PayPal launches small-business loan program

PayPal is getting into the increasingly crowded small-business loan market. The eBay-owned online and mobile payment service this week announced PayPal Working Capital, a loan program that will initially serve qualified existing PayPal merchant customers.

PayPal won’t actually lend the money—its initial banking partner is WebBank. But borrowers aren’t saddled with fixed monthly payments or late fees: Rather, they repay the loan and a pre-set loan fee out of sales revenues processed by PayPal.

The cost of the loan depends on the amount borrowed (generally, up to 8 percent of total annual sales processed by PayPal in the last year), the percentage of sales receipts dedicated to paying the loan (between 10 percent and 30 percent), and the merchant’s PayPal track record.

The higher the percentage of sales the merchant is willing to allocate to paying back the loan, the lower the overall fee. In PayPal’s published example, for a business with $100,000 in annual sales that borrows the maximum, $8,000, the loan fee varies from $947 if the business opts to dedicate 10 percent of sales receipts to paying down the loan, to $281 for a business that dedicates 30 percent of its sales receipts to paying back the loan.

No credit check is involved, so the merchant’s credit rating isn’t adversely affected by the loan. PayPal says loan application approval can take as little as five minutes. PayPal wouldn’t say how many merchants are actually eligible for the initial program, which runs through the end of the year.

PayPal will continue to collect its usual transaction fees from participating merchants, who must continue to use the service to process payments until the loan is paid off. PayPal will calculate the loan payment at the end of each business day, and withdraw the funds the following day.

There is some fine print. Merchants cannot activate PayPal’s Autosweep feature (which transfers receipts electronically to a bank account every day) while they are paying back a loan. While they can still manually transfer funds, if the account balance falls below the amount a merchant has committed to repay the loan, PayPal will simply withdraw any new receipts as so-called catch-up payments.

For more information, visit the PayPal Working Capital website.

Contributing Editor Yardena (Denny) Arar is a San Francisco-based freelance writer, avid online shopper, media junkie, consummate foodie, and proud possessor of a private pilot's license.
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Secure your small-business network without spending a dime

You have a target on your back. In 2012, 31 percent of cyberattacks were aimed at small businesses, and that staggering number is 100 percent attributable to inadequate—or nonexistent—security measures at many of these firms, which might as well be an open invitation to hackers.

Now, we’re not going to hit you with another eat-your-veggies imperative to secure the computers and networks at your business. We understand that it’s all too easy to view security as a discretionary expense.

But what if we told you that there were security controls in the tools you already own that could vastly improve your protection if you just used them? And that you could fill any gaps in protection with free security programs that are every bit as effective as their commercial counterparts?

Below are several ways to fend off cyberthreats. The only investment is your time.

The quickest—and cheapest—way to beef up your defenses is to understand and employ the security measures you already have at your disposal.

Start with the simple things. Make sure that all your user accounts are protected with strong passwords and that only those employees who need administrative privileges have administrator accounts on their PCs.

Windows’ Local Group Policy Editor lets you administrate policies, restrictions, and more for groups of users and computers.

Next, take a look at the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows. This power tool gives you granular control over groups of users and computers, so it makes sense that Microsoft placed the utility where people can’t easily find it. (One way to find it is to type group in the search field in either Windows 7 or Windows 8. ‘Edit Group Policy’ should appear as one of the top few options available.) From the Editor, you can set password and account lockout policy, firewall policy, software restrictions, and more. Spend a couple of hours learning about the Local Group Policy Editor, and wield its power judiciously.

Zero-day attacks make for ominous headlines, but the reality is that known vulnerabilities are a much bigger threat. Most attackers don’t have the skill or the devotion to ferret out new security holes. Once a vendor releases a patch, though, lazy attackers can reverse-engineer it to identify the vulnerability it fixes and figure out how to exploit that flaw.

The longer you go without implementing an applicable patch, the more at risk you are. You should have automatic updates turned on in Windows, as well as in any other applications you use that offer such a function. If you can’t take advantage of this feature, you’ll have to make a serious effort to stay informed about new updates and test and apply them as soon as they’re available.

