Industry Round-Up for the W/E 2nd March 2012

NASA hit the headlines with a raft of security woes, social networking fills the headlines again, and finally a totally bizarre new craze . . .

• Twitter could be liable for users’ unlawful posts, says expert
• The dark side of Facebook
• Hackers had ‘full functional control’ of NASA computers
• Social networks worse than porn sites for malicious links
• Survey: UK Lags US in Using the Cloud to Combat Spam
• Demand for Raspberry Pi, the British £22 computer, crashes website
• The latest Internet craze: Pet cats with a slice of bread on their heads!!

Twitter Could be Liable for Users’ Unlawful Posts, Says Expert

Claire McCracken, a technology law specialist at Pinsent Masons writes in Out-Law.com that Twitter could be liable in the UK for unlawful comments you make in tweets.

If that seems unfair or far-fetched, a quick glance southwards at a case in Australia outlines how Twitter could end up on the hook for users’ illegal actions.

The Dark Side of Facebook

Our social networking pages are being policed by outsourced, unvetted moderators reports the Telegraph.

Some four billion pieces of content are shared every day by 845 million users. And while most are harmless, it has recently come to light that the site is brimming with paedophilia, pornography, racism and violence – all moderated by outsourced, poorly vetted workers in third world countries paid just $1 an hour.

Hackers had ‘Full Functional Control’ of NASA Computers

The BBC reported that hackers gained “full functional control” of key Nasa computers in 2011, the agency’s inspector general has told US lawmakers.

NASA IG Paul Martin said that the attackers had “full system access” and would have been able to “modify, copy, or delete sensitive files” or “upload hacking tools to steal user credentials and compromise other Nasa systems”

Mr Martin outlined how the agency suffered “5,408 computer security incidents” between 2010 and 2011.

He also noted that “between April 2009 and April 2011, Nasa reported the loss or theft of 48 Agency mobile computing devices”.

Survey: UK Lags US in Using the Cloud to Combat Spam

As our research friends in the GFI Labs continue to point out, spam and phishing attacks are still a preferred tactic of cybercriminals. GFI conducted a survey this month of 200 US and 200 UK IT decision makers at businesses with between five and 1,000 employees.

Here are some of the findings:

• 53% of US respondents and 61% of UK respondents reported that spam volumes actually increased during the last year
• More than 14% of US businesses are already using a cloud-based solution to combat spam compared to only 8% of businesses in the UK
• 70% of respondents rate their anti-spam solution as either marginally effective or not effective at all

If spam email is a nuisance for your business then get in touch with us for a cost effective and powerful email hygiene solution.

Demand for Raspberry Pi, the British £22 Computer, Crashes Website

A new British computer that costs just £22 went on sale at 6am on Wednesday morning – and immediately sold out, crashing the websites selling it in the process reported The Guardian.

The Raspberry Pi is intended to inspire a new generation of schoolchildren to learn to program, just as the Sinclair Spectrum and BBC Micro did in the 1980s, which led to the burgeoning UK games sector.

Read the complete article here.

Social Networks Worse than Porn Sites for Malicious Links

The BCS website commented that according to the latest figures, there are more harmful links on social networking sites than on X-rated adult sites.

Harmful links are used by cybercriminals to divert internet users to contaminated websites.

Kapersky said:
“Cybercriminals are increasingly exploiting the fact that people spend a great deal of time on social networking sites, such as Facebook,”

The latest Internet Craze: Pet Cats with a Slice of Bread on Their Heads

The Irish Independent report that a new craze for photographing pet cats with a slice of bread on their heads has become a hit on the Internet.

Bizarre photos are being uploaded to a Facebook group called: “Putting bread on your cat, so that people think you have a walking sandwich”.