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Stock market turmoil in Wall Street has helped Apple pip oil group Exxon to become the world’s most valuable company.
The tech company has been closing in on Exxon for some time and was “just” $50bn (£30bn) away from taking the lead when it reported yet another quarter of record-breaking earnings on 19 July. [Read more...]
An investor group involving Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is in final talks to take a controlling stake in News Corp’s social network site Myspace, according to a source familiar with the matter. [Read more...]
San Francisco – Sony has announced that names, birth dates and possibly the credit card numbers of its 77 million PlayStation Network gamers may have been accessed in a hacker attack.
In a blog post on its US website for PlayStation division, Sony disclosed that between 17 and 19 April, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information “was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion”.
PlayStation Network is Sony’s online service for use with its PlayStation video game consoles. Qriocity is an entertainment service platform that connects many of Sony’s network-enabled devices.
Sony believed that the hacker has obtained names, addresses, birth dates, login and other information that the two services’ registered account holders provided.
It is also possible that the intruder might have obtained users’ data including purchase history and billing address, Sony said.
“While there is no evidence at this time that credit card data was taken, we cannot rule out the possibility,” it noted in the blog post.
Sony warned that users should closely monitor their credit reports and “be especially aware of email, telephone, and postal mail scams that ask for personal or sensitive information”.
Sony has asked an outside security firm to investigate the incident, saying that PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, temporarily turned off after the intrusion, are expected to be partially restored within a week. – BuaNews-Xinhua
LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with more than 90 million members worldwide, launched the beta of LinkedIn Today, a new product that surfaces the top headlines and stories being shared the most across multiple industries by LinkedIn\’s trusted network of professionals. LinkedIn Today gives members a customised and tailored way to consume the top trending news relevant to a particular industry and by what is being shared the most frequently by those industry\’s professionals.
Three Unique Professional Lenses on News and Insights
LinkedIn Today allows members to access their professional news through three different lenses – by their connections, industry, and the broader global professional network. LinkedIn offers the unique ability for members to read what their connections are reading, as well as access a digest of what is top of mind across their specific industry. They will also have the ability to read what headlines are trending across multiple industries and sources by LinkedIn\’s global network of professionals.
“LinkedIn Today provides our members with a quick and easy way to digest trending news gleaned from the collective wisdom of 90 million professionals – what they are reading, what they are sharing, and what they are saying,” said Deep Nishar, SVP of product and user experience at LinkedIn. “Having a professional and tailored lens on news and insights is not only an efficient way to gather information for your work day, but it also arms you with the insights you need to make strategic business decisions.”
Members will also have the ability to customise their LinkedIn Today experience by “following” up to 22 industries, including Internet, Real Estate, Nonprofit and many more. Members will also have the option to “follow” specific news sources and will have the option to choose from a wide range of outlets, from Financial Times to Mashable, to see the most shared headlines by news source in addition to industry.
LinkedIn Today Provides Deeper Integration
LinkedIn has also deepened its relationship with Twitter to offer members the ability to bind their accounts and share updates on both LinkedIn and Twitter. Within the LinkedIn Today product, members will have the ability to tweet trending news to their Twitter account, as well as post it to a LinkedIn Group and email it directly to their existing LinkedIn connections.
In addition, LinkedIn Today will feature relevant StumbleUpon content tailored to each industry that will include evergreen and trending content recommended by the StumbleUpon community of over 14 million members. LinkedIn Today also offers a Top Sources section that recommends news sources that have integrated the LinkedIn Share button on their websites, including Bloomberg.com, Wall Street Journal Digital Network, CNN Money, and many more.
LinkedIn Today Goes Mobile
The company also announced today, the launch of LinkedIn\’s iPhone application version 3.6, which will deliver the LinkedIn Today experience to all iPhone users. Professionals, whether they are on the go or in the office, will be able to use their iPhones to natively access top news shared by their industry peers and save articles to read at a later time. iPhone users will also be able to share relevant news with their connections and post headlines to their network stream directly from the application. To download the latest version of the application, please go to the iPhone app store.
