It’s no different with the internet. Just as you’d help your child learn to ride a bike, it’s important to take the necessary precautions when introducing them to the web for the first time.

There’s a lot of content on the web that’s not suitable for kids and they haven’t yet learned that an offer that seems ‘too good to be true’ is exactly that.

It’s surprising therefore that only 32% of households in the US are using parental controls. That’s like 1 in 3 kids learning to ride a bike without stabilisers or a crash helmet; it’s more fun but could probably end in tears.

As my colleague at AVG, Judith Bitterli, explains in the video, parental software isn’t about controlling kids online but instead giving them the freedom to use the web without coming across the bad stuff.

For more information on AVG Family Safety, check out AVG.com.

Debates rage from the World Wide Web Consortium’s Tracking Protection Working Group in Sunnyvale, California, to the halls of a US Congress with a 16% approval rating, to ongoing EU Data Protection wrangling in Brussels.

Privacy is in motion in the form of a “Do-Not-Track” web standard, updates on protecting citizens and children on the Internet, and attempts to modernize decades-old legislation.  But sometimes lost in all the wonkish nuisance and political horse-trading is the simple fact that consumer education and consumer empowerment must be at the center of privacy’s future.

Today, by far the number one issue for Internet users is privacy.  And public and private sector representatives are working on both sides of the Atlantic to try to set limits on government access to consumer information, to ensure new technologies are designed to protect and not diminish privacy, and to legislate baseline standards for consumer privacy.

The thing is, technology moves faster than politics.  Consider the new “Google Glass” offering, which, in essence, becomes a wearable computer product.  Consider the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pictures of citizens the FBI combed through to find the alleged Boston bombers.  These technologies are out-sprinting a slow-walking regulator and legislative process that seeks a comprehensive consumer protection system.

The truth is consumers can’t wait.

That’s the reason JR Smith and I co-authored Wide Open Privacy: Strategies For the Digital Life (IT-Harvest2012).  While we encourage legislators to legislate, our argument is that consumers themselves cannot wait for them and must instead empower themselves.  In today’s Wiki-speed information environment, consumers must not only protect themselves from Internet fraud and theft, they must additionally take control of their own identity and reputation.  They must play defense and offense.

This means empowering consumers to take control in building their own secure and productive digital brands.  Our book helps consumers to productively manage their online identity, brand, and reputation—detailing specific strategies and tech savvy tactics to achieve control and live a more productive digital life (www.wideopenprivacy.com).  For example:

• Check out “4 Facebook Privacy Settings for the New Year,” published on CIO.com.  And follow the CIO’s advice, particularly #2 in terms of how to review old posts using your Activity Log.

• Be proactive with your privacy and review your shares, winnow your posts, edit your photos—and, yes, reevaluate your roster of Facebook or social media friends.

• Use the controls most web browsers offer to make choices about your own online privacy: limiting or blocking cookies that play a key role in tracking a user’s web browsing.

• Deploy a “Do Not Track” product of the kind offered by AVG (www.avg.com), Google’s Chrome or Apple’s Safari.

In sum, consumers and companies should push legislators on both sides of the Atlantic to accelerate the process toward a comprehensive consumer protection system.  But consumers cannot wait for this to happen—and even once legislation is enacted, we will all need to remember that empowerment itself is the best and ultimate form of privacy protection.

That said, kids’ top two online vulnerabilities are psychological and financial.

For parents, guarding a child’s emotional well-being is just as important as keeping them physically safe. When they venture alone into cyberspace, kids come across a multitude of fast-moving material that they’re not emotionally ready for. (So do adults for that matter.)

Whether it’s cyberbullying, sexual content or the infinite permutations in between, kids need bumpers and airbags, barricades to the onslaught of heavy emotional weight. On the one hand parents can verbally warn kids and look over their shoulders. But technology should always be in place to supplement the rhetoric and enforce the rules. AVG has a range of mobile products that help you manage children’s use of your mobile device and the content they can access.

On the financial side, countless scammers and legitimate companies have mastered the methods to dupe children into turning down alleys and making questionable purchases – either from websites or app stores where parents might automatically be signed in. As we all know, depending on the payment method, weeks can pass before we notice our kids have ordered virtual currency or a new weapon in a game.

