Customer Reviews

Risky Business: Protect Your Business From Being Stalked, Conned, or Blackmailed on the Web

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once again, Janal would have received five stars for his introductory work on internet security were it not for the numerous typos and editorial errors throughout the book. To cite a glaring example, on page 315 of the book, one of Janal's four crisis communication measures is repeated twice.

Though the book's content is repetitive in many places, much of the information to be found here can be quite eye-opening for those who are either new to the internet or use it infrequently. While it is true that a lot of the information presented in this book can be found on the net, most people probably would not have the time, patience, or money to find it on their own. Janal should be commended for putting together this information and presenting it as a warning for those thinking of venturing on the net. Janal really does give the thinking novice cause for pause.

The organization of this volume is lacking in a couple of key areas and could have been better organized. Contact information for those quoted was repeated ad nauseum, and could have either been presented once at the end of a chapter or as an appendix at the end of the book. Since the book's target audience is obviously those who are new to the internet and those who rarely use it, Janal could have appended useful information, such as links to useful organizations. Granted, this information was included throughout the book, but really interrupted the flow of his easygoing, understandable dialogue and got in the way of important points in the text. Some of the chapters could have been subdivided into smaller, meatier chunks of information. On the other hand, other pieces of information, such as domain name trivia, could have been dumped altogether.

Yet, from a practical standpoint, the internet, as presented by Janal, can be a legal nightmare. One must consider intellectual property issues, copyright infringement, libel laws, trademark abuse, and domain name protection, in addition to various invasions of privacy and civil liberty long before venturing onto the internet.

To his credit, Janal freely admits that his book is no substitute for good legal help, and the wise web entrepreneur will retain good legal services long before going on the net and facing a problem. Most progressive companies that are serious about competing in the digital era have already taken the steps necessary to protect themselves, and intelligent web surfers are using the internet with a good deal of caution.

In the end, as many of the dangers Janal points out are often unavoidable and come out of the blue, there really is no substitute for a good legal offense, general and up-to-date awareness of the internet medium, and quite frankly, plain old common sense.

Common sense is often obvious only in retrospect. If you are starting or running an online business of any kind, this layman's oriented approach to security is the perfect place for you to start protecting yourself and your business from all kinds of nasties...

o hackers

o intellectual rights infringers

o etc., etc. -- even your own employees!

It's given me the right place to start asking my techies the right questions on numerous security-related issues. It's *THE* "protect yourself" book that we recommend in our book, "Make Your Site SELL!"

While a couple of parts are getting a touch dated, most issues are evergreen. I'm sure I'll find myself referring to it five years from now, if Dan can't convince the publisher to issue a new edition (hint, hint, Dan!).

Thanks Dan, for an unequivocal 5-star effort.

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-Ken Evoy, kevoy@sitesell.com

This well-written book by Dan Janal is a "must read" book for people interested in protecting themselves and their businesses from Internet scams and fraud. We often recommend it to the subscribers of Internet ScamBusters (the number one electronic newsletter on Internet fraud). Dan provides a very realistic assessment of what to watch out for online - and unfortunately, there are lots of issues. But fortunately, it's not too hard to protect yourself when you know what to look for.

Dr. Audri G. Lanford, editor Internet ScamBusters

Learn how to protect your company from online thieves and false rumors that can damage its reputation by instituting sound security policies and addressing false information quickly and publically.

The Internet has introduced unprecedented business opportunities for marketing, sales and communication. It has also made businesses vulnerable to cybercriminals who exploit the Internet to attack the reputations and finances of companies. In this book, Daniel S. Janal, a professional speaker and consultant specializing on the Internet, provides information and advice for companies and individuals to protect themselves from the predations of cybercriminals.

Threats from online thieves:
· Warn employees never to give out credit card numbers, passwords or sensitive company information. Put procedures in place to report people who ask for this information.
· Always check credit cards for validation, including an address verification check.
· Put procedures in place for employees to check questionable information or identities by phone or through reliable third-parties.
· Use encryption or scrambling for sensitive online information so that only those with the key can read it.

Threats to personal safety:
· Keep personal information like your phone number and address off of your personal web-site, newsgroups, online phone directories, and out of chat rooms.
· Make sure that merchants promise not to resell information about you if you give it to them.
· Know the merchant you're dealing with.

Threats to your company's reputation:
· Attack sites. A disgruntled employee or unhappy customer may attack your company's reputation by creating a web-site whose sole purpose is to attack your company. If you can prove that they are not telling the truth, pursue them for libel. You may also be able to sue them for copyright infringement.
· Have employees sign a company policy forbidding them from making public statements about the company.
· If false rumors begin to circulate online about your company, dispel them immediately with clear, public statements of denial in the places where they have been circulating.

The subtitle of this book is misleading, as much of the advice is geared to consumers rather than business owners.

