Today, TELUS team members went back to the classroom, volunteering their time at Toronto schools across the Greater Toronto Area and helping about 4,500 grade 7 and 8 students during Financial Literacy Month.

TELUS joined one of its community partners, Junior Achievement, in presenting two of Junior Achievement’s (JA) interactive financial programs, covering money management skills as well as economics for success and encouraging students to make the direct link between furthering their education and long-term career success.

"Most schools want to reach out to their community partners to help bring more into the classroom experience and curriculum, and Junior Achievement does that," said Luigi Pennacchio, principal of Canadian Martyrs Catholic School where some of the TELUS volunteers participated. "It’s a great experience for students to have all of these experts come into the school and bring their real world experiences. It helps them pay more attention to these subjects and retain the knowledge."

Chris Collins, a grade 8 teacher at Canadian Martyrs, has welcomed Junior Achievement into the classroom for over 12 years. "It's very beneficial for students," he said. "We've just completed their guidance work on where they see themselves in the future and the program helps tie in what success means to them and take inventory of their goals."

“I really wish I had this opportunity to learn about the value of a dollar at a young age,” said Stavros Davidovic, a TELUS volunteer in Chris Collins’ class. "I’m really enjoying watching the group work together. They have similar ideas but each student has a creative way of getting to their end goal. It’s great to see them realize that their dreams are achievable. I’m glad I had the opportunity to volunteer today.”

Photo: TELUS’ Cliff Hatch (left) and Stavros Davidovic (right) teach Junior Achievements' program to Grade 8 students

TELUS used today’s event to present a cheque in person to Junior Achievement of Canada in the amount of $250,000, the highest donation JA has seen from one business partner.

TELUS first teamed up with JA in May to support future entrepreneurs, donating $50 to the organization for each smartphone activation by a Toronto-based business, up to a quarter of a million dollars.

Photo: Jim Senko (left), vice-president of small and medium business marketing at TELUS presents a cheque for $250,000 to Jane Eisbrenner, president and CEO, Junior Achievement of Central Ontario and Stephen Ashworth, senior vice-president, operations and education, JA Canada, with Grade 8 students at Canadian Martyrs Separate School looking on.

“We’re excited about our continued relationship with Junior Achievement which, through this initiative, will help kids stay in school, encourage new business development and help provide them with the skills needed to participate and succeed in today’s global economy,” said TELUS’ Jim Senko.  The gift will reach more than 63,000 students and help build the next generation of entrepreneurial spirit and leadership in Toronto through Junior Achievement – an organization renowned for developing future entrepreneurs.

To date, TELUS team members and retirees have contributed $245 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 4.1 million hours of service to local communities since 2000.

When asked about the one thing he hoped to convey to students today, Stavros said “That there isn't one way to get to their end goal. Detours can happen along the way to where you want to be, but if you’re committed, you will get there.”

The great day of learning and community involvement was felt across the GTA.  Here are a number of twitter comments from some of our volunteers:

Most business professionals understand holistically the power that LinkedIn can present as a networking tool, but how can you optimize LinkedIn for your business?

Last month, we attended the @marketplace conference at the Museum in Kitchener, Ontario, where keynote, Julie Howlett of LinkedIn spoke about how LinkedIn can help promote your personal brand as well as help you market your business.  Below are the top six recommendations from her presentation.