As you know, I am a Brit living in the US.  I keep my eye on what happens back in the home land and I am extremely interested to see what happens with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT, UK’s version of the US FTC) investigation into this very topic. Cavendish Elithorn, OFT Senior Director for Goods and Consumer, says in this article, ”We are concerned that children and their parents could be subject to unfair pressure to purchase when they are playing games they thought were free, but which can actually run up substantial costs.”

If you are handing over a device to your kids, whether temporarily or as a device for them, be sure that you control access to the app store or other services that may have your credit card details stored. All these services have a logout/sign-out feature to protect you from this.

Not only can AVG’s mobile security software identify and block scams, it can help prevent marketers from following kids around the Web and delivering ads that are more targeted and compelling. AVG Family Safety even lets you easily access site history so you can see for yourself whether your kids played on the interstate or the merry-go-round.

So check out AVG’s mobile security solutions today. Your kids are so worth it.

But the truth is you can leverage the benefits of Twitter quite easily and many businesses are finding that it is worth investing the time.  Take Dell, which recently announced that it had generated nearly $7 million in global product sales on the social media platform.

You may not be able to reach the same targets as the computer giant, but you could get a boost in customer interaction and with it a hike in sales.

Twitter itself is making a concerted effort to engage businesses – its guide for business is a fantastic source of information about advertising, other business services and a way to find out about any updates which might be of interest. But in the meantime…

Here are my top tips for making the most of Twitter:

Customise your platform

There are so many business which set up their profile on Twitter and don’t do anything to it. You must give it the injection of brand power that it needs.

By not using a suitable profile image and background you are telling people that you don’t care about Twitter and the chances of them following you are slim. Make your profile and background as personal to your business as possible – images of your team are a great way of doing this.

Give your tweets personality!

No one will want to follow your account if your tweets have the personality of a stone. Be chatty and engaging in your Twitter messaging and people are more likely to want to engage with you. Feel free to send pictures or videos of your staff and office. It will make your account more human and people will be able to relate to your brand easier.

Help and engage people

You should make sure that your Twitter action isn’t just a one way street – have conversations with people and talk to them as you would someone coming into your store or office. If you simply tweet about your products or services without ever talking to people directly you will miss you on a chance to build an army of loyal followers who will share your content and promote you to their followers.

Use Twitter cards to get the most out of your content

If you have social sharing buttons on your business site which encourage people to Tweet your content or products – you can add a piece of code to your pages which create expanded Tweets or ‘Cards” when people share on Twitter.

For example, if you have products and someone Tweets one, if you have added the product card code, their Tweet will appear with an image, the price and availability of the product.

Use hashtags to get your Tweets noticed

If you use a hashtag before a relevant keyword or phrase, your Tweets are more likely to get found by people. If the keyword is trending your Tweet will appear for people in trend maps or if someone searches that term your Tweet will appear. Most of your Tweets should contain hashtags unless you are having a conversation.

AVG AntiVirus for Android has a range of powerful tools which can help you keep your phone running smoothly.

• Scan apps, settings, files, and media in real time
• Enable finding/locating your lost or stolen phone via Google Maps™
• Lock/wipe your device to protect your privacy
• Kill tasks that slow your device
• Browse the Web safely and securely
• Monitor battery, storage and data package usage

The AVG AntiVirus for Android widget will ensure that your AVG protection and tools are never more than a few taps away. With dozens of settings and options, the AVG Android Widget will make sure that your devices security and optimisation are just how you want them.

For more information on AVG AntiVirus for Android, check out the Google Play page.

It’s therefore no surprise that Instagram was one of the most popular choices when we asked our Facebook fans which app they would take with them if they were stranded on a desert island for a month.

After all, what better way to document your beautiful (if tragic) surroundings and share the whole experience with your friends? What’s more is that photo apps like Instagram have so many ways for you to edit your pictures that you’ll end up with a collection that you can cherish for life!

While Instagram might be a great app for our desert island scenario, there are a few things that users may want to know to ensure their photos are as private as you’d like them to be, even if that means being totally private. What matters is that you are comfortable with your level of sharing.

