The latest round of funding was led by two of Tower Cloud’s existing investors, The Burton Partnership and Knology Inc. Tower Cloud’s other existing institutional investors include: Sutter Hill Ventures, El Dorado Ventures, Ballast Point Ventures, Kinetic Ventures, ITC Partners Fund and Noro-Moseley Partners.

For this round, two new investors joined the consortium, The Florida Growth Fund and CLR Investors. The funding was done in two phases with $13 million completed in January and $36 million completed in July. This funding follows a $20 million equity commitment by the same investor group in October 2009.

© 2011, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.

Rounding out the Top Five Most Curious Cities (based on percentage of population) in the U.S.:

2. Littleton, CO: 8.41%

3. Spring, TX: 6.68%

4. Sarasota, FL: 5.31%

5. Marietta, GA: 4.62%

“Since the Experts on JustAnswer began answering questions in 2003, we’ve always been intrigued by where the pockets of curiosity are around the country. While we’re not surprised to discover that the nation’s largest urban cities asked the most total questions, we’re very intrigued by the online engagement of smaller cities, such as Littleton, CO and Spring, TX,” said Andy Kurtzig, Founder and CEO of JustAnswer.

How Major U.S. Cities Stack Up in the Curiosity Department

Among U.S. cities with populations of over 400,000, Atlanta, GA topped the rankings with questions asked representing 2.44% of its population, followed by:

2. Miami, FL: 2.16%

3. Minneapolis, MN: 1.87%

4. Las Vegas, NV: 1.55%

5. Denver, CO: 1.44%

A Tale of Two Cities: What’s In a Name?

When it comes to asking questions, two cities can share a name, but not necessarily their curiosity quotient. While Naples, FL topped the JustAnswer ranking of most curious cities, Naples, NC accounted for only two questions.

Similarly, Portland, OR (47^th), Philadelphia, PA, (96^th) and Memphis, TN (97^th) far outdistanced their namesakes, Portland, MO, Philadelphia, MO and Memphis, IN, which combined for a total of just four questions asked.

*Rankings are based on an estimate of user location according to the IP address of the computer used to visit the JustAnswer website between June 2010 and June 2011. Population figures are from the United States Census Bureau. JustAnswer does not identify or record actual locations or addresses of its users.

© 2011, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.

While Media Obsesses over Illegal Stunts, Malware Creation Shows No Signs of Slowing

In the last quarter, malware of all kinds has spread substantially, with PandaLabs observing 42 new malware strains created every minute. Once again, Trojans accounted for most of the new threats, comprising nearly 70 percent of all new malware created, followed by viruses (16 percent) and worms (12 percent).

As recorded by Panda Security’s online scanner, Panda ActiveScan, Trojans were responsible for 69 percent of infections, followed once again by viruses (10 percent) and worms (8.53 percent). Adware, which only represents 1.37 percent of all malware, accounted for more than 9 percent of all the infections, indicating the substantial effort malware writers are taking to promote this type of malicious code. Fake anti-virus programs, which are included in the adware category, have also continued to grow.

A graph of malware infections by type is available at prensa.pandasecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/DISTRIBUTION.jpg.

Asian Countries Lead Infection Rankings

In the ranking of the top 20 countries with the most infections, China, Thailand and Taiwan once again continue to occupy the top three spots. PandaLabs observed Sweden, Switzerland and Norway as being the least infected countries.

Top Security Incidents:

• LulzSec and Anonymous: A new hacker group LulzSec emerged this quarter, specializing in stealing and posting Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from companies with poor security as well as carrying out denial of service attacks (against the CIA website, for example). They also released a full list of PII data they had previously stolen such as email addresses and passwords, which has led to account hijacking and other forms of identity theft. At the end of June, LulzSec teamed up with Anonymous for “Operation: Anti-Security,” encouraging supporters to hack into, steal and publish classified government information from any source. On June 26, LulzSec released a statement on Twitter announcing the end of their activities. Nevertheless, they urged hackers to carry on with operation Anti-Security (#Antisec) and join the Anonymous IRC channel.
• Corporate Breaches: RSA, the security division of EMC Corporation, announced in mid-March it had suffered a breach on its network systems that exposed proprietary information about its two-factor hardware-based authentication system, SecurID. In May, Lockheed Martin, the largest provider of IT services to the U.S. government and military, suffered a network intrusion stemming from data stolen pertaining to RSA. It seems that the cyber-thieves managed to compromise the algorithm used by RSA to generate security keys. RSA will have to replace the SecurID tokens of more than 40 million customers around the world, including some of the world’s biggest companies.
• Sonygate: The most infamous attack that occurred this quarter was the one Sony suffered. Everything started with the theft of data from their PlayStation Network (PSN), affecting 77 million users worldwide. Not only was this the biggest data theft on record, but the situation was also poorly communicated to customers by the company, which hid the problem for days. When Sony finally made it public they simply said there was evidence that some user data could have been compromised, even though they knew the situation was far more serious.