However, if you'd like a good overview of risks involved in participating in cyberspace activities of all sorts, the book is worthwhile.

This is a very practical book that has a great deal of useful advice. The author quotes more than 30 experts, including lawyers, policy experts, law enforcement officials and public relations executives. Sample materials and policy statements make the book relevant for the ages.

The topics of each chapter have been front page headlines in major newspapers. There are no "urban legends" but cases that are extremely relevant, i.e. stock market manipulation, maligning companies and personal protection.

This is not a book for technology experts. It is clearly labeled as a book for human resources, public relations, fraud and personal protection. There are plenty of books for the folks who tinker with technology.

Although sponsored by Upside, the text was disappointing. Mr. Janal does not seem to have a grasp on Internet technology. The text has several errors and misleading statements. Most of the text is a simple presentation of well known Internet related problems from 1994-early 1997 organized into several chapters that superficially address the issues raised. In addition, Mr. Jamal clearly insinuates in the business related chapters that many of the problems of the Internet can be addressed by Public Relations types. Unfortunately, this is a very reactive rather than proactive attitude. The evidence presented is anecdotal. The intent of the book can be summarized as: use comon sense and prudence.

Mr. Janal states in the Preface the intended audience for the book. In his defense, the book is not intended to be a "how to" or "how not to" text for the technically proficient. Rather, it is intended to provide informatioin to general users, managers, and other peripheral Internet users. While this is commendable, I doubt that people from his intended audience who read the text will feel comfortable using the Internet any longer. This is where the dated material is a liability for the book. Mr. Janal goes to great lengths to identify anecdotes and incidents that occurred several years ago during the Internet infancy. This is not to state that the Internet does not have current problems, but many of the anecdotes presented have been addressed by the Internet community and current problems have not been addressed. Mr. Janal simply propogates the urban legends and fear mongering surrounding the Internet and offers little current information to his audience.

On page 257, Mr. Janal states: "Why is it that the Internet spawns rumors -- and that people believe these writings of people with no last names ... when they don't believe reporters or government officials? Yet, the content of his text answers this question: Mr. Jamal, an alleged specialist in Internet issues (according to the dust jacket), delivers a text that is inaccurate and dated. The assumption that government officials and reporters have credibility above common people is, therefore, doubtful.

Dan Janal has some excellent advice on computer security issues, including sample Internet access policies.

The Internet has made possible the sharing of a tremendous amount of information. People go online for business, fun, or pleasure. Unfortunately there has also been a great deal of mischief taking place online as well. By now we have all heard of serious threats that exist in cyberspace. Children and adults alike have been exposed to sexually explicit materials, hackers have stolen information and caused damage to Websites, and people have been maliciously slandered by the dissemination of false or inaccurate information. The online business community faces many of the same threats. Daniel S. Janal has written "Risky Business" to offer the online business community sound advice about operating their businesses in light of the complex issues they face today.

Janal, author of "101 Successful Businesses You Can Start on the Internet", has placed in this book a gold mine of information that members of the online business community cannot afford to work without. The book, sub-titled, "Protect Your Business from Being Stalked, Conned, or Blackmailed on the Web", uncovers many of the crimes and misdeeds that take place online. Janal offers actual accounts of online fraud, piracy, copyright and trademark infringement, spamming, domain name use and misuse, fan sites, court cases, and other actual occurances we should know about. We should be prepared to face and intelligently deal them ourselves.

The heart of the book is the attention given to offering preventative measures, tips, and remedies no business can take for granted. How should a company handle its e-mail? Should a company have software and Internet access policies? How do we handle disgruntled customers? Should we contact an attorney at the first sign of any trouble? Should we fire off strongly worded demand letters? How do we approach these and other problems that may arise? Janal assembled a number of business and legal professionals and posed these and other questions to them. They of! fer their own comments and advice. According to Janal and his panel of experts there are a number of ways to handle situations that arise. They offer readers a variety of concrete solutions they can consider according to their specific circumstances.

"Risky Business" presents business people with the insight they need to operate online in a world where unprincipled persons continue to cause deliberate harm to others. This book serves as a wake-up call to let business people know what actually takes place online and offers them assistance in minimizing the probelms they may encounter. Add the contents of this great book to your business defense strategy today!

There's a lot of happy talk out there about the Internet...some of it is true, much of it isn't. Risky Business is the first book I've come across in my considerable experience that takes on the dicey issues of how to protect yourself on the Internet. Even as one of the original Internet pioneers, I find myself referring to this book repeatedly for a number of different reasons. Identity theft, hacking, and myriad concerns that I face day in, day out on the Net drive me back to this book, time and time again. It's a clear-eyed, realistic assessment of what you should look out for online...in other words, how to watch your back. Whether you're a vice president managing a 50,000-node network for a corporation or a mother with kids, you should have this book in hand. --Larry Chase, publisher Web Digest For Marketers