Check your share settings:

When you share a picture with Instagram, you have the option of adding more data to your post such as Location Data. This will tell people where you were when you took your picture.

While it might not bother you too much about sharing your location with friends and family, it’s worth pointing out that there are a string of new services which tap into public Instagram feeds.

Now is one such app, it pulls latest Instagram feeds from the user’s area and shows them what is happening nearby.

Instamap is a similar app but it creates a worldwide map of Instagram pictures that show the user what people all over the world have been doing.

Instagram itself can use your pictures in its Explore tab which is great for showing off your best pics and getting new followers but not so great if you want to keep your snaps private!

If you are uncomfortable sharing your pictures with a wider audience you can set your profile to private and then approved Instagram users to view your photos.

Remember your photos are set up to be shared publicly by default.

Manage “Photos of You”:

Instagram have recently added an identity feature to their app, meaning that for the first time you can tag friends (if they are Instagram users) to pictures.

This also works retroactively, meaning that Instagram users can go back through their history and tag up their friends.

However, the arrival of identity tagging might dig up some old photos that you might not want to see again, after all when they were taken there was no tag!

If you want to remove your tag from a photo simply:

1. Tap the photo
2. Tap your name
3. Select More Options > remove me from photo

For more information on photo tagging, check out Instagram’s “Photos of You”, Help page.

For help keeping your phone secure and your information private, check out AVG AntiVirus for Android.

A website called Textastophe has been publishing amusing text conversations with various people who have left their phone numbers lying around in public or on the web.

While Textastrophe might be a jocular and light-hearted way of highlighting how public information can fall into the wrong hands, the lessons to be learnt are very sensible indeed.

As the website says “Next time you post your phone number in a public place, think again.”

Obviously the real world effect of leaving your personal details in a public place (online or off) can lead to scenarios far more serious than being “pranked” for the web’s amusement. Instead it can result in the loss of private information, endless spam or even identity theft.

Here are five tips to keeping your own personal details private so that you don’t receive unsolicited marketing calls, mail or email:

• Don’t include your personal number or email on your public social networking profiles.

• When posting for help or advice in forums (even official ones) don’t leave your number or email for people to contact you.

• If you want to share your email or other details, try and do it via private messaging if possible.

• Check that if you are sending an email to someone you don’t know that your email signature doesn’t contain your personal number or home address.

• If you absolutely must publicly share your email address, break it up so that bots scanning for public email addresses won’t pick it up. For example:  avgblogs*at*avg*dot*com

This staggering report from industry analyst firm IDC – coupled with NPD Group’s recent discovery that connected devices in the US now outnumber people in the US – either signals an apocalyptic rise of super-machines or civilized human advancement. Or perhaps both.

From AVG’s perspective, the proliferation of smartphones long ago captured the imaginations of hackers across the planet. As more people use these mobile devices to manage finances, families and jobs, they became fertile ground for thieves looking to swipe a few gems. Or the whole jewelry case.  And now that we can use our smartphones to remotely control our cars, kitchens, home security and entertainment systems, it’s easy to see how we all should be concerned about ensuring the utmost security while we use our smartphones and when we replace them.

It also stands to reason, based on IDC’s and NPD’s research, that most of us have discarded a smartphone or two over the years as we upgraded to the latest and greatest. Many of us have drawers at home that function as electronics’ graveyards, holding all the cracked and sullied vestiges of bygone ages. Or perhaps we donated those devices to charities or passed them down to our children or even shipped them off to be recycled. Of those scenarios, when it comes to data that may linger, the drawer is probably the safest of all those places.

I say all of this because in the race to keep up with the times, there come to exist multiple archives of our most personal transactions – from text messages to bill payments. It’s risky enough to have this on a single device, let alone many.

So I encourage us to think very carefully about our individual mobile footprints. Take action to secure all the devices in your own life and your family’s life, even if they’re lodged in cobwebs. And be sure you know how to delete content for good.

For more information on how to accomplish this, check out AVG’s security solutions for iOS®, Android ™and Windows® smartphones. We may be outnumbered, but we don’t have to be outsmarted.