Once you’ve exhausted all the resources you have on hand, it’s time to explore outside options. Some of the best security tools available are free and can go toe-to-toe with features offered in big-brand security suites. Here are a few to get you started.

Microsoft Security Essentials: Windows 8 includes Windows Defender, but prior versions of the operating system didn’t come with antimalware protection. If you need to protect computers running Windows XP or Windows 7, you can download Microsoft Security Essentials to get comprehensive real-time protection gratis.

Cain and Abel: Using network-packet sniffing, dictionary attacks, and a variety of other methods, Cain and Abel captures and cracks passwords. You can use this handy utility to reveal vulnerabilities, determine whether your policy requirements are secure enough, and recover passwords, which is its primary function.

Cain and Abel can reveal weak passwords that leave you open to security breaches.

Aircrack and Kismet: Want to know how secure your wireless network really is? Try Aircrack or Kismet. Aircrack captures wireless network traffic and attempts to crack your WEP or WPA encryption. Kismet is a wireless-network detector, sniffer, and intrusion detection system. Both tools are free, and both are highly rated by those who use them.

Nikto: If your business has a Web server, you might want to put Nikto to use. An open-source Web-server scanner, Nikto can help you identify weaknesses that may expose your server to exploits. It scans for outdated servers, specific vulnerabilities, and known configuration errors to help you protect your server from attack.

For a complete list of the best security utilities, visit SecTools.org, which maintains a regularly updated list of the top 125 as rated by the user community. The list includes both open-source and commercial software, but you’ll see that many of the most respected tools don’t cost a thing.

If implementing these free options has whetted your appetite, consider investing in some pay software to bolster your complimentary security measures. We recommend the following three open-source tools. All are still available as free versions, but subscriptions are required to unlock their full power.

Nessus is a vulnerability scanner that examines and monitors your network and PCs for more than 50,000 vulnerabilities and potential configuration errors that may expose your systems to compromise. It also includes specific scans to help ensure compliance with regulatory and industry frameworks such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) or PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).

The Nessus vulnerability scanner is available as a free download, but you need a subscription to unlock all its capabilities.

Metasploit is a penetration-testing platform that lets you test exploits against your network and computer-security defenses and applications, to determine what impact they might have and to identify weaknesses you should address.

Snort is an intrusion detection and prevention platform that monitors network traffic to find and identify suspicious or malicious activity.

Cybercrime is costly, but defending against it doesn’t have to be. Basic protections are built into the operating system and applications you use every day, and if you support them with free and open-source tools, you can protect your PCs and data without so much as bruising your budget. Who says you can’t put a price on peace of mind?

Tony is principal analyst with the Bradley Strategy Group, providing analysis and insight on tech trends. He is a prolific writer on a range of technology topics, has authored a number of books, and is a frequent speaker at industry events.
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Four excellent Dropbox alternatives for your small-business storage needs

Dropbox revolutionized the way we share information, and no enterprises have enjoyed the benefits more than small businesses. Cloud storage has enabled them to access critical data from the road, work across geographic boundaries, easily share large files, and do away with costly physical infrastructure.

But while Dropbox and other popular cloud-storage providers are adequate for the average consumer, most services don’t meet small-business needs for security, affordability, real-time collaboration, and lots of file storage. Here are some Dropbox alternatives that do. Like Dropbox, each offers an easy-to-use interface, 2GB of free storage, and drag-and-drop syncing, and any are guaranteed to be a boon to your business.

Free storage: 2GB

Pricing: $100/year for 100GB, $600/year for 1TB (100 users per TB)

Best for: Security

For better or worse, Dropbox has become emblematic of cloud security issues. Not only has the service been hacked, it has also made security mistakes such as accidentally turning off password authentication for millions of users. Although there will always be a certain amount of risk with cloud storage, some services out there make an extra effort to protect your data.

Spider Oak’s “zero-knowledge” encrypted service is ideal for storing sensitive business data.

SpiderOak is a cloud-based storage and syncing service that offers full encryption of your data and password, along with a “zero-knowledge” privacy policy. This means that not only is your data encrypted (using a combination of 2048-bit RSA and 256-bit AES encryption) at every stage in the cloud storage process, but nobody—not even SpiderOak employees—can see what you’ve stored without your password. The downside to this ultra-secure service is that your password is also encrypted, so if you forget it, you will lose access to all of the files you’ve stored on SpiderOak’s servers.

