Author: SME Chamber

GRTU has today published it’s annual Business Performance Survey.

Overall, results have been positive with 36% of respondents claiming that their sales in 2016 increased by between 1 and 30% over sales in 2015 and 29% claiming that they did worse that 2015. The remaining 36% claimed that their turnover was identical to that of 2015.

This survey is conducted by the GRTU research unit which is headed by Marcel Mizzi (GRTU Vice President – Finance & Admin). The number of respondents was 175 and the survey was conducted online and via telephone. The online system employed utilises tokens which means that only persons that possess a token can participate and tokens are sent by email to members. This ensures that respondents cannot vote twice and that only persons who are legitimate business owners can actually participate.

The above pie chart shows the business activities that the respondents of this survey are active in. It is clearly evident from this chart that the respondents where from a cross section of the business community and not simply retailers. This particular question allowed respondents to select more than one selection as we are aware that many businesses are not simply involved in one activity within their enterprise.

The above line chart shows that the businesses interviewed are involved in am myriad of sectors. Sectors for the GRTU is well known are represented as well as other sectors that are such as the sectors which are traditionally considered as service sectors.

Respondents were also provided with an opportunity to air their concerns and the most prevalent concerns where the following :

• There is an acute shortage of employable people. Considered on a country wide level this is undoubtedly a good thing but on a micro business level this is causing acute problems. Business people are claiming that they are spending a lot of their time finding employees rather than focusing on being productive in their respective businesses.
• Traffic congestion is causing serious concerns. Persons employed to handle on-site calls have become much less productive and companies are finding it very hard to keep up with their client support commitments because of inefficiencies that are clearly attributed to logistic challenges caused by traffic congestion.
• The new SISA on cosmetics and related products was mentioned repeatedly. GRTU members and businessman in general simply cannot understand how the government would choose to inconvenience the business community with these unnecessary burdens to collect a paltry few millions. GRTU has always claimed that it sees this as going back in time to a time when Excise and Customs played an important part in tax collection. GRTU applauded the Government on the removal of ECO taxes, only to be disappointed with the new SISA.
• Respondents also mentioned repeatedly the unfair competition which is rampant through the Internet as well as through other channels such as undeclared imports from Sicily. Goods purchased online are exempt from taxes such as VAT, Duty and packaging and WEEE fees. This causes an aberration in the market and GRTU has been insisting that these abuses need to be curbed.
• Respondents also mentioned the new “Shop opening hours” regulations and showed surprise that the €700 fee to open on Sundays was still in force. A survey conducted by GRTU about this matter two years ago clearly showed that shop owners are widely in favour of a free for all system. While GRTU understants that the new ammedments were a first step, the €700 fee is excessive and should be removed.

 The full survey can be found here

Ransomware –  Make sure your business is protected before it’s too late !

Local ICT companies that provide support services to local businesses are getting an increasing number of reports of systems being infected by what is known as Ransomware here in Malta. All over the world reports of businesses being heavily effected and indeed even going out of business because of this threat are being reported daily. In the US, the New York Times is treating this as a major issue. Many are labeling this threat a “Business Killer” because it can literally destroy your business. This type of Malware makes your files unusable and this includes your invoicing system and any other applications you may be using. Unless you have a backup of your data which is not also affected by this malware, you could potentially lose everything. It is extremely important that you have the correct protection and contingency measures in place. You need to be proactive as traditional antivirus solutions including corporate packages may simply not protect you against this threat.

The graph below shows the increase in the incidences reported to Mcafee recently. Mcafee is one of the leading anti virus solution publishers. There is no question that this type of virus is becoming a real problem. Read on to make sure your business is protected!

