10.04.07
Posted in General at 7:05 pm by Administrator
Hopefully there will be more attention to this from spyware and antivirus companies, along with Microsoft and google and others. It is a sad state of affairs when we have Virus writers exploiting people who just want to enjoy the internet. We need to stop all this malware BS and get more and more people using computers to communicate and share, not waste time fixing hard drives and operating systems.
From Newsvine / AP
ATLANTA — Online videos aren’t just for bloopers and rants — some might also be conduits for malicious code that can infect your computer.As anti-spam technology improves, hackers are finding new vehicles to deliver their malicious code. And some could be embedded in online video players, according to a report on Internet threats released Tuesday by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center as it holds its annual summit.
The summit is gathering more than 300 scholars and security experts to discuss emerging threats for 2008 — and their countermeasures.
Among their biggest foes are the ever-changing vehicles that hackers use to deliver “malware,” which can silently install viruses, probe for confidential info or even hijack a computer.
“Just as we see an evolution in messaging, we also see an evolution in threats,” said Chris Rouland, the chief technology officer for IBM Corp.’s Internet Security Systems unit and a member of the group that helped draft the report. “As companies have gotten better blocking e-mails, we see people move to more creative techniques.”
With computer users getting wiser to e-mail scams, malicious hackers are looking for sneakier ways to spread the codes. Over the past few years, hackers have moved from sending their spam in text-based messages to more devious means, embedding them in images or disguised as Portable Document Format, or PDF, files.
“The next logical step seems to be the media players,” Rouland said.
There have only been a few cases of video-related hacking so far.
One worm discovered in November 2006 launches a corrupt Web site without prompting after a user opens a media file in a player. Another program silently installs spyware when a video file is opened. Attackers have also tried to spread fake video links via postings on YouTube.
That reflects the lowered guard many computer users would have on such popular forums.
“People are accustomed to not clicking on messages from banks, but they all want to see videos from YouTube,” Rouland said.
Another soft spot involves social networking sites, blogs and wikis. These community-focused sites, which are driving the next generation of Web applications, are also becoming one of the juiciest targets for malicious hackers.
Computers surfing the sites silently communicate with a Web application in the background, but hackers sometimes secretly embed malicious code when they edit the open sites, and a Web browser will unknowingly execute the code. These chinks in the armor could let hackers steal private data, hijack Web transactions or spy on users.
Tuesday’s forum gathers experts from around the globe to “try to get ahead of emerging threats rather than having to chase them,” said Mustaque Ahamad, director of the Georgia Tech center.
They are expected to discuss new countermeasures, including tighter validation standards and programs that analyze malicious code. Ahamad also hopes the summit will be a launching pad of sorts for an informal network of security-minded programmers.
___
On the Net:
Georgia Tech Information Security Center: http://www.gtisc.gatech.edu
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10.12.06
Posted in General at 8:36 pm by Administrator
Two new Nashville web sites created by Global Advanced Media
These sites are currently in version 1.1 and will have some revisions as we work with our clients to get them exactly what they want. Delivery and courier services in Nashville TN are being handled by the fine folks at We Deliver Nashville and for transportation in uber luxury look into the Limousine services inNashville with the Nashville Limo Company.
Delivery drivers, couriers, professional drivers and more, getting the word out with Global Advanced Media.
We are currently handling the design and web hosting for these fine companies!
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06.06.06
Posted in General at 8:16 pm by Administrator
So I was tipped off about this open source frimware upgrade from the rss feed I subscribe to at digg. It seems pretty easy to upgrade the firmware on your router to add many features and boost the wireless power, and more…
From an article at lifehacker:
Of all the great DIY projects at this year’s Maker Faire, the one project that really caught my eye involved converting a regular old $60 router into a powerful, highly configurable $600 router. The router has an interesting history, but all you really need to know is that the special sauce lies in embedding Linux in your router. I found this project especially attractive because: 1) It’s easy, and 2) it’s totally free.
Read more about it from lifehacker click here.
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06.02.06
Posted in General at 8:30 pm by Administrator
From Yahoo / Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Two New York teenagers were in police custody Wednesday facing illegal computer access and attempted extortion charges after they allegedly threatened to shake down the popular Web site MySpace.com unless its operators paid them $150,000, prosecutors said.
Shaun Harrison, 18, and Saverio Mondelli, 19, of Suffolk County, N.Y. allegedly hacked into the social networking site and stole personal information from MySpace users.
After MySpace booted them from the site, the pair threatened to distribute a foolproof method for stealing information unless MySpace paid them $150,000, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Mondelli and Harrison were arrested Friday when they traveled to Los Angeles to allegedly collect the payoff. Instead, they were taken into custody by undercover officers from the multi-agency electronic crimes task force who posed as MySpace employees.
Each was charged with two felony counts of illegal computer access and one count of sending a threatening letter for extortion and attempted extortion. They face more than four years in prison if convicted of all charges, prosecutors said.
Mondelli and Harrison entered not guilty pleas at their arraignment Tuesday. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge set bail at $35,000 and set a preliminary hearing for June 5.
MySpace.com, owned by News Corp., allows users to post photos, blogs and journals and create networks of friends.
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Posted in General at 2:11 am by Administrator
Yahoo makes Web video search more like TV channels
By Eric Auchard
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc. is making it easier for Web surfers to find videos by upgrading its search system to become more like saving favorite TV channels with a remote control, the company said on Wednesday.
