Auctiva Corrects Trojan Problem
After receiving a report on Twitter, I was able to confirm that Google and FireFox have cleared Auctiva.com of the threat warnings they have been reporting.
This is great news. Auctiva offers a good product and service, they just need to work on their communication a little better.
Auctiva Trojan Troubles Compounded By Suggestion To Turn Off Security Warnings
What Is Auctiva Thinking????
According to forum posts the 3rd party eBay solution provider Auctiva.com suffered an attack on their servers last Friday afternoon. This attack apparently allowed the insertion of Trojan scripts on some of Auctiva’s 200+ servers. This malware or whatever it is apparently took buyers or viewers of items listed with the Auctiva software to Asian sites. Google has marked Auctiva with the following warning: This site may harm your computer” based on this infection and FireFox browser users receive a warning as well.
Colderice.com reported on this issue and it’s widespread implications. Today Auctionbytes posted an article quoting Jeff Schlicht President of Auctiva who said the affected servers have been removed from service and the site is safe, yet Google and Firefox are still showing the warnings.
Who Do We Believe
Schlicht says that it will take some time (unknown how long) for Google to re-spider the site. While all this is going on, the Auctiva forum posted a work around to the FireFox warning by recommending to Auctiva users :
Update - If you are using the Firefox browser and are unable to use your account because you are receiving a warning stating the Auctiva is an “attack site”, you should be able to workaround it by selecting “Options” from the “Tools” menu and disabling the “tell me if the site I’m visiting is a suspected attack site” setting under the “Security” tab.
Now I am not an internet security expert but to me and many others who have read this it sure appears to be a very dangerous action to take. The entire incident has raised concern from sellers and buyers alike.
I don’t know who to believe, Google or Auctiva. What I do know is that recommending that users disable security settings is not the most intelligent thing Auctiva could do in this situation.
As of the time of this post, requests for comment from both Auctiva and eBay have gone unanswered.
UPDATE: 7:30 PM ET 2/22/09
John “Colderice” Lawson is reporting that the eBay Daily Deals which features items submitted through Auctiva are now showing the danger warnings as mentioned above.
As I stated above requests for comment from both eBay and Auctiva have still gone unanswered.
3 Programs Rank In The Top 100 on Small Business Trends Radio
Small Business Trends Radio
Congratulations AuctionWally, ebay & Beyond: Basics To Business and Tips From The Top
Anita Campbell host of Small Business Trends Radio has posted her Top 100 Podcasts For 2009 and I am very pleased that 3 of the podcasts endorsed by Ecommerce marketing Radio Network have been selected into this elite group of podcasters!
Walt Kolenda aka AuctionWally and Marlene Gavens (pronounced Gay-vens) host of Tips From The Top along with yours truly Dave White Host of ebay & Beyond: Basics to Business have all been included in this prestigous list along with eBay Radio, CNN Money and many more well known podcasts.
I am extremely gratified to know that the work these and all the hardworking podcasters is gaining attention.
Are Forum And Discussion Boards Really Needed?
Everyone Has One
While listening to the Brainstorming Bonanzle internet radio program last night an interesting discussion regarding the forums and discussions ensued. The focus of the discussion was how to improve the discussion or forum boards on Bonanzle. While a lot of great ideas were brought forth, it got me wondering if ecommerce sites really need them?
What Are The Boards For?
Before we can think about whether we need these discussion boards we need to understand what the intended results or purpose will be. Some sites have created the discussion boards for the exchange of ideas among users. While I agree with this concept, I wonder how many users of a site actually participate on the boards, and if users really do share valuable ideas? My personal experience has been that a small percentage of the sites users actually particpate on these boards. My guess is less than 5% of registered users actually participate on most site discussion boards on any sort of regualr basis.
A Place To Complain
While I admit wholeheartedly that the prospect of a place to share ideas and strategies would be most useful, the sad truth is that a significant portion of the forum or discussion boards I have looked into are merely a venue for users to complain. Whether it is to complain about the site or other users, this situation is rampant across the internet. The problem is that these comments are seen internet wide, not just by the users of the forums. The majority of these discussion or forums are indexed by search engines and these comments viewable by anyone.
While I truly believe in there being a place for open honest discussion the truth is that is not happening. When discussion boards allow unrestricted access without moderation they very very frequently become a free for all. Forums are in my opinion NOT the correct venue to voice complaints about a site. There are customer support channels to do this. Call the company, email them, write snail mail, or just leave the site. What I really don’t understand is the person that posts the same complaint day in and day out! If they are that unhappy with a site they should simply LEAVE.
Moderated Boards
Some ecommerce sites discussion boards are moderated. Some by staff, some by volunteers. This often leads to complaints of censorship. While I don’t like censorship any more than the next person, it occurs to me that the site owners have EVERY RIGHT to protect themselves. I moderate my chat boards for my radio program, why should discussion forums be any different?
Do Site Owners Really Need Forums?
I believe that if regulated correctly there is a very significant benefit to these boards, yet if unregualted or unmoderated they lose much of their usefulness.
Bonanzle Wins “Excellence in Technology” Award as Best eBay Alternative of 2008
February 2, 2009, Kirkland, WA - In what writers called “a runaway,” Bonanzle.com was recently named the top eBay Alternative of 2008 by readers of SmallBusinessComputing, a Jupiter Media company. Over a six week period from November through the beginning of January, readers were asked to choose between Bonanzle and other eBay alternatives, including Etsy, eCrater and Wigix. Bonanzle was declared the winner on January 28th.
“This award validates our commitment to providing users with a marketplace that goes beyond the buzzwords often used to describe it: more social, simpler, and more fun. We worked for almost two years to build Bonanzle before we launched it. The payoff has been an experience so simple yet rich that it has turned many of our users into Bonanzle promoters. These users have helped to drive our traffic up more than 50% every month since we launched – their efforts are really starting to add up, even as we’re still almost completely unknown to the national media,” says Bonanzle CEO Bill Harding.
Walt Kolenda, a professional auctioneer and regular contributor to The Examiner, says of Bonanzle, “People in the community are so impressed and appreciative of the opportunity here that they fill the forum with tips and suggestions about how to get the site and individual stores juiced in the search engines… the users have become evangelists for the site, and there is no amount of advertising money in the world that can replace that. This is how sites go viral, this is how fortunes are made.”
SmallBusinessComputing’s editors also praised Bonanzle, adding, “This startup combines an easy listing process with cutting-edge features such as on-the-fly image cropping and live chat and an avid seller community. The founders are scaling up to meet increasing traffic, and we can only hope it continues to thrive.”
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For PR inquiries, please email Mark Dorsey at mark@bonanzle.com, or call us at (206) 396-7321. We are happy to provide interviews or help build story content for all media sources of reasonable size.
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