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Facebook malware scam takes hold A "worrying number" of Facebook users are sharing a link to a malware-laden fake CNN news page reporting the U.S. has attacked Iran and Saudi Arabia, security firm Sophos said Friday. Social media fuels Planned Parenthood backers in Komen protest Fueled by a firestorm of outrage on Twitter and Facebook, the people behind the Susan G. Komen For the Cure Friday backed off their decision to cut funding of Planned Parenthood programs. Social media takes over the Super Bowl For Sunday's Super Bowl, fans will split their attention between the screens on their TVs, laptops, smartphones and tablets. The big game is going social. Wall Street Beat: Facebook rides wave of tech, Internet IPOs Facebook may end up being the biggest name on the IPO calendar this year, but it's also part of a trend in which technology, and particularly Internet companies, are outpacing public offerings from businesses in other sectors. Facebook IPO details strategy and its vision of itself Facebook's IPO filing spells out where CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants to take the company: He sees it as having significant historical value to the economy, governments and -- he hopes -- to every person on the Web. Facebook IPO filing reveals some eye-poppers When Facebook filed its IPO papers with the SEC on Wednesday, some interesting facts about the company came to light. Could Facebook IPO help it dominate Google? With the Facebook IPO now official, industry and financial analysts say that a huge influx of cash could allow it to topple Google from its dominant position in the online world. Facebook unsure it can enter China because of government regulations China, one of the world's largest Internet markets, could be out of reach of Facebook because of the Chinese government's strict censorship policies, the company said in its filing on Wednesday for an initial public offering. Facebook IPO filing addresses mobile, e-commerce Facebook's application Wednesday to sell shares on the open market includes hints about its plans for mobile use and online payments, and reveals previously guarded information about how much its executives get paid. Facebook IPO shines light on revenue, user growth Now that Facebook has filed papers for its initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the public is getting its first glimpse at the social network's dramatic user and revenue growth. What Facebook's IPO means for users Facebook's decision to become a public company is seen as a bellwether for Web 2.0 stock offerings, but what will it mean for the social networking giant's 800 million users, and for the companies that build third-party apps for the site? Update: Facebook files for $5B IPO As expected, Facebook late today filed papers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering valued at $5 billion. Facebook IPO may be social networking bellwether Facebook today is expected to file plans for its initial public offering -- which IT and financial analysts say could be one of the biggest IPOs in U.S. history. Lawmakers question proposed change to video privacy law Let's say you like to watch heady documentaries over Netflix's streaming service and would like to share recommendations with your friends on Facebook. Netflix would like to offer that service, but the company says a 24-year-old U.S. law is in the way. Costolo says 2012 is 'Twitter election' year If political candidates want to make any traction in this year's election, they better use Twitter, says Dick Costolo, CEO of the social networking firm. Google+ ups competition with Facebook by including teens Google is widening the potential user base for Google+ by lowering the age requirement from 18 to 13 years old -- a move that could help it grow in Facebook's shadow. Angry Birds comes to Facebook on Valentine's Day Facebook is adding Angry Birds to its site starting on Feb. 14, adding one of the world's most popular mobile video games to the world's largest social network. Update: Industry group makes fresh push to fight phishing Companies such as Facebook, Google and PayPal are pushing for widespread use of a new technical specification, DMARC, that could make it harder for phishers to reach their victims. Adscend denies Facebook, AG allegations Adscend Media, the defendant in lawsuits filed this week by Facebook and the Washington attorney general, on Friday denied the allegations in the complaints and shifted blame to its affiliates. Facebook IPO could come next week The Internet juggernaut Facebook could file papers for an initial public offering as early as Wednesday, hoping to raise as much as US$10 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Facebook scammers redirect victims through Amazon's cloud Facebook scammers have started redirecting victims through Amazon's cloud in order to bypass malicious URL filters, according to security researchers from antivirus vendor F-Secure. FBI to build social network spy app The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is planning to develop an application that can track the public's postings to Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, in order to aid how it predicts and reacts to criminal behaviour, including public disorder and terrorism. Facebook, Washington state sue alleged ad scammer Washington's attorney general announced two new lawsuits against Adscend Media, a company that allegedly has been earning US$20 million a year using a Facebook scam. Google stirs up privacy hornet's nest Google has whipped up a privacy brouhaha with a blog post announcing that the company is rewriting its privacy policy, consolidating user information across its services. Critics: EU's proposed data protection rules could hinder Internet Data protection and online privacy rules proposed for the European Union could hinder the development of new Web-based business models and bog down companies with regulations, some U.S. critics said Wednesday. How to Prepare Your Business for Pinterest Pinterest is a site your business should have on its radar. It's like a virtual bulletin board, allowing users to curate a collection of things they like from around the Internet into various layouts, or boards. And its popularity is booming, with 11 million reported page visits during one busy week last December--a 40-fold traffic increase over six months. 