This account is followed and relied on by many due to the frequent natural disaster reported in Indonesia so when a tweet saying “Jakarta tsumani tomorrow” and online pandemonium commenced.

The tweet was in fact untrue and Andi now has regained control over his twitter account.

Image by buggolo

Subjects such as “advent calendar” “Hanukkah” or “Grinch” have been listed as popular topics targets by hackers to lure unwitting tweeters into clicking. If you click on a malicious link like this your system will be infected with malware.

Image by JoshSemans

1) iPad Offer Scams

As the iPad will undoubtedly make it onto lots of Christmas lists this year, scammers are trying to make you believe that you can get your hands on one free of charge. McAfee Labs found that scammers are sending out spam emails encouraging recipients to provide their credit card details in order to get a free iPad. This is a scam!

There is also a social media version of this very same scam doing the rounds, asking users to take a quiz in order to win the Apple tablet. Users are then instructed to provide their mobile numbers to receive the results, instead they are signed up for a mobile phone scam that costs £6 a week.

2) “Help! I’ve Been Robbed” Scam

We’ve all heard this old chestnut, the classic travel scam that sends fake distress messages to family and friends requesting that money be wired or transferred so that they can get home. This one was actually done to me so beware!

McAfee Labs says that there has been an increase in this scam and predicts its rise during the busy travel season.

3) Fake Gift Cards

Gift cards are always a nice idea for Christmas, but do make sure you buy yours from a credible site. Fraudsters are using social media to promote fake gift card offers in the attempt to steal a user’s money and personal details, which get sold to marketers or used for ID fraud.

Facebook is a breeding ground for such scams, so be vigilant with your details.

4) Holiday Job Offers

If you are seeking a holiday job to earn some extra cash for all of those gifts, do beware of work-at-home jobs that are advertised online. These, often found of sites such as Twitter, will ask you to enter personal details and often lead to fake jobs.

5) “Smishing”

This is a new craze in the cybercrime world, or sending phishing SMS messages. They pose as a bank or online retailer, saying something is wrong with your account and that you need to call a number to verify it.

These are again in hot pursuit of your personal information, so make sure you check directly with your bank/retailer if such a text is sent.

6) Suspicious Holiday Rentals

Lots of scams always occur at peak travelling periods, so bear that in mind this Christmas when you are booking your log cabin on an unknown site. Criminals post fake holiday rentals sites in the hope you luring you in and stealing your credit card details, or securing a wire transfer.

7) Recession Scams Continue

Scammers target vulnerable consumers with recession related scams such as pay-in-advance credit schemes. McAfee Labs has seen a significant number of spam emails advertising prequalified, low-interest loans and credit cards if the recipient pays a processing fee, which goes directly into the scammer’s pocket.

Grinch-like Greetings

Beware of e-cards from unknown senders this Christmas, as cybercriminals have decided to use them as a way of infecting your computers with viruses and malware.

McAfee Labs has said that “computers may start displaying obscene images, pop-up ads, or even start sending cards to contacts that appear to come from you.”

9) Low Price Traps

Everyone likes to find a bargain but McAfee is warning shoppers to be cautious this Christmas. Scammers like to use fake websites and auctions site to advertise offers that really are too-good-to-be-true and then steal your money and personal details.

10) Charity Scams

Many people all over the world like to give back at Christmas in the way of charity donations. All scammer like to do however, is take. They take your money and your financial information via phone calls and spam emails asking you to donate for children’s causes and natural disaster victims. Make sure you are giving to a registered charity.

11) Dangerous Holiday Downloads

If you want to make your work space more festive with a Christmas screensaver, beware – these are a quick and easy way for scammers to spread viruses on your computer.

12) Hotel and Airport Wi-Fi

As many people travel to visit relatives during the holidays, Wi-Fi in places like hotels and airports is often used. Cyber thieves see this as a prime opportunity to hack into networks hoping to find opportunities for theft.

Here is a set of tips directly from McAfee for Internet users on how to protect their PCs and themselves this Christmas:

• Stick to well-established and trusted sites that include trust marks (icons or seals from third parties verifying that the site is safe), user reviews and customer support. A reputable trust mark provider will have a live link attached to its trust mark icon, which will take visitors to the verification Web site of the trust mark provider.
• Do not respond to offers that arrive in a spam email, text or instant message.
• Preview a link’s web address before you click on it to make sure it is going to an established site. Never download or click anything from an unknown source.
• Stay away from vendors that offer prices well below the norm. Don’t believe anything that’s too good to be true.
• Make sure to use trusted Wi-Fi networks. Don’t check bank accounts or shop online if you’re not sure the network is safe.

To make sure these cyber grinches don’t steal your money or information this Christmas, make sure you have the latest antivirus or Internet security software. PC Site recommends McAfee Total Protection for the most comprehensive cover. Click here to read the review.