1. Build your profile to 100%.  Having a fully completed profile can improve your search-ability and allows you to build your personal brand.  A 100% complete LinkedIn profile includes a current and past position, education, profile summary, profile photo as well as recommendations.  As a business, take a step back and review your profile from your customers’ perspective and make sure the content is written for them and addresses the business problem you help your customers’ solve.
2. Build your professional network through connecting.  One obvious way for businesses to optimize LinkedIn is to expand their professional network.  Take time after a networking event, tradeshow or presentation and find the business contacts you met in person on LinkedIn.  Find past colleagues, friends and people you’ve done business with and connect with them.  Be sure to personalize the message to inject the personal into the connection.
3. Seek recommendations and provide recommendations. Recommendations add credibility to you and your business.  Ask some of your satisfied customers to provide you with a recommendation to help grow your word-of-mouth marketing.  Equally, start reciprocating by providing recommendations to others or other businesses that you’ve done business with.
4. Join groups of interest and relevance to you and your business.  There are thousands of industry related groups and forums on LinkedIn.  Joining the group, answering questions in your area of expertise or asking questions about a business challenge you may be facing is a great opportunity to make new connections and build potential business relationships.
5. Research clients, colleagues and business partners. LinkedIn is a great way to research clients, potential clients or other business connections before heading to an offline meeting or even cold calling.  You can also use LinkedIn to search profiles or company groups.  Even answers can be a great way to help you identify potential connections for your business.
6. Share content with your network on LinkedIn.  Similar to other social media platforms, LinkedIn provides you with the ability to promote content about your business and help you stay “top of mind” and relevant with your network.  Share your blog post content as well as interesting articles related to your industry or that would be of interest to your customers.

Above all other social platforms, the true value of LinkedIn is in making real-world networking much more powerful and effective.  Leverage LinkedIn to build your relationships with your customers and prospective customers in real life.

On behalf of all of us at TELUS, welcome to Small Business Month.

Canada is a nation of entrepreneurs. Innovative, spirited and creative small businesses represent the majority of businesses in Canada.

Networking events and opportunities abound in October, providing the chance to meet, share and learn from one another. You already know that building relationships based on a shared appreciation of the difficulties faced in building a business can yield results.

To help you take advantage of Small Business Month, we’ve compiled a list of networking events to help build your network and keep connecting throughout the year. As well, we’ll continue the conversation on telustalksbusiness.com throughout October with information about how to use social media for business, entrepreneur profiles, and marketing and business advice from some of the best business experts and influencers in the country.

At TELUS we’re committed to supporting SMBs through communications products and services that make it easier to do business. To that end, look for us to celebrate October by announcing a first-of-its-kind technology offering tailored to meet your unique needs.

In the meantime, today we launched the TELUS Elevator pitch contest specifically designed for small businesses. We’re inviting business customers to tell us what they do – quickly! All you have to do is fit your pitch into the average length of an elevator ride. The best two elevator pitches will win  productivity packages of an iPhone4, an iPad2 and a $1,500 American Express gift card. Contest details and rules can be found at http://apps.facebook.com/elevatorpitchcontest/showpage/rules.

We hope to see you in person at some of the events below. The best of success in your networking and learning excursions this month.

Jim Senko is the Vice-President, small-medium business, at TELUS.

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• Small Business BCis British Columbia's premiere resource centre for knowledge-based business products and services. They’re hosting a series of special events and educational opportunities for BC’s entrepreneurs. For dates, please see the website at www.smallbusinessbc.ca.  In Alberta, the Government of Alberta has a link to the small business events in the province throughout the month: Small Business Week in Alberta. Ottawa’s Entrepreneurship Centre has a stacked October events calendar as well: www.entrepreneurship.ca for details.
  

• Oct. 3 (Toronto): MobileMonday @ MaRS: Women in Wireless; a panel on leaders in the industry: Stephanie MacKendrick, emcee/moderator - President, Canadian Women in Communications, Karla Tolstoy - former CEO Vodafone Czech Republic, Michele Perras - Mobile Strategist and Transcontinental Media, Charlotte Burke - Senior VP of HP Mobile. http://www.marsdd.com/events/event_series/mobilemonday-toronto/
  

• Passion for Retail Oct. 3, Vancouver - Since 1987, Shelfspace has organized an annual conference for retailers and retail industry suppliers. This is the only retail event in Western Canada dedicated to bringing the community together to celebrate, support and share their passion through education in the art and science of retail.  Find out more here: https://event-wizard.com/passionforretail2011/0/welcome/
  

