security

New Rules for E-commerce – A SPN Exclusive Article Part 3

When the Internet was conceived, it was developed as an ‘information highway.’ It has evolved into an e-commerce solution that is a mandatory component for every business. However, the Rules of E-commerce have changed. In this article we introduce the new rules and how they impact shopping cart developers. • In Part 1, we discussed how the new rules impact consumers. • In Part 2 we discussed how the new rules impact online merchants. • In Part 4 we will discuss how the new rules impact smart phone application developers.

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New Rules for E-commerce – A SPN Exclusive Article Part 3

security

Facebook’s photo fail

It appears that not even the man who created Facebook is immune to the social network’s increasingly infamous security issues. Instructions on how to circumvent Facebook’s privacy settings have been floating around cyberspace for a couple of weeks. However, the security glitch has now come to wider attention as images from Facebook head honcho Mark Zuckerberg’s private photo albums were released to the world. Users discovered after reporting a public profile picture as containing inappropriate content they were offered the chance to report additional photographs by the same user. Facebook then presented them with a thumbnail gallery of private images that otherwise would have been invisible to the person making the complaint. Those pictures could easily be enlarged by making a simple change in the browser address bar and downloaded. By using this method, anonymous intruders were able to access private photos of Zuckerberg, his girlfriend Priscilla Chan and their puppy, Beast. Fourteen candid images were published on the image site Imgur under the headline: “It’s time to fix those security flaws Facebook.” Facebook has now issued a fix for the loophole. In a statement, the social network said: “Earlier today, we discovered a bug in one of our reporting flows that allows people to report multiple instances of inappropriate content simultaneously.

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Facebook’s photo fail

security

Android users download 10 billion apps

The app war between Apple and Android rages on as Android announced it has passed the ten billion download mark after accelerating past Apple in app download rates earlier this year . The Android platform became the world’s most popular smartphone after surpassing the Nokia Symbian earlier this year. “This past weekend, thanks to Android users around the world, Android market exceeded 10 billion app downloads – with a growth rate of one billion app downloads per month,” director of the Android Developer Ecosystem Eric Chu wrote on the Google blog . The milestone is particularly impressive considering the accelerated growth in Google’s Android Market – while it took 22 months for Android to reach 1 billion downloads, it took just once month for the smartphone maker to jump from 9 to ten billion app downloads.

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Android users download 10 billion apps

security

New Rules for E-commerce – An Exclusive SPN Article – Part One

When the Internet was conceived, it was developed as an ‘information highway.’ It has evolved into an e-commerce solution that is a mandatory component for every business. In this article we introduce the new rules and how they impact consumers. • In Part 2 we will discuss how the new rules impact online merchants. • In Part 3 we will discuss how the new rules impact web hosting companies. • In Part 4 we will discuss how the new rules impact shopping cart developers. • In Part 5 we will discuss how the new rules impact smart phone application developers. • In Part 6 we will discuss how the new rules impact smart phone banking applications.

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New Rules for E-commerce – An Exclusive SPN Article – Part One

security

Ultrabooks introduce ‘tap-and-pay’ online shopping

Intel Corporation and credit card giant MasterCard have announced a multi-year strategic collaboration to further advance the security and consumer payment experience of online shopping. The collaboration aims to combine MasterCard’s payment processing and commerce expertise with Intel’s strengths in silicon innovation and chip-based security to provide merchants and consumers better options for a safer and simpler online checkout process on Ultrabook devices and future generations of Intel-based PCs. Additionally, the two companies are working together to optimize emerging payment technologies, such as MasterCard’s PayPass and Intel Identity Protection Technology (IPT), in order to provide a safe “tap-and-pay” feature. PayPass is a payment method that allows consumers to make purchases without swiping a card or providing a signature. Intel IPT allows consumers to use strong two-factor authentication and hardware-based display protection to provide increased online security against malware. When used with an Intel IPT-enabled reader, consumers will be able to pay for online purchases with a simple tap of their PayPass-enabled card, tag or smart phone on an Ultrabook device. “MasterCard is constantly working to improve the shopping experience for consumers and merchants,” said Ed McLaughlin, MasterCard’s chief emerging payments officer. “The collaboration with Intel will deliver enhanced security and faster checkout – with the convenience of a simple click or tap.” Internet shopping is a huge industry, and it’s only getting bigger. According to Forrester Research, online sales reached $176.2 billion (

security

Sony security breach suspends 93k on PlayStation Network

Sony found its network once more under attack and has warned that 93,000 accounts on the PlayStation Network and SOE games service may be at risk. The latest security incident, reported to have occurred between 7 and 10 October, involves information that may have been stolen from computers. The as-yet unknown hackers gained access to members’ IDs and passwords, and there have been several attempts at unauthorised sign-ins. Although not all 93,000 accounts have shown signs of suspicious activity, all potentially affected have been taken offline for the time being while Sony addresses the issue. “Less than one tenth of one per cent … may have been affected.

