BIZLAND NEWS 2

Feature Article: Internet Security, by Sally Hetherington of Bizland

Internet Security - Online Transactions & Viruses

How secure is it to transact online?
Many people are hesitant to give out their Credit Card details over the Internet. While there have certainly been cases of credit card fraud over the Internet, you are more at risk when you hand your credit card over in a restaurant - do you watch exactly what happens to it?

Roger Morgado, a technical supporter at Thawte, advises that when submitting any credit card details over the Internet, make sure that you are on a secure page with Secure Socket Layering (SSL), which is indicated by the web address starting with "https" and an image of a lock in the bottom right corner . This makes sure that a secure session has been created and that all the data is encrypted - making it very difficult to crack. Look out also for certification - but don't be fooled by a simple image - check that it has been properly authenticated by a Certification Authority such as Thawte or Verisign.

Use your common sense when transacting over the Internet - go through reputable, well-known sites - you can often tell by the amount of information they are prepared to give, such as valid contact details. It is also advisable to open a separate credit card account to use with online transactions, with a set limit, so that in the unlikely event that you do get caught, you will not lose too much.

Click here to learn more about SSL

What is a Virus?
A virus is a piece of software that has been written to enter you computer system and infect your files without you knowing. Most copy themselves and try to infect as many files and systems as they can.

Types of Viruses
Boot sector viruses are spread when an infected floppy disk is left in the drive and the system is rebooted, at which stage the virus is read from the infected boot sector and is then written to the hard-drive's master boot disk - the first place your system reads when you start up. The virus will therefore be loaded onto the system's memory every time you boot up.
Program or file viruses attach themselves to executable (.exe) programs, and once the infected program is run, the virus is transferred to your system's memory and may copy itself further.
Macro viruses, the most common type, infect files run by applications that use macro's, such as MS Word or Excel. The virus looks like a macro in the file, and executes commands when the file is opened.
Mutilpart viruses have characteristics of both sector boot and file viruses, and may start in the boot sector or applications, and spread.
A worm is a program that copies itself but does not necessarily infect other programs, although they can cause widespread havoc. They copy from system to system without using host files, and therefore are not true viruses.
Trojan Horses hide themselves in seemingly harmless programs, until a certain condition causes it to open. They do not however replicate themselves, so also cannot be considered to be true viruses.

How do you know if you have a virus?
Common symptoms include: strange messages or displays on your monitor, strange sounds/music, your system has less memory than it should, a disk name has changed, programs or files are missing, unknown programs or files have been created, or some of your files suddenly don't work properly.

Protecting against viruses
Your best defense against viruses is to install anti-virus software and update it and scan regularly. Most anti-virus software can be set to scan all removable media and downloaded files. Check with your supplier to find out how to keep your software up to date. Other ways to protect your system include taking floppy disks out when shutting down or restarting, not opening emails from unknown addresses, verifying suspicious attachments with the sender (even if you know them) and backing up your data on a regular basis.

What to do if you have a Virus?
If you have anti-virus software installed and if it has found a virus, first get it to clean/disinfect the files. If this doesn't work, you may have to delete these files from your system. In extreme cases, you might need to reformat your hard-drive, destroying everything on it. You will then need to reinstall your software and data - which is why back-ups is so important! If this happens, it is a good idea to install the anti-virus software first, just to be safe. Finally, it might be a good idea to contact all the people that you have recently exchanged data with to let them know that your system has been infected so that they can check theirs.

Remember to always keep your software updated and not to open suspicious emails, and you should be safe!

The following anti-virus software is available from Computer Mania in Cape Town - (021) 423-0717:
McAfee Virus Scan v.6 - R475.00
Panda Titanium - R375.00
Norton 2002 - R650.00

Want to receive regular virus alerts? Email webmaster@bizland.co.za with the subject "virus subscription".

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Bizland News

NEWSFLASH!!! We are about to add another fantastic product to our line, designed as always to save you time and money. Introducing BizFax, the facility that allows you to keep in touch where-ever you are. BizFax has the ability to convert fax to email and vice versa, saving you a small fortune in telephone, paper and maintenance costs. How? With your own unique fax number, that does not require a physical machine to receive messages, you can receive messages from anywhere, as they will be converted and sent directly to your inbox. To find out more about this incredible product, please email info@bizland.co.za.

What's new on the website? We have added a small database of articles to the site, covering a number of small business issues, from management, to marketing, to legal issues. We have also put up our links section, with useful links for various organisations available to assist small businesses. There is also a new section covering the top five current virus threats, which is updated as new information becomes available - so make sure you know what threats are out there! Finally, we are currently creating a free classifieds facility for the buying and selling of office equipment and services, so fill out the online form if you have anything you would like to advertise.