So what is ransom ware?
Ransom ware is a relatively new type of malware or virus. What it does is put you in a situation where you either pay a criminal (the creator of the virus) or you lose access to all your data. This includes MS Word Documents, MS Excel files, PDFs and many application software packages such as Sage Accounts and other popular products.  It encrypts or changes your data in such a way that there is no way of getting your files back except by paying the criminals who designed the virus. Once this happens you will be notified through a popup that appears on your screen similar to the one below. The criminals who are developing these new threats know that they can get caught easily if their money is delivered using traditional channels such as credit cards or Paypal so they request payment in Bitcoin which is a relatively new virtual (or internet) currency. These criminals choose to be paid in Bitcoin because they cannot be traced through it. In fact, this is the reason why Bitcoin is used for other illegal business such as trading in weapons and narcotics. The issue for us Maltese is that unlike in other countries it is not easy to find and purchase Bitcoins in Malta although it can be done.  In Italy for example, you simply look up people selling Bitcoin on Google and all you have to do is go down to the nearest public place with mobile in hand and your eWallet app installed, hand over your cash and the seller will send you the Bitcoins. They are after all simply numbers.

 
Figure 2 – Pop up screen that appears when you are infected (Could vary !)

So how do you get infected?
The most common method of infection is through email. At the moment a lot of emails are being sent under the guise of being from DHL or FEDEX because the creators of this malware are very aware that people are using eCommerce all the time and getting an email from these carriers is no surprise. This is not a rule as this malware is constantly evolving and the email could be disguised as anything. We have seen instances of this threat appearing as a response to a vacancy for example. Needless to say, companies looking for employees will be likely to open the attachment in this case. The sender could also be someone you know, so the advice “Don’t open attachments from people you don’t know” no longer applies.  
It has also been reported that this malware can also be spread through Remote Desktop Connections. To those of you who are not very tech savvy, this is a system which is used to connect to computers or servers remotely and usually used by branch offices or to work from home.
Another method that this malware spreads is through macros in Microsoft Word documents. Macros are small programs that provide extra functionality to Word docs and this malware will exploit this feature to deliver its payload. MS Word will warn you that a macro is a potential danger but if you get the document from a colleague, you are likely to ignore the warning.
Once you get infected, you will have no doubt of that this has happened. The malware will display a splash screen giving you instructions of how to pay the ransom and get your data back. There are many variants but most of the latest ones will ask you to pay half a Bitcoin if you do it in the first few days with the price going up if you wait longer.

What can you do to protect your data ?
The most obvious advice here is “Don’t open these email attachments!”. People who got infected will tell you that this  is easy to say but next to impossible to achieve in practice.
The key word here is backup ! You need to backup your data regularly and in such a way that Ransom Ware does not encrypt your backups as well!
Many of the regular antivirus solutions simply detect ransom ware when it is already too late. Most are good at removing the actual application but not before it deploys its payload. Furthermore, the malware will first finish encrypting your data and only display the ransom message when it is done. By this time it will be too late to do anything in any case.
The latest variants of this threat also attack popular backup systems such as Easus Backup. The first versions that appeared in the wild did not but the latest versions are becoming much more intelligent and are aware of measures that are taken to mitigate these threats. For example, the latest windows operating systems support “Previous Versions” which allow you to revert to versions of your data from dates in the past. The latest variants even erase these copies so that you cannot use this feature as a safety net.
The best solution is to use a backup system that backs up to a device that is not usually accessible through Windows. Windows Server Backup in the latest versions of Windows Server Operating Systems works just like this. You can dedicate an external USB drive for your backups and this drive is then not accessible through “My Computer”. This is a perfect solution and something which the criminal malware creators will have difficulty solving.  Unfortunately this type of backup is not something you can use on your personal computer but there are others that work the same way.  Another solution would be to connect your external drive while you are backing up and disconnecting it when you are done.
There are also a host of applications specifically designed to combat this malware. Most of these work very differently from traditional antivirus solutions. Most antivirus solutions look for a signature to detect a virus or a sequence of bytes through which it can be identified. Applications designed to combat this threat instead work using Heuristics which means they detect the process which actually performs the file encryption. Because they work in this way, regardless of what the malware creators do, if it involves encrypting your files they will discover it and stop it.  

Here are a couple of examples :
https://www.foolishit.com/cryptoprevent-malware-prevention/
Even the free edition will protect you enough for most purposes.

Or  http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro
Hitmanpro also have a free version which works in the same way.

