/PRNewswire/ -- Life-saving AMBER Alerts are now available to the millions of people on the social networking service Facebook. Effective today, Facebook users are able to sign up to receive AMBER Alert bulletins for their state which will be sent to them through the Facebook "News Feed" feature. A total of 53 new AMBER Alert Pages have been created, one for each state, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia. Facebook users will also be able to share the AMBER Alerts with their friends.
There are more than half a billion users of Facebook. The new Facebook AMBER Alert pages represent an important expansion of the national AMBER Alert program.
"Everyone at Facebook feels a responsibility to help protect children and, as a former federal prosecutor and a father of two, I am particularly proud that we are now part of the AMBER Alert program," said Chris Sonderby, Facebook Lead Security and Investigations Counsel. "Our hearts go out to the families of the missing and our gratitude goes to the officers, volunteers, and other AMBER Alert partners who work tirelessly to bring them home. We are hopeful that today's announcement offers these dedicated officials another useful tool to find and safely recover abducted children."
Information about the new initiative was announced today by Facebook, the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). The announcement was made the day before the 15th anniversary of the abduction and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, namesake of the national AMBER Alert Program.
"As the National AMBER Alert Coordinator, I am pleased to see the growth of the program's national network. I would like to thank NCMEC and Facebook for working together to develop another way the public can join with us to bring home missing and abducted children. We each can play our part by being aware and responsive to AMBER Alert postings that we will now see on Facebook," said Laurie O. Robinson, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs.
An estimated 800,000 children are reported missing every year. AMBER Alert is a voluntary partnership involving law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters. An urgent AMBER Alert bulletin is issued by law enforcement in the most serious child-abduction cases that meet specific criteria. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of the child.
"Average people doing average things but paying attention are saving lives and reuniting families," said Ernie Allen, President of NCMEC. "With more than 500 million Facebook users this bold initiative will help us mobilize many more people and bring more missing children home."
All Amber Alerts on Facebook press materials can be found at http://scr.bi/fbAMBER. The Facebook Amber Alert page is http://on.fb.me/AMBERalertFB.
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Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facebook. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Friday, August 27, 2010
Facebook Accused of Misappropriating Likenesses of Teens for Profit
/PRNewswire/ -- A class action lawsuit was just filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Central Division, alleging that Facebook is misappropriating the names and pictures of minors for profit.
David Cohen, a minor, by and through Robin Cohen as Guardian ad Litem; Shelby Orland, a minor, by and through Marcia J. Orland as Guardian ad Litem; for all others similarly situated v. Facebook, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and DOES 1 through 100, Inclusive (Case #BC444482), alleges that Facebook encourages the participation of teenagers on its social network. Without any attempt to obtain parental consent, Facebook sells the names and likenesses of those minors for use by advertisers as an endorsement of the advertisers' products or services.
"When a teenager sees that their Facebook friends 'Like' an ad, it piques their curiosity, making them more likely to click the ad or visit the page," says Los Angeles plaintiff attorney John Torjesen of John C. Torjesen & Associates. "We believe it is a clear case of exploitation of children for the sake of profits."
"The consent of the minor for this commercial use of his or her name and likeness is not obtained by Facebook," says plaintiff attorney and co-counsel Antony Stuart of Stuart Law Firm. "Under California law, the minor's consent cannot be obtained without the consent of the parent or guardian. Facebook makes no effort to obtain parental consent."
The class action lawsuit is filed on behalf of all California residents who are or were under the age of 18 and members of Facebook from Aug. 26, 2007 to Aug. 26, 2010 whose likenesses or names were used in a Facebook advertisement or landing page.
"Facebook's actions violate the inalienable right to privacy guaranteed by the California Constitution," says Torjesen. "It derives illegal profits by charging advertisers for the use of children's names and photographs. As the father of a teenager, I view this to be exploitation of children."
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David Cohen, a minor, by and through Robin Cohen as Guardian ad Litem; Shelby Orland, a minor, by and through Marcia J. Orland as Guardian ad Litem; for all others similarly situated v. Facebook, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and DOES 1 through 100, Inclusive (Case #BC444482), alleges that Facebook encourages the participation of teenagers on its social network. Without any attempt to obtain parental consent, Facebook sells the names and likenesses of those minors for use by advertisers as an endorsement of the advertisers' products or services.
"When a teenager sees that their Facebook friends 'Like' an ad, it piques their curiosity, making them more likely to click the ad or visit the page," says Los Angeles plaintiff attorney John Torjesen of John C. Torjesen & Associates. "We believe it is a clear case of exploitation of children for the sake of profits."
"The consent of the minor for this commercial use of his or her name and likeness is not obtained by Facebook," says plaintiff attorney and co-counsel Antony Stuart of Stuart Law Firm. "Under California law, the minor's consent cannot be obtained without the consent of the parent or guardian. Facebook makes no effort to obtain parental consent."