Reports this month suggest that aging networking protocols used by nearly every Internet-connected device are being increasingly abused by hackers to conduct what are called distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.

Anatomy of a DDoS attack

Put simply, a DDoS attack is capable of being targeted at any device that has some level of Internet connectivity – and at that means an increasing amount of all types of office hardware. These often quite basic machines are often referred to as “IP-based” devices where IP stands for Internet Protocol.  The DDoS attack exploits what are unfortunately the inherent vulnerabilities that must exist if we want to be able to work with standardized open network protocols across the web.

In today’s world of Internet-connected “smart” devices, we now know that printers, routers, CCTV units, electricity meters, digital TV recorders and even refrigerators are being routinely hooked up to the Internet to allow users to manage them remotely.  As more and more everyday appliances become IP-enabled, they help create what we call the “Internet of things” and these devices have become prime candidates for hackers, activists and blackmailers who seek to compromise their power and turn them into botnets or similar malicious platforms used for distributing attacks. Distributing attacks via unmanned smart devices makes it more difficult to trace the source and it is easier to overwhelm the target.

From a small business perspective DDoS attacks can manifest themselves upon printers, routers, hubs, cameras, sensors and any other network-connected device. In terms of form and function, the DDoS attack sees the device “coopted” or placed under co-operational control so that some other party suddenly has access to it.

It is an inconvenient truth is that if we want to live in a world that uses the open doors and passageways of the Internet to make life easier, there will always be a certain amount of people out there who wish to exploit it for the wrong reasons.

Managing it is not rocket science

As the owner-manager of a small business a little knowledge can go a long way here. You do not need a working knowledge of network protocols, just being aware of the danger is half the battle. By at least knowing that your networked hardware is at risk, you can ask your security vendor, consultant or service engineer what to do about it.

Also be aware that no business is too small.  If you have a couple of office desktops or laptops, a router-driven Internet connection and a few mobile devices to plug in, then you are well within the sights of DDoS. The best way to protect yourself from attack is to identify all of the devices accessible on your network, whether they appear to be sensitive or not, and manage them properly.

There’s no denying that remote management of otherwise dumb devices comes in very handy, but there is a trade-off.  That’s why you should add every single one of them to the list of things that must be properly managed and secured.

AVG Memory & Cache Cleaner

VProtect Application

Please be informed that process vprot.exe (VProtect Application) is a legitimate part of the AVG toolbar. We have prepared the What is VProtect Application and vprot.exe article where you can find more information and instructions how to fix common issues.

AVG System tray notifications

System tray notifications are useful when you want to know what tasks AVG does on your computer. However some users may not be interested in such information so we’ve made it possible to disable these notifications. You can disable all at once or just those you are not interested in. Please follow the How to disable AVG system tray notifications article if you want to change AVG’s notifications.

My computer is infected

Many users are asking us how to proceed when they suspect that their computer has become infected. We have summarized the general procedure in the My computer is infected. What do I do now? article. If AVG is not already installed on the infected machine, we recommend going through the How to install AVG on an infected computer article.

AVG Toolbar and Secure Search uninstallation

If you want to completely remove the AVG Secure Search and/or AVG Toolbar and associated browser changes, please follow the How to remove AVG Toolbar, homepage and Secure Search from your browser article where you can find detailed instructions.

If you have any questions about any of these issues or need help resolving them, please contact AVG customer care experts.

This is not about resume writing, networking or monster.com. This is about the right frame of mind if you are over fifty and looking for a job…and some everyday technology which can help.

