Techno-News Blog

By: Fahmida Y. Rashid, eWeek

Cyber-crooks on Facebook are creating fake profiles on the social networking site to launch their scams, according to data released by Barracuda Networks. The fake profiles are overwhelmingly women. About 97 percent of the fake profiles collected by Barracuda Networks turned out to be of women, Paul Judge, chief research officer at Barracuda said in his “FakeBook” presentation at the Kaspesky Lab Security Analyst Summit Feb. 2. Female users account for about 40 percent of real people on Facebook, Judge said. Many of the profiles are automatically generated, using similar photos, and randomly selecting metropolitan cities, a high school or college near the city, and random interests, Judge said. The profiles are aimed at spreading spam or tricking users into joining affiliate programs, all of which translate into real-world money for the scammers. “Fake users can take over your account, spam your wall and feeds,” Judge said.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Facebook-Scammers-Create-Fake-Profiles-to-Spam-Users-Clickjacking-159241/?kc=rss

by David Talbot, Technology Review

By the time next year’s Super Bowl rolls around, advertisers—poring over social media analytics of their ads—are likely to replace less-liked versions of ads with better-rated ones as the game goes on. “Advertisers will be looking for immediate feedback to change [advertising] copy rotations later in the game,” says Kate Sirkin, the global research director of Starcom MediaVest Group, an ad agency in New York. Even social media feedback on things happening in the game could cause an adjustment. “You make a couple of versions of the ad, and different versions can run either depending on feedback by viewers to the ad, or real-time feedback to the game itself,” she says. “It speaks to the culture of the nation—it’s saying, ‘We’re listening to you, America, and giving you the stuff that you want.’ ”

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/39590/

by Will Knight, Technology Review

Rumor has it Apple is about to start making the the world’s favorite gadget. In a note sent to clients earlier this week, Piper Jaffray analyst (and longtime Apple TV enthusiast) Gene Munster, said he’d spoken to a major television component maker that has been contacted by Apple about the capabilities of its display components. Some people wonder whether Apple would really choose to enter a market that’s so crowded, and that offers such slim margins for manufacturers. But similar doubts were raised before Apple launched the iPhone and, of course, it went on to take over that market, primarily by delivering a remarkably simple and intuitive user interface and experience.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/27548/

David Zax, Technology Review

A Goliath has now become a David. Gigantism, it turns out, is relative. It wasn’t so long ago that Barnes & Noble was considered a Goliath, some sort of massive, heartless chain that was squashing the quaint neighborhood independent bookstores–legions of squirming Davids fumbling hopelessly for their slingshots–under its massive foot. My, how times have changed. Barnes & Noble’s CEO, William J. Lynch Jr., is the subject of a recent profile in the Times, and you might be surprised to hear the language used to describe him: “he is playing David to Mr. Bezos’s Goliath,” writes Julie Bosman. B&N’s stock is about $12, its value in the hundreds of millions. The stock price of Jeff Bezos’s company, Amazon, is around $195. Its value? $88 billion. Among the revelations in the Times piece is that a fifth e-reading device, presumably some iteration of the Nook, is to be released this spring:

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/helloworld/27540/

By: Darryl K. Taft, eWeek

Adobe’s new cloud initiative aimed at creative professionals, known as Adobe Creative Cloud, will go live this spring. Adobe announced the Adobe Creative Cloud at its MAX 2011 conference last October. In an interview, Heidi Voltmer, director of product marketing for Web and interactive solutions at Adobe, told eWEEK the Creative Cloud would go live to customers this spring along with Adobe Creative Suite 6 (CS6) and other applications. At MAX Adobe officials said Adobe Creative Cloud would become the focal point for creativity, where millions can access desktop and tablet applications, essential creative services, and share their best work.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Adobe-Creative-Cloud-to-Launch-This-Spring-566208/?kc=rss

