Spam, Protection, Social, Web sites
Websense Buys Spam Protection for Social Web Sites
The acquisition is meant to extend the content identification and classification capabilities of the Websense ThreatSeeker Network by providing visibility into spam posted as comments to social Web sites, including blogs, user forums and social networking sites. [...] Websense has acquired Defensio, a spam filtering service designed to protect blogs, social networks and other Web 2.0 sites. According to Websense, the move is in response to the growing amount of spam and malicious content on social Web sites. [...] Websense has announced the acquisition of Defensio, a technology platform focused on stopping spam on social Web sites. [...]
Facebook Continues To Tout Privacy Improvements
On 13 May, a European group of data protection authorities sent Facebook a letter complaining that alterations to the Website potentially changed the default settings on its social networking platform to the detriment of the user . Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers urged the Federal Trade Commission to take action regarding social networking sites' privacy controls. [...] The blog mention comes days after privacy advocates issued an open letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on 16 June, detailing a six-point plan to give social-networking sites' users more control over their personal information. Facebook responded to that missive with one of its own, stating, We plan to continue to make control easy and effective for all the people who use our service and will continue to engage those groups and others in a constructive dialogue about these important issues. [...] On 18 June, a posting on the Facebook blog described how the social-networking site attempts to give users control over that information. We recently launched simplified privacy settings in response to feedback that certain Facebook settings had become too complicated, Monica Horak, an associate with the Facebook user operations team, wrote in a June 18 posting on the Facebook blog. [...]
Facebook Poses Biggest Security Risk, Sophos Finds
Users of social networks can also face a more indirect risk - attackers using the sites to conduct surveillance on potential victims and ultimately compromise them. A spokesman for McAfee said this method is believed to have been used in recent cyber-attacks, with attackers moving a degree away from their ultimate target and hitting someone in their circle of friends& (before) moving in on the target assuming the identity of a friend of colleague. [...] According to a survey of 502 IT professionals by Sophos, businesses are seeing more malware and spam, and 60 percent of respondents put Facebook ahead of MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn as the riskiest social networking site. The statistics, which were included in Sophos' Security Threat Report. [...] Furthermore, over 72 percent of firms believe that employees' behaviour on social networking sites could endanger their business's security, according to the report. This has increased from 66 percent in the previous study (in April). The number of businesses that were targets for spam, phishing and malware via social networking sites increased dramatically, with spam showing the sharpest rise from 33. [...]
Cisco Expands SMB Push With New Offerings
ProtectLink Gateway to block attacks through a hosted service that integrates anti-spam, anti-phishing, content filtering and web reputation monitoring. and ProtectLink Endpoint to extend protection to Windows PCs and prevent users from accessing the Internet if their security levels are not up-to-date. [...] Cisco continues to chase the SMB sector after expanding its small business portfolio with new networking, security and collaboration solutions. [...] Enhancements have also been made to Cisco's SA 500 Series security appliances, designed to help protect a small business's network and critical data, while at the same time allowing employees to connect to the business network. These include an intrusion prevention system (IPS) to help monitor the network for malicious or unwanted activities and automatically block or prevent those activities. [...]
BBC Defends Botnet Purchase
and its power to send spam e-mail or attack other Web sites undetected. [...] In an experiment, the BBC technology programme Click bought a botnet over the Internet and used it to spam e-mail accounts the programme set up to demonstrate the role of botnets in spamming operations. It also used the botnet to launch a DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack against a site owned by security vendor Prevx with the vendor's consent. [...] Infrastructure Internet News / Web Service Computer / Site Public Cost Set-up st. [...]
Malware Uses Geo-location To Lure Victims
We have seen spam&mdash.or, more accurately, the Web sites that spam leads you to&mdash.doing geo-location before, but I can't at the moment think of previous occasions when it's been used as part of the trap to infect you with malware, said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. [...] In an interesting twist, the Web site does a GEO-IP lookup on the victim's whereabouts and customizes the story to appear as though it relates to the victim's location. [...] The Waledac botnet is luring victims to a fake Reuters site with stories about terrorist attacks. In a twist, the rogue site uses the geo-location of the victim to customize the story to make it appear as though the attack is happening locally. [...]
Spammers Flocking To Free Web Hosting Sites
In its January 2010 Spam Report, McAfee notes the trend is turning into an all-out gold rush as dozens of these free-hosting sites have sprung up to provide web space for anyone who requests it. According to the report, all of the sites most heavily abused by spammers seem to be related to 0catch. [...] Spammers Flocking To Free Web Hosting Sites. eWEEK Europe UK. [...] You are here. Home News Security Spammers Flocking To Free Web Hosting Sites. [...]
Facebook Reaches Compromise Over CEOP Button
Facebook has finally agreed to use the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (Ceop) alert on its social network following a meeting with the Home Secretary. [...] Tags. Alan Johnson, BeatBullying, ceop, child protection, Facebook, Home Secretary, internet, meeting, outcome, panic button, social networks. [...] The social network has finally agreed to use the child protection button on its site, while launching a PR offensive to boost its child protection credentials. [...]
Facebook Resists CEOP Panic Button
However, the social networking site has stood firm against CEOP's request that it adds the CEOP panic button to all pages. [...] Facebookspokespeople facing the media boiled the issue down to web design versus child protection. While Gamble wants a big button on the site, Facebook argues that it knows best what works. We know about web design and Ceop knows about child protection, a spokesman told the Guardian. [...] CEOP understands child protection, we know web design, says Facebook. [...]
Apple Ping Hit By Facebook Scam
Ping launched 1 September with the goal of creating a social network for the more than 160 million users of iTunes. However according to Sophos, the service has been hit with a barrage of scams and spam messages in the days since the launch, including some seeking to get users to fill out online surveys in exchange for a free iPhone. [...] The prospect of spammers using social networks is hardly new. In fact, Sophos published research earlier this year that showed a 70 percent increase in the number of users reporting spam and malware being spread via social networks. Much of the survey spam is nearly identical to scams seen on Facebook, Google and Twitter, Sophos senior security adviser Chet Wisniewski blogged. [...] Welcome to the club, after Apple's new iTunes social network Ping was hit by similar scams that affects other social networking sites. [...]
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