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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Your Daily IT News

Your Daily IT News

Keep your Online Accounts Safe and Secure

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 04:14 AM PDT

online accounts 

You probably use strong and unique passwords to prevent hackers from taking over your online accounts but is that enough? Maybe yes but I can't say that with enough confidence because my Google and Facebookaccounts have been compromised in the past despite using very complex passwords that can't be easily guessed.

Like most other people, I have a few dozen online accounts now and have spent the last few days evaluating the security and recovery options for each one of them. In response, I have taken a few extra steps, listed below, that I think may help improve the overall security of these accounts. If you find anything useful in the list, do try implementing it in your own workflow for better piece of mind.

A Security Checklist for Online Accounts

#1. I have enabled the "Always use HTTPS" setting for Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Google and all the other online services that support secure HTTP. This is especially important when accessing Internet over a Wi-Fi network because without HTTPS, anyone (and not just skilled hackers) can capture your login details using Firesheep, a simple Firefox extension.

#2. I have a few Google Accounts and they all use 2-step verification now. That means if someone tries to log into my Google account from a different computer, they'll have to type an additional code that is sent directly to my mobile phone as an SMS text message or over a voice call.

#3. The 2-step verification can also alert you to potential hacking activity. If I ever get an SMS (or a voice call) from Google with the verification code but without requesting one, it is an immediate hint that someone knows my password though they won't be able to get in without entering the verification code.

#4. I have connected my mobile number with my Facebook account. This is extremely important because I get an instant SMS and an email alert whenever my Facebook account is accessed from a different computer or another mobile phone.

#5. I carefully reviewed third-party sites that have access to my online accounts and revoked access to all the unwanted apps that I no longer use. In case you wish to do the same for your accounts, here are the direct links for Facebook, Google and Twitter.

#6. I maintain two email addresses – one is public that is displayed on the blog while the other email address is known to a select few. Why?

6a. The public email address is associated with services like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Flickr, Tumblr, Posterous, Skype and a couple of other social sites where I want people to find me if they have my email address in their address book.

6b. I use the other "secret" email address with services like Dropbox, Amazon, Google Apps, my bank, my hosting service, Apple iTunes, PayPal and few other places where account security is even more critical and where I am not looking to get social.

#7. If I am testing a new online service, I almost always use a disposable email address to create a test account with that service. Some online services reject disposable addresses to prevent fake registrations but the one I use goes through as it is only an alias (or nickname) of my main email address.

#8. I prefer using a virtual credit card with shopping sites that I am either using for the first time or where the fine print is too long and there's a risk that I could be billed again if I don't cancel the account. This also helps keep my credit card safe from relatively unknown sites.

#9. Once in a while, I do mock drill with my most important online accounts to test the various recovery options I would have in case I forget my password or if I lose access to my secondary email address or misplace my mobile phone.

#10. The last point – how do I remember and manage so many different passwords?

Some people prefer to use password managers which are very convenient but at this time, all I use is a simple 1-page document (see sample) to store information of all my online accounts and the corresponding passwords. This file is password-protected and I put it on Dropbox so the information is available on all my computers.

This may surprise some but I also have a hard copy of this file that family members can refer to in case I am travelling and they need urgent access to any of my online accounts. Also, since they would need my mobile phone to access my Gmail or Google account, I have included backup verification codes in the printed document itself – thus the Google account can be used without requiring the phone.

One more thing. If you have two email accounts, never ever set one emails as the secondary (or recovery) email address of the other. That's because if one of your email accounts gets compromised, the hacker can easily take over the other account as well.

Google $20 Billion Richer With The Launch Of Google+?

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:01 PM PDT

Investors love Google. In fact, they love it so much, they've added $20 billion to Google's market capitalization since the launch of the Google+ social network. Google Surge In Value

That number has since been trimmed by Morgan Stanley to around $15.8 billion, but hey, when you can add 15 billion to a companies value in a week, doest it really matter? The day before the launch of Google+, June 27, a share in Google would've set you back $482.80; just a week later on July 7, that cost rose to a head-numbing $546.60 per share.

Even with the Morgan Stanley adjustments (based on fears Google+ will fail), the jump in share price is a firm indicator that investors see Google's new outing as a credible threat to Facebook's dominance. Of course, there are other factors that drive market sentiment, but Google hasn't had such a jump in quite a while. Even the launch of Google buzz didn't produce such potent results.

