Thu, May 31st, 2007 - 1:50 pm - By Gordon Basichis
We saw this in the LA Times.
Big firms aren’t only ones hit by system hackers
Inadequately protecting sensitive information can invite intruders.
By Alana Semuels
Times Staff Writer
COMBING through the guts of the website for the Los Angeles County Community Development Commission, an information technology worker for the agency came across an intruder. Someone with an Internet provider address in Germany had broken in and looked at private information normally accessible only to commission employees.
The worker immediately shut the system down.
“The intruder was poking around and came in through the outside of our network,” said Richard Peters, the agency’s information technology manager. “They were probably looking for confidential data.”
Small organizations often think they are less of a target for hacking than large companies. But small businesses are often targeted by hackers who know that their security procedures might not be as technologically advanced as those of a bigger business with more resources.
For the entire article go to LA Times.
Corra finds surprising that so many companies will go to any extent to prevent hacking from the outside but will do so little to protect themselves from inside jobs. Whether the invaders are hackers, crackers or data thieves, when they attack it is your business that ultimately pays the price.
Surely, you should do all that is necessary to prevent hacking or cracking or data theft from cyber thieves. But you should also be protecting your business from disreputable or desperate employees who steal your valuable data, proprietary information and intellectual property. Not only do they commit out and out theft, such employees will steal passwords from other employees in different departments or on higher security levels and crack into the system.
That is why your HR department should have a pre-employment screening program in place. You should be including a Social Security Trace, a Credit Report and, naturally, a Criminal Background check. For those who have never conducted background checks before, you will find it extremely cost effective.
Don’t be caught with your guard down. Check them out before you hire.
Wed, May 30th, 2007 - 2:31 pm - By Gordon Basichis
Employees Favor Minimum-Wage Hike
From: Inc.com
Most workers that are paid an hourly wage support a proposed increase in the federal minimum wage, even if it results in higher consumer prices and job cuts, a recent survey found.Of 500 employees polled nationwide, 65 percent said they favor the wage hike regardless of its potential impact on consumer prices, while 50 percent were in favor if it meant co-workers might lose their jobs, according to Dominion Enterprises, a Norfolk, Va.-based media and marketing firm.
For the full article go to Inc.com
Corra knows that minimum wage is, well, minimal. Nobody is getting rich on minimum wage even if Congress does hike it a buck or so. But it may help advance the quality of life for low level employees. It may in fact give them incentive to be more productive in hopes of advancing beyond minimum wage.
Minimum wage workers are often transients. That is why you should be sure to run a Nationwide Criminal Background Check on your candidates, as well as a Social Security Trace. The trace will validate the social security number and for the most part indicate if it actually belongs to your candidate or someone else. If these employees drive at all for you, even on the most perfunctory level, then you should also run a Motor Vehicle Report.
It is just good plain sense to have an adequate employment screening program in place. It will prove extremely cost effective in protecting your business from litigation and liability issues arising from any number of things. So remember, as Corra says, check them out before you hire.
Tue, May 29th, 2007 - 2:15 pm - By Gordon Basichis
Business Groups Attack Immigration Bill
Critics say the new Senate measure amounts to amnesty and will lead to higher taxes.
From: Inc.com By: Angus Loten
Employer and employee groups alike are attacking a Senate immigration reform bill that balances tougher border and workplace security with a path to legal status for the nation’s estimated 12 million undocumented workers.Under the bill, which the Senate is expected to take up early next week, undocumented workers would pay a $5,000 fine and return to their home countries before applying for a renewable work visa. As visa-holders, they could then seek permanent U.S. residency, a process that could take up to 13 years to complete. It would also create a guest-worker program for new immigrants.
The initiative is the result of a bipartisan agreement and is supported by the president.
“Politics is the art of the possible and the agreement we just reached is the best possible chance we will have in years to secure our borders and bring million of people out of the shadows and into the sunshine of America,” Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), the main Democrat sponsor of the bill, said on Thursday.
Yet, even Kennedy admitted the bill “isn’t perfect.”