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Sony security breach suspends 93k on PlayStation Network

security

Blackberry users endure blackout, slow recovery

A major service disruption is causing frustration for a third day among owners of the BlackBerry smartphone. The problem, which first surfaced on Monday and then reared its head again on Tuesday, left Blackberry users without access to email, internet, and BBM – the messenger service that allows Blackberry users to interact with one another for free. Though Canadian BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) acknowledged the outage quickly, it took 36 hours to further elaborate on what caused the problem. “The messaging and browsing delays being experienced by BlackBerry users in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Argentina were caused by a core switch failure within RIM’s infrastructure. “Although the system is designed to failover to a back-up switch, the failover did not function as previously tested.

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Blackberry users endure blackout, slow recovery

security

What Is A Security Certification?

Sometimes it seems like everything in our lives today rotates around the internet. It does not matter if you are talking about your home life or work life. It does not matter if you are talking about paying your bills online, shopping or working with colleagues who are not located within the same facility. Everything revolves around the internet. The natural result from the internet explosion is that the fields of security certification and security training have also exploded. People sometimes get very confused about the certification process as it relates to computers and the online world. That is because people do not know a lot about the details; they just hear stories about how the internet is a bad place. As the internet has become more popular, it also means hackers have spent more time and money on trying to find easy ways to cause problems.

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What Is A Security Certification?

security

Companies pull the plug on social networking sites at work

A third of UK companies are blocking their employees from using social networking sites on the job, a recent study found. According to the Financial Times , more companies have been restricting access to social networking sites over fears of hacking and other security issues. The news comes following a survey by Clearswift that reported the number of companies seeking to restrict access from social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook over the last year jumped from 9 to 19 per cent. CEO of Clearswift Andrew Wyatt said: “Businesses have reacted to the series of high-profile data leaks and have become increasingly nervous about it usage from the workplace.” “Social networking sites often have little to do with data-loss incidents, but they have become guilty by association, because they are seen as having an impact on a company’s brand.” Companies have come up with a range of solutions to thwart the use of social networking sites at work – anything from restricting access to reminding employees not to use the sites by displaying a pop-up when they sign in from work. While many managers see the benefits of using social media to generate business, fears over security and compliance prevent them from integrating social media into their business model. Wyatt said: “Rather than embracing new channels of communication, companies have clamped down and become overtly defensive, which is consequently stifling avenues of growth.” Although security fears remain a major concern for employers, 31 per cent of businesses in the UK say they plan to invest more money into using these sites for corporate communications next year. Digg | delicious | Reddit | Google | Twitter | Sphinn | StumbleUpon | YahooBuzz | Facebook | Mixx | Contact bigmouthmedia

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Companies pull the plug on social networking sites at work

security

Ten products closed to make way for Google+

Google’s senior vice-president for engineering today announced via the official Google blog that ten products will be struck off the Google list, as the web giant continues to focus all energies on pulling off its latest social media venture Google+. Described by Alan Eustace as part of Google’ ‘fall spring-clean’ initiative, products up for the chop include Aardvark, Desktop, Fast Flip, Notebook, Sidewiki, Image Labeler, Google Pack, Subscribed Links, Google Web Security and Google Maps API for Flash. “Technology improves, people’s needs change, some bets pay off and others don’t,” Eustace kicked off the Mountain View missive saying. The clean-up appears to be part of CEO Larry Page’s bid to rid the company off inefficiencies, and his determination since taking over from Eric Schmidt in April to make some real changes. Page even went as far as to require product managers to submit to him 60-word explanation of their projects in order to trim the fat, the Guardian reported Not even recent ventures by Mountain View are sacrosanct, the report revealed. For example, Google purchased the social search company Aardvark just last year for a reported $50 million, and reports suggest the products may not disappear entirely, but find themselves factored into the Google+ site.

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Ten products closed to make way for Google+