'If I Die' Facebook app sends your final message A new Facebook app might be perfect for the person who always wants to have the last word -- the very last word. Obama to do YouTube, Google+ Hangout interview Continuing his use of social networks, President Barack Obama is set to do an interview in a Google+ Hangout on Jan. 30. Hacker releases 100,000 Facebook log-in credentials A hacker who claims to act in defense of Israel has released 100,000 credentials of allegedly Arab users of Facebook in an ongoing row between Israeli and Arab hackers. TD Bank gets social for better business After a number of acquisitions, TD Bank Group turned to social collaboration software to help employees span international borders and work together. Insider (registration required)
No blackout for SOPA/PIPA? We know who you are. Yesterday saw many major Web sites going into blackout to protest SOPA and PIPA ... but, to their shame, a few of the biggest opted out Twitter, Facebook fuel SOPA protests Several major internet companies and thousands of concerned users are lighting up social networks in efforts to spread opposition to controversial anti-piracy bills now under debate in Congress. Facebook, researchers turn up heat on Koobface gang Security researchers are worried that the alleged Russia-based authors of Koobface, a piece of malicious software that plagued social networking sites such as Facebook, may slip away before law enforcement can catch them. Expert to IT pros: Adopt IPv6 soon or be sorry later A dozen of the world's largest Internet companies -- including Facebook, Google and Comcast -- have committed to June 6, 2012, as the start date for their production deployments of IPv6, an upgrade to the Internet's main communications protocol. Facebook may let you share what you do off-site Speculation is swirling that Facebook is getting ready to announce a way to combine information on what users do on, and off, the social network. Facebook may take company public in May Reports were circulating Tuesday that Facebook will launch its initial public offering in May. Facebook chat phishing attack impersonates Facebook security team A new phishing attack that's spreading through Facebook chat modifies hijacked accounts in order to impersonate the social network's security team. Indian court issues summons to Google, Facebook for 'objectionable' content A Delhi court sent a summons to the headquarters of foreign Internet companies including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Yahoo on Friday, in a private case against objectionable content online. QuickPoll: What social media services do you use to share content? If you wanted to share a Computerworld article with a tech colleague, what service(s) would you be likely to use? Ira Winkler: Facebook is giving hacking a good name again Its Hacker Cup celebrates creative computer talent instead of rewarding the destroyers. 2012 Outlook: The end of everything? Gibbs reviews last year's predictions and sees that the end could be nigh ... Privacy 2012: I know what you did at 3:30 a.m. For a peek into what experts expect this year and beyond when it comes to privacy, we turn to the Rebecca Herold (aka the Privacy Professor) for answers. Can Thompson rejuvenate Yahoo? Yahoo's choice of a new corporate head is sending the message that the company will be rebuilt instead of sold, analysts say. Facebook brings back the hack In an effort to challenge programmers worldwide, Facebook has brought back its Hacker Cup contest for a third round, the company announced Wednesday. Just in time for Iowa caucus, Google launches politics page Just in time for Tuesday's Iowa caucus, Google launched a political hub site to help users get information, discuss issues and track candidates' popularity. How to Tie Your Social Media Accounts Together If you’ve already created accounts for your business on major social media sites, then you know it can be incredibly time consuming to manage all of them. Sending out messages to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn takes an extra minute or two for each message. While that isn’t much at first, when you’re trying to send out dozens of messages a day it multiplies quickly. Luckily, you can quickly and easily tie these services together to send messages to more than one service at a time. Google, Facebook were dominant websites in 2011 Online giants Google and Facebook came out as the most-visited websites of 2011, according to a Nielsen report. 5 resolutions to change the world in 2012 Steve Jobs, who was obsessed with changing the world, died this year. But he left behind a world we can all change. Google, Facebook rivalry to heat up in 2012 As Google works to make its Google+ social network a major competitor to market leader Facebook, the battle between the two could reach a critical point in 2012, analysts say. Tech Trends You'll See in 2012 We're living in an exciting time in technology: From consumer products such as phones and tablets to the way your home computer accesses the Internet, everything is changing, and mostly for the better. We predict that next year the following ten developments will change the way you interact with the digital world. 