Bell Moore Group Inc. Review: How Malls Changed Our Lives Forever

The birth and growth of the baby-boomers generation marked the era in human history when people experienced many innovative technological advancements – thanks to the Industrial Revolution -- throughout the world, many of which upturned values, lifestyles and relationships at many levels. One of the most important effects of this development is the gradual bridging of longstanding social and cultural gaps existing within nations with diverse ethnic and religious beliefs.

Today, the world has become one global community poised to achieve an even more consolidated linking not just of values and economic pursuits but also of such simple and mundane pursuits and interests as personal consumption, whether we talk of food, clothing, entertainment, sports, arts and culture, health rejuvenation and modern gadgetry. And where do we find practically all these amenities or goods within one specific place? The mall, of course!

Whereas most of these things were previously found only separately and even far from one another (a movie house had its own building, different from that of a restaurant, a department store or a book store. Today, even office buildings have fast-food outlets, variety stores and boutique shops in them. But the mall has ‘‘got it all”, as one popular Asian mall expressly brags in its ad jingle. It is a virtual one-stop shop. A be-all and end-all in property development and operations. Anyone that has any particular enterprise in mind, no matter how big or small, can find no better place to locate its products or operations than inside the mall.

The amount of capital put into the development and construction of a mall limits the number of individuals or companies that can get involved and maintain a degree of success. Nevertheless, the few that have stood the test of time, whether the giants or the small operators, may owe their durability less to their business abilities than to the need that had been developed for the mall concept. Whereas the village market or the eventual city market actually started the basic concept, it was the integration of such diversified enterprises into one clean, accessible, convenient and unified shopping center that brought about the obviously consuming or addicting habit of visiting a place where one can accomplish many things without having to leave for a couple of hours or even a whole day.

And so, when families celebrate an event, instead of doing it at home where they can cook and entertain guests, they opt to go to the mall where they do not have to worry with the menu and the dishes. Although watching a movie is now done more at home, an occasional night at the mall theater can bring families and friends together for an enjoyable bonding time along with a stopover at the next-door pizza place and, perhaps, a side trip to a coffee shop and a book store.

The city brought a lot of changes in human living conditions, but the mall brought a lot of conveniences to city living. It is a refinement that many have learned to appreciate and enjoy, even if it has taken people far and far away from nature’s original setting. However, thanks to some environmentally-friendly mall developers, nature has taken a respectable comeback within this symbol of modern innovation through indoor gardens or terraced nature spots at mall centers. Some things we can change as we please; others we cannot do without if we wish to survive.

Bell Moore Group Inc. understands the shifting values and needs of people in the modern world. It keeps abreast in these developments in order to serve the needs of companies in the business world.

Devin Fitzpatrick Art Consultants Review: Bruken av kunstverk i a forbedre bedriftens kultur

A utvikle en bedre bedriftskultur trenger litt innsats og a bygge en positiv atmosfaere pa kontoret din med kunstverk kan vaere en gunstig faktor i folge studier av Devin Fitzpatrick Art Consultants. Med dette er det ogsa en hoyere sjanse for at du kan tilfredsstille bade dine ansatte og kunder. Dette er for enhver bedrift der ute - stor eller liten - hver skal vaere ansvarlig for a bygge en god bedriftskultur.

Endre utformingen av kontoret din hvis den ikke gir noen positive folelser til enkeltpersoner. Et kjedelig kontor kan legge til stress eller angst pa de ansattees store arbeidsbelastning. a sette kunstverk kan bringe litt magi til din plass. Begynn med a henge vakre bilder, popper av farge, eller inspirerende kunst for a gi flere farger fordi noen ganger alt du trenger er et lite fargeskjerm.

I de folgende avsnittene vil hver kort forklare hvordan bruken av kunstverk kan hjelpe deg og din bedrift, som stottes av en av de betrodde konsulentene nar det gjelder noye anbefalinger og rad som er basert pa mange ars erfaring og palitelig kunnskap, Devin Fitzpatrick Art Consultants.

Nar en person kommer inn pa kontoret din, hva slags positiv folelse du vil dele gjennom dine valgte kunstverk? Det kan vaere folelsen av glede, ro, hap, takknemlighet, godhet, munterhet, etc. Det kan ogsa vaere kombinasjoner av to folelser, uansett hva du velger, sorg for at det kan formidle en god melding til folket. For mer ekspertrad, fa service av en profesjonell kunstkonsulent.