During the past few years, I have witnessed some amazing job interviews by people over fifty and sadly observed many dismal failures. Here are five tips to make sure your skills shine through:

1. Get your head in the right place. This is not about you. This is about what you can offer the company. No one owes “boomers” anything so make a mental list of what you would bring to the company and keep the list succinct and ready. If the company is public read their annual report . If they are private read their press clippings.
2. Show up rested and with some energy. That doesn’t mean hit Starbucks, it does mean that you need to convey you can still “hang”, do the hours and have intensity. This can be shown by simple things like sitting up straight and speaking with conviction.  Before going to the interview practice at home. Have a friend ask you standard interview questions and record them on your phone. Playback. Practice. Playback. Practice. How you sound may surprise you but by using this tool you’ll get a head start and make a great impression.
3. Relax and Smile. People hire people they like and want to be around. The more stressful you make the experience the less likely you are to be hired. Develop a play list just for the last half hour before an interview. Find the music which relaxes you and just sit and listen. Or try an app like Simply Being for meditative help…and if you want to make sure you don’t wander off into sleep land pre-install extreme Alarm Clock it even has a gentle setting
4. Convey passion about the opportunity. Frame this as a calling. Whatever it is from answering a phone to driving a bus. Be passionate about the position but not over the top.
5. Start off the interview with the question, “What skills are you looking for in the person you hire for this position?” It starts the interview off right. You are showing respect, listening skills and it is giving you time to frame your skills around the requirements.

Make sure you express no technology gaps, are proficient on Microsoft Office, have an up to date LinkedIn profile that matches your resume and recommendations on your LinkedIn account. Before sending out your resume, make sure your file format is clean of any viruses. Download free antivirus software to ensure your resume isn’t blocked by your Internet Service Provider or a company’s firewall system.

Happy Hunting!

Vine is a quick and easy way of turning your memories into short, six second videos which are then uploaded and shared on Twitter and Facebook.

However, while you can control who views your videos on Facebook or Twitter, the original vines themselves will always be available to the public. As Vine’s Privacy Policy says:

“Vine is a video sharing platform, so most of the information you provide us is information that you chose to be made public. This includes not only the content that you post and data provided with such content, such as when it was posted, but also the accounts you follow, the content that you like or comment on, and other public interactions on the services. Your public information is broadly and instantly disseminated.”

So those “vines” you are posting could end up just about anywhere. And they do.

VinePeek is just one of a number of Vine browsing sites  inviting you to “Watch the world in realtime”. The site constantly streams a feed of recently uploaded vines and even allows you to save them.

How would you feel if the “vine” you uploaded of you and your friends was being viewed and saved by strangers on another continent?

As with a lot of the latest social networking apps, users should be aware that what they are posting is immediately available for public viewing and not in fact as private as they might think.

If you wish to continue using Vine, as many will, I would recommend being selective about what you choose to share as you may be performing to a larger audience than you anticipate.

For many companies, particularly startups, small companies, virtual firms and organizations with remote employees, cloud based technologies make a lot of sense.  And it also makes sense that the more popular ones are the ones that provide storage and collaboration –these are easy to setup and not as mission critical. There are a lot of myths about cloud computing in 2013 that just aren’t true.  Here are some of the more common ones I hear from my clients.

“It’s cheaper and cost beneficial.”  This may be true if you’re a startup or are migrating to a relatively inexpensive cloud application.  But if you have existing applications and you decide to move your entire organization to a cloud based infrastructure you’ll likely pay about $100 per month per user.  That’s exactly what I’ve been seeing and that’s a lot more expensive than just buying a new server and having an IT guy service it for a few hours a month.  There are many inexpensive cloud based applications but the more robust, the higher the monthly fees. And if you add up the monthly fees over a 5-7 year period and compare it just buying an application you’ll see that you could be likely paying more.  I expect the costs of the cloud to continue to decrease over time, but for now it could be more expensive.

“I can connect anywhere, anytime.”  The reality is you’re not as mobile as you think.  That’s because to use the cloud effectively you need internet access.  And depending on where you are this is easier said than done.  Many places say they offer free Wi-Fi but sometimes it’s so slow it’s almost not worth doing the work.  It’s not uncommon, particularly for a business traveler, to hit dead spots and experience agonizingly slow speeds which can really hurt productivity.  Internet access and speeds continue to improve, but they haven’t caught up with the functionality that a lot of advanced cloud based apps offer.  Many of my clients experience frustration with this.

“My data is less secure.”   If any cloud provider tells you that your data is 100% secure than they’re lying to you.  Nothing is 100%.  But I’m going to bet that your data hosted on their server is way more secure than in your own internal environment.  That’s because successful companies who offer cloud based services and who want to continue being successful build their business models around data connectivity and security.  They will always be using the latest security applications and have more security resources deployed than you could ever hope.  Breaches will happen, but I favor the security of cloud companies over my IT guy.