Should you pay the criminals ?
The easy answer to this in NO! You are paying criminals and you have no guarantee that they will decrypt your files and give you your data back. You also cannot be sure that these criminals do not get arrested before they can keep their part of the deal or else skip the country because they have made enough money from poor souls like you!
On the other hand, if you don’t have any recent backups or if your backups have also been effected you need to ask yourself “Is my data worth €350?” If it is and many times it is worth much more than that, then paying is an option you should consider. Indeed it is like paying a thief who is robbing your house in the dead of night so that you don’t have to change your locks but in many cases this is the only option. There are many reports of users having paid the ransom and successfully got their data back.
Obviously paying the ransom will encourage more criminals to join in using this new method of extorting money from unsuspecting businesses but when it’s your data you simply might have no other option!

Written by Marcel Mizzi MSc BSc
GRTU Vice President (Finance & Admin)

Green MT, the National Authorised Packaging Waste Compliance Scheme has held its annual Council Awards under the patronage of the Hon. Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change, Jose Herrera and the Hon. Stefan Buontempo, Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government.

The Green Council Awards have entered into their sixth year and nine awards were this year given to Local Councils, Schools, Industry Operators, 

 and individuals who have distingushed themselves in the sector of waste separation and final recycling.

In 2015, Green MT has managed to collect 4986 tons of recyclable waste from across 28 towns and villages in Malta and Gozo. More than three-quarters of that waste came from household waste collection, with 21.6 per cent collected at bring-in sites. Green MT manages 41 grey bag collections each week from these localities. As of 2015, Green MT has also started the glass bottles and glass container collection and has managed to collect and recycle 257 tons. 

Addressing the Green Council Awards, GREEN Mt CEO, Mr Joe Attard explained that each tonne costs the Scheme anything €120 in Malta and €217 in Gozo. Mr. Attard said that “sustainability in this sector can be ensured if the law obliges residents to separate at home” 

GRTU Vice President and Green Mt Director Marcel Mizzi said that GRTU is committed to ensure the proper implementation of the extended Poluter Pays Principle according to various EU Environemnt Directive. Mr. Mizzi continued that GRTU is a main stakeholder and on behalf of it’s members, it must be involved in every decision taken on waste management.

The winners of the Green Council Awards are:

OVERALL BEST PERFORMING LOCAL COUNCIL

• Ta’ Xbiex – (inġabru 239 tunnellata – 87 kg per capita)

• Imġarr, Malta – (inġabru 223 tunnellata – 61 kg per capita)

• Mellieħa – (inġabru 607 tunnellati – 60 kg per capita)

AWARD FOR INDIVIDUAL COMMITMENT TO RECYCLING

• Is-Sur Mario Calleja – Sindku ta’ Marsaskala

OUTSTANDING COLLEGE OF THE YEAR AWARD

• St Ignatius College, Luqa Primary

RECYCLING BUSINESS YEAR AWARD

• Simonds Farsons Cisk

LOCAL COUNCIL IMPROVEMENT AWARD

• Imtarfa

BEST PERFORMANCE GLASS COLLECTION

• Siġġiewi

MOST SUPPORTIVE LOCAL COUNCIL

• San Pawl l-Baħar

The Kappara Junction Project has registered progress as diversion and alternate routes have been upgraded and improved in preparation for excess traffic that would be using such roads during the more rigorous phases of the project where actual works will be undertaken at the Kappara Junction itself.

Works have included widening of roads such as in Swieqi Valley, amended traffic diversions to support a circular traffic flow such as at Gzira strand, as well as upgrading of road infrastructure. During the month of June, Transport Malta has implemented new traffic management at Vjal ir-Rihan San Gwann. This route is to be utilised as one of the major diversion routes for traffic once Kappara Junction will be partially or fully closed during works.

GRTU has followed business needs closely during this change whereby better implementation and support to commuters was necessary. The business community in San Gwann has been in constant communication with GRTU. GRTU has managed to safeguard interests of retail outlets by convincing the authorities to install adequate un/loading bays in the area as well as introducing timed parking to ensure customers find adequate parking facilities in the vicinity. Moreover it is expected that in a few weeks time, when major works are undertaken at the Kappara Junction and further closures are effected in other zones, traffic will increase drastically resulting in more business in the outlets of the effected area.

