Ashampoo Database Hacked – What You Need To Know

I could spend all day, every day, reporting on nothing more than the latest cyber criminal targeted intrusions into enterprise IT systems.  Two reports from my today’s Tech Net News column illustrate that we are barely scratching the surface of this significant, continuous, and rapidly expanding problem:

European Space Agency website and FTP servers hacked

Dramatic increase in cyber attacks on critical infrastructure

If you’re an everyday reader here, then you may recall that I regularly recommend that you take advantage of the German software developer Ashampoo’s, occasionally offered free application multipacks.

The downside (for some) is, you must register and provide an email address. Additional benefits can be gained by registering as an  Ashampoo member, which includes creating a password.

Unfortunately, Ashampoo has become a victim of a cyber criminal targeted intrusion aimed at their customer database. According to the company:

“Hackers gained access to one of our servers. We discovered the break-in and interrupted it instantly. The security gap through which the hackers gained access was closed immediately.

The stolen pieces of information are data of addresses such as name and e-mail address. Billing information (e.g. credit card information or banking information) is definitely not affected … it is not stored on our system.”

If you have taken advantage of Ashampoo’s offers, then it’s important that you exercise extreme caution with any future emails sent by the company and, any unsolicited email sent by any company, for that matter.

As well, if you have registered as an Ashampoo member, it’s important that you change your account password. Additionally, if you have used the same password elsewhere (you’d be surprised how often this occurs), it’s imperative that you change these passwords immediately.

My thanks to my buddy John B. (a great Scot!), for bringing this unfortunate incident to my attention this morning.

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5 Fully Licensed Applications FREE From Ashampoo – Value $129.95!

As a popular Blogger, I receive “giveaway” offers from software developers virtually everyday. This past week, for example, a developer offered two free licenses for their backup software – software that has no major advantages over an assortment of free backup applications readily available for download on the Net. My only response – give me a break – this type of marketing is so Twentieth Century! Two licenses? Sheesh.

No, I have much more interest in pointing out to readers, opportunities to download fully licensed software from mature software developers who focus on the big picture. Developers who create opportunities for significant numbers of users to benefit from giveaways – not 5 or 10, and certainly not two! No fuss, no muss, no waiting, no trusting to luck giveaways – professionally handled, and a win-win for all involved.

Ashampoo, a German software developer with over 125 million software installations to their credit, is a perfect example of a company that understands marketing in the Twenty First Century. As such, Ashampoo periodically offers free multipacks of their programs for download, with the only requirement being registration.

This time out, Ashampoo is offering 5 of their applications for free (retail value $129.95). This is a limited time offer, and as such, there is no guarantee that the offer will not be withdrawn without notice.

Applications include:

Burning Studio 2010 Advanced – (for CD, DVD, and Blu-ray burning projects).

Home Designer – (a 3-D home-planning tool).

Photo Commander 7 – (for sharing, organizing, and managing photos and videos).

Snap 3 – (a screen- and video-capture utility).

WinOptimizer 6 – (a Windows tuning, maintenance, and optimization utility).

If you’ve not used Ashampoo’s applications in the past, then you’re in for a treat. This company develops absolutely first class applications, and I recommend that you give all of these applications a try.

To take advantage of this offer, click on the “Redeem Coupon Code Here” button, in the graphic below.

I should point out, registration is required to unlock any application past the initial 10 day trial period.

Note: If you’re wondering what the green circles are, in the above graphic, this is the WOT Browser add-on advising me that the links in the email (the graphic is a screen capture of my email), are safe.

Even if you have no need for any of this software, consider passing the offer on to your friends as a “one day late”, Christmas present.

Ashampoo loves to remind you occasionally of the value of their full software lineup, so if you find it bothersome to receive this type of email, you’d be better off passing.

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.when I do receive emails soliciting my business for new applications.

Software License Giveaways – Go Big Or Go Home

If you get the impression that this article is a bit of a rant – you’d be right.

As a popular Blogger, I receive giveaway offers from software developers virtually everyday. You know the type – “Contest: We have 5/10 licenses to giveaway to your readers”, or something similar. I avoid them like the plague – and here’s why.

It’s a sweet deal for the software developer.

The Blogger writes a review on a piece of software he may not otherwise have even considered, which amounts to free publicity for the developer.

Depending on the Blog’s readership base, this can amount to significant free exposure.

The Blogger does all the back end work – testing the application (although I’m aware of some Bloggers who don’t), writing a review, replying to the contest entries; setting up the drawing to pull the winning entries; notifying the winners, etc.

All of this for what – so that 5 readers out of perhaps as many as 4/5000 daily readers, get a free one year license for a piece of software? All of this for a marginal increase in Blog traffic, which at best, is transient.