10 IT news stories to expect in 2012 Well, we erred in our 2011 predictions in not repeating a 2010 forecast that Carol Bartz would be ousted as Yahoo CEO -- it was bound to happen, we just called that one too early. Then again, we also predicted last year that Oracle would buy Salesforce.com and have decided not to repeat ourselves this year, so we'll see if we were just ahead on that one, too. Meanwhile, these are our predictions for the next 12 months: Google, Microsoft each seek search 'game changer' While Google and Microsoft waged trench warfare in the search business this year, both are hoping to come up with a market game changer for 2012. Report: Indian court orders 22 websites to remove offensive content A court in Delhi on Saturday ordered 22 Internet companies, including Google and Facebook, to remove certain "anti-religious" and "anti-social" content, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. 'Tis the season for 'ambient hangouts' This holiday season, you can use Google's free and easy Hangout feature to hold virtual celebrations with family and friends. QuickPoll: What was the top story of 2011? IT made headlines throughout 2011, from social media's role in Arab Spring to the popularity of Google's Android and Google+ and more. What was the top story of the year? Google to pay Mozilla $300M yearly in new search deal, says report Google promised to pay Mozilla almost $300 million annually to keep its search engine as the default in Firefox, according to a report today on AllThingsD, a blog operated by the publisher of the Wall Street Journal. Facebook commits to changes following critical Irish audit Facebook plans to change how it retains data and revamp some privacy controls following the release Wednesday of a critical audit from Ireland's data protection authority. App Gems: Top news apps Few App Store categories saw as much upheaval in the past year as news delivery apps did. Developers have seized on the idea of letting mobile device users customize their news. They've also found new ways of delivering streaming video straight to your iOS device. Our two top news app picks represent the best of those particular trends. Online retailers turn to social networks for holiday profits Retailers are going out of their way this year to integrate holiday season sales efforts with social networking sites to boost bottom line profits. Insider (registration required) Wall Street Beat: IPOs, M&A, chip news stir tech optimism Zynga's initial public offering Friday, a raft of acquisition announcements this week from IBM, Salesforce and others, and some upbeat reports on the chip and hardware sector are putting a positive spin on year-end news for the tech sector. Facebook unfriends coal, friends Greenpeace in clean energy campaign Greenpeace International has ended a long-running campaign calling on Facebook to "unfriend coal" as a source of energy for its data centers, after Facebook agreed to promote clean and renewable energy, the two said Thursday. Facebook pushes out Timeline of users' online lives Facebook announced today that it's making its new Timeline feature available to users worldwide. 15 top quotes of 2011 As another year draws to a close, we look back on the IT-related comments that stuck with us. CEA switches positions, now backs Internet sales tax The Consumer Electronics Association has switched its position on Internet sales taxes, with the huge trade group now supporting the collection of the tax. Why Google+ will become Google's only product Google will integrate its best products into a single super product, Google+, that marginalizes smaller rivals and clobbers Facebook with total superiority. Facebook releases a PHP just-in-time compiler In its continuing endeavor to serve its 800 million users as quickly as possible, Facebook is once again revamping the way it handles its PHP-based Web pages. Google unveils 'Find My Face' tool for Google+ Google dove into the realm of facial recognition on Thursday, unveiling a tagging suggestion feature for its Google+ social network. India not interested in pre-screening online content India never asked Internet companies to pre-screen objectionable content, a federal minister said in interviews with local TV channels. Facebook goes through corporate reorg Facebook confirmed Thursday that it has launched a corporate reorganization around its product development. Google further integrates Google+ into Gmail Google has started pushing its Google+ social networking service further into Gmail with new features that let users add to their circles directly from their email accounts. Social networking, ignorance, and apathy Social networking services really do a bad job with managing our privacy ... and the problem apparently is that we and they don't know and don't care to fix it India wants Google, Facebook to screen content The government of India has asked Internet giants Google, Facebook and Yahoo to screen user content from that country and nix anything "disparaging, inflammatory or defamatory," according to reports. Facebook disables bug used to expose Zuckerberg photos A Facebook bug came back to haunt the company's co-founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. Flipboard's service collapses on iPhone app launch Flipboard shipped its first iPhone app earlier today, but within hours the company acknowledged that its service was down, overwhelmed by demand. Facebook may draw tech workers to NYC Facebook's decision to establish an engineering office in New York City may make it easier for other high-tech firms to recruit people who might be more likely to consider