Imperva’s Application Defense Center (ADC) have discovered a new type of online tax scheme. Online schemes to steal money using tax rebates as a lure have been around for some time, and well documented. However, past attempts have often been manual, tedious efforts. Today’s initiatives feature much more sophisticated, automated tactics. We believe the past success of “getting a bigger refund, earlier” has helped inspire a new set of tools and approaches to defraud consumers.
The current crop of scams affect the UK and the US (there could be more, but our language skills are limited.) For context, Americans file taxes between January 1st and April 15thand rebates are given during this period. The UK’s tax deadline was January 31st and the window for rebates is currently in place.
How Does The Scheme Work?
Although hacker groups operate with intentions to defraud consumers, it is interesting to describe their attempts from the perspective of both the victim and the hacker.
1. The victim’s perspective — Traditional phishing attempts with a tax-centric theme.
First, the phishing email:
Second, the forged site:
2. The hacker’s perspective — As we’ve seen with Gmail, Yahoo!, and other common phishing schemes automation was used to reduce the time and cost involved with setup, deployment, and monitoring.
First, the hacker’s code designating a Gmail drop box for stolen credentials:
Second, the code where the hacker designates a false email alias:
Third, the spoofed website:
Fourth, an illustration of the downloadable kits that help hackers set up their schemes:
Fifth, a list of banks the hacker kits provide for spoofing:
Sixth, another example of fake refund portals:
Seventh, a hacker kit to spoof the IRS:
Eighth, a screenshot showing links to spoofed banks set up by the hacker kits.
Avoiding the Schemes
There are two problems associated with this phishing campaign:
1. The target of the phishing scheme, consumers.
2. The unwitting hosts of the phishing scheme, businesses.
Given the persistence and frequency of phishing, especially the resurgence of current tax schemes, we are less hopeful that a consumer-centric solution will have a sufficient impact. Like it or not, this means businesses will have to bear the burden. Considering the real business impact, enterprises need to know if they are hosting a phishing site. Here is an example of Google labels businesses suspected of hosting a phishing site—a virtual kiss of death:
This current phishing campaign underscores the need for businesses to adopt an effective data and application security approach. To avoid becoming a hosting place for a phishing site, business websites must protect their application from attacks such as cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection.
Apple Inc unwrapped a sleeker iPad 2 on Wednesday and its maestro Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco to a standing ovation after a brief medical absence.
Apple Timelines
Apple Inc shareholders rejected demands that the company disclose a succession plan for ailing chief Steve Jobs but approved a proposal giving them a bigger say in appointing directors.
At Apple’s annual meeting on Wednesday, about 74 percent of votes cast favored a proposal by Calpers that unopposed candidates for the company’s board receive a majority of votes to win election, according to the fund.
The vote provided one of the few moments of drama at an event not attended by Jobs, who is out on indefinite medical leave.
Tim Cook, Jobs’ top lieutenant, took the spotlight instead. Clad casually in jeans and a sweater, he appeared very much in command and deftly fielded questions on topics from Apple’s $60 billion cash pile to growing competition from the likes of Google Inc in mobile and revenue-sharing on the iPad.
Cook presented a predictably rosy snapshot of Apple and its fortunes, noting opportunities in smartphone, tablet and PC markets and the untapped potential among business customers.
Apple shares ended 1.2 percent higher at $342.62 on Nasdaq.
Calpers, the largest U.S. pension fund, is calling on 58 companies to adopt majority rather than plurality voting which allows unopposed directors to be elected easily. The $226 billion fund painted Wednesday’s result as a victory for transparency and investor interests.
Cyber Spying
Fraser Nelson makes some astonishing revelations about cyberspying in The Spectator magazine. It seems that China is to blame, although that’s often impossible to prove.
Here are a few examples:
• When a US army officer plugged into his laptop a memory stick conveniently left for him to find in a Mideast car park, it penetrated the US Central Command network and embedded itself in the system. There it lay undetected for weeks, in the words of US deputy defence minister William J Lynn, able “to deliver operational plans into the hands of an unknown adversary.”