The class action lawsuit is filed on behalf of all California residents who are or were under the age of 18 and members of Facebook from Aug. 26, 2007 to Aug. 26, 2010 whose likenesses or names were used in a Facebook advertisement or landing page.
"Facebook's actions violate the inalienable right to privacy guaranteed by the California Constitution," says Torjesen. "It derives illegal profits by charging advertisers for the use of children's names and photographs. As the father of a teenager, I view this to be exploitation of children."
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Friday, July 24, 2009
U.S. Forces Afghanistan Logs 20,000 Facebook Fans
U.S. Forces Afghanistan's Facebook page logged its 20,000th fan today, passing the milestone a little more than two months after going public, making it the fastest-growing official military Facebook page, military officials here said.
The fan page at http://www.facebook.com/usforcesafghanistan is one of the main tools used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan to disseminate news and imagery from its operations, and counter and pre-empt extremist propaganda, officials said.
In June, for example, command officials posted video on the page to quickly counter terrorist claims that U.S. troops had attacked civilians in the city of Asadabad. The video, captured by Combined Joint Task Force 82, exonerated U.S. troops and shifted blame for the attack to insurgents, who threw a grenade into a crowd gathered near a disabled American truck.
The command used the site in May to display a series of videos taken from the biggest drug interdiction operation of the war. More recently, officials shared videos of U.S. air strikes, illustrating the care forces take to ensure civilian safety when using close-air support.
As subscribers to the page, fans receive regular updates from the U.S. headquarters here. Roughly 2,000 people, including fans, visit the page daily. Fans also have full access to post their own comments, links, photos and videos.
To date, the page has fans from at least 18 countries, and is followed by major U.S. and Western media organizations and celebrities. The page's fan base has expanded rapidly, adding more than 250 followers per day, on average, since the launch. Nearly 250 news releases, 19 videos and hundreds of photos have been added to the site.
(American Forces Press Service; From a U.S. Forces Afghanistan news release.)
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The fan page at http://www.facebook.com/usforcesafghanistan is one of the main tools used by the U.S. military in Afghanistan to disseminate news and imagery from its operations, and counter and pre-empt extremist propaganda, officials said.
In June, for example, command officials posted video on the page to quickly counter terrorist claims that U.S. troops had attacked civilians in the city of Asadabad. The video, captured by Combined Joint Task Force 82, exonerated U.S. troops and shifted blame for the attack to insurgents, who threw a grenade into a crowd gathered near a disabled American truck.
The command used the site in May to display a series of videos taken from the biggest drug interdiction operation of the war. More recently, officials shared videos of U.S. air strikes, illustrating the care forces take to ensure civilian safety when using close-air support.
As subscribers to the page, fans receive regular updates from the U.S. headquarters here. Roughly 2,000 people, including fans, visit the page daily. Fans also have full access to post their own comments, links, photos and videos.
To date, the page has fans from at least 18 countries, and is followed by major U.S. and Western media organizations and celebrities. The page's fan base has expanded rapidly, adding more than 250 followers per day, on average, since the launch. Nearly 250 news releases, 19 videos and hundreds of photos have been added to the site.
(American Forces Press Service; From a U.S. Forces Afghanistan news release.)
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Thursday, July 16, 2009
Facebook needs to improve privacy practices, investigation finds
/PRNewswire/ -- In order to comply with Canadian privacy law, Facebook must take greater responsibility for the personal information in its care, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada said today in announcing the results of an investigation into the popular social networking site's privacy policies and practices.
"It's clear that privacy issues are top of mind for Facebook, and yet we found serious privacy gaps in the way the site operates," says Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.
The investigation, prompted by a complaint from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, identified several areas where Facebook needs to better address privacy issues and bring its practices in line with Canadian privacy law.
An overarching concern was that, although Facebook provides information about its privacy practices, it is often confusing or incomplete. For example, the "account settings" page describes how to deactivate accounts, but not how to delete them, which actually removes personal data from Facebook's servers.
The Privacy Commissioner's report recommends more transparency, to ensure that the social networking site's nearly 12 million Canadian users have the information they need to make meaningful decisions about how widely they share personal information.
The investigation also raised significant concerns around the sharing of users' personal information with third-party developers creating Facebook applications such as games and quizzes. (There are more than 950,000 developers in some 180 countries.) Facebook lacks adequate safeguards to effectively restrict these outside developers from accessing profile information, the investigation found.
The report recommended a number of changes, including technological measures to ensure that developers can only access the user information actually required to run a specific application, and also to prevent the disclosure of personal information of any of the user's friends who are not themselves signing up for an application.