Velg kunstverk som ogsa kan vaere et symbol for ditt merke eller tjeneste. La oss si at bedriften din tilbyr en klassisk og tradisjonell service, sa bor du ga med kunstverk med lignende inntrykk. Folg samme regel hvis du har en moderne og sofistikert forretningslinje pa den annen side.

Ta ogsa utsikten over de ansatte om sporsmalet om a sette kunstverk pa kontoret. Lytte til meninger fra andre mennesker kan gi flere ideer til deg ved a bruke kunstverk for bedriftens kultur. Hvis du allerede har en kunstkonsulent med deg, kan du legge ideene til menneskene rundt deg til radgiverens faglige rad.

For a diskutere dine kunstverk behov, ta kontakt med Devin Fitzpatrick Art Consultants idag!

Devin Fitzpatrick Art Consultants Review: Smart Art palvelu kehittama Heart

Devin Fitzpatrick Art Consultants muodostuu ajatus Devin antaa eräänlainen palvelu liittyy taidetta ja suunnittelua ihmisille. Hän on sitten tiedetään olevan hyvin kiltti tarjoamalla hänelle palvelua ja ei onnistu näyttämään hänelle affable lähestymistapa kanssa hänen asiakkaansa. Sen lisäksi, joilla on hyvä sydän, hänen lahjakkuutta ja into himo taiteen ovat myös ihaillut paljon ihmisiä, erityisesti asiakkaille.

Arvosteluja tai feedbacks noin Devin ovat enimmäkseen hänestä positiivista palvelua ja sen arvokasta tulosta. Hän voi suunnitella tiloja taiteeseen tai lisätä taidetta nykyisiin tiloihin. Devin on todella joku, joka on ihanteellinen työtä lisäämällä kauneutta kotiisi tai kaupallinen tila on kuraating ja saattamisesta taidetta paikkaan haluat. Hänellä on oikeat taidot käsitellä mitä tahansa taidetta liittyvä kapasiteetti ja työskennellä minkä tahansa budjetin. Erityisesti hän voi tehdä provisiot ainutlaatuisia taide teoksia, ostaa paikallisista gallerioista, ja ostaa vähittäiskaupan verkko sivuilla.

Devin elämä lähes pyörii taidetta, koska hänen vahva Into himo se, jossa hän jopa valmistui tutkinnon taide historian ja oli saanut todistuksen koriste-ja taide-arviointi tutkimuksia New Yorkin yliopistossa. Tämän, vaikka hänen taustansa tukee hänen koulutettu ymmärrystä arvon Art. On myös hämmästyttävää, kuinka hänen maisterin opin näytetyö osti Joel Polsky saavutus palkinnon ASID Educational Foundation. Se on nimeltään "keskinäissuhde taiteen ja avaruuden: tutkimus myöhässä yhdeksästoista ja vuosisadan alussa Euroopan maalaus", joka on esillä Iida: n Knowledge Center samoin. Se antoi syvällisen ajatuksen merkityksestä väri, koostumus, sijoittaminen, laajuus, ja yhteydessä taiteen avaruudessa. Ja hänen todellinen kiinnostus suhdetta taiteen ja avaruuden on hyvin ilmeistä hänen thesis.

Hänen osoittautunut lahjakkuus ja into Art johtaa myös hänen nimittäminen National Gallery of Art suunnittelu-ja asennus osaston kanssa jatko-harjoittelun. Hänkin palveli Washington State Universityn taide valinta komiteassa.

Hänen ennätys ja kokemus, Devin varmasti on valmiudet käsitellä ainutlaatuisia tarpeita kunkin asiakkaan. Devin Fitzpatrick Art Consultants ymmärtää, että jokaisella on eri budjetti, tavoitteet ja tyyli, joten Devin edelleen oppia lisää antaa parasta palvelua jokaiselle niistä.

Devin aina odottaa luoda yksityiskohtainen ja kuraattori sisustus ja taiteen konsultointi jossa hän takaa tehdä ajaton ja inspiroi sisätilat perustuvat vaatimukset jokaisen asiakkaan. Hän jopa asettaa huolellista suunnittelua paikalleen ensin keksiä tyydyttävä palvelu hänen asiakkailleen. Hänen työnsä on yleensä kuvattu olevan yksinkertainen ja kaunis samalla, koska hän löytää inspiraatiota runsaasti yksityiskohtia menneisyyden ja modernin yksinkertaisuus.