GRTU continues with its proposals and communication with businesses and government on this project in order to ensure that business interests are safeguarded. The GRTU Transport Lobby Group represents business operators related to the passenger and goods transport and logistics sector. The Lobby Group continues to offer its on-the-ground expertise in order to put forward proposals and mitigate possible pitfalls. On the other hand, GRTU continues supplying direct information to business outlets in the effected zones to ensure that their interests are safeguarded as much as possible during the months ahead as the project progresses.

The next immediate step is that of Sliema Road partial closures and related works. GRTU is in contact with its members in the area in order to ensure a smooth transition. GRTU is gathering information and suggestions from businesses in the effected area and surroundings to be able to fully represent business interests and ensure that any measures to mitigate such effects are taken in full by government and respective authorities. For further information you are kindly asked to contact GRTU on 79232884 or 21232881.

A press conference was held at MCCAA to inaugurate ‘Servizz bi Tbissima’ The Service with a smile award’ that will also be extended to the best online service.

This award is organized by the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA). The aim of this competition is to recognize those shops that offer good service and strive to improve the relationship between consumers and retailers. At the same time promote good business practices.

Addressing the conference, Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties Hon. Helena Dalli said that following the positive experience of last year, this year another category will be added where consumers will have the opportunity to reward business that offer good service online.

Director-General within the MCCAA Joyce Borg explained how apart from ensuring law enforcement amongst business, the Authority also conducts online action to ensure that sales and purchases online are efficient. Thus consumers have the peace of mind that these sales methods are in accordance with the GRTU supports the 2nd edition of ‘Servizz bi Tbissima’ law. GRTU Vice President Marcel Mizzi praised the initiative and said that the GRTU strongly supports this award. He mentioned how GRTU insisted that the application should be accessed and submitted online to make the application process easier. Mr Mizzi expressed the importance of the Maltese businesses using online platforms and said that in the coming days a financial scheme will be launched to help and encurage business owners to start selling over the internet.

In this second edition, consumers will play a key role in choosing the winner through online voting on the MCCAA Facebook page as well as through the website.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony that will be held in October.

Nomination forms along with more details about this award can be accessed at: www.mccaa.org.mt 

GRTU has recently insisted with the Department of Local Government for a clear policy to be introduced in relation to the loading and unloading of containers.

The issue relates to containers being loaded and unloaded within Localities as opposed to the Hal Far Groupage Complex. GRTU has been advocating the principle that traders had every right to request permission to place a container within a Locality as long as the entire contents of the container were to be delivered to the same recipient.

Containers carrying groupage are strictly to be unloaded at the Hal Far Groupage Complex in terms of the Motor Tractors Regulations.

Until recently, the practice to load or unload a container outside one’s warehouse consisted of simply obtaining a permit from the Local Council offices in that locality.

Nonetheless in recent months members complained that certain Local Councils were refusing to issue permits for placing containers outside their premises temporarily in order to load or unload their contents. The issue revolved around conflicting interpretations of two pieces of legislation: the Motor Tractors Regulations and the Activities Requiring Permits by Local Councils Regulations.

This has left many traders fuming after being unable to carry out their commercial activities and moreover being served with contraventions to appear in Court charged with having containers parked on the street without the necessary permits.

After analyzing the existing regulations, GRTU’s legal department asked the Director for Local Government from the Parliamentary Secretariat for Local Government to confirm the GRTU’s interpretation which was eventually confirmed by virtue of two circulars that finally clarified the matter.

Members are therefore being made aware of the correct procedure for placing containers outside their premises:

• Containers still loaded on their trailers simply require a Police Permit from the local district office. They do not require a permit from the Local Council. A Police Permit will always be given under the following conditions: (1) that no road is obstructed; (2) that no inconvenience to neighbours is caused; and (3) that no garages are obstructed.

• Containers that have been removed from their trailers and placed on the street do not require a Police Permit. The trader however will have to obtain a Local Council permit. Permits for temporarily placing containers on the street from Local Councils cost €35.00 for a twenty-foot container and €70.00 for a forty-foot container.