• Oct. 4: Canadian Innovation Exchange meets up in Waterloo, Ontario: This one day forum attracts the people behind innovative new technologies – entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, service providers, government, and media – for a program of visionary keynotes and panel discussions, facilitated networking opportunities, and the CIX Top 20 – a showcase of Canada's hottest innovative companies working in Digital Media and Information and Communication Technology: http://www.canadianinnovationexchange.com/meet-ups.php
  

• Oct. 6: Secrets of a successful startup: This is the 1st of the Toronto Public Library’s 'Small Business Series'. Come and hear the story of how 2 MBA graduate students turned an idea pitched in an entrepreneur class into a successful web video business called WeblishPal. http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM83634&R=83634
  

• Oct. 6: The Halifax Chamber of commerce has some social media events happening in October “Building Your Social Media Nest”: http://www.halifaxchamber.com/calendar/4/879-CHAMBER_CONTINUING_ED_BUILDING_YOUR_SOCIAL_MEDIA_NEST_SESSION_2
  

• In Toronto, the Toronto Board of Trade is hosting a series of events including Networking with the World in Toronto on October 18. http://www.bot.com/
  

• Oct. 18: Small Business Forum (Enterprise Toronto) http://www.enterprisetoronto.com/
  

• Oct. 20: The York Technology Alliance is running a Crank Up Your Lead Generation Learning Lab. See www.yorktech.ca for details.
  

• Startup Weekend Hamilton is a 54-hour event Oct. 21-23 that focuses on building a web or mobile application which could form the basis of a credible business over the course of a weekend. The weekend brings together people with different skill sets - primarily software developers, graphics designers and business people - to build applications and develop a commercial case around them.
  

• Oct. 24: In Conversation With...Ipsos Reidat the Toronto Board of Trade. Darrell Bricker, CEO, Ipsos Global Public Affairs and John Wright, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Ipsos Reid Public Affairs discuss: "Canuckology," trends on how we govern and do business in Canada, Ontario and the GTA and “5 key lessons that can help your business today.”
  

• At the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, Borrowing from the Bank - Getting your banker to say “Yes”! on Oct. 18 and Top 10 "Must Have" Technology Tools for Small Businesses on Oct. 21.
  

Join the conversation. Know of any small business events happening in your area? Help your peers and post the event information below.

It wasn't too long ago Apple was a mere blip in a Windows-dominated world. At least its modest market share meant they flew under the radar among most cybercriminals.

But now that Macs are hot again we're hearing more about malware attacks. And with Apple's monstrously successful iPhone and iPad product lines there's a growing concern these iOS devices could also be an obvious target by tech-savvy thieves -- and pose a threat to the entire corporate network.

Before allowing these devices into the organization, IT must educate employees to the risks, use tools to safeguard company data and develop policies that can reduce the odds of a security breach.

Or do you ban consumer devices altogether?

"Your company should not develop policies that excludes iOS devices," says Kevin Sterneckert, Research VP at the Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner research and consulting group. "Your employees are going to use these devices with or without permission – and with the latter, it could expose your network to major security breaches." "In other words, don't adopt a stick-your-head-in-the-sand strategy."

In fact, allowing users to choose the device they want has its benefits. "It could be less expensive for the company if they're not paying for device," adds Sterneckert, "so we're seeing more of a 'you bring the device and we'll provide the service' kind of scenario in the workplace today."

Sterneckert says there are different approaches to protecting mobile devices on the network, but there are three minimum "behaviors" every company should adopt:

• A four-digit PIN (passcode) on the iPhone and iPad, plus an "auto-wipe" option that deletes data after a few incorrect login attempts.

• Encrypted back-up on the local workstation the iOS device is connected to. "This will protect and secure all data on the device," says Sterneckert.

• Ensure the "Find My iPhone" service (free) is enabled, so a lost or stolen device can be located remotely and/or wiped clean.

Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync is also recommended for email. "The challenge is to make sure you put the right guardrails around environments, like email and web use, that include the right permissions, certificates and keys," says Sterneckert. "Apple has done a great job at that."