Devin huolellisesti tutkimuksia maalaa värit, huone kalut ja ajatus täydellinen sisustus antaa hyviä tuloksia. Hänen kunkin suosituksen ja ehdotus on seurausta hänen aivo Riihi ja huolellinen näkö kohdat. Hänen kykynsä tehdä hienoa työtä taiteen kautta voisi todellakin auttaa kaikkia suuria tai pieniä asuin-ja kaupallisia hankkeita. Ensikertalaiset ovat erittäin tervetulleita Devin Fitzpatrick Art Consultants koska Devin on aina innostunut antamaan uusia ja jännittäviä asioita uusille asiakkaille. Lopuksi hänen synergia joukkue on myös ihailtavaa ja hänen sitoutumisensa huoleen kunkin asiakkaan ansaitsee kaikki myönteiset arviot, palkinnot ja tunnustukset annetaan hänelle.

Tokyo MK Taxi: How Technology Revolutionize the Taxi Industry

The taxi industry is finally catching up with innovative technologies to solve the existing problems for taxi drivers and consumers. Because of the development of new technologies, taxi companies are going through a major revamp and have been forced to adapt in order to survive the industry.

Nowadays, people worldwide are regularly using smart phones and laptops that have many applications to make their lives much easier and better. This is the reason why taxi apps have become popular and beneficial between users these days. Tokyo MKTaxi offers PCS (Private Chauffeur Service), a service where MK taxis available for hire near the customer’s location can be searched using a hand-held device like a smartphone or even using a laptop and the request can be made directly to the driver of the car. The application is compatible with multiple carriers for iOS and Android users with accurate and flexible car dispatching to freely chosen locations using GPS and simple position information.

Tokyo MK Taxi offered this kind of service to boost their brand recognition and to expand their client base. The best part is that their registration is easy and you can directly contact the driver by dialing the number displayed and convey your name and current exact location. Moreover, this service comes with a low price yet high-quality customer service.

With a diverse variety of elegant and well-maintained taxi, Tokyo MK Taxi features Lexus group enthusiasts stunning sedans - LS600hL and Lexus LS460 to help our clients arrive at their destination in style and comfort. Great client service is an integral part of our service as we are tailored to make you our number one priority. From limos to taxi, you can count on our service.

Tokyo MK Taxi: Traits of a Good Chauffeur Service

There are so many car chauffeurs servicing nowadays and not all are created equal. If you are planning to book a limo for any occasion, selecting a vehicle isn’t the only one you should consider. As a client, you should hope for an outstanding service and have a say in the right chauffeur too. From being pick-up to safely arriving at your final destination, Tokyo MK Taxi list few things that differentiate a good chauffeur from the rest of the crowd.

Excellent customer service

Having a highly professional chauffeur is essential to provide you with a good limo experience. A great chauffeur has effective communication skills, anticipates passenger’s needs and capable of providing their passengers with excellent customer service. They should be thoughtful, pleasant, polite and know when to talk to passengers and when to let them ride in peace. For example, a thoughtful chauffeur will open doors, take care luggage, have umbrellas and tissues in case passengers need them and offers details about points of interest if there is something you want to know about.

A positive attitude and the ability to stay calm

Having a positive attitude is everything. A good chauffeur has a positive outlook on life and on his job. He should be proud of serving his client and willing to go the extra mile to make his passenger happy and satisfied. Even in times of stress, an excellent chauffeur will know how to handle the situation calmly and make it better. 

Appearance and personal grooming

Chauffeur service typically hired for formal or special occasions, for this reason, they should be professionally dressed or in a classic dark suit, white shirt and a tie. When chauffeurs present themselves professionally dressed and well-groomed, it makes all the difference and lasting impression to clients, who demand the best quality service.

Mechanical skills at par

It is necessary that your chauffeurs are well-knowledgeable in mechanical problems too. In that way, small issues regarding the car can be fixed quickly without compromising your appointments or schedule.  Although you would not expect a chauffeur to perform complex mechanical work and fix a number of problems, the driver should at least have basic knowledge on fixing cars and when the backup is needed.