“My service provider is guaranteeing me a long term, flat, monthly fee.”   True.  For the time being.  But my biggest question about cloud application is how much you will allow your business to become dependent on the cloud provider.  How much are you willing to relinquish control over that “flat monthly fee.”  What if your cloud services provider decides to increase it 10%?  What can you do?  What’s your recourse?  Are you going to move yourself off of their platform and go through the inconvenience of finding another solution?  Or will you opt to self-manage your cloud applications? Nothing ever stands still for long in IT.  Nothing.

The huge popularity of apps like Instagram (which hit 100m users in Feb) show that people love taking pictures of their lives and documenting the “best bits”.

Days wants to change that by presenting itself as a photo-diary of our daily lives, as regular or mundane as they may be.

Gone are sexy filters and sepia tones to be replaced by timestamps and next-day summaries.

This means that pictures you take in Days won’t be shared instantly with your friends but instead will go live with your day summary the very next day.

Days even allows you to record short animated gifs to help you relive the most exciting parts of your day.

After you’ve selected which events you’d like to include in your Day summary you can post it to all the major social networks

While a lot of people might question the value of sharing the monotony of our daily trials, one could argue that it will create a more rounded picture of our real lives, not just the highly personalised  highlights that Instagram offers and therefore will be more engaging when revisiting years later.

People that are interested in Days should remember that as they share more photos they are sharing more of their lives online.

Days has attempted to tighten its privacy belt by giving users the option of keeping their profile public (default setting) or by making it private at registration. Making your account private will mean that nobody can view your photo diary without your approval.

Days also supports geotagging (powered by Foursquare) so users should be aware that they will be allowing the app to access their phone’s location.

To make the most of Days you’ll be allowing the app access to the following permissions:

• Push Notficiations
• Facebook account details
• Twitter account details
• Contact List
• Location Data

The app is available now in the App Store.

The clear winner was WhatsApp with over 400 votes, and last week we covered Facebook which was in high demand among the comments.

This week our Desert Island journey takes us to 1Password which came second (albeit a long way behind) in our poll selections.

We’ve all got dozens of online accounts, and remembering all of your passwords can be quite tricky and for obvious reasons it’s not a good idea for you to have the same password for all of your online accounts. So what are you to do?

After all you don’t want to be stuck on a desert island with 20 different passwords to remember or locked out of your favourite accounts!

This is where password managers like 1Password come in, they store all of your passwords securely on your machine, which is much safer than a writing them all down in a Word document!

Not just that, products like 1Password help you make strong passwords. We all like to think that we use strong passwords but as this list of the Top 25 most used passwords shows, we’ve got plenty of room for improvement!

So having 1Password on your phone will make sure you can log in to all of your accounts from your desert island but will also make sure that you are using strong and unique passwords for each account.

Are there any pitfalls to using a password app like 1Password? Well as much as it is useful and helpful to store all of your passwords in the same place, should your phone get lost or stolen then you’re whole bank of passwords could be at risk.

For a mobile user, the real possibility of giving a phone thief all of your online passwords can be a very real threat. That’s why it’s important to look after your device with the same care that you are looking after your online accounts.

AVG AntiVirus for Andro id will help you keep your phone malware free and should your phone get lost or stolen, it can help protect your passwords and sensitive data by remotely locking and even wiping your phone should you need to.

We’re also in the hold of a lengthy period of slow (or negative) growth which has made streamlining and cost-saving an essential part of business. It’s time to shave off extra fees and clear the way for growth.

Here are my top five tips on spring cleaning your business:

Review your offering

Are your products or services fulfilling their needs? When you have had success it’s easy to become complacent. Have you looked at what your competitors are offering? Are there extra products or services that you could add which would enrich your customers’ experience?

It can be hard to keep track of where the market is going and what advances have been made in your industry. Hot new products and services may pass you by. Take this chance to look around at what is happening in your market – make sure your business stays relevant.

