transcript of the sessions published online following the event. Anyone interested to learn more, including future speaking opportunities, should contact Aren Grimshaw at UKNetWeb on 01872 555933 or email aren@uknetweb.com.

Notes to Editor:

• For more information on the Convergence Programme visit http://www.objectiveone.com/O1htm/01-convergence/convergence.htm
• For more information on UKNetWeb visit http://www.uknetweb.com
• For information on past UKNetWeb Insight Session please visit http://www.uknetweb.com/blog/tag/insight-sessions/

The first a column on Virtual Conferences published in the WMN Business Technology Zone..

UKNetWeb MD, Toby Parkins looks at the benefits of Virtual Conferences

The second a piece on our client’s site Ashes and Sparks..

The virtual event which took place on Tuesday (2nd September) featured a keynote speech from respected economist, and former Finance Cornwall Chief Executive, Lord Robin Teverson.

Guests at the event included a range of local business owners as well as Stephen Bohane, Head of Business Development in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly within The South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) and Terrye Teverson, Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Truro and Falmouth.

Talking about the Cornish economy Lord Teverson said,

“We’ve had the accepted mantra that when the rest of the UK plunges into recession, Cornwall is hit even harder – certainly in terms of unemployment – and we then come out of recession later than the rest of the country. But over the last decade, since the last recession in the early 1990s, Cornwall has arguably become more confident and resilient.”

“It’s received a lot of European funding which has meant that new investment in people, infrastructure, and businesses has taken place. Distance has become less important because of information technologies, and Cornwall has had a high take up of broadband. “

“A number of SMEs will fall by the wayside – but by managing costs very carefully, keeping the sales and marketing going, and avoiding bad debts they can survive and be even stronger on the other side when things get better.”

“SMEs need to make sure they keep close not just to their customers but also their staff and suppliers.  Loyalty and trust gets to be pretty important during difficult times.” He continued.

Discussion and questions followed the main presentation with topics discussed including; the continuing improvements to the ICT infrastructure in Cornwall, bad weather and the tourism sector, manufacturing, business cash flow and budgets, the government’s announcement on Stamp Duty and the rise of Eastern Economies such as China and India.

Overall the mood was optimistic with many businesses not yet feeling the effects of any downturn. A direct question from Stephen Bohane on how individual businesses were fairing prompted responses of ‘never busier’ and ‘we are forging ahead with our growth’ from the assembled business owners.

The virtual event entitled ‘Insight:Recession’ is the first part of a series of events planned by UKNetWeb to help businesses in Cornwall and further afield gain insight into a particular subject of relevance to an SME operating within the county.

Commenting on the first session Toby Parkins, UKNetWeb Managing Director said,

“Given the amount of discussion and media coverage presently surrounding fears that the UK is falling into a recession we felt is was time to help businesses in Cornwall improve their understanding of them and their potential effect on our local economy.

“Lord Teverson has a lot of knowledge on the economy in general; however, his deep insight into the local economy made him an ideal candidate to explain how a recession might play out within the region.

“We were very pleased with the turnout and believe that everybody was able to take something useful away from the experience.”

A full transcript of Lord Teverson’s speech and the following discussion is available to download from http://www.uknetweb.com/docs/insight-recession.pdf. For information on future events please contact Aren Grimshaw at UKNetWeb on 01872 555933 or email info@uknetweb.com.

Cornwall based web developers, UKNetWeb, are to host a virtual mini-conference on the growing fears of a recession and there potential effect on the large number of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the south west.

The event, planned as part of an ongoing series of events, follows on from a successful virtual launch event hosted by the company early last month. Referred to as the UKNetWeb ‘Insight Sessions’, each new session will focus on a particular issue of importance to businesses operating within the county.
With talk of a recession forming a major concern for SMEs at this time the first session will focus on the economy, with respected economist and former chief executive of Finance Cornwall, Lord Robin Teverson taking the key note speech.

Lord Teverson will attempt to address the concerns of the small to medium enterprise, dealing with questions such as; what defines a recession, how long a recession would be likely to last and what affect a recession might have on the local economy?

UKNetWeb Managing Director, Toby Parkins says,

“After the success of our virtual launch event we saw an opportunity to use the platform to engage with businesses across the region that may not have the time or inclination to attend traditional conferences or networking events.”