One of the things to ensure that you have an unforgettable experience is to ensure that you are riding the right luxury car along with a qualified chauffeur with traits mentioned above.  Tokyo MK Taxi features Lexus group enthusiasts with car included in their vehicle fleet are Lexus LS600hL and Lexus LS460 which is perfect for corporate functions and airport-city transfer service. Tokyo MK Taxi, with their long standing in the chauffeur service industry, will make sure that your transportation plans are as stress-free, smooth and dependable as possible.

Galveston Capital Tourism And Marketing: AEC Feed

Indonesia promotes tourist destinations in China

Indonesia is aggressively promoting 10 “New Bali” destinations at events in Shanghai and Chengdu, China.

The Tourism Ministry conducted a roadshow for this purpose from Monday to Thursday last week in those two cities. It brought along 10 tourism players hailing from Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta and Surabaya and partnered with Garuda Indonesia representatives in Shanghai to meet with potential buyers.

The sales mission promoted 10 priority Indonesian destinations known as “New Bali”, since none of them are actually on that famous resort island. They are Lake Toba, Tanjung Kelayang, Tanjung Lesung, the Thousand Islands, Borobudur temple, Mount Bromo, Mandalika Lombok, Komodo Island, Wakatobi National Park and Morotai.

Up to 1.45 million Chinese tourists arrived in Indonesia in 2016. This year the Tourism Ministry is targeting to attract 2.45 million visitors from Greater China (the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong), 2 million from the mainland alone.

As of March, the number of Chinese tourists coming to Indonesia this year reached 525,035. One of the things that reportedly contributed to that high number was the partnership between the ministry and Chinese Web services company Baidu, which has more than 300 million monthly users, as well as online travel-information provider Qunar.

“Almost every country in the world has eyes on Chinese tourists,” said Tourism Minister Arief Yahya.

About 120 million Chinese travel outside their country annually and 70 per cent of them prepare for their travel online, he said, adding that the average spending of Chinese tourists was US$1,057 (about Bt36,000) per person per visit. – The Jakarta Post

Bank Negara kicks off fintech sandbox

Malaysia’s central bank has approved four firms to operate within its “regulatory sandbox”, marking a significant milestone in the growth of financial technology in that country.

Bank Negara opened applications for parties intending to create innovative ways to improve the quality, efficiency and accessibility of financial services in Malaysia last year, in line with global trends.

It also saw the central bank creating a unit called the Financial Technology Enabler Group (FTEG), which would oversee the entry of technological innovations in financial services.

Companies operating in the sandbox will be allowed to launch their services, albeit within limits set by the central bank and under close watch by the regulator.

The FTEG’s website posted the names of the four approved participants in the sandbox, which cover the areas of insurance and money transfers, which in turn are areas hotly pursued by fintech start-ups globally. – The Star

Online traders in Malaysia must register

All online traders who carry out businesses via marketplace or e-commerce companies must register with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) within the next six months.

CCM chief executive officer Zahrah Abd Wahab Fenner said the move was aimed at protecting consumers and instilling confidence in them in line with the Registration of Businesses Act 1956.

“Initially, it will involve online traders who sell products through the Lazada platform and will be broadened to other market places including Fashion Valet and others. “This initiative will be undertaken via a memoranda of understanding with e-commerce companies in the country in stages,” she told reporters after CCM’s corporate zakat distribution presentation in Melaka. – Bernama

Coal miner Toba Bara gears up for $60m capex

Indonesia’s publicly listed coal miner PT Toba Bara Sejahtra has allocated US$60-65 million in capital expenditure this year, 85 to 90 per cent of which will be used for the initial engineering, procurement and contracting (EPC) phase of its Sulbagut-1 coal-fired power plant project in Gorontalo province.

The company, controlled by the family of Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, expects the Sulbagut-1 plant to reach financial close before the end of the first half so that it can immediately enter the EPC phase.

The Sulbagut-1 plant, estimated to have a total investment value of around $170 million to $220 million, will have a production capacity of 2x50 megawatts (MW). – The Jakarta Post

Galveston Capital Tourism and Marketing Review: Historic Island of Galveston

Galveston is a place with an interesting history and stories to tell. An island where you can explore its history, get your toes in the sand, take a leisurely stroll downtown and stay on lodges and budget-friendly hotels and restaurants.