The investigation also found that Facebook has a policy of indefinitely keeping the personal information of people who have deactivated their accounts - a violation of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada's private-sector privacy law. The law is clear that organizations must retain personal information only for as long as is necessary to meet appropriate purposes.
Recommendations to Facebook included the adoption of a retention policy whereby personal information in deactivated accounts is deleted after a reasonable length of time.
Facebook has agreed to adopt many of the recommendations stemming from the Privacy Commissioner's investigation or, in some cases, has proposed reasonable alternatives to the measures recommended. However, there remain a number of recommendations that Facebook has not yet agreed to implement.
"We urge Facebook to implement all of our recommendations to further enhance their site, ensure they are in compliance with privacy law, and ultimately show themselves as models of privacy," says Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Denham, who led the investigation on behalf of the Office.
"Social networking sites can be a wonderful way to connect. They help us keep up with friends and share ideas and information with people around the globe. It is important for these sites to be in compliance with the law and to maintain users' trust in how they collect, use and disclose our personal information."
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner will review after 30 days the actions Facebook takes to comply with the recommendations. The Commissioner is empowered to go to Federal Court to seek to have her recommendations enforced.
"The privacy issues stemming from social networking sites are still relatively new. All of us - social networking sites, users and data protection authorities - are only beginning to develop the appropriate rules of engagement in this new world of online communication," says Assistant Commissioner Denham. "The findings of our Facebook investigation are an important contribution to the development of these rules."
While the investigation recommendations are aimed at Facebook, Assistant Commissioner Denham said users of social networking sites also have responsibilities.
"We asked Facebook to clearly advise users about its privacy practices, but it's still up to the user to actually read it and use the privacy tools to control how their information is shared," she says. As a result of the investigation, Facebook has announced a new privacy tool for its site, which is aimed at giving users more control over who gets to see each item on their Facebook page.
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"It's clear that privacy issues are top of mind for Facebook, and yet we found serious privacy gaps in the way the site operates," says Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.
The investigation, prompted by a complaint from the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, identified several areas where Facebook needs to better address privacy issues and bring its practices in line with Canadian privacy law.
An overarching concern was that, although Facebook provides information about its privacy practices, it is often confusing or incomplete. For example, the "account settings" page describes how to deactivate accounts, but not how to delete them, which actually removes personal data from Facebook's servers.
The Privacy Commissioner's report recommends more transparency, to ensure that the social networking site's nearly 12 million Canadian users have the information they need to make meaningful decisions about how widely they share personal information.
The investigation also raised significant concerns around the sharing of users' personal information with third-party developers creating Facebook applications such as games and quizzes. (There are more than 950,000 developers in some 180 countries.) Facebook lacks adequate safeguards to effectively restrict these outside developers from accessing profile information, the investigation found.
The report recommended a number of changes, including technological measures to ensure that developers can only access the user information actually required to run a specific application, and also to prevent the disclosure of personal information of any of the user's friends who are not themselves signing up for an application.
The investigation also found that Facebook has a policy of indefinitely keeping the personal information of people who have deactivated their accounts - a violation of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada's private-sector privacy law. The law is clear that organizations must retain personal information only for as long as is necessary to meet appropriate purposes.
Recommendations to Facebook included the adoption of a retention policy whereby personal information in deactivated accounts is deleted after a reasonable length of time.
Facebook has agreed to adopt many of the recommendations stemming from the Privacy Commissioner's investigation or, in some cases, has proposed reasonable alternatives to the measures recommended. However, there remain a number of recommendations that Facebook has not yet agreed to implement.
"We urge Facebook to implement all of our recommendations to further enhance their site, ensure they are in compliance with privacy law, and ultimately show themselves as models of privacy," says Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Denham, who led the investigation on behalf of the Office.
"Social networking sites can be a wonderful way to connect. They help us keep up with friends and share ideas and information with people around the globe. It is important for these sites to be in compliance with the law and to maintain users' trust in how they collect, use and disclose our personal information."
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner will review after 30 days the actions Facebook takes to comply with the recommendations. The Commissioner is empowered to go to Federal Court to seek to have her recommendations enforced.
"The privacy issues stemming from social networking sites are still relatively new. All of us - social networking sites, users and data protection authorities - are only beginning to develop the appropriate rules of engagement in this new world of online communication," says Assistant Commissioner Denham. "The findings of our Facebook investigation are an important contribution to the development of these rules."
While the investigation recommendations are aimed at Facebook, Assistant Commissioner Denham said users of social networking sites also have responsibilities.
"We asked Facebook to clearly advise users about its privacy practices, but it's still up to the user to actually read it and use the privacy tools to control how their information is shared," she says. As a result of the investigation, Facebook has announced a new privacy tool for its site, which is aimed at giving users more control over who gets to see each item on their Facebook page.