IT departments should also create policies based on the company's needs and/or industry's regulations. Make sure people understand their importance and why they're in place. For example, it's possible to limit the downloading of applications ("apps") from iTunes, disable the iPhone or iPad's cameras or curb corporate Wi-Fi use for personal reasons.

SMBs not doing enough?

It is incumbent upon businesses to develop these policies, but it's not yet highly prevalent in the small-to-midsized business space, says Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a Campbell, Calif.-based firm that provides industry analysis for the tech sector.

"Less than half of small businesses have formal IT policies in place," estimates Bajarin. "Even when they do, they struggle to enforce them given the mix of corporate and employee-owned devices across multiple platforms and device categories -- although there's policy management features available through mobile email servers."

At a minimum, companies should create policy rules and give them to employees, advises Bajarin. "Offer periodic reminders as well as education on security risk." "These policies should also encompass use of employee-owned devices to access company data -- things like mandatory password use, reporting lost/stolen devices or data and avoidance of removable storage are the bare bones minimum."

Mobile device management (MDM) software can help enforce these, as well as more advanced policies.

As smartphone and tablet adoption continues to increase, there is more of an "addressable market" for phishing and hacking of each platform, cautions Bajarin.

There's already a lot you need to worry about when you're traveling with your smartphone, tablet or laptop – such as keeping them powered up so they're ready for business, accidentally leaving them behind in the back of a taxi or preventing someone from snooping over your shoulder at your work.

Now you can add one more concern: free public Wi-Fi networks that are in fact "rogue" connections set up by malicious types.

"The basic idea is someone in vicinity has created a 'free Wi-Fi network' that you connect to, but in doing so, you’re allowing them to tap into your info, access your files and possibly steal your personal identity too," says Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a tech consultancy in Campbell, Calif.

These 'rogue' networks are really individuals – perhaps in a nearby van -- who have software to hack into your systems. And because the majority of people's laptops and other devices are not protected, they're a lot more susceptible than you think," Bajarin adds.

In fact, New York-based independent security consultant Dino A. Dai Zovi says he and a colleague, Shane Macaulay, authored a tool called KARMA to demonstrate the risk of unprotected wireless networks. "KARMA acts as a promiscuous access point that masquerades itself as a wireless network," explains Dai Zovi. "It makes the victim connect to our rogue wireless network automatically."

Rogue operators will often craft network names similar to the name of the hotel or the coffee shop where you're attempting to connect, such as "HiltonFreeWireless" or "StarbucksFreePlus," respectively. One careless click and *poof* -- your data is exposed.

So, what to do?

The first tip is to avoid free public Wi-Fi altogether, if you can. "When I go to hotel, I make sure they have a wired [Ethernet] connection,” says Bajarin. "And if I want to go wireless on my laptop or other devices in my hotel room, I bring an Airport Express with me," he adds, referring to Apple’s compact wireless router.

Or you can bring your connection via WAN-enabled laptops, USB sticks with cellular connectivity or you can create a mobile hotspot through a nearby smartphone or tablet.

If you're going to use free public Wi-Fi, be sure to have VPN (Virtual Private Network) access, says Dai Zovi. "Otherwise, everything you do can be easily monitored by anyone nearby." Citing recent Firesheep attacks, Zovi says that even password-based networks can be attacked by malicious types. Firesheep is an extension for the Firefox browser that can grab your login credentials for sites such as Facebook and Twitter. On a related note, make sure all security software on your device is updated regularly, enable firewalls and encrypt sensitive data, if possible.

Bajarin says if you must use free Wi-Fi, "get on, get what you need and get off -- and don't do any financial things until you’re back at home."

Only through secured connections and some common sense can you keep personal and professional data safe from malicious types waiting to attack through free public Wi-Fi networks.

Marc Saltzman is one of North America's most recognized and trusted technology experts. Based in Toronto, Marc currently contributes to nearly 50 publications, has authored 14 books and is the host of CTV News Channel's "Tech Talk," CNN's "Tech Time" and Cineplex's "Gear Guide" (seen in movie theatres across Canada).