Because it’s spring break, Moody Gardens now offer discounts for tourists who want to explore new travel destinations on the island and conduct plenty of fresh new activities under the sun’s rays. In addition, Moody Gardens Rainforest celebrates the birth of two small, rare and endangered Pygmy Loris twins in the Nocturnal Exhibit of the Rainforest Pyramid.

Spring Break on a Budget

The month of March and April celebrates the annual freedom pilgrimage called Spring Break Galveston in which there are plenty of activities to dive into that will definitely suit your tight budget. Some options to consider are, bathing in the island’s cool beaches, tree sculpture tour, affordable museum tour and a free ferry ride while gracefully watching dolphins as they swim.

70 Block Historic Downtown, Strand and Seaport

Wanting to visit museums? art galleries? theaters? or historical landmarks? Then you may want to venture down to Galveston’s 70-block historic downtown district. Some of the recently opened on the Strand is a family favorite attraction – Pirates! Legends of the Gulf Coast. Take some time to enjoy various shops and establishments while visiting Galveston’s Historic Arts & Entertainment District.

Group Activities Beckon & Abound

Looking for some fun group activities? The charming little island of Galveston will definitely give you fun and exciting activities you’ll surely love! Escape the Island is a one fun group activity where you need to find clues and solve puzzles to escape a themed room in 60 minutes.

#LoveGalveston2017 Photo Contest

Spending “island time” in Galveston with your family is priceless, why not capture them in photograph to have a chance to win cash? Photographers have a chance to win $1,000 cash for 1^st place and $500 for 2^nd and $250 for 3^rd place.

Online Security - Friend Request from Yourself? Watch out for Facebook Fakes

A few weeks ago, I got a Facebook request from “myself.”  I recognized it right away as a common Facebook cloning scam.

The way it works is simple. Cyber-crooks snag a photo of you, usually right from your own profile page, poach any information you’ve made public, then reach out to all your real friends and family. Once anyone you actually know accepts the fake Facebook friendrequest or engages with them on Messenger, the scammers typically make a play for money, personal info, or even try to infect your computer or phone with malware.

When the same thing happened to my mom last year, the scammer (pretending to be my mother) hit up my cousin with a sob story asking for money. He texted me instead and I told  my cousin how to report it to Facebook.

A few hours later, another one of her friends received a message from the crook to “click this link to see a great YouTube video you’re in.” She too, smelled a skunk. Had she actually clicked the link, though, it could have infected her computer with malware or a virus, logged her passwords and given hackers the fast track to her bank account, email or store accounts

Spotting the fakes

So how do you know that a friend request is real vs. fake? Here are a few questions to help you figure that out.

Are they a duplicate? This is the most obvious test for any fake friend, and all you have to do is see if someone with the same name is already friends with you on Facebook. Nobody has any reason to make more than one account, so if your best friend from college is still on your friends list but just sent you another friend request, send it straight into the trash. Then report it.

Check their photos. Okay, so a hacker will probably find a few freebie photos for their profile, but if you dig into their albums their plan totally falls apart. Before you accept a shady friend request, click on their name and go to their profile page. Browse through their photos and albums and see what’s there. If it’s bare, aside from the profile picture, or has just a couple random photos with no comments or likes, you’ve just nabbed a faker.

Don't become a victim to a Facebook impostor

Frisk their friends list. If someone is targeting you, their fake account is likely just a shell with very little going on. Click on their friends list and see how many they have. If it’s blank, run for the hills, but even if it’s well populated, those could all be fake or spam profiles too, so be sure to check what mutual friends you have in common. If the person isn’t friends with any of your friends, it’s almost certainly a scammer.

If you do spot a fake, block, report, and warn your friends. (Facebook also cracks down pretty hard on these kind of shenanigans these days.) From the scammer's main Facebook profile page, you can click the little “more” icon (three little dots in a row) next to their profile picture and then select “Report.” A little menu pops up asking you what you want to report, so select “Report this Profile.” Once you do this, Facebook will know to look at the account and take any actions needed. After you’ve reported, click that little “more” icon again and select “Block” to remove the account from your life forever.