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Saturday, May 16, 2009
Revealing New Report on Monetizing Social Media Predicts Everyone Will Be Profitable Except Facebook
/PRNewswire/ -- A revealing new report on monetizing social media predicts everyone but facebook stands to make money under the current business structure of leading social networks. The study, the latest from ContentNext Media, Inc. and authored by renowned analyst Lauren Rich Fine, compares the top social network to a local mall, suggesting "it might be time to start charging rent" to be on the platform, as mobile carriers already do.
As things stand, "there's a real danger that application developers who use the facebook platform will become quite profitable while the host corporation will not," says Fine. "Advertising on social nets will never be commensurate with the amount of time people spend on them. And facebook has made several failed attempts at innovative marketing efforts that members loudly rejected."
Other findings from the report:
-- There has been more than $25.5 billion in social media M&A and
investment activity in 902 transactions over the past 27 months.
-- Gaming is the largest sub-category in VC funding -- with more than
$800 million raised.
-- Outside of gaming, excitement around virtual currency could come to a
screeching halt given the predominant "novelty" factor present in the
enthusiasm.
"The merging of social and mobile is upon us," adds Fine. "And there are proven successful strategies that social network companies can adopt from the mobile carrier model."
In her analysis last month of the mobile industry, Fine warned not to expect mobile growth to be a panacea. "Concern and confusion over costs and hardware could mute near-term growth," she cautions.
"The Changing Mobile Industry and What It Means for Media Executives" is part of ContentNext Media's highly regarded report series that also includes in-depth looks at digital music, online news and political sites, online fantasy sports, Web content-management systems, and a piercing dissection of the latest online ad forecasts.
"With this pair of reports, ContentNext Media continues its leadership role in identifying and analyzing the most important issues and opportunities in digital media," said Nathan Richardson, CEO of ContentNext Media. "Lauren's seasoned and deep insights into the financial nuances of the media industry, combined with our comprehensive expertise in the most important business trends and issues in the sector, create an unparalleled level of insight and advice for the unique challenges facing decision makers in the media industry today."
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As things stand, "there's a real danger that application developers who use the facebook platform will become quite profitable while the host corporation will not," says Fine. "Advertising on social nets will never be commensurate with the amount of time people spend on them. And facebook has made several failed attempts at innovative marketing efforts that members loudly rejected."
Other findings from the report:
-- There has been more than $25.5 billion in social media M&A and
investment activity in 902 transactions over the past 27 months.
-- Gaming is the largest sub-category in VC funding -- with more than
$800 million raised.
-- Outside of gaming, excitement around virtual currency could come to a
screeching halt given the predominant "novelty" factor present in the
enthusiasm.
"The merging of social and mobile is upon us," adds Fine. "And there are proven successful strategies that social network companies can adopt from the mobile carrier model."
In her analysis last month of the mobile industry, Fine warned not to expect mobile growth to be a panacea. "Concern and confusion over costs and hardware could mute near-term growth," she cautions.
"The Changing Mobile Industry and What It Means for Media Executives" is part of ContentNext Media's highly regarded report series that also includes in-depth looks at digital music, online news and political sites, online fantasy sports, Web content-management systems, and a piercing dissection of the latest online ad forecasts.
"With this pair of reports, ContentNext Media continues its leadership role in identifying and analyzing the most important issues and opportunities in digital media," said Nathan Richardson, CEO of ContentNext Media. "Lauren's seasoned and deep insights into the financial nuances of the media industry, combined with our comprehensive expertise in the most important business trends and issues in the sector, create an unparalleled level of insight and advice for the unique challenges facing decision makers in the media industry today."
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Breaking: Facebook Launching New Real-Time Homepage
Facebook is making a host of product announcements today, the most significant of which is a renovation of the News Feed that users see when they login. Starting next week, the News Feed will be moving to a real-time format, versus the current updates that happen “every 10-15 minutes” according to the company......
http://mashable.com/2009/03/04/facebook-homepage-real-time/
By Adam Ostrow
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By Adam Ostrow
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Thursday, February 26, 2009
'Facebook Uproar Will Transform Online and Offline Contracts,' Says Alan Siegel, Pioneer of the Plain English Movement and Chairman of Siegel+Gale
/PRNewswire/ -- "The uproar among Facebook users, fanned by management's decision to change the terms of their service agreement earlier this month, will lead to a transformation of turgid, impenetrable online contracts into readable documents," says Alan Siegel, one of the founders of the Plain English and Simplification movements and Chairman of brand consultancy Siegel+Gale. Co-author of WRITING CONTRACTS IN PLAIN ENGLISH (West Group), Mr. Siegel taught the first law school course in plain-language writing and has simplified complex legal documents for banks, businesses, and the federal government -- including the IRS.