Some Senate Republicans have likened the visa provision for undocumented workers to amnesty for illegal aliens.
For the entire article go to Inc.com.
Corra thinks it’s amazing that any legislation of significance can be muddled down by bombast and other measure of insignificance. At the rate a major bill is passed these days, just imagine how long it would have take our forefathers to have ratified the Declaration of Independence. Forget about the Constitution. One of the great legal and legislative documents of all time would have been bogged down by partisan trivia and the eternal sound bite.
Corra can see both sides to the Immigration. And certainly there is a logical and rational approach to this situation. If we could devise legislation for the Civil Rights issues, then certainly we can figure out something with respect to immigration. But I guess that’s not really the point here.
What is the point is that while Congress struggles with this issue, there is no doubt a widening crackdown on employers hiring undocumented workers as well as undocumented workers themselves. Let’s face it, when you hire undocumented workers you are breaking the law. If you are unwitting, you are being foolish. If you knowingly hire undocumented workers, then you face criminal charges.
The government will crackdown even harder on businesses who employ undocumented workers. There will be increased fines and legislation to attach businesses an its their properties. You don’t want to be the poster child, the big business example, especially with an approaching election season.
So check out all your employment candidates. Demonstrate you performed due diligence. Run a Social Security Trace, a criminal check, and if they are driving for you, a Motor Vehicle Report as well. The background searches are cost effective, so don’t be foolish.
Check them out before you hire.
Fri, May 25th, 2007 - 2:10 pm - By Gordon Basichis
Corra supposes on the cusp or our Memorial Holiday Weekend it is good the remember all the past travails our nation has faced and how we have surmounted those obstacles. We should enjoy the fact that on this weekend or any other, both men and women can get behind the wheels of their vehicles and head in any direction they choose. They can dress how they want and do what they want. Come Sunday the more pious among us can attend any house of worship of their choosing, or choose not to attend.
Too often, perhaps, we take these things for granted. But for the few of us he will visit the grave sites of our fallen soldiers and plant flags and flowers beside their stones, it’s not a bad idea to recall the sacrifices our fellow Americans have made so that we can barbecue any meat of our choosing and any beverage to wash it down. This all may sound like small stuff, but go ahead, just try and do without it.
Come Tuesday, we’ll all be back to work, running background checks on our new employment candidates. It never takes long for the weekend to fade away. But as for a moment of thought as to what we have in this country of ours, give it a moment and keep it close to your heart. Too many want to take it away.
Take care. Drive safe. Have a terrific Memorial Day. And when you get back, remember what Corra tells you–Check them out before you hire.
Thu, May 24th, 2007 - 3:32 pm - By Gordon Basichis
We saw this article on the LA Times.
MySpace is asked to reveal names of sex offendersFrom the Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. — Top law enforcement officers from eight states asked MySpace.com on Monday to turn over the names of registered sex offenders using the social networking website.
In a letter, the attorneys general asked MySpace how many registered sex offenders were using the site and where they lived. North Carolina Atty. Gen. Roy Cooper signed the letter, along with attorneys general from Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Cooper’s office said media outlets in 2006 “reported almost 100 criminal incidents across the country involving adults who used MySpace to prey or attempt to prey on children.”
In December, MySpace announced it was partnering with Sentinel Tech Holding Corp. to build a database on sex offenders in the United States. Software to identify and remove sex offenders from the site was launched in early May, MySpace said Monday in a statement.
Corra has definitely beliefs about adults who prey on children. While they are pathetic creatures who often emanate from abusive families themselves, the fact remains, according to most research, they are almost always repeat offenders. The news is filled with stories of men, usually men, anyway, who have been arrested for previous offenses only to be released so that they do it all over again.
We are inundated with headlines detailing perverts and the heinous crimes they commit against children. We are always shocked and appalled, but quite often these same perverts are back on our streets or on the Internet. No one should be shocked, really, that they are on the social networks. Where better to hunt for young and impressionable people, kids really, who can be intrigued by the right presentation.