Leave the links behind

Even if you’re good about ditching fake friends and ignoring anonymous requests, anyone on Facebook can still send a message to your "Other" inbox. In Facebook Messenger, these pop up as “Message Requests,” and even if someone isn’t your friend, he or she can still send you nasty links and malware without much consequence.

Never ever click on any links you get in these unverified messages, and do your best to avoid interaction with anyone who sends you a chat request out of the blue, even if he or she looks like someone you know. Follow the rules above and verify before you even reply, and if you determine it's a fake, head to the scammer's profile page and block them.

Eastern Alliance Insurance Group: Ebola in the Workplace

As the threat posed by the Ebola virus continues to spread globally, EAIG knows our policyholders and their employees are looking for guidance on preparing their workplace to counter the threat of virus transmission from colleagues and customers.

OSHA, NIOSH and the CDC have resources dedicated to information regarding the disease and how to protect workers, including medical information, hazard recognition, prevention and control, standards for protecting workers, and additional topics. This information is pertinent to many industries, particularly those in healthcare; airline and travel; mortuary and death care workers; laboratory workers; border, customs and quarantine workers; emergency responders; and workers in other critical sectors. – Eastern Alliance Insurance Group

OSHA Fact Sheet on protecting workers (not in healthcare or laboratories) involved in cleaning and decontamination of surfaces that may be contaminated with the Ebola virus:

https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA_FS-3756.pdf

OSHA Ebola Microsite; includes links to CDC and NIOSH Ebola information:

                                                                                       

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/ebola/index.html

CDC Ebola Microsite:

http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/

Additional resources can be through this safety blog, which features links to many of the documents distributed by the CDC and OSHA:

http://safetyresourcesblog.com/2014/10/18/ebola-free-additional-materials-banners-fact-sheets-posters/ 

Japan Asia Group Limited Review: Towards Sustainability

Kokusai Kogyo actively contributes toward the realization of our Group Mission: "Save the Earth, Make Communities Green." 2015 was a landmark year, where the United Nations renewed three international frameworks that relate closely to our Mission and our work. The concepts of disaster risk reduction and resilience building in the Sendai Framework, adopted in March, was mainstreamed into the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in September, as necessary foundations towards sustainable development. The Paris Agreement at COP21 in December saw more than 190 countries agree to cooperate towards reducing global warming.

Working with international organizations

Kokusai Kogyo has been active in delivering private sector views and expertise into the international dialogue, even joining, in the case of the Sendai Framework, discussions at its formative stages. In return, we bring back a deeper understanding of global issues and trends, which we apply to our business activities. Sandra Wu Wen-Hsiu, our Chairperson and CEO, has taken a leading role in our work with the international community, and especially the following three organizations:

UN Global Compact

The UN Global Compact is the main UN the main United Nation initiative for engagement with the private sector and business

UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

UNISDR strongly promotes disaster risk reduction and resilience through public private collaboration and private sector engagement

World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is committed to improving the state of the world and is an international organization for public-private cooperation

Additionally, Kokusai Kogyo assists developing countries implement these international frameworks through our international development consulting operations.

Our Activities

With UN Global Compact (UNGC)

The Global Compact was launched at UN Headquarters in New York on 26 July 2000, and aims to bring about sustainable growth through the responsible, innovative leadership of businesses and other organizations acting as good corporate citizens and voluntarily committing to a universal set of principles.

Kokusai Kogyo joined the Global Compact in 2013, and agreeing to meet fundamental responsibilities in its Four Areas and to adhere to its Ten Principles, and reporting on progress through our Creating Shared Value (CSV) report.

n 2015, Kokusai Kogyo became signatory to the Caring for Climate initiative, which is jointly convened by the UNGC, the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The massive Russian cybercrime operation stealing millions from advertisers - Inside ‘Methbot’

Security experts have uncovered what appears to be the biggest and most profitable advertising fraud scheme known to date.

In a report released Tuesday, cybersecurity firm White Ops mapped out a massive operation through which Russian cybercriminals are stealing millions of dollars from publishers and advertisers in the form of fake video views.

Nicknamed "Methbot" for the frequent references to the drug in its code, the ongoing scheme involves an army of bots whose sole purpose is to watch as many as 300 million video ads per day, thus tricking brand advertisers into paying millions of dollars for fake views.