Conduct a talent review

During a downturn there are times when cutting staff to cut costs is a necessary action. But streamlining your talent doesn’t have to mean axing people – there are other ways in which you can boost your efficiency.

Look at where the talent in your company lies – is everybody in the best possible position? Are there hidden skills lurking within your ranks which could be better used? Make sure the culture encourages ideas and people know that their opinions are valued.

Update all of your security systems

All of the spring cleaning in the world won’t save you from cyber crime if your antivirus and internet security aren’t up to scratch. The latest figures from PwC have revealed that cyber crime against small businesses is on the rise and it is more important than ever that you have updated your systems and have the best possible security package for your business.

Have your staff got anti-virus software on their smartphones? It is increasingly popular for employees to access work information such as emails on their phones so make sure that you are covered by encouraging them to download a free security app such as the one offered by AVG.

Spruce up your social media

For many smaller businesses keeping on top of social media can be a difficult but setting up a profile and neglecting it can do more harm than good. The benefits of social media marketing are becoming stronger as time goes by so investing a little bit of time in getting these channels up and running again will bear fruit in time.

Why not come up with some exciting social media campaigns which will breathe a little life into your social profiles? There are plenty of examples out there and guides to coming up with fresh ideas which work well on the individual platforms.

Consider a move

This may seem like an extreme way of spring cleaning, simply up and moving offices leaving your excess trash behind but it could be an extremely effective way of saving costs in the long-run. When was the last time you reviewed how much you pay for your premises? It might be time to move to another part of town where you could pick up some bargains.

If a full-scale move seems like a bridge-too-far why not just try and get a discount on your current premises? If your lease is coming to an end it might be worth negotiating with your landlord for a better price.

Smartphones and tablets are the digital onramps for our children to the Internet. We each have a responsibility to keep them safe while they navigate their digital lives.

As adults we have learned a lot in our digital experiences. In the process, we’ve also learned how easily we can stumble across content that shocks us. We’ve figured out how to identify posers and scams. Of course we want to shield our kids and grandkids from this.  And while the technology exists to achieve it, AVG found that many moms aren’t yet aware of it..

For example, 71% of US moms frequently share their devices with their children to help keep them occupied. That in itself is not a problem. What we do need to be concerned about is what children are doing on devices. A friend of mine recently received a new Sony PlayStation. She did not order it. When she tracked back the time stamp of the order it was five minutes after she handed her tablet to her five year old son in a restaurant. He managed to navigate to the store, find the PlayStation and with one click order it!  Moms have their hands full in this digital era of parenting.

We therefore offered moms the following five tips. If they sound reasonable to you, I invite you to share them with your families.

1. Relax: you’re in the majority: most moms give kids access to their mobile devices.
2. Educate kids on online/mobile scams and threats.
3. Control content with onboard software.
4. Recognize there’s more to childhood than cyberspace – and consider limiting the time kids spend online. Currently, only 37% of US moms say they are doing so.
5. Talk to kids on your own terms about sex – and make sure they feel safe coming to you or another adult for perspective should they encounter content they do not understand.

Explore AVG’s range of Family Safety products for iPhones and iPads and for Windows Phone devices

AVG requesting system restart repeatedly

AVG users have reported that after updating, AVG is repeatedly requesting a system restart. This issue is caused by certain update files being unsuccessfully renamed during the update process.

Please proceed as follows to rectify the situation:

1. Navigate to the following folder (some files and folders are hidden by default operating system configuration):

C:\ProgramData\avg<VERSION>\cfg\

…or (if using Windows XP):

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\avg<VERSION>\cfg\

2. Verify that the updatecomps.cfg.prepare or updatecomps.bak file is present in this folder.

3. Delete the updatecomps.cfg file.

4. Rename the updatecomps.cfg.prepare or updatecomps.bak to updatecomps.cfg.

We recommend performing the complete AVG reinstallation if the issue is not rectified.

AVG Trial expired

When your trial version of AVG expires, you will receive the “Don’t lose your AVG protection!” message (the wording may vary).

There are two options how to resume AVG protection once the trial expires.

1) You can purchase a license for the advanced protection you were enjoying.

2) You can remove the Trial version and install AVG Free for continued basic protection.