Let’s face it, these guys know their territory and what it takes to lure a young person. Perverts are good at what they do. It makes sense since it is the contemplation of these acts and their actuality they obsess over through the course of their lives.
Apologists argue that they can’t help themselves. That they should be understood. Corra agrees we should understand them. We should know them well enough to protect our children against their overtures. This is but one of the reasons that Corra’s Nationwide Criminal Background Report includes the sames of anyone on the sexual offenders’ registries in all fifty states. Having run enough background checks, we have caught our share.
Maybe you can’t protect your kids from predators on the Internet. But you can certainly work to protect them against nannies, caregivers and others who come in contact with your children on a regular basis. Don’t be foolish. Check them out before you let them near your kids.
Wed, May 23rd, 2007 - 2:13 pm - By Gordon Basichis
We saw this article in New York Times.
Retailers Issue Gloomy Sales Report for April
It was, in a word, dismal.
From department stores to discounters, the nation’s retailers today reported the worst monthly slump in sales in at least six years for April, blaming wet weather, higher gas prices and a quirk in the calendar.
Sales slid 1.8 percent during the month, well below analysts’ expectations, with bellwether companies like Wal-Mart Stores and Target being the hardest hit.
“Terrible†was the verdict from Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, a research firm. “With Wall Street looking for weak April retail sales,†he added, “retailers did not disappoint.â€
Sales at stores open at least a year, a standard measure in retailing, fell 6.1 percent at Target and 3.5 percent at Wal-Mart.
Retailers, looking for a culprit, pointed to the shift of Easter, which fell earlier in April this year than it did in 2006. Therefore, they argued, consumers did more of their Easter spending in April last year, making for tougher comparisons.
But Bill Dreher, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities, said that argument did not appear to hold up. Even after combining sales for March and April, he said, sales at both Target and Wal-Mart fell significantly this year compared with last.
“That tells us that something else is going on,†he said. “There is a consumer spending slowdown.â€
A sales falloff was experienced across the board. Sales fell 16 percent at Gap, 10.5 percent at Kohl’s and 4.7 percent at J.C. Penney.
The department store industry, on a rebound for months, was not immune.
The parent company of Macy’s, Federated Department Stores, has assigned its sales slowdown over the past year to the May Department Store outlets it acquired in 2005. Today, it said performance was weak across its entire chain. Sales fell 2.2 percent.
“April sales were disappointing across the country in both new and legacy Macy’s stores,†said Terry J. Lundgren, the chief executive of Federated, who said a sale that moved from May of last year to April of 2007 “did not produce the results we expected.â€
A sour tone for the month was set by American Eagle Outfitters, whose sales are typically strong. The company reported a 10 percent sales decline for April.
There were a few bright spots — with an emphasis on few. Saks Fifth Avenue, whose return to its classic, luxury roots has resulted in stronger sales over the past year, said sales rose 11.7 percent in April.
Corra remembers a time when retail clerks were actually taught how to sell. Not hard sell, necessary, but providing the kind of service that puts a customer at ease, that helps him make choices, the kind of choices that add on to the total bill. Today, you are lucky to find a clerk who will pay you any attention.
It is important for retailers to find clerks who will actually work for their money. Perhaps retailers should pay them more and then teach them how to provide meaningful service and positive sales reinforcement. It wouldn’t hurt of the clerks really knew their inventory and had knowledge about the products and services they were selling. It would be even nicer if they didn’t steal from the companies who hired them.
Corra suggests you run a criminal check on all your retail clerks. More importantly, perhaps, take advantage of the Retail Theft Database that Corra provides. Let’s face it, most employee theft is never prosecuted. But to help sort out the rotten eggs in your basket, more than 1,000 member companies report to this, listing in the database all past employees who ever stole from them. Bet you didn’t know there even was such a list? Well now you do. Use it wisely.
Check them out before you hire.