We will be adding new features on a regular basis, so keep visiting www.bizland.co.za to keep up!

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Success Story

This is YOUR space. We want to know who you are, what annoys, inspires or impresses you in small business, funny stories, advice, or how you got on the road to success. Please share with us and we might publish your stories or comments in the next issue. Send your contributions to success@bizland.co.za - we look forward to hearing from you.

This week's Success Story: Venturing forth Gracefully
Charles Brand - building one of South Africa's most successful hotels

The story begins in the mid 80's when Chippy Brand, then successful owner of Brand Contruction, was approached by a Johannesburg based Christian group to get involved in developing an old run-down hotel in Magaliesburg into a Christian youth camp center. Chippy decided to check the place out, and was horrified by what he saw - a potential death trap that would cost a small fortune to fix, and he was concerned for the safety of the youth campers. When the group realised how much it would cost to fix the building, they abandoned the project but were lumbered with the land and debt. Chippy offered to bail them out by buying the property. Before he knew it, Chippy and his family had made the sudden move from construction to the hospitality industry! Anyone who knows the Brand family will know that they don't believe in half-measures, and with time and hard work, this run-down property was turned into one of the finest country hotels in the country - Mount Grace was born.

It was in 1990 that Chippy's son Charles, an MBA graduate, started Grace Management Services, with his father and university friend, Peter Moore - a business created to look for opportunities in the hospitality industry. After some time and failed attempts to get funding for various projects, Charles left the company to take up the position of Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive of the Southern Sun Group. During this time he oversaw the rebranding of the Group, including the establishment of the Holiday Inn Garden Court concept.

While at Southern Sun, Charles held many meetings with the Waterfront Company with the view to establish a hotel at the Waterfront. However he only met with favour 8 months after going out on his own again. Teaming up with his father, Charles approached various banks, offering a new variation on the hotel industry - a hotel that would be different to anything else on offer in South Africa. Cape Grace, as it was to be called, would be an upmarket boutique hotel, appealing to a select clientele. Finances would also be assisted by the innovative scheme to build and sell luxury apartments on the top floor, the funds from which would be used to pay off the debt on the rest of the hotel.

No sooner had they dug the foundations than they learned that the Table Bay Hotel, also being built at the Waterfront, would be a 5 star hotel (not 4 as originally planned) with over 320 rooms, and not the 250 rooms originally planned. Charles called in Murray & Roberts and told them to drastically speed up the construction process - his instinct told him he had to be the first 5 star hotel at the Waterfront.

Finishing ahead of schedule, Cape Grace opened in December 1996. No sooner had they opened when they got the break they needed. Hilary Clinton and her daughter chose Cape Grace as their venue of choice when they visited the Cape in February of the following year. Hilary returned with her husband a year later, just as the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke out. Cape Grace got an international advertising campaign second to none, courtesy of CNN and Ted Turner.

It was then that Charles saw the need to reposition the hotel to an even higher niche. He increased rates by 35% every year for two years, which separated the hotel from the big tour group market into a niche of its own. This proved invaluable after the September 11th attacks, as they were only marginally affected by the cancellation of tours.

It has not however all been a bed of roses for Charles, who has had his fair share of tough times. During the high interest rate period in 1997/8, cash flow became a real problem for the hotel. Discussing these problems over breakfast one morning, Charles and Chippy were noticed by the then chairman of Nedcor, Richard Loubscher, who offered to help. A few days later the Cape Grace signed a structured financial deal with a 10 year fixed interest rate of 10% - a few months later interest rates rose above 25%.

Charles also hit problems when popular Waterfront restaurant, Berties Landing went into liquidation. Charles thought he saw a great opportunity to establish Cape Town's finest seafood restaurant, throwing a lot of money at the project, only to pull out at a huge loss six months later. It took Cape Grace two years to recover from the diversion of focus and extra financial strain, however Charles learnt the value of focus versus chasing growth.

Charles managed to overcome these pitfalls, succeeding in building Cape Grace into one of the world's finest hotels. The hotel has won numerous awards, including the award for the World's Best Small Luxury Hotel in 1999, and taking first place for the Condé Nast best hotel in the world award in September 2000, and third place for this year's Condé Nast award.

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Next month…
Next month we will be discussing using the Internet to increase productivity, so send us your comments or questions about this topic to comments@bizland.co.za.

Have a safe and wonderful festive season, until next time...

Piers & Sally

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