The company believes it to be the work of a ring of Russian hackers, who researchers say have netted upwards of $180 million in profits since launching the operation in September.

While employing automated users to scam ads is nothing new — it's the foundation of the multibillion-dollar ad fraud industry — the company says the staggering scale and technical intricacy at play here are unprecedented.

"This is an attack perpetrated against the entire industry," says White Ops CEO Michael Tiffany. "It was robbing both advertisers and publishers, and it was operating at a level of sophistication that's just unheard of."

How it works

The whole operation takes place within a sort of Potemkin Village version of the internet located entirely within the bounds of Methbot's servers.

To populate it, the hackers took over more than half a billion IP addresses — unique strings of characters designed to identify web users — from two major registries and broke them into chunks, which were then assigned to various internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon.

Doing so created the illusion that each of these millions of bots were real web surfers spread across America rather than programs operating out of one of two centralized data centers in Amsterdam and Dallas.

The perpetrators also built custom software designed to make the bots appear convincingly human — they mimicked clicks and cursor movements; installed fake cookies that indicated demographics, online browsing histories and other targetable traits; and even gave them fraudulent social network credentials that made it appear as if they were logged into Facebook or other social media accounts (though no such accounts actually existed).

This elaborate operation goes far and beyond that of your average ad fraudster, Tiffany says. In a typical operation of this kind, bots latch onto the addresses of actual people through malware so that hackers don't have to go through the trouble of creating identities out of whole cloth.

"We've never seen anything like that before," Tiffany says. "It's just astonishing."

But spawning this army of robo-users was just one piece of the puzzle; the cybercriminals also generated more than 6,000 imitation sites designed to resemble major outlets across the web.

These include fake versions of publishers like CNN, the New York Times, BuzzFeed and Mashable; platforms like Facebook, Yahoo and Quora; and even some brand websites like those of Air France and Pokémon.

The fake sites allowed the thieves to take advantage of a common form of arbitrage in the ad tech industry in which unsold ad space is bought from an outlet then resold at a higher price. The criminals would pretend to be reselling space on, say, CNN's website through an automated ad exchange but then instead direct the ad to their shell version of the site that nobody could actually see.

There, the brand would unwittingly pay to have its video ad viewed solely by the millions of bots assigned to visit each of these sites.

As a whole, the operation racked up between 200 to 300 million views per day and bilked advertisers and media companies out of $3 million to $5 million in revenue.

Such intricate attention to detail might seem excessive for a scam that's already considered to have the lowest risk and highest reward of any form of cyber crime. 

But the whole plan was put in place in service of making the machine as profitable as possible at every level. Bots imbued with a targetable profile and brand-name outlets are worth much more to advertisers than unknown visitors to a no-name webpage, and video is the most expensive form of online advertising.

"By using these very sophisticated mechanisms to hack some of the architectural systems of the internet, they were then able to unlock much greater profit potential than other operations usually have," Tiffany said.

What's next

White Ops, which specializes in ad fraud detection, first took notice of the operation in October, when its system picked up on some of the bots. The rest of the scheme unraveled from there.

"We had this one thread to pull on, and then as we pulled on it, we uncovered layer upon layer upon layer of complex forgeries," Tiffany said.

Now that the report is out, White Ops is releasing a full list of fake addresses and domains so that ad networks and other fraud detection firms can block accordingly. It is also working with U.S. law enforcement authorities to try to track down the parties responsible.

While the massive scale of Methbot might make other ad fraudsters seem like small-timers in comparison, ad fraud as a whole remains a huge headache for the advertising industry. A research report from an advertiser trade group last year predicted that it could cost digital advertisers around $7.2 billion this year alone.

Tiffany says it's entirely possible that ad fraud rings of comparable scope are currently operating undetected. The murky nature of the crime makes it uniquely hard to suss out.

"It hardy ever leaves traces of the crime behind," he says. "It's such an extraordinarily successful form of theft because nothing goes missing."

Security and Risk Online: Get ahead of online fraud this holiday season

Holiday shopping has changed a lot in the last few years with major online shopping events from around the world gaining popularity in Australia. This year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales were one of the biggest online shopping days in Australia, kicking off the pre-Christmas rush. Cyber Monday broke records in the US hitting US$3.45 billion in online sales, up 12 per cent from last year with Australia and the rest of the world following suit.

