Steve Woda's Blog

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Category: Online Fraud Page 1 of 3

The Problem: Sexting and Predators

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On July 21, 2009

In buySAFE, Facebook, Internet Safety, Online Fraud, Predators, Sexting, Social Networking, Trust and Safety, Web/Tech

It is hard for me to believe, but today is the nine year anniversary of buySAFE’s birthdate.  Time sure does fly by when you are having a good time. 

When I left buySAFE a few months ago, I promised to keep you up to date on my next entrepreneurial adventure.  In the spirit of start-up birthdays, I thought I would share with you a few interesting details about my next venture.

Sexting is rampant. Predators are everywhere. Obviously, buySAFE was founded to make the Internet safer for online shoppers, and we did that for tens of millions of consumers.  This time around, we want to make technology safer for our kids (Fatherhood has a way of inspiring you to do such things).  Our new start-up is tackling two serious, prevalent and complex problems: Sexting and Predators.  The market simply hasn’t provided any effective solutions for parents yet, and we intend to fill that gap.

The business was inspired by my brother, Tim Woda, who as the parent of older children, has had to confront these difficult issues directly.  It seems like every time I speak with a parent of tweens or teens, they express the same frustrations and fear about allowing their kids to use digital technologies.  Since there are more than 37 million kids in the U.S. and more than 1.2 billion kids globally between the ages of 9 and 17, I believe there is an interesting business opportunity here.

The following is a short video overview of the Sexting and Predator problems that parents face today.  If you have any feedback or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment.  I welcome your assistance.  Also, please share this video with your friends and family.  I believe it is important that we educate parents to make sure they are fully aware of the digital dangers they must manage on behalf of their kids. 

I recognize that I haven’t told you how we are going to attack these scary problems, but I will over the coming months.  I wanted to tease you first!  🙂  Before telling you everything, we have to finish building out our product and raise a bit of capital to finance our public launch.  Both of these activities are ongoing (and going well), and I will share more as we make additional progress.

I will continue to provide you with regular updates here on this blog, but if you want to get more frequent updates, feel free to become a fan on my Facebook Fan Page.  I am using it to share my daily thoughts on this start-up adventure.  Thanks, and stay tuned!

A Little Challenge to the Private Sector

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On July 30, 2008

In ControlScan, eCommerce, Miscellaneous, Online Fraud, Trust and Safety, Web/Tech

Today’s post is provided by Joan Herbig.  Joan is the Chief Executive Officer for ControlScan, a leading provider of security and Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance solutions designed exclusively for small- to medium-sized e-commerce businesses.

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I recently sent some employees to a seminar to get an industry-recommended security certificate. The seminar is aimed at providing education on the newest and hottest cyber threats.

With all the news of mega breaches out there, including one I just wrote about on www.esecuritydiva.com, it would seem as if an information-packed seminar such as this one would be packed with IT people, right? Actually, it was. But with public sector IT people. Private sector attendees were few and far between.

What’s going on here? This little piece of news could be a telltale:

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Daily Roundup for 2008-04-21

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On April 21, 2008

In Bookmarks, Counterfeits, eBay, Online Advertising, Online Fraud, PayPal, Trust and Safety, Web/Tech

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Daily Roundup for 2008-04-16

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On April 16, 2008

In Bookmarks, eBay, eCommerce, Facebook, Marketing, Microsoft, Online Advertising, Online Fraud, Social Networking, Venture Capital, Web/Tech, Yahoo!

  • Does Your Company Need a Chief Blogger? – Advertising Age
    It’s a question marketers are still grappling with years after the first waves of corporate blogging flooded the web. But for better or worse, it seems corporate blogging — and the title of chief blogger — is beginning to hit its stride. Companies such as Coca-Cola, Marriott and Kodak all have recently recruited chief bloggers, with or without the actual title, to tell their stories and engage consumers.

  • Brands Partner With Consumers Online – eMarketer
    These days, online consumers and companies are collaborating on a range of activities, including R&D, marketing and after-sales support.  Here are a few examples of how brands and consumers are working together online.

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Daily Roundup for 2008-04-08

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On April 8, 2008

In Bookmarks, eCommerce, Entrepreneurship, Google, Online Fraud, Trust and Safety, Venture Capital, Web/Tech

  • Just What We Needed, Google on Speed – Google Everflux
    Is it just me or has Google gone into overdrive? As a professional full-time online marketer I have to keep my mind firmly placed on what Google is doing. As much as I try not to because Google has probably driven more people around the bend than Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz put together. Like any professional marketer, I monitor my numerous keywords on a daily basis – especially my major targeted keyword phrases that bring in the most sales and subscribers. For years now, I have had top rankings in Google for my chosen phrases; they move up and down, but mostly they don’t leave the first page.

  • Beam it up: Tiny projectors to magnify cell-phone cinema – Technology Review
    Recognizing that it is not much fun to watch movies on a tiny cell phone, a number of companies are racing to develop gadgets that project what’s playing on the small screen onto walls, table cloths and other handy surfaces. ”Pico projectors” that are small enough to carry around in a shirt pocket are expected on the market later this year. Eventually, the technology will be tiny enough to be built into phones and portable media players, the companies say.

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Daily Roundup for 2008-04-04

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On April 4, 2008

In Bookmarks, eBay, Google, Online Advertising, Online Fraud, Skype, Trust and Safety, Web/Tech

  • Google’s Gamble
    Can fewer clicks on its search ads lead to more revenue for Google? That is the question investors, analysts, and the company itself are trying to answer. The debate was launched after a Mar. 26 report from researcher comScore (SCOR) showed a decline in the number of clicks from the prior month on Google’s search-related ads. According to the research firm, clicks on ads declined 3% in February from the prior month and were up just 3% compared to last year. Some analysts cautioned investors against buying additional Google (GOOG) shares; Google’s stock declined 3% on Mar. 27, to $444.