"While hardly anyone outside the legal community doesn't yearn for simplicity, clarity, and functionality in contracts, consumers have continued to blindly agree to whatever is placed before them. They feel there is nothing they can do to force companies to transform loan agreements, insurance policies, mortgages, warranties, etc., into Plain English.
"At a time when there is a call for transparency and honesty in all sectors of society and business -- online and offline -- clearly Facebook showed an initial lack of sensitivity to the interests of their 175 million users when they changed the terms of the privacy provisions in their terms and conditions contract.
"While they put a note on the company blog that said the company 'simplified and clarified a lot of information that applies to you,' users were not asked to agree to the new terms or even alerted by e-mail about this rather significant change. Facebook merely added this line to their terms: 'Your continued use of the Facebook Service after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.'
"This generated such a strong negative reaction from Facebook users that Facebook announced they were reinstituting the terms of the original agreement.
"This about-face clearly demonstrates the power of the Internet that will force companies to communicate with clarity in their contracts with their customers. Companies will no longer be able to hide behind impenetrable contracts that provide unfair protections or conditions. It looks like the Internet and its legion of bloggers will be the stimulus for an upheaval in legal communications that is long overdue.
"This Facebook uproar will transform online -- and offline -- contracts. The days of consumers blindly signing whatever is placed before them are clearly over," Mr. Siegel concludes.
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"While hardly anyone outside the legal community doesn't yearn for simplicity, clarity, and functionality in contracts, consumers have continued to blindly agree to whatever is placed before them. They feel there is nothing they can do to force companies to transform loan agreements, insurance policies, mortgages, warranties, etc., into Plain English.
"At a time when there is a call for transparency and honesty in all sectors of society and business -- online and offline -- clearly Facebook showed an initial lack of sensitivity to the interests of their 175 million users when they changed the terms of the privacy provisions in their terms and conditions contract.
"While they put a note on the company blog that said the company 'simplified and clarified a lot of information that applies to you,' users were not asked to agree to the new terms or even alerted by e-mail about this rather significant change. Facebook merely added this line to their terms: 'Your continued use of the Facebook Service after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.'
"This generated such a strong negative reaction from Facebook users that Facebook announced they were reinstituting the terms of the original agreement.
"This about-face clearly demonstrates the power of the Internet that will force companies to communicate with clarity in their contracts with their customers. Companies will no longer be able to hide behind impenetrable contracts that provide unfair protections or conditions. It looks like the Internet and its legion of bloggers will be the stimulus for an upheaval in legal communications that is long overdue.
"This Facebook uproar will transform online -- and offline -- contracts. The days of consumers blindly signing whatever is placed before them are clearly over," Mr. Siegel concludes.
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Friday, January 30, 2009
New “Obama Worm” Discovered by Walling Data
(BUSINESS WIRE)--President Barack Obama is the First U.S. President with a Facebook page, and a YouTube channel. In addition, the President has 1 million “MySpace” friends, 3.7 million Facebook supporters and his campaign database boasts the e-mail addresses of 13 million supporters. President Obama is truly the nation’s first “wired” president.
So is it any surprise that hackers have taken advantage of the new president’s online popularity?
Walling Data, North America’s top distributor of AVG Internet Security Products, discovered a new computer threat this week that exhibits interesting symptoms, including a pop up of the President’s face in the bottom right hand corner of infected computers. Ironically, the worm was discovered on the network of a K-12 school in the President’s home state of Illinois.
“From what we can tell so far, the good news is that this worm is nothing more than a major nuisance. This threat spreads via external devices, such as flash drives, attacking where a network is typically most vulnerable – from the inside” said Luke Walling, President of Walling Data.
“We first discovered the worm in the course of some support work we were providing to the school,” Walling added. “It seems this threat was developed in an off the shelf development environment often used for the production of simple games, the version we have seems to have last been modified in December 2008.”
Walling also noted that the threat is unlikely to be an isolated incident, as it can be easily spread through the use of external devices, like USB flash drives. Schools are especially susceptible because they often allow the use of such devices to move class work back and forth from home and school.
As of today, the worm is not detected by any security product worldwide based on data obtained from virustotal.com and internal testing.
“We have isolated the components of this threat and have provided samples to security vendors to ensure it is properly and quickly detected by popular security products.”
“This is one instance when seeing our President’s face on your computer screen is not a good thing,” joked Walling. “You have to admit, no matter your political affiliation, this proves even hackers have a sense of humor.”
Are you infected?
Walling reveals what it knows about the “Obama worm” so far and what has been submitted to security vendors.
1. The threat appears to have been introduced to the school’s network via the use of a USB flash drive or possibly from e-mail.
