Facebook farewells flaky SHA-1

Facebook has set the date: on September 30, the ancient and creaking SHA-1 hashing algorithm will make its tumbril trip and get the chop. SHA-1, designed by the NSA in 1995, is a one-way algorithm: a block of data is turned into a message digest. The digest can’t be turned back into the original message, but serves as a digital signature confirming the authenticity of (for example) the software you’ve downloaded....

June 5, 2015 Â· 2 min Â· 255 words

New Facebook scams in 2014

So many Facebook scams in 2014 have been a little worrying even though at first they all seem innocent enough, but these are social scams to lure users in to gain money or access to computers. One particular Facebook scam this year was the “Robin Williams goodbye video”, which was apparently made before his death. This fake BBC News video is a scam and no such video exists. The “Robin Williams goodbye video” started to circulate on Facebook and asks users to share the video before they can watch it, DO NOT click on it....

August 22, 2014 Â· 3 min Â· 547 words

Firefox 22 enables WebRTC, makes social APIs easier to manage

BetaNews: Mozilla has released Firefox 22.0 FINAL for Windows, Mac and Linux. The update includes some platform-specific improvements — Firefox following display scaling options in Windows, and providing download progress indicators in its dock application icon in OS X — plus a number of other tweaks and improvements. Other new features include the ability for users to now manage their social API plug-ins via the Add-ons menu (select Services in the left-hand menu to do so), while users can now adjust the playback rate of HTML5 audio and video files (right-click the playback screen and choose Play Speed to do so)....

June 26, 2013 Â· 2 min Â· 285 words

Facebook Virus That Drains Your Bank Accounts: What You Need to Know

This post has been shared originally by Malwarebytes Blog: The word about the Zeus Trojan back on Facebook has spread as fast as the malware itself across many news sites. Awareness and education about online dangers is essential but headlines like “Malware That Drains Your Bank Account Thriving On Facebook” instill fear while at the same time blame Facebook — something that may not be entirely justified. Malicious links on social networking sites are nothing new (Twitter, Linkedin to name a few)....

June 6, 2013 Â· 4 min Â· 708 words

Facebook closes cross-site scripting holes

Code could be injected through (fake) custom locations Facebook has closed various cross-site scripting (XSS) holes that were discovered by security firm Break Security and which have now been described in greater detail. Break Security’s CEO, Nir Goldshlager, explains that the social network was vulnerable to attacks through its Chat feature as well as its “Check in” and Messenger for Windows components. In the Chat window, for example, attackers were able to share links that weren’t adequately checked by Facebook....

April 21, 2013 Â· 2 min Â· 216 words

Facebook Got Hacked Last Month and Is Just Telling You Now

Cross-posted from Gizmodo: Facebook just announced that it was hacked last month in a short statement on its website. Apparently, an unknown number employees visited a compromised developer site and were infected with malware. Facebook’s being very cagey about all this, but we’ve been able to scrounge up some details. According to the statement, the company reacted swiftly with an investigation and remediation following the “sophisticated attack.” The company won’t say which law enforcement agencies it’s working with....

February 15, 2013 Â· 2 min Â· 273 words

Why Google or Facebook Buying Your Favorite Startup

Time Techland wrote: When I learned this morning, via Twitter, that the small company behind Mac/iOS e-mail app Sparrow was being bought by Google, I almost didn’t need to read the startup’s announcement to know the upshot. Google and Facebook buy itty-bitty web companies all the time. And the acquired businesses typically convey what’s happening in an eerily consistent five-step ritual: Announcement of thrilling acquisition Reiteration of startup’s wildly ambitious founding notion Explanation that either Google or Facebook is the best place to change the world Acknowledgement (or sometimes non-acknowledgement) that the startup’s product is being discontinued or is going into limbo Expression of heartfelt gratitude to various supporters, usually including the consumers who are losing their something they liked So it seems to be going with Sparrow: Its five-person team will be working on Gmail henceforth; the existing Sparrow apps aren’t being discontinued, but they apparently won’t get any updates, either....

July 22, 2012 Â· 3 min Â· 484 words

Marissa Mayer and Future Relationship of Yahoo!, Google and Facebook

Eric Jackson in Forbes Wrote: There are so many intriguing aspects of Marissa Mayer‘s hiring at Yahoo! (YHOO). However, what intrigues me the most is the what the future strategic direction of Yahoo! will be under her watch and what this means for the company’s future relationships with Google (GOOG) and Facebook(FB) (not to mention Microsoft(MSFT)). Presumably, Marissa already has the start of a strategic vision. And she said as much in a leaked memo yesterday:...

July 20, 2012 Â· 1 min Â· 128 words

Fake Facebook Photo Notifications Contain Malware

Mashable: Sophos’s NakedSecurity blog outlined the threat on Wednesday. The company’s SophosLabs intercepted a “spammed-out email campaign” which was designed to spread malware. Sophos provided the following example: The blog notes that the email address above misspells “Facebook” as “Faceboook.” The link takes the user to a malicious iFrame script, which exposes the user’s computer to malware. However, within four seconds, the user’s browser is directed to a presumably innocent Facebook page like the one below to act as a smokescreen....

July 19, 2012 Â· 1 min Â· 129 words

Facebook and Opera: Facebook Browser Is Imminent

Mashable: Are you ready for a Facebook browser that integrates the social networking behemoth into your online life more than ever? That’s exactly what could be on the way soon, according to one report. A Friday Pocket-lint report cites a “trusted source” that Facebook wants to buy Opera Software — manufacturers of the Opera web browser, which claims more than 200 million users worldwide. The Facebook browser would include default menu bar plugins, further permeating Facebook into users’ general web experience, according to the report....

May 27, 2012 Â· 2 min Â· 292 words