  • Mashup Security – Technology Review
    Mashups–online applications that combine data and tools from different websites–are becoming increasingly useful. Although they started out as simple consumer programs, such as a tool that placed housing listings from Craigslist onto Google Maps, mashups have grown in complexity and are becoming popular with corporations, too. As a growing number of tools are released to help people easily build mashups, experts are also taking a look at how to head off the security risks.

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Daily Roundup for 2008-03-25

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On March 25, 2008

In Bookmarks, Marketing, Online Advertising, Online Fraud, Venture Capital, Web/Tech

  • Region’s Venture Capital Rank Slips – washingtonpost.com
    Regions of the West Coast and Midwest moved ahead of Washington as top destinations for venture capital in recent years, as the local venture economy grew more slowly than the national average, a Washington Post analysis shows. In 2001, the year the technology bubble popped, Washington ranked sixth among top destinations for venture capital, after Silicon Valley, New England, the New York metro area, Texas and the Southeast. Last year, it was ranked 10th, overtaken by the Northwest, San Diego, the Midwest and Los Angeles/Orange County.

  • Hammering out Wikipedia’s financial future, argument by argument – Technology Review
    Scroll the list of the 10 most popular Web sites in the U.S., and you’ll encounter the Internet’s richest corporate players — names like Yahoo, Amazon.com, News Corp., Microsoft and Google. Except for No. 7: Wikipedia. And there lies a delicate situation. With 2 million articles in English alone, the Internet encyclopedia ”anyone can edit” stormed the Web’s top ranks through the work of unpaid volunteers and the assistance of donors. But that gives Wikipedia far less financial clout than its Web peers, and doing almost anything to improve that situation invites scrutiny from the same community that proudly generates the content.

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Daily Roundup for 2008-03-19

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On March 19, 2008

In Bookmarks, Core Capital, eBay, eCommerce, Entrepreneurship, Grotech Capital, Online Fraud, Venture Capital, Web/Tech

  • Woman to record industry: Stop spying
    A woman who claims the recording industry’s anti-music piracy campaign threatens and intimidates innocent people has filed a new complaint accusing record companies of racketeering, fraud and illegal spying.

  • Startup RatePoint bets that people want user reviews refereed – Technology Review
    One of the great things about the Internet is the way people post reviews on just about anything you are considering trying, whether it is a movie, a new restaurant or the local florist.  This also introduces one of the worst things about the Internet: trying to figure out which reviews to trust. Was that effusive praise written surreptitiously by the merchant? Was that anonymous online slam posted by a devious competitor?  The dilemma might be unavoidable in this age of abundant user-generated content, when we have to be smarter about separating signals from noise. But a startup called RatePoint Inc. begs to differ. It wants to play referee, giving consumers more clarity into a business’ reputation and protecting the business from unwarranted blights on its credibility.

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Daily Roundup for 2008-03-07

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On March 7, 2008

In Bookmarks, eCommerce, Entrepreneurship, Facebook, Marketing, Online Fraud, Trust and Safety, Web/Tech

  • Sites With Anti-Fraud Sign Still Flawed – The Associated Press
    When a small padlock appears in the corner of your Web browser’s address bar or the entire bar turns green, it seems like a powerful signal you’re safe to proceed.  But experts say the SSL certificates those green lights signify — digital stamps of approval that Web sites buy to prove they’re running a legitimate business and can send and receive encrypted data safely — don’t provide the safety they seem to.  "They instill some sense of security, but that could be a dangerously false sense of security," said Paul Mutton, a researcher with UK-based security firm Netcraft Ltd.  The site itself could still be riddled with security holes for hackers to exploit. And the certificate could simply be bogus: Criminals have been forging them to get the padlock icon and dress up fraudulent sites.

  • Web 2.0’s Long Road to IPOs
    During the Web’s heyday, a profitable Internet company nearing $100 million in annual sales while luring a million new customers a month would have found itself on the IPO fast track. But that’s hardly the case for LinkedIn, a professional networking site that has cleared those hurdles and then some.  Instead, LinkedIn is hewing closely to the Web economy’s new motto on initial public offerings: Easy does it. Founded in 2003, LinkedIn may not sell shares until some time next year. Likewise, social networking site Facebook, worth $15 billion on paper, may not go public until 2010,

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Daily Roundup for 2008-03-03

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On March 3, 2008

In Bookmarks, ChannelAdvisor, eBay, eCommerce, Online Fraud, Trust and Safety

  • Lessons in building a better widget
    By giving an audience widgets that provide a service and make their lives more interesting or convenient your brand will be on its way to far more free real estate than you ever expected.  In helping brands develop widget presences, I can say that for brand managers and agencies alike, the first time through can be an emotional roller coaster. Early in the process, brainstorming sessions are filled with far-flung, fantastic ways to bring enterprise information into the everyday lives of the audience.

  • Comparison shopping engines more important for some products than others – InternetRetailer.com
    Comparison shopping engines are an important part of the e-commerce channel marketing mix, Scot Wingo, CEO of e-commerce channel management services vendor ChannelAdvisor Corp., tells Internet Retailer. But they’re a better spend for some categories than for others, he adds.  Wingo says, for example, that comparison shopping engines are strong in categories such as consumer electronics, less so with products such as apparel and jewelry. That disparity is partially a function of how matching on the engines works. Consumer electronics products have a multitude of hard attributes that lend themselves to point-to-point comparison, for example, while jewelry and apparel selection relies more on a shopper’s subjective opinion.  That said, ChannelAdvisor customers spend anywhere from 15% to as much as 40% of their online marketing dollars on comparison shopping engines

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