One of Google's advantage is that Google+ is a brand new service. Facebook on the other hand, is well established. Now, you may ask, how is it that a brand new service can trump a well established social network? Here's how it works: Google has the "novelty" factor, which for Facebook wore off ages ago. You can see proof of this in the fact that Facebook made an announcement in an effort to steal some of Google's buzz. Introducing video calling in an existing social network is nothing like announcing a brand new social network. And this is why investors and users alike are salivating at the mouth over Google+. If it's new, people want in—pure and simple.

Watch the video below to see how Google+ might impact on Facebook.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiqDr7CFmZQ

Google Chairman To Testify At Antitrust Probe

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:01 PM PDT

Google chairman Eric Schmidt is set to appear at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee to discuss how the search engine giant approach its competitors. He will appear before the antitrust subcommittee in September but no exact date has been set. google antitrust case

Last month, Senator Mike Lee of Utah and Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin wrote to Google CEO Larry and Schmidt to ask them to testify during an upcoming hearing on search competition. Google said its chief legal officer David Drummond will attend the hearing bit both Kohl and Lee said that they want to talk to either Page or Schmidt. They said that the hearing will address basic questions with regards to business operations and not just legal issues.

The two senators even threatened to issue a subpoena so that either of the two Google executives would show up in the hearing. It looks like the move is not needed as Schmidt said he will be attending the said hearing.

Last month, the Federal Trade Commission had started a review of Google's business but it didn't provide details on what the FTC is looking for. The European Commission is also looking into complaints from three companies claiming that Google is choking off its competition.

Google+ Leads To Better Online Identity

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:01 PM PDT

Google+ is everywhere in the internet even before it is officially available to the public. Google's social network could extend one's online identity when surfing and its Circles feature can be flexible. It would take some time to find out whether Google's newest social network can lead to a stable online identity. Google Logo

Right now, users can create an identity on Google+ that's similar to the one on Facebook. The difference, which is a big one, is that users need to add their friends to corresponding Circles on Google+. Right now the social network is by invitation only.

People were always complaining about privacy and security in Facebook. The issue is not just the lack of identity but also the lack of control over personal data in the internet. Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said that the Google+ project is designed to build online identity, which he said is the real issue of the internet.

Schmidt said that Google designed a system that a person can use over time. Circles lets the users control their contact list the same way they do in their phones. Google+ would be better if it features strong privacy controls and useful apps. Then Google+ would separate itself from other social networks.

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Apps And Videos Are Facebook’s Future

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:01 PM PDT

Facebook's deal with Skype shows how partnerships and new apps can rake in billions of dollars for the social network. Its founder Mark Zuckerberg said that monetizing online video takes logical progression. Its new video chat feature threatens the business of wireless voice carriers. Facebook

Facebook's move will lead to other innovations that will lead the way to more useful apps in the near future. The applications of the video chat are limitless. It can be used for marketing, entertainment and communications within the web site.

The challenge for Facebook is to create a system that will generate money around information, entertainment and marketing video. The company tries to change its social sharing ecosystem in order to do so.

Marketers and content providers are looking for ways to earn real money from their digital investments. Zuckerberg said that the last five years were spent connecting people. The next five years will focus on connecting apps that would connect consumers with the marketers through video content and video pitches.

Zuckerberg said that Netflix should increase its video sharing and sales through social apps. It's not a surprise that Facebook's CEO used the company as an example. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was recently appointed to the Facebook board.

Amazon Desperately Outruns Online Sales Taxes By State-Hopping

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:01 PM PDT

Amazon.com is a big company, and it's a good thing the United States is a pretty big country. The number of states looking to plug budget deficits by implementing online sales taxes, has more than doubled in the past couple of years. This has forced Amazon to take a more strategic approach to the building of distribution outlets. Amazon Sales Tax

Reports coming out of Phoenix, Arizona, is that Amazon is set to open a 1.2-million-square-foot distribution facility. This new facility would bring the total to four, the number of distribution centres run by Amazon in the Phoenix area. Phoenix joins Indiana as one of the havens available to companies like Amazon looking to avoid paying online sales taxes. At this rate, entire states will become nothing but glorified warehouses.

One wonders though, how much longer Amazon will be able to dodge the online sales tax bullet—It's no secret after all, that the majority of states are contemplating implementing it. This state-hopping too, is bound to catch the eyes of tax legislators. If Amazon isn't careful, it could well become a magnet for legislators. As the worlds largest online retailer, Amazon potentially is a sizeable income boost for the majority of tax coffers.

Many have argued that Amazon is just being "tight". But where they see intransigence, Amazon sees potential losses and job cuts. The truth, as they say, is somewhere in between. One thing is certainly evident, Amazon finds it cheaper to build a new warehouse than paying an online sales tax. Let's just hope legislators don't drive companies like Amazon completely offshore.