Contrast that type of low end giveaway with a “professional” giveaway, such as the following.

Zemana, the developers of the highly regarded security application AntiLogger, on two occasions in the past year, set up a special giveaway download page for Tech Thought readers, which resulted in 2,000+ licenses  being given away. No fuss, no muss, no waiting, no trusting to luck, professionally handled, and a win-win for all involved.

Ashampoo, a German software developer with over twelve million customers, periodically offers free multipacks of their programs for download with the only requirement being registration. At the moment Ashampoo is offering five of their best selling applications, at no cost.

Since I posted an article on this offer late yesterday, 300+ readers here, have taken advantage of this generous offer. Definitely beats a low end 5/10 license contest hands down. There’s no entry to fill out, and then having to trust that lady luck will reward you. Best of all – there’s no waiting.

You might wonder why I’d bother writing a piece like this. There’s a simple answer really.

It allows me to answer the many reader inquires I’ve received, as to why I no longer promote skimpy software giveaways.

It allows me to point out to readers, that mature software developers (like the two above), focus on the big picture in creating opportunities for users to benefit from giveaways – not 5 or 10; but, significant numbers of users.

It allows me to point out to other Bloggers that getting involved in low end giveaways is a mugs game – that the only marginal winner is a software developer, who has yet to grasp the fundamentals of marketing in the Internet age.

And finally, it allows me to point out to fellow Bloggers the truth of that old axiom – “If you work for nothing, you’ll never be out of a job.”

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Special: Download 5 Terrific Ashampoo Apps – No Charge

Ashampoo, a German software company noted for developing top quality, easy to use applications, periodically makes available free, current versions of their retail products. The last time I recall a similar offer from Ashampoo was a couple of years ago, when they offered 6 of their programs for free.

This time, Ashampoo is offering 5 of their applications for free (retail value $160, or so). I believe this a limited time offer, and there is no guarantee the offer will not be withdrawn without notice. So as the hot dog guy at the ball park says, “get em while they’re hot.”

Applications include:

Burning Studio 2010 Advanced (for CD, DVD, and Blu-ray burning projects)

Home Designer (a 3D home-planning tool)

Photo Commander 7 (for sharing, organizing, and managing photos and videos)

Snap 3 (a screen- and video-capture utility)

WinOptimizer 6 (a Windows tuning, maintenance, and optimization utility)

If you’ve not used Ashampoo’s applications in the past then you’re in for a treat. This company develops absolutely first class applications, and I recommend that you give all of these applications a try.

To take advantage of this offer, go here and enter coupon code ASH-444LW1.

I must point out that registration is required to unlock any application past the original 10 day trial period. You might find this process a bit of a hassle. But, then again – maybe not.

Ashampoo loves to remind you occasionally of the value of their full software lineup, so if you find it bothersome to receive this type of email, you’d be better off passing. Personally, I find it easier to stay in the loop on new software developments.

If you found this article useful, why not subscribe to this Blog via RSS, or email? It’s easy; just click on this link and you’ll never miss another Tech Thoughts article.when I do receive emails soliciting my business for new applications.

Free Ashampoo WinOptimizer 4! – Save 40 Bucks

From time to time Ashampoo, a software company noted for developing top quality, easy to use applications, makes available free, current versions of their retail products.

This time Ashampoo is offering their outstanding WinOptimizer 4 (still available at retail for $39.95), at no cost. I believe this a limited time offer and there is no guarantee the offer will not be withdrawn without notice; so as the hot dog guy at the ball park says, “get em while they’re hot.”

WinOptimizer 4 is an outstanding collection of system tools and utilities to fix, speed up, maintain, tweak, and protect your PC. If your computer has been acting sluggish lately, then WinOptimizer 4 may be just the application you’ve been looking for to restore your system to its optimum performance mode.

In testing, I found that the application was extremely fast, and that it worked as advertised.

The application has sixteen easy-to-use modules that have been designed to increase system performance and stability. For those who prefer a one click solution, a One-Click-Optimization feature has been included which automatically executes the Drive Cleaner, Registry Cleaner and Internet Cleaner functions.

The user interface is laid out in four specific modules so that you can quickly find the tool you’re looking for.

Quick facts:

Cleaning Tools: Drive Cleaner, Registry Cleaner, Internet Cleaner

Tuning Tools: StartUp Tuner, Process Manager, Internet Tuner, IP Spam Blocker

File Tools: DiskSpace Explorer, File Wiper, File Splitter & Joiner, File Encrypter & Decrypter

Tweaking Tools: Tweaking, Defrag 2, System-Information, System-Benchmark, Visual Styler

System Requirements: Windows Vista, XP, 2000, and 2003 Server.

Free registration is required.

Download at: Ashampoo