The Internet media giant aims to recapture share in the fast-emerging market for viewing videos online — the year’s hottest Internet trend — where Yahoo has lost ground over the past six months to upstart video search company YouTube.
“Instead of having to discover individual videos one by one, once you have found a source you like, you can keep coming back,” Jason Zajac, general manager of social media at Yahoo, said in a phone interview.
YouTube, a San Mateo, California-based company with only 30 employees which was founded by two former developers at online payments company PayPal, surged from nowhere earlier this year and now attracts tens of millions of monthly users.
That is five times the U.S. audience of former market leader Yahoo Video Search, according to data from Internet measurement firm Hitwise. MySpace ranks second, Yahoo third and Microsoft Corp.’s MSN is fourth, data shows. Other rapid gainers are start-ups Grouper and Daily Motion.
Among the changes Yahoo is introducing to its video search service at http://video.yahoo.com is a simple way for users to subscribe to and watch “channels”, or groups of videos related by videomaker, programmer or keyword topic.
Yahoo now allows subscribers to specific channels to tag, or categorize, videos to make it easier for viewers with similar tastes to find the video later. Users can browse for featured videos, popular videos or by category or “tag”.
“It is really worthwhile to create something that people can go back to and not have to find all over again,” said IDC analyst Josh Martin, who was briefed on Yahoo’s plans. “Searching for video kind of sucks right now.”
USER-GENERATED CONTENT
Taking advantage of the growing availability of broadband Internet connections, YouTube has made its name as the playground of quirky short-form videos contributed by users. It has yet to figure out how to make money off its service, through some form of advertising or other money-making effort.
To date, Yahoo had taken a cautious approach to serving up user-created video that is suddenly all the rage on the Web, focusing instead on acting as a showcase for professionally produced videos available across the Web or sports, news and entertainment programming licensed or created by Yahoo itself.
Zajac said Yahoo is applying an editorial process to its video search home page that balances high-quality programming against the popularity contest for the latest joke videos.
“Of course, users have access to all the content across the Yahoo network,” Zajac said. “What we are adding to that is user-generated content.”
The changes Yahoo is introducing to its video search service combine an uncluttered design look with linkages to its wider network of other Internet properties.
Videomakers both amateur and pro can now upload a video to Yahoo. Users can then post a version of their favorite videos onto their own Web sites using an embedded Yahoo video player.
“This is a good step for Yahoo,” Martin said. The next move for the Sunnyvale, California-based company is to connect together video content across its network of sites ranging from news to travel to sports fantasy leagues. “Yahoo has stuff that others like Google or YouTube don’t,” he said.
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05.23.06
Posted in General at 3:40 pm by Administrator
From Online Media Daily, YouTube, the popular user-generataed video content site has finally enabled a feature that should have been part of their feature set for ages; the ability to upload videos directly from your phone or handheld device.
Service which is currently available only on Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon requires that users have mobile phones that are capable of taking video and sending multimedia messaging service, or MMS, messages.
Personally, I’m curious to see how the nature of the content changes with the adoption of thie feature. I expect we’ll see more spontaneous content as well (unfortunately) as more bathroom humor type stuff.
Read the whole story with links and comments at MobileCrunch, click here.
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05.19.06
Posted in General at 6:56 am by Administrator
I stumbled across a very interesting story written by a game maker about cheatingin online games.. definitely worth a read if you are into programming, or online gaming.
How to Hurt the Hackers: The Scoop on Internet Cheating and How You Can Combat It
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04.26.06
Posted in General at 6:44 pm by Administrator
From Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) plans to pay $200 million to $400 million for Massive Inc., a privately held company that places ads in video games, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday.
The deal to buy the two-year-old start-up highlights the increasing importance of advertising in nontraditional media, the report said.
A Microsoft spokeswoman said the story is based on rumor and declined comment. A spokeswoman for Massive also declined comment.
Clients of Massive, which uses always-on Internet connections to place real-time ads in games, include Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO - news), Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (7267.T) and other advertisers that are boosting spending for ads in video games.
There are high expectations for in-game advertising, because it offers the promise to again connect advertisers with the desirable young male audience, which has been abandoning television and other traditional media in favor of the Internet and video games.
In an interview with Reuters in December, Massive Chief Executive Mitchell Davis said forecasts from a variety of industry sources call for real-time game advertising revenue to grow into a $3 billion-plus global market by 2010.
The new generation of in-game ads offered by Massive and rivals like Double Fusion allow advertisers to run campaigns for specific periods of time, rather than buying a slot that is hard-coded into a game. That means billboards and storefronts in games can change over time to more closely resemble the real world that some games attempt to recreate.
Video game publishers, which are struggling with rising game development costs, hope that in-game advertising will come to represent a meaningful source of revenue.
Microsoft, which already runs a large advertising business around its MSN Internet unit, has won over gamers with its
Xbox Live service that connects gamers to the Web through its Xbox and newer Xbox 360 consoles.
In an effort to close the gap on online advertising leaders Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOG - news) and Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), Microsoft plans to roll out a new advertising system called adCenter that sells ads across the company’s Web content and services.
In the future, advertisers will be able to place ads through adCenter across Microsoft’s other platforms such as Xbox consoles and mobile devices.
Massive’s advertising partners include game publishers THQ Inc. (Nasdaq:THQI - news), Vivendi Universal’s (VIV.PA) games unit, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s (Nasdaq:TTWO - news) 2K Sports, NCsoft Corp. (036570.KS) and Konami Corp. (9766.T)
Shares of Microsoft rose 2 cents to $27.13 in afternoon Nasdaq trade.
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