Watch the video below to see details of this corporate game of cat and mouse.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-esAVCOxg58

Google+ Business Profiles Better Than Facebook Pages

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:01 PM PDT

Google announced that it will have business profiles in its Google+ social network. But the company asked businesses not to make interim profiles at the moment and wait for the feature to be rolled out. Small to midsize businesses must adapt to a new ecosystem but on the good side, Google+ Business Profiles will be better than Facebook Pages. 

Since Google was founded in 1998, it has been creating services that are used for personal and business purposes. All it needs to do now is to combine both aspects into one. Below are some of the reasons why Google+ for Business is better than Facebook Pages.

Google is mainly a search engine company. Search would be one of the advantages of Google+. At present, Realtime Search is disabled and it would probably incorporate Google+ live feed into Search. While these are all speculations, it is likely that Google would do this to attract more businesses to make their own profiles.

Google offers Apps for Business productivity suite that includes tools such as calendars and word processing. It also has an Apps Market with third party apps. Facebook said that it wants to eliminate email but there are still a lot of people checking their inbox each day. That includes at least 200 million Gmail users. There are 3 million businesses use Google Apps.

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Google Upbeat About Latest Social Network

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:01 PM PDT

Google is optimistic about its latest attempt at social networking and its former CEO Eric Schmidt said that this is just his company's initial move to personalize its products for each users. The strong demand for invites for Google+ is a promising sign for the social network. He previously confessed that his company didn't invest much in the social networking aspect when Facebook was still growing. google social

The company is working hard to let the millions of users into its Google+ social network, which lets people share media and links to people within their circles. If the trend continues then Google will incorporate the circles concept to the other Google products.

During his annual catch-up with reporters, Schmidt talked about several topics. These include the U. S. Federal Trade Commission's antitrust probe into the company and the multi-billion valuations of tech companies.

Schmidt was alone during the talk with reporters, unlike the previous years when he was accompanied by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Schmidt said that Brin was on a business trip while Page, the current CEO, is working hard at the office.

Schmidt said that the antitrust investigations by the European Commission and the FTC haven't affected the business. Aside from the internal meetings about how to deal with the matter, it is business as usual in Google headquarters.

Greenlight Sells Yahoo Shares After Alipay Spinoff

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:01 PM PDT

Greenlight Capital sold its Yahoo! shares for a modest loss when doubt mounted over the value of the company's investment in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Greenlight said that it didn't like how things are going since Yahoo disclosed that Alibaba relinquished ownership of its online-payment business to a company owned by Alibaba CEO Jack Ma. YAHOO

The Alibaba Group is the leader in e-commerce businesses in China. Yahoo, its biggest investor, and Japan's Softbank Corp. are currently engaged in talks with regards to compensation for the payment unit, Alipay.

Greenlight said that it invested in Yahoo because it predicted that the China unit stake would be worth as much as its entire market value. But Yahoo shares have lost 16 percent since May 10, a day before Alibaba spinoff of its Alipay unit was announced.

Greenlight also said that it sold its stake in Xerox. It said that it bought the shares in anticipation of the earnings from the Affiliated Computer Services acquisition. But the earthquake in Japan last March took a dent in the earnings forecast, which led the hedge fund to sell the Xerox shares at a modest gain. Xerox declined to comment with regards to the issue. Its shares dropped 7.5 percent this year.

Zong CEO David Marcus Talks about eBay Acquisition

Posted: 11 Jul 2011 10:01 PM PDT

Zong CEO David Marcus is optimistic about the news that eBay agreed to acquire his company for $240 million in cash. eBay said that Zong will help increase PayPal's dominance in mobile payments industry. Marcus founded Zong in 2008 and is known as the pioneer in mobile payments by using direct billing to mobile phone carriers. zong

Zong allow users to pay for virtual goods and other online purchases via their mobile phone number. Using Zong service is easy. The user just needs to click on the red Zong button and wait for the passcode to be sent to the phone via text message. Then the user needs to enter the passcode to complete the transaction. The purchase will be billed to the carrier and will be reflected on the next phone bill.

The company has partnership deals with around 250 million mobile network operators across the globe. These connections were inherited from its parent company Echovox, which was also founded by David Marcus in 2000. Zong has access to 3.2 billion mobile phone users worldwide. Zong is backed by Newbury Ventures, Matrix Partners and Advent Venture.

PayPal plans to use Zong's technology to offer consumers more payment options. Mobile phones are always within reach. It believes that Zong will strengthen its hold in online payments and help the company reach out to more than 4 billion people.
Posted by prisca at 3:15 PM

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