SpiderOak features a desktop client (available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux) that allows you to store and access files through a special interface. Like Dropbox, SpiderOak also installs a folder on your computer where you can drag and drop files you want synced to the SpiderOak server. These files are accessible through the desktop client, SpiderOak’s website, and its apps for Android and iOS.

Free storage: 15GB

Pricing: $5/month for 100GB, $10/month for 200GB, $20/month for 400GB, $50/month for 1TB, $100/month for 2TB, $200/month for 4TB, $400/month for 8TB, $800/month for 16TB

Best for: Collaboration

Google’s cloud storage system, Google Drive, looks pretty attractive on the surface. After all, the service offers 15GB of free storage space—more than seven times the amount of free space Dropbox offers. But that 15GB limit is deceptive because it includes your Gmail account and any pictures you’ve stored on Google+. And, while Google Drive offers up to 16TB of online storage space, that option will cost you almost $10,000 a year.

Google Drive’s advanced collaboration features make it a great choice for distributed workforces.

But that doesn’t mean you should overlook Google Drive as a viable Dropbox alternative. Its built-in tools, such as Google Docs and Google Sheets, are great for editing files on the go or collaborating with multiple users. Dropbox and other cloud-storage providers’ collaborative properties typically end at sharing: It’s up to each user to open, edit, and upload the files. With Google Drive, however, you can work on files simultaneously with other users in any Web browser.

For users who need more functionality, there are several free third-party add-ons and services, including an assortment of IFTTT recipes for automating your Google Drive workflow.

While you’re probably used to accessing Google Drive via a Web browser, the service also offers a desktop client (available for Windows and Mac OS X), for drag-and-drop syncing. Google also offers mobile apps for both Android and iOS.

Free storage: 20GB

Pricing: $99/year for 250GB, $149/year for 500GB

Best for: Affordable storage

Dropbox gives its users 2GB of free storage, and paid accounts start at $99/year for 100GB. But what if your cloud storage needs lie somewhere in between a 2GB and 100GB?

Copy is Barracuda Networks’ cloud-storage service, and it offers a whopping 15GB of free storage to its users, along with an extra 5GB when you download the desktop client. That’s 20GB right off the bat, plus you have opportunities to earn more free space through referrals. (You can earn up to 20GB of free space on Dropbox through referrals, but it takes awhile.) Copy’s paid plans offer more storage per dollar as well: $99 a year gets you 250GB, while $149 a year nets 500GB.

Inexpensive plans make Copy the go-to service for small businesses with big storage needs.

Like Dropbox, Copy’s desktop client installs a special syncing folder on your computer, for dragging and dropping files. Your files are then accessible through the desktop client, Copy’s website, and its iOS and Android apps.

Free storage: Not applicable 
Pricing: Not applicable 
Best for: Secure syncing

Even with extra encryption and zero-knowledge privacy policies, data stored in the cloud can be insecure. BitTorrent Sync is a service that offers Dropbox-like convenience without the vulnerabilities of cloud storage. Working off of BitTorrent’s peer-to-peer protocol, BitTorrent Sync lets you link up folders across multiple devices and sync files, without ever pushing your data to an external cloud-based server. This means it’s inherently safer than the most secure cloud servers, because files are stored locally and file transfers are encrypted.

BitTorrent Sync is the safest syncing option in our roundup.

BitTorrent Sync is surprisingly easy to set up and use, and it actually works similarly to Dropbox and other cloud-storage services. To get started, download and install the BitTorrent client (available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux) on your computer. You can then choose which folder you want to sync, and BitTorrent Sync will provide a “secret”—which is a randomly generated 21-byte key for that folder. To sync the folder with another device, just download and install the BitTorrent client on that device and type in the secret. Any files you drag and drop into this folder will now sync between these two (or more) devices using BitTorrent’s P2P protocol.

Sarah is a freelance writer and editor based in Silicon Valley. She has a love/hate relationship with social media and a bad habit of describing technology as "sexy."
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