But with the increase in online holiday shopping comes a commensurate increase in the instances of fraud. Australian internet businesses suffer dramatically more card fraud than the global average, with online fraud rising by 38% between 2014 — 2015, compared to the global average of 13%.

It’s a lesser-known quirk of the financial industry that, unlike their brick-and-mortar counterparts, online businesses are responsible for not only detecting fraud, but also paying the associated costs. On average, every $1 of fraudulent orders costs an online business an additional $2.69. A couple of weeks ago a foreign syndicate was busted by the Australian Federal Police for the theft of more than 30,000 Australian credit cards, spending more than $30 million. A hefty sum, for sure, but nothing close to the US$32 billion that online retailers spent preventing and remediating hacks in 2015. Online businesses are also susceptible to a wider range of fraud schemes, including credit card fraud, payout scams and faux refunds.

So as the holiday sales kick off, what can online businesses do about it?

The basics: getting started with fraud prevention

To begin, businesses should examine the address verification code (a postcode that matches what’s on file with the cardholder’s bank), require a card verification code (the 3- or 4-digit code on their card), and delay shipping. The latter step is especially helpful for expensive items, as it provides a safety window when the actual cardholder might flag a large fraudulent purchase.

However, these checks aren’t foolproof: Legitimate customers can easily enter a typo in their street address or move and forget to update their billing zip code, resulting in false positives, and fraudsters are often able to buy stolen credit card numbers together with their card verification codes.

The next step is manual reviews: Many business rely on employees to audit transactions and create complex, custom rules (such as, “temporarily block all orders over $500 until reviewed and approved”). All of this sound pretty complicated and manual. The answer? Machine learning.

Let machines do the heavy-lifting

Thanks to recent advances in machine learning and AI, businesses today can analyse millions of online transactions and identify buying patterns across large numbers of retailers, spotting outliers in real-time and flagging odd charges long before a human analyst would spot a problem.

Sift Science offers machine-learning-based fraud detection trained on a business’s data; other tools like Riskified and Signifyd offer chargeback insurance, screening every charge for a fee, blocking suspicious purchase, and compensating their customers when they failed to block fraud.

Stripe’s fraud tool, Radar, constantly learns from the hundreds of thousands of businesses taking payments through Stripe around the world. This new approach enabled Watsi, a global funding platform for medical treatments, to block more than $40 million in attempted fraud over a two-month span, all with limited to no human involvement.

Don’t leave money on the table

Of course, the difficulty with fraud is that pre-emptively blocking too many transactions means foregoing legitimate purchases too. In theory, you could prevent fraud from Southeast Asia by blocking all transactions from Southeast Asia; but that approach means you’d also be foregoing legitimate transactions from one of the world’s most populous regions.

So even once you’ve implemented tools for preventing fraud, it’s important to remember that your ultimate goal isn’t blocking fraud — it’s maximizing revenue. This means you should:

1. Consider multiple metrics: Don’t just focus on one metric like false positive rate (legitimate transactions that you’re blocking) or dispute rate. After all, you can easily make the former zero by not trying to catch any fraud (and the latter zero by not accepting any payments). Your overall fraud protection approach will offer a trade-off between false positives and false negatives, and you should understand what that trade-off is and what is optimal for your business. This break-even calculator can give you an example of the kind of calculations it can be helpful to do.

2. Find your “healthy” dispute rate: Unsurprisingly, fraud varies by sector. For example, the median fraud rate for retail is 0.02 per cent, while for nonprofits it’s 0.1%. Once you know your industry’s rate, compare it to your business’ unique situation and data to identify a “healthy” fraud benchmark. Trying to drive your dispute rate far below what is natural for your sector can be more effort than it’s worth.

3. Always be measuring: No matter what solution you choose, be rigorous in assessing efficacy. For example, if you’re manually customising rules, you can evaluate their performance by backtesting them or by running A/B tests in real-time. Don’t rely on intuition that tells you all payments from a certain region, or at a certain time of day, are fraudulent. Formulate your hypothesis and validate it with data!

On the internet, the only constant is change itself. As consumer behaviour and fraud schemes continue to evolve, businesses that want to maximise their revenue this holiday season — and year round — should be using modern fraud defences that can adapt and help them stay a step ahead of fraudsters.