John Lister

Google plans to bar other companies from accessing information in its Gmail service, even with user permission. There's suspicion the scheme is designed to increase competition between Google and social media services such as Facebook. Facebook is ... actually one the best examples of how the change will apply in action. At the moment, when a new user signs up to the site, Facebook asks if they want to import their contacts list from their email account. If they do so, Facebook then cross-references this list, finds anyone who is already on Facebook, and asks if the user wants to add them as an ... (view more)

Microsoft has announced a temporary workaround for users of older editions of Internet Explorer (IE) vulnerable to a new bug. The situation yet again highlights the importance of upgrading to the more secure, recent editions (IE8 and IE9) of the ... browser. The bug's dynamics are all-too-familiar: if a hacker persuades a user to visit a specially-crafted webpage, they'll be able to install and run malicious software on the user's computer. It's another zero day attack , meaning the problem is currently being exploited by hackers before Microsoft has a working fix. Browser Check First, Virus ... (view more)

Five portable devices have become the first certified as 'WiFi Direct,' a new system designed to rival Bluetooth in making it easy to connect devices without wires. At the moment, most WiFi-enabled devices can only connect through a router. The ... alternative is to use a tool in Windows known as an ad-hoc network connection, but this is difficult to establish and often unstable. While that's fine for home and office environments, it's of little use to business users on the road. It's also tricky to use with devices such as phones and digital cameras. The main solution to that problem has been ... (view more)

Adobe has revealed that there is a critical zero day bug in its Flash Player, Acrobat and Adobe Reader applications. As well as potentially causing a crash, the bug could allow an attacker to remotely take control of a computer. A zero day bug means ... big trouble for a software developer. It occurs where hackers have discovered a security hole in a program and are actively sharing ways to exploit it before developers know it exists. The term " Zero day " refers to the start of the period during which hackers are able to exploit the bug before the developers produce and distribute a ... (view more)

Facebook says it has discovered that some application ("app") developers have been deliberately selling user information for the intention of third-party marketing, and has responded by banning a list of developers from the site for six months. A ... similar breach was reported in a Facebook investigation last month . In that case, a technical error in the way developers used the information provided by Facebook meant they were revealing the user IDs of members who used the relevant applications, such as games. It's important to note this is simply Facebook's own reference number for ... (view more)

A well-known Windows virus is spreading to Apple PCs as well. The virus is known as trojan.osx.boonana.a, though it appears to be the same as the so-called Koobface virus which first affected Windows PCs. In both cases the virus spreads through ... social networking sites, most notably Facebook. The virus gets on to computers through bogus messages and one of the most common is some variation on "Is this you in this video?" Clicking the link on this message then runs a Java applet that attempts to download and install the virus. (Source: yahoo.com ) Once installed, trojan.osx.boonana.a (also ... (view more)

Like Facebook before it, MySpace has been accused of privacy violations by sharing user details with third-party advertisers. The new story, published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), came after claims the newspaper had kept the article under wraps ... for business reasons. The claims about MySpace are similar to those involving Facebook. For example, last week it was reported that the companies behind games and other add-on applications on the site were sharing user data with advertisers, a breach of Facebook rules. Facebook itself believes this was done inadvertently through a technical ... (view more)

Microsoft has formally unveiled the most comprehensive online version of its MS Office software to date. "Office 365," as it's called, is currently being beta tested in 13 countries and it's expected to be publicly available in 40 countries next ... year. MS Office 365 Uses Cloud Computing Technology The idea behind Office 365 is that it uses cloud computing technology. It's a service that allows businesses to access Office tools over the Internet, rather than have to physically install the software on a per-machine basis. The concept also means employees can access Office from any ... (view more)

High-profile executive and software visionary Ray Ozzie has announced he is leaving Microsoft. It's a move that has prompted great speculation in the tech industry, including whether or not the company will remain effective in its plans for online ... computing. Ray Ozzie a Key Figure of Microsoft Ozzie was Microsoft's Chief Software Architect. That's not a precisely defined term, but one could draw conceptual parallels with the work of a traditional architect: a software architect makes the key design decisions about how software should be built and how it will operate. Given Microsoft's line of ... (view more)

Facebook has confirmed that user details have been revealed to advertisers inappropriately. Unlike many previous privacy disputes on the site, this appears to be a genuine error. The issue involves applications, the add-on games and tools that run ... on the site but are controlled by third-party companies. The most popular examples include games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars. Generally, when users install such an application, they grant specific permissions for the app's creators to access their accounts in some fashion; for example to automatically post on the user's page when they achieve a ... (view more)