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Number
17: August 27, 2003
Please forward this newsletter to your colleagues and friends. If someone
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This week in Katydid:
So,
Big, What's the 'F' Stand For?
I have a cable modem, with a light that blinks whenever there's activity
on the network. Every blink is a message. On most networks, activity is
low. Computers let each other know they're online or if they have
services available. Lately, that light is my meter on virus activity.
Viruses relentlessly ping every computer on the network looking for an
open door. That light is the virus hammering on the door, and like a
teenager in a horror film, I'm losing trust in the lock.
Companies are still digging themselves out of the rubble left by the Blaster
virus and the Sobig.F
worm. Although, the debris is not directly caused by the virus.
(Nobody knows yet what the Sofbig.F worm was meant to do, because it was
stopped in time.) However, the viruses continue to drag the Internet
with their activity.
First, infected computers become very vocal on their networks and
even if you're protected, your computer has to listen to all that noise.
It takes time to ignore all those requests. It also takes up a large
amount of bandwidth. All my legitimate business has to sneak in between
the network chatter.
Those of you on corporate networks are not immune because once you
make it out of the firewall you face the same traffic. It's like trying
to get on the freeway at rush hour except everybody's blasting their
horns.
The information superhighway is choked with junkers. Those old
viruses (remember I love You?) are still traveling around. Your virus
scanning software has to deal with every virus that's ever been invented
and still be on the lookout for new models.
Between network chatter and software intercepting all computer
activity, your system performs much more slowly. Some users have noticed
such a sizable difference in performance between online and offline that
they will disconnect from the Internet in order to get work done.
In the 80's, viruses spread through floppy diskettes. I remember
hearing those screams coming over the cubicle walls. Then, you had to
deal with one computer at a time. Now, viruses spread chiefly through
e-mail and they generate hundreds of millions of messages. America
Online is blocking 11 million Sobig e-mail messages a day.
One message naturally generates several more because of error
messages. Some internet service providers (ISPs) have made the problem
worse in their efforts to prevent spam. They have required that e-mail
messages have valid domain names in their reply-to address. This was
supposed to prevent spammers from using fake domain names. Of course,
spammers (and virus programmers) simply began using legitimate domain
names.
Now those error messages (undeliverable), which used to disappear, go
directly to the stolen domain name. So, if your domain is randomly drawn
(picked by the virus from the user's own favorites menu), you can expect
thousands of messages to flood the 'info@' mailbox for your domain.
That's what happened with Sobig. The virus was stopped but generated
millions of e-mail messages and their subsequent error messages, and
flooded administrator inboxes.
The solution? You can buy yourself some time by moving to a Linux or
MAC system; they rarely are attacked. Of course, they share the same
internet as the rest of us, so the bandwidth issues still apply. You can
follow good e-mail practices - never open unsolicited e-mail, never open
attachments or click links from an unknown source, etc. - unfortunately,
viruses usually come from addresses we recognize.
The best solution is to get quality virus-protection software. Most
of these services (McAfee,
Symantec)
are subscription-based. I usually don't like to buy software on
subscription, but this is one application where it makes sense. These
companies constantly update their systems. In a recent NY
Times article F-secure, a Finnish company, claimed they can update
their users' systems within two hours of the discovery of a new worm.
All of these companies share data about viruses, so you can choose based
on price, features, and convenience.
The software doesn't solve the problem, but it can help you survive
in bad weather. It's like owning storm windows in Florida during
hurricane season. During the CodeRed
virus earlier this year, my activity light flickered constantly.
Then, after awhile it cooled down again. Sobig will blow over eventually
and things will get better for a while. Just don't take down those storm
windows.
Top »
Getting
Heat with Cold E-mails
Today, I find businesses replacing cold calling with e-mail. The sense
is that people prefer to receive an e-mail contact before a phone
contact. E-mail gives the recipient a chance to prepare and they feel
less pressured. The goal with the cold call is to see if there's any
interest and if so, to begin a relationship.
Here are some tips to improve your chances of getting through the
clutter:
Make Your Name Recognizable
You e-mail software has a field for your "from name'. This is
the alias displayed in place of your e-mail address. Use your full name
and consider using your company name, but don't let it be too long. If
this is your first contact and your company is not well known, you might
consider sending snail mail to build awareness. If your name is cv rbkl
..u7, consider changing it.
Be Direct
Make sure you're sending your e-mail directly to one person. Their name
should be in the "To" field. Don't BCC your mailing list, or
everyone in the department. If you want to contact more people in the
organization, send a unique greeting to each.
Make Subject Lines Relevant
They've seen every line there is, so don't hand them another one. State
one clear offer that is relevant to what they are doing today. This is
no time to be cryptic or sensational.
Keep it Plain
For bulk campaigns, it's still best to use HTML, but resist it for
one-to-one e-mails. Get to the point quickly. Your recipient has also
seen hundreds of junk e-mails that look personable with casual language
and rambling tone. Use the journalistic inverted pyramid where you
summarize everything up front and then move into details.
Don't Get Attached
E-mail attachments make everyone nervous. It's best to ask them if
you can send them information. When you do send information, always
compress multiple files into one attachment (ZIP, SIT) of less than 3MB
(the limit for many mail servers). It's best to point customers to your
web site anyway.
Ask for More
You want permission to continue the relationship. You probably won't
get them to make a call to you (noone wants to look too eager), but
include your phone number. Ask if they'd like you to send them more
information. Include a URL that they can visit. Always include your
e-mail address and URL in plain text in case the e-mail is forwarded to
someone else.
Follow up
It's fine to e-mail and say you will call. Give them a specific
time, and ask them to let you know if there's a better time. If they're
not interested, they will tell you in an e-mail rather than have to take
a call they don't want. You may also send another e-mail as a follow up,
but let them know that you will stop. "After this, I won't contact
you again, but I wanted to make sure you knew…"
If you have other tips you have found successful, send them to
Katydid and we'll publish them in future issues.
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Thanks for Reading
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Kind regards,
Kevin Troy Darling
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