Toolbar_log.txt

The AVG Toolbar log file (toolbar_log.txt) may rapidly increase its size under specific circumstances. The symptoms are computer slowdown, decreasing disk space and slowed-down internet connection. We have found the source of the issue and fix was already released as AVG Toolbar update. If you are still having any of described symptoms please re-install AVG toolbar using latest installation and follow the Slowdown of computer or internet connection and decreasing disk space article.

Download Failed – Virus Detected

Some users have reported difficulty downloading certain files from the internet after the most recent AVG update. This issue occurs under specific circumstances and the “Download Failed – Virus Detected” error message is displayed by your internet browser. We have prepared the Virus detected when downloading files from internet article which should help you in such cases.

Developers are already working on a permanent fix however data from various computer setups are required. Please go to this AVG Forums thread if you would like to participate.

AVG Toolbar and Secure Search uninstallation

If you want to completely remove the AVG Secure Search and/or AVG Toolbar and associated browser changes, please follow the How to remove AVG Toolbar, homepage and Secure Search from your browser article where you can find detailed instructions.

If you have any questions about any of these issues or need help resolving them, please contact AVG customer care experts.

The London Olympic Games was a fantastic catalyst for the strategy as companies up and down the country trial different flexible working patterns – and it went down like a storm.

According to research by Cisco, 35% of business now feel that location of work will be irrelevant in the next two to three years.

The benefits of offering flexible working are well-known. It can boost productivity by cutting travel times, increase job satisfaction and open up employment to people who can’t work to traditional time schedules such as parents and carers. Getting it right can be a win-win for you and your employees.

But flexible working can throw up some challenges for employers too. There are certain steps they can take to avoid these becoming problems. Here are my top five:

Have a clear flexible working policy

If you approach offering flexible working without putting a policy in place you may run into problems down the line. The team needs to know where they stand and that there is not one rule for one and a different for another.

Are there certain roles that will never be suitable for flexible working? Are there times of the year when it won’t work for the company? These are the kinds of questions you should be asking and turning into a clear guide.

Make sure people have the tools they need

If you have organised for a member of staff to work flexibly, make sure you know they have the tools they need to work remotely. This might mean ensuring they have the correct hardware they need to carry out tasks and also that they have remote access to essential materials such as documents, emails threads etc. Do they have access to emails on their phones? For example.

Make security a priority

When your employees are accessing work related documents outside of the office you need to ensure that their personal devices are secure to avoid any security breaches.

A strong business security package should be installed on all devices and smart phones should also use a security app like AVG for Mobile. This means that wherever your employees are, you know how secure your data is.

Make sure everybody is clear on their responsibilities

When everyone is not in the same building or room, the chances of tasks falling through the cracks can rise. If everybody is well aware of what they and their colleagues are working on this should stop things getting neglected.

There is a lot of software which can help your employees to continue communicating their work to each other. Cloud software such as Google Docs allow employers to work on documents together in real time, leaving comments as they go so everybody knows where they are at.

Ensure there are regular face-to-face meetings

If someone is working flexibly, you should ensure that you have regular meetings to maintain a connection between the employee and the company culture. Sharing of ideas and collaboration can start to get lost if there isn’t regular contact at the office.

Ok’d was launched this week at Disrupt NY 2013 and allows users to send money to anyone that has a mobile phone, even if they don’t have a bank account.

Say for example, you are wandering around Urban Outfitters and see a dress you like. You take a snap of it and send it, along with the price, to your sponsor.

Your sponsor receives the message and can then choose to donate none, all or part of the money required to purchase the item.

Funding is received as a voucher code redeemable only at the store in question which can be presented to the cashier.

What’s nice about Ok’d is that there is no transfer of credit card details between sponsor and recipient making it a more secure way for parents, friends, spouses or even employers to sponsor your purchase.

The new app could also be an effective way of making “group” purchases and avoid having to hassle friends for a few dollars each.

The only security concern that I could foresee with Ok’d is if a user’s phone was stolen. The thief could then request funding for products in a store while masquerading as you. Given that funding requires approval from the benefactor, the risk here seems pretty low.

For more information on Ok’d, check out the website.