• A “Chinese software trap” was found in the American National Grid, able when triggered to shut down the nation’s power distribution system. In 2009 for a short time, in what seems to have been a test of its capability, China took control of the internet, routeing 15 per cent of the world’s data and email traffic through its own servers.
• Businessmen report that, as one British chief exec puts it: “As soon as you strike a deal with China, your computer systems come under attack.” Its purpose is to discover what the company is willing to pay or to steal proprietary intellectual property, especially in advanced engineering technology. A director of a major bank reports: “We daren’t even take our laptops into China – they will swipe all the information from it at the airport.”
Britain recently identified cyber-warfare as one of four major threats facing the country, and the US has established a Cyber Command to prepare for digital combat.
* All full day tickets sold out, afternoon only tickets on sale *
* 100,000 visitors expected *
13-17 April 2011, Birmingham NEC
The Gadget Show Live 2011, a five-day consumer electronics extravaganza, has grown by another third this year. With an extra hall to showcase more of the latest gadgets, 25 per cent more floor space, an additional opening day, capacity for more than 30,000 extra visitors, more Super Theatre seats and extra interactive on-site features, this year’s event will be the biggest so far. All originally allocated full day tickets have already sold out!
Taking place at Birmingham’s NEC from 13 to 17 April 2011, The Gadget Show Live is widely recognised as the best place to see, try and buy the latest consumer technology. With the full capacity of all day tickets sold in just 12 weeks, the organisers have taken the unprecedented step of releasing afternoon admission tickets to meet the enormous demand. Afternoon admission tickets give access to the exhibition from 2pm to 6pm and can be booked at www.gadgetshowlive.net.
Based on the highly popular Channel Five TV show, The Gadget Show Live is open to the public between 13 and 17 April 2011. In addition to stands from the world’s leading electronics firms, such as Sony, Samsung, HP, Panasonic, JVC and LG, visitors can also participate in many features such as the new Hub Theatre, the dedicated Game Zone, a Future Technology Area and interactive Test Track. There will also be a one hour long, high energy, live theatre version of the TV show which will take place in the newly designed Super Theatre three times a day, with each show seating 4,500 people.
Last year’s event, Gadget Show Live 2010, saw 66,000 people attend which in itself was an increase of 110% on the launch year in 2009. This year, having already sold all full day tickets, and having just released afternoon only tickets, organisers anticipate another sell out event with approximately 100,000 visitors flocking to the NEC.
Matt Hodgins, Head of Event at Upper Street Events said: “The enthusiasm that the audience have for The Gadget Show Live is truly staggering. Despite significantly increasing our capacity we have sold out all tickets in just three months, which is unheard of in our industry. With the afternoon only tickets already selling fast I’d advise people to book early to avoid disappointment.
“We’re really excited about how the event has evolved for 2011 with more features and exhibitors like Samsung, HP, HMV and Lenovo making their debuts this year. The Gadget Show Live remains the UK’s premier destination to immerse yourself in the latest tech and it promises to be a fully interactive and hugely entertaining day out for everyone,” added Matt.
In addition to a Home Gadgets dedicated Zone and the new Active Zone, other new and improved features at The Gadget Show Live 2011 include:
*NEW Hub Theatre in the middle of the exhibition floor where visionaries will talk about the latest tech, their predictions for future trends, and provide advice on how to get the most out of your personal gadgets
*EXTENDED Future Technology area will demonstrate new inventions and the latest academic thinking on how new technology will impact our lives in the future, from robotics to augmented reality
*EXTENDED Game Zone dedicated to showcasing the very best in computer games and consoles, in which visitors can have a go with the family or try taking on the world pros
*NEW Test Track Arena covering 1000 square metres, visitors can try out Segways, the latest electric bikes, kids transport devices from Razor and an RC Demo from some of the world’s best drivers
*NEW 3D Theatre will demonstrate how this growing technology is creating even more immersive viewing experiences
*BIGGER Photographic Workshop will provide visitors with top tips on taking better photographs and how best to use the latest digital camera equipment
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