Silicon Valley over the Big Apple, according to some tech firms in the city. India may overstep its own laws in demanding content filtering India's reported plans to ask Internet companies to filter objectionable content may overstep the country's own laws, according to legal experts. Facebook hires Gowalla team; will shutter the location service Facebook has hired the team at Gowalla, a mobile location service in Austin, Texas, but the service will be shut down by January, the companies said Monday. Facebook sets up New York engineering shop Facebook is expanding its operations in the Big Apple, announcing on Friday plans to open an engineering office in New York in 2012. Top search queries, Facebook posts shine light on 2011 As the end of the year approaches, a look at what people searched for and shared online can start painting a picture of what most interested people during 2011. Walmart's Shopycat uses Facebook to recommend gifts Walmart has launched its Shopycat application, that uses information on the interests of friends on Facebook to make recommendations on gifts for them from Walmart stores and other sites. Why Yammer Is Snatching Up Enterprise Customers Yammer looks a lot like a work-friendly Facebook, and it's yielding new enterprise users as a result. Here are 5 things you need to know about the social networking site. Start-up Agari debuts with security to stop fake e-mail, phishing attacks Start-up Agari debuts today with cloud-based e-mail security services aimed at allowing enterprises and e-commerce companies to identify and block fake and spoofed e-mail exploiting their legitimate business domain names to conduct scams and phishing attacks. Mobile mania spurs demand for unified communications Unified communications isn't easy or cheap, but for companies that want to differentiate their customer service, it's becoming a must-have. Insider (registration required) Will FTC force Facebook onto privacy straight and narrow? Now that it's settled with the FTC over privacy concerns, Facebook has a chance to correct course, analysts say. Tech arguments: then and now While standing around the water cooler in the IT department, perhaps you debate with a coworker about whether LinkedIn is better than Facebook. Or you argue with an end user about whether they can use their own device on the corporate network or can only use what is provided by the company. Insider (free registration required) Facebook may aim for 2012 IPO and $100B value Facebook executives reportedly are looking to take the company public this coming spring with an eye on valuing the social network at more than $100 billion. Facebook settles FTC privacy complaints Facebook has agreed to settle U.S. Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers "on numerous occasions" by telling them they could keep their personal information private, then repeatedly sharing that information, the agency said Tuesday. Facebook community forum swamped by spam during Thanksgiving weekend Facebook's community forum was flooded during the Thanksgiving weekend with spam messages that advertised live streaming links for various sporting events. Facebook denies disputed page to both Merck companies Facebook may take away the disputed page on Facebook from both Merck in Germany and Merck in the U.S., if the two companies do not come to an agreement, a person familiar with the situation said Monday. The Cloud, Day 14: Don't Trust All Your Eggs in One Basket 30 Days With the Cloud: Day 14 The Cloud, Day 13: Storing and Managing Pictures in the Cloud 30 Days With the Cloud: Day 13 Germany's Merck wants Facebook page back Germany's Merck KGaA has threatened legal action after it said it lost its Facebook page apparently to rival Merck & Co. in the U.S., though it has yet to identify defendants in the case. Facebook phone, code-named 'Buffy,' is in the works Facebook is working with HTC to build an Android-based smartphone with Facebook social networking services at its core, according to an All Things D report. The Cloud, Day 9: Hey! Where'd My Cloud Go? Most talk about the cloud is focused on the magic ability to access tools, services, and data from virtually anywhere because the cloud is everywhere…except when it’s not. I got to experience that fun first hand today, and it highlights a serious drawback to relying on the cloud. European mobile users boost social network use The number people accessing social networking sites in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. using their mobile phone has grown by 44% in the last year, market research company comScore said on Monday. Half of adults believe social media sites hurt youth? If the results of a recent telephone survey are to be taken at face value - a reasonably big if, in my opinion - roughly half of American adults believe that Facebook, Twitter and their ilk are harmful to the social development of today's young people. PayPal launches Facebook app for sending money PayPal has launched a Facebook application designed to let users of the social networking site send money to each other. Google+ traffic jumps as users stay longer on site Google+ has been having a boost in traffic, recording its third-largest week of visits since the site launched in June, according to online traffic monitor Experian Hitwise. Don't blame Anonymous for Facebook porn storm, says researcher The recent spam attack that planted pornographic images on Facebook was not the work of Anonymous, a security researcher said today. Google Music eyes iTunes challenge with Google+ integration Google's new online music store offers integration with Google+ that could give it long-term staying power against rivals like iTunes and Spotify.
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