© 2011, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.

Be proactive and take measures to protect your mobile devices

With app security breaches in the news, this new report by Orlando-based Panda security on the current and future state of smartphone malware is very timely. Panda also offers seven tips on how to keep your mobile devices secure.

Panda Security , the Cloud Security Company, has released the report in participation with other members of Spain’s National Cyber-Security Advisory Council(CNCCS) on the history, current state and future of mobile malware.

Now available for the first time in the United States, the “Smartphone Malware Report” aims to raise awareness of the threats affecting mobile devices as well provides tips individuals can follow to avoid falling victim to mobile threats.

“One of the major challenges security vendors face is user mobility,” said Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs. “Enhancing the security of cell phones — through anti-malware, data protection, management and security audit functions — is a major challenge for any security department, and we must tackle this threat as soon as possible in order to help protect users’ information and businesses.

“Even though cell phone malware is not a priority for cyber-crooks yet, we are starting to see the first major attacks on these platforms. We predict that the next few months will see significant growth in cell phone attacks, especially on Google’s Android operating system.”

“Security vendors have long warned about the fact that cell phones would overtake PCs as the primary cyber attack target, and 2010 has showed the first signs of that. We believe 2011 will really mark a turning point in this field,” explained David Barroso, director of e-crime at Council member S21sec.

Smartphone Malware Report Overview:

Key topics covered in the report include:

• The history of mobile devices, and the evolution of the smartphone market from its onset to the present day
• Mobile device security issues and threat vectors
• The history of threats targeted the platform, including Cabir, WinCE.Brador.A , Skulls, Pbstealer, CxOver, Ikee.A and Ikee.B, Droid09 and modern Man-in-the-Mobile attacks
• Predictions for the future, including schemes that target mobile banking applications and capture sensitive information, programs that track users’ locations through GPS, advanced social engineering attacks, and mobile worms that scan all devices connected to WiFi networks and exploit vulnerabilities to transmit malicious code to other system.

How Can You Protect Your Mobile Device?

Lack of security awareness among cell phone users and carelessness are two of the most important risk factors for smartphones. It is extremely important to understand that a smartphone is far more than just a phone and should be treated more like a computer due to the valuable information it stores.

To protect your mobile device, the CNCCS offers a series of best practices. These include:

• Enable access protection measures such as a PIN or password
• Configure the smartphone to automatically lock after a minute or so being idle
• Disable features not in use such Bluetooth, infrared or WiFi
• Before installing or using new smartphone apps or services, check their reputation and only install applications from trusted sources
• Keep your operating system and software applications up to date
• Be wary of any files, links or numbers received from unsolicited email or SMS messages
• Avoid using untrusted WiFi networks

© 2011, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.

The capital raised will be used to support the company’s rapidly increasing business in Asia and the United States.

Significantly, the round includes new equity from DOCOMO Capital as a strategic investor. DOCOMO Capital is a corporate venture arm of NTT DOCOMO, the world’s leading mobile operator. Existing investors including TL Ventures, Investor Growth Capital, Gabriel Venture Partners, Intel Capital, and a group of long standing individual investors also participated.

SkyCross continues to grow due to strong global demand for the company’s unique RF technology and design expertise for wireless products, such as tablets, smartphones, and multiband USB modems. Increasingly, these devices require multiple antennas, creative 3D design and manufacturing techniques, and 4G MIMO functionality for LTE.