“By providing a virtual space and structure for events of this type we believe we can extend our reach whilst providing businesses with access to information that would otherwise be difficult to obtain.”

The event will take place on the 2nd of September at 12.30pm. Anyone wishing to attend can log into the event by going to www.uknetweb.com anytime after 12noon on the day and following the on-screen instructions displayed.

Ends

Editors Notes:

1. Insight: Recession is the first of a series of virtual online meetings aimed at business people from any part of the world, especially Cornwall.
2. Lord Robin Teverson lives near Tregony in Cornwall and was for a time the economist of a major UK freight company.  He worked in the freight and transport industry for a number of years before becoming MEP for Cornwall and Plymouth from  1994 - 1999.  He was Chief Executive of Finance Cornwall, based in Truro, between 2002 and 2006.  He is now the Lib Dem spokesman on the environment and climate change in the House of Lords.
3. Further information can be obtained from Aren Grimshaw (aren@uknetweb.com) / Toby Parkins (toby@uknetweb.com) or by calling 01872 555933.

Facebook’s Year on Year growth of 172% (compared to June 2007) shows that FB’s dominance is having an impact on the competition here in the UK too, with major competitors; Bebo, MySpace, LiveSpaces and FriendsReunited all showing heavy percentage losses.

These figures are in sharp contrast to the US market where MySpace still dominates the first position spot with a massive 71.92% market share and Facebook only managing 16.91%.

The full tables from Hitwise for the UK and US are shown below:

The innovative party was planned by the company to demonstrate how businesses can use emerging technology to cut business running costs while adding new and exciting ways of promoting their businesses.

The party began at 12.30 on Tuesday (29th July) when a link was published on the old UKNetWeb site. Guests were told to go to the company website, UKNetWeb.com and follow the on-screen instructions to enter a virtual room.

On entering the room, guests could select their own music from a selection of preloaded tracks and carry out conversations with other attendees via on screen text based chat. At 1.00pm Managing Director, Toby Parkins, made a speech to the room where he introduced the new site and recession guide.

All guests were given an opportunity to introduce themselves to the room, following a similar structure to conventional face to face networking events. Guests came from all over Cornwall and further afield, with at least one international guest signing in from an Icelandic advertising agency.

The launch of the new site and recession guide was well received with over 300 people accessing the site and over 150 downloads of the recession guide within the 24 hour period after the launch.

Toby Parkins, MD, UKNetWeb

Managing Director, Toby Parkins said, “The possibilities opened up by emerging technology offers exciting prospects for businesses that want to cut costs and attract new sales. This launch party demonstrated that there are alternatives to travel and we hope that businesses will adopt some of the ideas within the guide to help them through more difficult times.”

“Since the event we have been inundated with interest in similar events. It seems everyone who attended has been telling their friends about it and now there is a real buzz for more virtual events to be organised.” Toby continued.

The new website can be found at www.uknetweb.com with the recession guide available for download at www.uknetweb.com/recession-guide.

The whole guide can be viewed or downloaded here in pdf format which can be printed as required.

To ensure that our guide is available to the maximum number of people we have copied the content to this blog where it can be easily navigated through use of categories, tags and cross referencing links.

In this guide we have tried to look at a range of issues of relevance to businesses of all sizes; where possible suggesting routes to utilise technology in dealing with them. In each case we have tried to provide links to further information, research or tools that might be useful to you or your business.

At UKNetWeb we specialise in the technical and strategic aspects of working with the internet.

During the planning stages of website builds we have become accustomed to identifying technological routes to improve business efficiency, drive sales and improve marketing. Areas that are extremely important to the bottom line of any business.

With fears of a recession growing and a never ending deluge of stories about rising prices, the credit crunch and low consumer confidence we decided that we should share some of our in-house knowledge; identifying routes for businesses to use technology as a means to drive profitability.

If you would like direct assistance in following any of the advice given within this presentation we can provide consultancy or support in setting up, managing or integration of any of the services listed.
Our unparalleled knowledge of technical programming and emerging digital media means that we are well positioned to maximise your return from these activities.

Our guide is a working document and we envisage that you and other businesses will have your own tips and ideas on how to beat the crunch. If you think we have missed something please leave a comment or contact us directly through the contact form here.

Thank you for reading, we hope you find this guide helpful.