2. The Obama worm replicates via USB storage devices and network shares.
3. The worm’s behavior indicates that it is more of a nuisance than a threat to sensitive data as there are changes to exe/bat/vbs shell extensions (i.e. breaking exe files) and it replicates to a large number of folders on the local computer.
4. On Mondays only, it will depict President Obama’s face in the lower right corner.
Lessons Learned
Walling suggests two things that could prevent this threat and others like it from wreaking havoc on a network:
1. Make sure all machines are “patched up.”
“Because this threat is not yet detected by any security product, it is critical that any machine with a Microsoft operating system is completely and always ‘patched up’. The threat exploits machines that lack critical Microsoft updates and trust only anti-virus software to catch threats,” Walling said.
2. Prohibit the use of external devices. Define and enforce usage policies diligently.
“It is difficult for many small businesses and schools, who often have limited manpower and resources, to prohibit the use of external devices like flash drives and external hard drives. While these devices are convenient, they are also the easiest way for threats to enter your network. We always recommend that network administrators disable a machine’s ability to use external devices via Group Policy or at a computer level for small workgroups. The ban on these devices should be a part of any organizations’ Internet usage policy, and of course, must be strictly enforced.”
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So is it any surprise that hackers have taken advantage of the new president’s online popularity?
Walling Data, North America’s top distributor of AVG Internet Security Products, discovered a new computer threat this week that exhibits interesting symptoms, including a pop up of the President’s face in the bottom right hand corner of infected computers. Ironically, the worm was discovered on the network of a K-12 school in the President’s home state of Illinois.
“From what we can tell so far, the good news is that this worm is nothing more than a major nuisance. This threat spreads via external devices, such as flash drives, attacking where a network is typically most vulnerable – from the inside” said Luke Walling, President of Walling Data.
“We first discovered the worm in the course of some support work we were providing to the school,” Walling added. “It seems this threat was developed in an off the shelf development environment often used for the production of simple games, the version we have seems to have last been modified in December 2008.”
Walling also noted that the threat is unlikely to be an isolated incident, as it can be easily spread through the use of external devices, like USB flash drives. Schools are especially susceptible because they often allow the use of such devices to move class work back and forth from home and school.
As of today, the worm is not detected by any security product worldwide based on data obtained from virustotal.com and internal testing.
“We have isolated the components of this threat and have provided samples to security vendors to ensure it is properly and quickly detected by popular security products.”
“This is one instance when seeing our President’s face on your computer screen is not a good thing,” joked Walling. “You have to admit, no matter your political affiliation, this proves even hackers have a sense of humor.”
Are you infected?
Walling reveals what it knows about the “Obama worm” so far and what has been submitted to security vendors.
1. The threat appears to have been introduced to the school’s network via the use of a USB flash drive or possibly from e-mail.
2. The Obama worm replicates via USB storage devices and network shares.
3. The worm’s behavior indicates that it is more of a nuisance than a threat to sensitive data as there are changes to exe/bat/vbs shell extensions (i.e. breaking exe files) and it replicates to a large number of folders on the local computer.
4. On Mondays only, it will depict President Obama’s face in the lower right corner.
Lessons Learned
Walling suggests two things that could prevent this threat and others like it from wreaking havoc on a network:
1. Make sure all machines are “patched up.”
“Because this threat is not yet detected by any security product, it is critical that any machine with a Microsoft operating system is completely and always ‘patched up’. The threat exploits machines that lack critical Microsoft updates and trust only anti-virus software to catch threats,” Walling said.
2. Prohibit the use of external devices. Define and enforce usage policies diligently.
“It is difficult for many small businesses and schools, who often have limited manpower and resources, to prohibit the use of external devices like flash drives and external hard drives. While these devices are convenient, they are also the easiest way for threats to enter your network. We always recommend that network administrators disable a machine’s ability to use external devices via Group Policy or at a computer level for small workgroups. The ban on these devices should be a part of any organizations’ Internet usage policy, and of course, must be strictly enforced.”
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Saturday, January 10, 2009
Social Media Study Shows 59 Percent of Retailers Now Using Facebook
/PRNewswire/ -- Rosetta, the largest independent interactive marketing agency in the country, today released a social media study showing 59 percent of 100 leading retailers currently have a fan page on Facebook.
According to the study, which was first conducted in April of 2008 and updated in September of 2008, 29 of the retailers surveyed added Facebook pages during those four months. These include Best Buy(R), Toys "R" Us(R), Kohl's(R) and Wal-Mart(R).
"These results support what we're seeing in our day-to-day client work, which is that we've reached a tipping point with Facebook among retailers," says Adam Cohen, partner with Rosetta's consumer goods and retail practice. "Social media sites continue to be an important source of community connection, and savvy retailers are reaping the benefits of Facebook's rapid extension into new demographics, such as Gen-X and seniors."