By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Mozilla’s Firefox 10 is relatively light on new user features, but includes a variety of new tools for developers, particularly those creating multimedia experiences. In keeping with its rapid release cadence, Mozilla has released Firefox 10.0 for Windows, Mac and Linux. While the latest browser version features relatively few cosmetic changes, there are some under-the-hood additions that could prove vital for developers trying to create next-generation Web experiences. In the desktop version of Firefox 10.0, Mozilla has hidden the forward button until the user navigates back. It has fixed some bugs, including one that sometimes crashed the browser when the user attempted to move bookmarks. But the bigger story here is the new built-in developer tools.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Mozillas-Firefox-10-Muscles-Up-on-Developer-Tools-477285/?kc=rss

by the BBC

Campaigners say they were motivated to act by media reports about supply workers’ conditions. An online petition, signed by 155,000 people, has called on Apple to do more to ensure its Chinese factory workers are treated better. The campaign, on Change.org, follows reports of poor working conditions in factories that make Apple products. A separate SumOfUs petition, with more than 43,000 signatories, calls for the iPhone 5 to be made “ethically”. Apple acknowledged the demands. Its chief executive earlier said it cared about every worker in its supply chain.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16832106

By: Fahmida Y. Rashid, eWeek

The threat of cyber-war and cyber-attacks is serious enough that countries need to beef up their defenses as part of their military strategy. Cyber-security experts are concerned about the prospect of cyber-war and the growing number of cyber-threats, according to a recent report released by McAfee. Over half, or 57 percent, of cyber-security specialists surveyed in the “Cyber-security: The Vexed Question of Global Rules” report said a global arms race is taking place in cyberspace, McAfee said Jan. 30. In addition, 84 percent of those surveyed said cyber-attacks threaten national and international security as well as trade.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Rising-CyberWar-Threat-Forcing-Nations-to-Bolster-Defenses-McAfee-855097/?kc=rss

By: Darryl K. Taft, eWeek

Red Hat announces that it has extended the life cycle of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5 and 6 from seven to 10 years to give users more flexibility in long-term operating system deployments. Red Hat announced it has extended the production life cycle of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and 6 from seven to 10 years in response to enterprise customer demand. With this move, enterprise customers now have additional deployment alternatives for their Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system implementations as they plan the future of their strategic IT deployments, Red Hat said in a Jan. 31 press release on the extension.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Linux-and-Open-Source/Red-Hat-Extends-RHEL-Lifecycle-from-Seven-to-10-Years-432881/?kc=rss

By Greg Cochrane, BBC

We usually hear about phishing attacks in the technology world – when impostors try to scam people out of money by tricking them into handing over their personal details. But now it’s said the technique has found its way into pop music. Producer Richard X says he’s received contact from fraudsters “disguising” themselves as industry workers requesting he sends them music. “They get a little bit of information by searching databases, publishers catalogues or reading forums,” says X, sat in his London studio. “That’s enough for them to write a cheeky email disguised as someone from the management, touring agency or someone related to the artists in an attempt to get you, the producer, to send them finished tracks or demos.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/16785833

By: Fahmida Y. Rashid, eWeek

McAfee’s latest Mobile Security 2.0 enables remote data wipes, tracking and locks, as well as the ability to tell when applications are accessing personal data. McAfee introduced a new version of Mobile Security to protect smartphones and tablets from malicious applications and Web malware. Mobile Security 2.0 offers antivirus, anti-theft services and protection from malicious Websites and applications, McAfee said Jan. 30. The security software also includes online device management where users can remotely wipe data on the device and on a removable Secure Digital (SD) card.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/McAfee-Updates-Mobile-Security-With-Remote-Tracking-Data-Wipes-284182/?kc=rss

By Darryl K. Taft, eWeek

Storage is being looked at with new eyes as CIOs and CEOs see that storage is a critical component of managing big data, the Internet-of-things, cloud and analytics. Smarter storage is necessary for businesses to stay ahead as data continues to explode—to 2.7 zettabytes in 2012, up 48 percent from 2011. In fact, 57 percent of IT decision makers from a 2011 IBM survey stated that their organizations need a new storage approach to manage future growth. As storage becomes a key business driver in 2012, IBM officials said the industry will see new breakthroughs in storage research and business models coming from sectors such as entertainment and health care.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Data-Storage/IBM-and-Storage-Top-Five-Trends-for-2012-568230/?kc=rss

