Today sees the highly-anticipated IPO (Initial Public Offering) of the social-networking site Facebook. The IPO is expected to be several times oversubscribed as the demand for shares greatly exceeds the number of shares being issued.

The high-profile nature of this IPO has not escaped the attention of the “419” or the “advance fee fraud” scammers. As a brief reminder, these scams typically promise vast sums of money in exchange for assistance. However, before said sums of money can be received, several increasingly-inventive up-front charges and fees must be paid. The fees keep coming and the promised money never materializes.

We recently spotted a 419 scam message offering a "FACEBOOK (IPO) SUBSCRIPTION PARTNERSHIP PROPOSAL". The use of an all uppercase heading is a common hallmark of such 419 scams.

The scam claims to be sent from a finance firm with offices in multiple locations around the world. The exact nature of the...

Ten years ago, a malware attack may have been annoying for SMBs, but it likely would not have affected their customer service. Today’s attacks, however, are far more likely to hit SMBs’ bottom line. Why? Customers don’t care what the problem is; if the network is down they will go to a competitor rather than wait for the problem to be resolved. This is the hard reality that should be prompting SMBs to make network security a bigger priority.

That was the resounding sentiment in a recent virtual Symantec-hosted roundtable discussion of SMBs and cyber attacks. During the roundtable, three small businesses shared the challenges they face in defending against malware. I sat in on this discussion and heard firsthand just how common security incidents are for SMBs.

Symantec customers, including Richard Johnson from Seattle-based Coddington Construction...

You’ve probably heard that Symantec Endpoint Protection 12 Small Business Edition is now available. Small businesses like you are already seeing just how easy it is to deploy SEP SBE. In fact, 24 small business customers fully deployed the new version of SEP SBE within 24 hours of general availability! Our SMB-focused partners worked with these customers, including travel agencies, restaurants, law firms, health care providers and banks around the globe, to have SEP SBE running smoothly within a day of the announcement.

This provides further proof that SEP SBE can be easily deployed by small businesses everywhere. Our customers are consistently sharing positive feedback on the product’s quality, ease of use, speed and effectiveness. Don’t put it off any longer – Check out...

Having been an entrepreneur myself, I understand how small business owners put their blood, sweat and perhaps a few tears into building their businesses. For many of us, we’re living our dream, which comes with sacrifices and triumphs. But how many have stopped to think about some of the more frightening realities of small business ownership? I’m guessing that few have considered how one security attack could easily take it all away. Recently, the FBI issued a warning (PDF) to small businesses about online scams in which stolen banking credentials were used to siphon $11 million from U.S. small- and mid-sized businesses to companies in China.

The threats are real and ignoring them could cost you your business. So how do you protect yourself? Here are six tips to help you avoid the malware and cyber scams that are increasingly...