Tue, May 22nd, 2007 - 2:01 pm - By Gordon Basichis
White House Opposes Contracting Bill
From: Inc.com
The Bush administration is opposing legislation aimed at boosting federal contracting goals for small businesses while preventing agencies from bundling smaller contracts together.The Small Business Fairness in Contracting Act, approved last month by the House Small Business Committee, would impose burdensome restrictions on federal agencies and sets “unrealistic small-business procurement goals,” according to a statement issued by the Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday.
Among other provisions, the bill would raise the annual share of federal contracts going to small businesses from the current government-wide target of 23 percent to 30 percent. According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses received 25 percent of all federal contracts last year. House Democrats and other critics say the amount was closer to 21 percent.
It also seeks to limit contract bundling, in which several contracts are combined into a mega-contract beyond the reach of smaller firms.
The measure, according to the administration, creates an “overly expansive definition of contract bundling” that will result in costly and time-consuming requirements in the procurement process.
The legislation is expected to be debated on the House floor later this week.
Copyright © 2007 Mansueto Ventures LLC. All rights reserved.
Inc.com, 7 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007-2195.
Corra believes small businesses should be awarded more government contracts. As it was noted in several reports this year, small businesses are he backbone of the job market. Small businesses are often responsible for innovations in industry, especially with respect to media and technology.
Small businesses are often exciting places to be working. The company employees are usually closer knit and are all pulling together for more definitive objectives. Small businesses can become larger businesses especially with an increase in government contracts.
Owners of small businesses may not be able to match the salaries of larger corporations. But they can offer opportunity and even a piece of the action. As the small business owner acquires a larger piece of the pie, often so do his employees.
Small business owners should be picky about who they bring into the work place. Innovative and highly qualified people can advance the people. Corporate thieves, employees with sexual harassment and substance abuse issues can weigh heavily on the general morale of a smaller company.
Small business owners should have a pre-employment screening program in effect. They should be running social security traces, criminal background searches, education verification searches, and, if someone is driving for you in any capacity, a Motor Vehicle Report.
Just because you are small business doesn’t mean you should be cutting corners on your background search. As Corra says, check them out before you hire.
Mon, May 21st, 2007 - 2:31 pm - By Gordon Basichis
Businesses Consider Hiring Energy Officers
From: Inc.com
With global warming becoming an increasingly important issue in the corporate world, more business leaders are considering the need for a chief energy officer to lead their company’s energy strategy, new research shows.In a recent survey of 420 senior decision-makers at business nationwide, as many as 65 percent said their company doesn’t have a clearly defined energy policy, according to Hill & Knowlton, a global communications consultancy group. Two-thirds also said no one at their company was given the task of defining an energy strategy.
“Despite the hype, few companies are plotting a measurable action plan to drive return on environment,” Joe Paluska, head of Hill & Knowlton’s worldwide technology practice, said in a statement.
Paluska said there is a growing need for corporate accountability on energy performance as businesses grapple with the expectations of governments, customers, shareholders, and their own employees.
Copyright © 2007 Mansueto Ventures LLC. All rights reserved.
Inc.com, 7 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007-2195.
Corra predicts that the American Economy will be based on technology and industries designed to deliver alternative energy and to balance the environment. As this short article attests, corporations large and small are focusing on their energy needs and hiring employees who can best design an energy policy. This is but one small part of an even larger equation.
As the more elementary technology is outsourced, America we concentrate on maximizing older fuel sources, engineering alternatives, and developing technology and systems that will reduce the threats facing the environment. This means advanced research and technology and new jobs that can address identify these particular needs.
As part of a comprehensive pre-employment screening package, your Human Resource Mangers should be conducting education and employment verification searches. Employment verification searches should often be conducted as personal references, since researches are often able to obtain more detailed information than they would from an HR department. Your company should always run a criminal background check, but increasingly it will be more important to gauge the competency of your candidates in highly technical areas.
Qualified candidates usually make for competent employees. In this challenging era, the future of you company depends in innovative people who can compete in these new fields of industry. So when you have openings and start recruiting, carefully review the qualifications and background of every candidate.
Check them out before you hire.