“SkyCross technology and expertise are key factors in meeting the growing, worldwide demand for 4G/LTE wireless devices,” said Tomoya Hemmi, President and CEO of DOCOMO Capital, Inc. “MIMO antenna technology is a key enabler of LTE performance, and SkyCross solutions address this global market need. We are pleased to participate in this round as a new strategic investor.”

© 2011, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.

As part of its overall cloud and data center strategy and leveraging its breadth and depth of experience in the cloud and data center space, PAETEC plans to add 13 data centers coast-to-coast by the end of 2012 to its current set of seven centers which will result in the company operating 20 centers nationwide.

“With the advent of high-speed networks and continued migration of network intelligence into the cloud, the need for these network-based services has increased dramatically and we see that trend continuing into the future,” said Arunas Chesonis, chairman and CEO of PAETEC.

ETEC currently has data centers in Andover, Mass., Bethlehem and Conshohocken, Pa., Richmond, Va., Milwaukee, Wis., Houston, Tex., and Phoenix, Ariz.

In 2011, the company has plans to expand to McLean, Va., Tampa, Fla., Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, Mich., and Charlotte, N.C. In 2012, data centers are also planned for Dallas, Tex., Chicago, Ill., Northern California, Rochester, N.Y., Pittsburgh, Pa., Denver, Co., Atlanta, Ga. and a location in the Pacific Northwest.

© 2011, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.

GridGlo’s new cloud-based, platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solution aggregates petabytes of advanced metering infrastructure data and analyzes it by applying proprietary algorithms and advanced data fusion processes.

Data fusion is the science of combining disparate sources of data to develop inferences and continually refine them, and GridGlo is the first to leverage this approach to derive novel insights from energy consumption data. GridGlo enriches usage data with consumer behavioral, demographic and premises-specific information, providing new ways for utilities to drive customer engagement and forecast, segment and monetize their market opportunities.

One of the first applications GridGlo has developed with this approach is the Energy People Meter, a FICO-like score for energy consumers. An EPM score is a real-time digital fingerprint of a customer’s energy behavior. EPM scores range from 1 to 1000, with a higher score reflecting a user who consumes energy efficiently, has predictable consumption patterns, and is actively improving his or her energy consumption behavior.

GridGlo and its utility partners are also testing a number of other applications, such as a forecasting tool to reliably predict demand on an individual-premise basis and a demand response scenario builder to predict the impact of future demand response events. In addition, GridGlo is testing a risk management tool for identifying potential abandonment, energy theft, and consumer financial health.

“The smart grid today is like the wireless industry of the early 2000s – a market of great latent potential nearing an inflection point,” said Isaias Sudit, founder and CEO of GridGlo. “With reams of data constantly being generated by AMI and other smart grid systems, we see tremendous opportunity in unlocking the value of that data and know we have the right technology and approach to do so.”

© 2011, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.

Founded in 2007, Open English says it provides a revolutionary new approach to English language learning which combines live instruction with native English-speaking teachers and multi-media learning content customized to each learner. Open English students study from their home or office and avoid inconvenient scheduling, long commute times, high tuition costs, and outdated books and CD-ROMs.

The company serves a large and rapidly growing global market, initially targeting Spanish speakers in the Americas. Live instruction with native English speaking teachers and multi-media learning content, is all provided over the internet.

“Over the past 10 years, there has been a dramatic increase in broadband Internet usage in South America. This, along with the emergence of a robust middle class in which English is a critical component for career advancement, has created an exciting opportunity for English language-learning programs throughout the South American region,” says Jon Karlen, general manager, Flybridge, who is on the company’s board.

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© 2011, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.

The netTALK DUO is a versatile communications device  with the ability to connect directly to a router or modem (no computer needed) or the computer’s USB port, offering consumers free local and long distance calls to any landline or mobile phone in the U.S. and Canada from anywhere in the world.

© 2011, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.

Row Sham Bow – a name derived from the Japanese term for the game Rock–paper-scissors, says its mission is to “create fun games anyone can play.”

Former Electronic Arts Tiburon VP Philip Holt, CEO and president, founded the company in March.

The company has asked Orlando for $114,000 and the state for $570,000 in economic development incentives. It says it will create 60 high-paying jobs.

The company disclosed the financing in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:

SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org

Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com

Digital East: www.digitaleast.com

Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com

© 2011, TechJournal South. All rights reserved.