However, Cohen cautions retailers against a haphazard approach: "It's important that retailers don't just slap up a page because everyone is talking about Facebook. An effective Facebook presence requires that you carefully consider what your customers are looking for, what you would like to communicate, and what role a fan page should play in your overall online strategy. If you take all of these into account, it can be effective in building customer loyalty. "
The study included 100 retailers with a significant e-commerce presence or brand awareness, evaluated strictly on the creation of a "fan page" on Facebook.
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According to the study, which was first conducted in April of 2008 and updated in September of 2008, 29 of the retailers surveyed added Facebook pages during those four months. These include Best Buy(R), Toys "R" Us(R), Kohl's(R) and Wal-Mart(R).
"These results support what we're seeing in our day-to-day client work, which is that we've reached a tipping point with Facebook among retailers," says Adam Cohen, partner with Rosetta's consumer goods and retail practice. "Social media sites continue to be an important source of community connection, and savvy retailers are reaping the benefits of Facebook's rapid extension into new demographics, such as Gen-X and seniors."
However, Cohen cautions retailers against a haphazard approach: "It's important that retailers don't just slap up a page because everyone is talking about Facebook. An effective Facebook presence requires that you carefully consider what your customers are looking for, what you would like to communicate, and what role a fan page should play in your overall online strategy. If you take all of these into account, it can be effective in building customer loyalty. "
The study included 100 retailers with a significant e-commerce presence or brand awareness, evaluated strictly on the creation of a "fan page" on Facebook.
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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, Howcast, Columbia Law School and the U.S. Department of State Convene the Alliance of Youth Movements Summit
PRNewswire/ -- Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, Howcast, Columbia Law School, the U.S. Department of State and Access 360 Media are bringing leaders of 17 pioneering organizations from 15 countries together with technology experts next month in New York for the first-ever conclave to empower youth against violence and oppression through the use of the latest online tools.
These young leaders will form a new group, the Alliance of Youth Movements, which will produce a field manual for youth empowerment. The field manual will stand in stark contrast to the Al-Qaeda manual on the basics of terrorism, found by Coalition Forces in Iraq.
The gathering was inspired by the success of the One Million Voices Against the FARC, a group started on Facebook.com by young people in Colombia. Aided by social networking technologies, the organization inspired 12 million people in 190 cities around the world to take to the streets in protest against the FARC, an extremist group that has been terrorizing Colombia for more than 40 years. The magnitude of the marches illustrated once and for all that the FARC lacked a strong support base. Within days of the protests, the FARC witnessed massive desertions from their ranks. The Colombian group will share their ideas with leaders of other groups that use social and mobile technologies to promote freedom and justice and oppose violence, extremism and oppression.
The New York summit will bring together such organizations as One Million Voices Against the FARC, Save Darfur Coalition, Genocide Intervention Network, Burma Global Action Network and Invisible Children.
The Alliance of Youth Movements Summit will take place December 3 to 5 at the Columbia Law School in Manhattan. "We at Columbia are excited about helping, designing, and studying innovative public-private partnerships that leverage new technologies to tackle some of the world's greatest challenges. This summit is a great opportunity to do this," said Matthew Waxman, associate professor of law. The event will also be streamed live online by Howcast.com and on ThinkMTV.com. Howcast Media is organizing the Summit with additional support from Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, Columbia Law School, the U.S. Department of State and Access 360 Media.
Speakers at the Summit will include:
-- Whoopi Goldberg, Host of ABC's "The View"
-- Dustin Moskovitz, Co-Founder, Facebook
-- James K. Glassman, Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public
Affairs, U.S. Department of State
-- Oscar Morales, Founder, One Million Voices Against the FARC
-- Luke Russert, MSNBC
-- Matthew Waxman, Associate Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Panels will discuss a variety of practical topics, including How To Build Transnational Social Movements Using New Technology, How To Use New Mobile Technologies and How To Preserve Group Safety And Security.
Summit participants will also be honored at a red-carpet event with entertainment celebrities, business leaders, and civil society figures at the former home of MTV's Total Request Live ("TRL") overlooking Times Square.
Howcast will use the field manual for youth empowerment developed at the Summit as the cornerstone of a much larger online "hub," where emerging youth organizations can access and share "how-to" guides and tips on how to use social-networking and other technologies to promote freedom and justice and counter violence, extremism and oppression. The hub (http://howcast.com/youthmovements) will include instructional videos and text guides, links to related online resources and discussion forums for sharing experiences, ideas and advice.
"The Summit provides a unique opportunity to bring these socially conscious groups together for the purpose of making real, positive change in the world," said Jason Liebman, Co-Founder and CEO of Howcast Media. "Howcast's mission has always been focused on making it easier for people to learn how to do just about anything, and I'm particularly proud to see Howcast being used to help people learn how to make a difference in improving the world that we all share."
