We are offered the world at the tip of our fingers, But! There are many prices to pay. Theft by scam simply by clicking on a great opportunity is getting more sophisticated all the time.
Recently, this pundit was offered a once in a lifetime possibility if only I would listen to an MS Office (voicemail) sent to my email account. Seemed OK, how harmful could it be? Certainty, this world class software provider tool was safe?
Well, as the saying goes, my mama didn’t raise no fool. Not saying I won’t be duped at some point, but I like to think the odds are against it. Tagged as junk, I will never know what the sender had to say. Nor do I care, since likely it was phishing at best and possibly something worse.
That said, businesses cannot run on the basis of individual prowess, especially when the scams often exceed hundreds a week or even a day. Junk mail filters are much better than before but still not perfect and malefactors are always launching cyber organized criminal efforts to supersede defensive protections.
Equally, if not more important, how many legitimate businesses lose sales or even have their reputations significantly compromise as a result of scams? If a prospects clicks on your logo and is defrauded, her or she will most likely continue to blame the logo owner and not the criminals.
Setting the Hook
Fisherman know how to catch fish. They know the right locations, time of day, cloudy or not and so forth and so on the land the ‘Big One.’
On the other hand, digital hackers do not appear to have this ingrained focused instinct. Perhaps, this skill is not necessary for them.
Masquerading in plain sight, spammers try to tap into the greed in all of us. Easy, quick and large these opportunities are attractive and many fall for them.
As a mentor and advisor to organizations of all sizes, I consistently review product/service and even enterprise value propositions. Frankly, many are found wanting. Currently, the Lean Canvas construct and/or Elevator Pitch are models for succinctly posturing a position quickly.
However, it takes a lot of effort to craft the short piece. Only then does the firm have something of value for prospects and customers.
While Fortune 500 et al will remain targets of cyber hacking, it is possible for others to make themselves less attractive to organized crime. Firms should ask themselves, what is the goal for their web presence?
In 2019, this blog addressed the “what’s in it for me question” as opposed to collecting ‘Likes.’ That edition contained a real world case study of wrong-headed thinking by a consulting firm collecting the wrong data. As the client, we did not implement that recommendation.
There is a fine line between building market ‘Buzz’ and simply collecting ‘Likes’. However, the real focus should be on building repeat customers. Recommendations from others, should still be part of the business model.
Cyber is now an important part of every firm’s business model. Part of the organization’s cybersecurity model has to be, “Why are individuals coming to the website?” In other words, “What value are we providing them?”
What is the Value of a ‘Like’ to your Organization and What is the ‘Risk’ of Obtaining One?
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For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game. You can contact this author as well.