By: Don Reisinger, eWeek

So, what happened? And why is the enterprise suddenly resisting the purchase of RIM devices when over the years it had a dramatically different view on things? Unfortunately for RIM, the reasons are numerous. By the look of things, the company doesn’t have a plan in place to address them all before the enterprise market slips away entirely. Read on to find out why the enterprise is turning its back on RIM and BlackBerry devices. And why the company’s new CEO Thorsten Heins doesn’t seem prepared to address those troubles.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/RIMs-Struggles-10-Reasons-the-Enterprise-Is-Backing-Away-from-BlackBerry-216377/?kc=rss

by the BBC

A crackdown on “phishing” scams has been announced by 15 of the top technology companies. Email providers such as Google and Microsoft will work with companies like Paypal and the Bank of America to improve authentication. Phishing attacks typically involve scammers posing as familiar companies in an attempt to trick users into sharing personal information. This co-ordinated effort aims to make this more difficult. The Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMarc) – as the coalition is known – has released plans to produce a “feedback loop” between email receivers and senders.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16787503

By Dave Lee, BBC

Israel handles over 1,000 attacks every minute, government advisors said. Israel, Finland and Sweden are seen as leading the way in “cyber-readiness”, according to a major new security report. The McAfee-backed cyberdefence survey deemed China, Brazil and Mexico as being among the least able to defend themselves against emerging attacks. The rank is based on leading experts’ perception of a nation’s defences. The report concluded that greater sharing of information globally is necessary to keep ahead of threats.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16787509

by the White House

The public asked the questions, and President Obama answered in the first-ever completely virtual interview from the White House, presented by YouTube and Google+. This may open the door to further interactions using this technology.

http://youtu.be/eeTj5qMGTAI

By Rachel Metz. Technology Review

The market for sweetly named smart-phone assistants is heating up, as Siri, Apple’s iPhone-based virtual helper, just got a new “frenemy” named Evi. Created by True Knowledge, a Cambridge, U.K.-based semantic technology startup, Evi, like Siri, can answer questions posed aloud in a conversational manner. But unlike Siri, which is only loaded on the latest iPhone, Evi is available as an app for the iPhone and phones running Google’s Android software.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/39560/?p1=A3

by Christopher Mims, Technology Review

New Hanover County, North Carolina, just rolled out Super Wi-Fi, which is its actual name, not just a patronizing euphemism I’m deploying because I think you can’t handle “a new Wi-Fi standard operating in the ‘white spaces’ between 50-700Mhz, where previously only television stations were allowed to transmit.” Aside: here’s a very accessible primer on what Super Wi-Fi is and why you should care about it (http://gizmodo.com/5646259/what-is-super-wi+fi) .

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/27531/?p1=blogs

by Tim Maly, Technology Review

I’d like to sneak up on the question of 3-D printing by way of boring old 2-D printing. Typography used to be heavy industry. The companies that make typefaces are still called foundries because there was a time when letters were made of metal. When you got enough of them together to reliably set a whole book or whatever, you had a serious amount of hardware on your hands. Fonts were forged. Picking a new one was a large capital investment. Today, fonts are a thing that you pick from a drop-down menu and printers are things in your home that can render just about any typeface you can imagine. We went from massive metal fonts and centralized presses to the current desktop regime by degrees. In the early days of desktop printing, we had the dot-matrix. The deal was simple: “We give you one crappy font and you need specialized paper but you can do this at home”. It wasn’t useful for much, but it was useful for some things, and used frequently enough that it was worth developing improvements.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/guest/27533/?p1=blogs

By: Nathan Eddy, eWeek

A new rule imposed by Twitter that would see certain comments from particular countries censored is drawing the ire of many Twitter users. Twitter has said it could block a Tweet in a country where what was being said is illegal—in accordance with that country’s laws—but the rest of the world would be able to read the content. Demand Progress, which also has a Twitter account, called the decision “tragic” and stressed the importance of open platforms like the microblogging service, calling for support to send an open letter to the company to protest the decision. “As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there,” Twitter officials said in a blog post. “Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.”

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Twitter-Censorship-in-Some-Countries-Spurs-User-Protests-317575/?kc=rss

By: Clint Boulton, eWeek

Several U.S. senators Jan. 26 fired off a bipartisan letter to Google CEO Larry Page, asking for more information about the search engine provider’s revised privacy policy. Google Jan. 24 announced that it will aggregate 60 of its Web services under one single privacy policy. Under this new policy, a user with a Google account who signs into Google’s search, YouTube, Gmail and other applications is treated as the same individual across all of those services, and data may be shared between those services. Consumers may not opt out of this change, which goes into effect March 1.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Google-Privacy-Policy-Update-Challenged-by-Lawmakers-625688/?kc=rss