"I'm thrilled and inspired to see how people, especially young people, are using Facebook and other technologies to work together to improve the lives of entire nations of people," said Elliot Schrage, VP of Communications, Public Policy and Platform Marketing, Facebook. "We often focus on the value technology brings to the individual but the true promise of technology is unlocked when it connects people and enables them to work with a common purpose."
"The State Department is proud to play a role in highlighting the new wave of civil-society empowerment that is happening online," said James K. Glassman, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. "What is so encouraging is that this effort is being led by public-spirited technology firms like Howcast and innovative educators like those at Columbia University."
"It's critical that young people continue to utilize the technological tools available to them to band together and rally around causes and movements that can make a difference in the world," said Ian Rowe, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships for MTV. "On Think.MTV.com, we encourage young people to engage in and take action on the issues that matter to them most. This Summit revolves around how young people can do this, through multiple technology platforms."
-----
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These young leaders will form a new group, the Alliance of Youth Movements, which will produce a field manual for youth empowerment. The field manual will stand in stark contrast to the Al-Qaeda manual on the basics of terrorism, found by Coalition Forces in Iraq.
The gathering was inspired by the success of the One Million Voices Against the FARC, a group started on Facebook.com by young people in Colombia. Aided by social networking technologies, the organization inspired 12 million people in 190 cities around the world to take to the streets in protest against the FARC, an extremist group that has been terrorizing Colombia for more than 40 years. The magnitude of the marches illustrated once and for all that the FARC lacked a strong support base. Within days of the protests, the FARC witnessed massive desertions from their ranks. The Colombian group will share their ideas with leaders of other groups that use social and mobile technologies to promote freedom and justice and oppose violence, extremism and oppression.
The New York summit will bring together such organizations as One Million Voices Against the FARC, Save Darfur Coalition, Genocide Intervention Network, Burma Global Action Network and Invisible Children.
The Alliance of Youth Movements Summit will take place December 3 to 5 at the Columbia Law School in Manhattan. "We at Columbia are excited about helping, designing, and studying innovative public-private partnerships that leverage new technologies to tackle some of the world's greatest challenges. This summit is a great opportunity to do this," said Matthew Waxman, associate professor of law. The event will also be streamed live online by Howcast.com and on ThinkMTV.com. Howcast Media is organizing the Summit with additional support from Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, Columbia Law School, the U.S. Department of State and Access 360 Media.
Speakers at the Summit will include:
-- Whoopi Goldberg, Host of ABC's "The View"
-- Dustin Moskovitz, Co-Founder, Facebook
-- James K. Glassman, Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public
Affairs, U.S. Department of State
-- Oscar Morales, Founder, One Million Voices Against the FARC
-- Luke Russert, MSNBC
-- Matthew Waxman, Associate Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
Panels will discuss a variety of practical topics, including How To Build Transnational Social Movements Using New Technology, How To Use New Mobile Technologies and How To Preserve Group Safety And Security.
Summit participants will also be honored at a red-carpet event with entertainment celebrities, business leaders, and civil society figures at the former home of MTV's Total Request Live ("TRL") overlooking Times Square.
Howcast will use the field manual for youth empowerment developed at the Summit as the cornerstone of a much larger online "hub," where emerging youth organizations can access and share "how-to" guides and tips on how to use social-networking and other technologies to promote freedom and justice and counter violence, extremism and oppression. The hub (http://howcast.com/youthmovements) will include instructional videos and text guides, links to related online resources and discussion forums for sharing experiences, ideas and advice.
"The Summit provides a unique opportunity to bring these socially conscious groups together for the purpose of making real, positive change in the world," said Jason Liebman, Co-Founder and CEO of Howcast Media. "Howcast's mission has always been focused on making it easier for people to learn how to do just about anything, and I'm particularly proud to see Howcast being used to help people learn how to make a difference in improving the world that we all share."
"I'm thrilled and inspired to see how people, especially young people, are using Facebook and other technologies to work together to improve the lives of entire nations of people," said Elliot Schrage, VP of Communications, Public Policy and Platform Marketing, Facebook. "We often focus on the value technology brings to the individual but the true promise of technology is unlocked when it connects people and enables them to work with a common purpose."
"The State Department is proud to play a role in highlighting the new wave of civil-society empowerment that is happening online," said James K. Glassman, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. "What is so encouraging is that this effort is being led by public-spirited technology firms like Howcast and innovative educators like those at Columbia University."
"It's critical that young people continue to utilize the technological tools available to them to band together and rally around causes and movements that can make a difference in the world," said Ian Rowe, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships for MTV. "On Think.MTV.com, we encourage young people to engage in and take action on the issues that matter to them most. This Summit revolves around how young people can do this, through multiple technology platforms."
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