Image credit: Mykl Roventine

It has been revealed that 1.5 million people follow Dell on Twitter and more than 3.5 million people have communicated with the company via Twitter and Facebook.

Dell’s Internet, spokesman Richard Binhammer said: “Wherever our customers are is where we want to be. The more places where we’re available to them, the better it is.”

Image by: JoshSemans

Its release has been pushed back and now more than ever there is ridiculous amounts of hype surrounds the iPad.

For those who didn’t receive a delightful rectangular surprise on their doorsteps yesterday, when the iPad arrived early, stores selling the iPad opened bright and early at 8am.

The flagship Apple store in London has been a congregation point for every gadget fiend who wants to get their hands on the shiny tablet. The BBC reported that the store was “besieged with hundreds of people” and police were on hand to keep everyone on order. (See the queue below.)

Famous Apple fan Stephen Fry tweeted this morning:

“Off to the Apple Store to watch the iPad launch. I ordered a 3G version which arrived yesterday. Raa!”

Then tweeted again, commenting on the ambience in store:

“Holy arse but what an atmosphere in the Regent Street Apple Store. Astounding. Sx”

Well there you have it, a momentous day in gadget history for many people today. Will you be joining the hoards to get your hands on an iPad?

Image credits: josh.liba and The Tartinis

Twitter has helped a charity transporting life saving bone marrow for a transplant, get past the travel chaos caused by the Icelandic volcano.

The ash cloud has grounded most flights across Europe and the Anthony Nolan Trust, a leukaemia charity, found that their courier carrying vital stem cells, which can degrade within 72 hours, was stranded in Germany.

At 4pm the Trust tweeted that “URGENT! Our courier stuck in Brussels carrying marrow. Needs 2 get on Eurostar/tunnel from 8pm UK time 2nyt. Can u help?”

In less than an hour and after thousands of re-tweets, they posted “A HUGE thank you to Eurostar who have seen all of our tweets and have guaranteed us that our courier has a seat on the train tonight. Yay!!”

Dan Ware, Digital Marketing Manager at the Trust explains the story; “Michael [the courier] in Germany was bringing back stem cells back to the UK, but was obviously stuck by the chaos caused by the ash cloud.”

“So we put out an emergency call to action to get all our followers to see if we could get him a seat on the train, because if he didn’t get back in time the stem cells might perish – within five minutes we were inundated,” exclaims Dan. “We were a trending topic on twitter for about 20 minutes, and Eurostar guaranteed us a seat.”

The Trust’s chief executive Henny Braund had warned in a press release on Monday, about the danger of couriers getting stranded after another courier only just got through.

“Once the stem cells have been taken from the donor, there is a window of only about 72 hours for the transplant to take place before the cells die, so time is really critical.

“In addition, patients who are about to have their transplant are in an extremely vulnerable state as their immune system is effectively stripped away before they receive the new stem cells. They will be kept in isolation but this is obviously an extremely worrying time for all involved.”

The Trust is continuing updates of Michael the courier’s progress @anthonynolan.

The Buzz word

News of Google Buzz is hard to miss on the Internet this week; it’s the latest venture from the corporation and has everyone in the tech world talking. Alongside this new social network launch, Google has announced plans to build a high-speed, fibre-optic network to give thousands of US homes super fast broadband. What next, global domination?

Ok so here is the skinny on Google’s latest product. It is integrated with Gmail and other Google products and is being compared to Facebook and Twitter but with a slight difference. Buzz turns your email address book into a social network, rather than being a stand alone product.

It takes on attributes of Twitter in that it gives you real time updates of people’s posts but differs in that it only shows you posts it thinks are interesting. How thoughtful! You can post photos and videos and use instant chat; Buzz seems to have it all.

NOTE: If you decide to use Buzz, make sure you adjust your settings so that only your close friends can see yours updates – remember, your email address book includes past and present work colleagues or boss and god knows who else!

Online empire

Google’s attempts at entering the social media world have been admirable. It acquired Picassa photo management in 2004, YouTube in 2006, launched Google Wave in 2009 and now we have Buzz. Google Inc. also released a social networking site called Orkut overseas in 2004 but it failed to rack up the same following figures as Facebook and MySpace.

Google has its fingers in a lot of pies and its name has even become a verb for goodness sake! So why is it now treading on the toes of the likes of Zuckerburg? Is the company looking for complete online domination?

Bloggers across the net have been raging over how much power Google has and how it is being use to repress other businesses. A blogger called Michael Gray pointed out that when you search certain restaurants in Google it will come up with their link and a selection of information such as a star ratings, opening times and even reviews.

If all this information is displayed on Google, the searcher in question would have no need to even click on the sites actual link, therefore decreasing their traffic and advertising opportunities.

Total domination?

Now there is news of Google creating super-fast broadband connections for over 500,000 homes in the USA. Is this an admirable attempt to help people stay connected or another way of controlling the Net?

It seems very suspicious to me. Google has been in the news a lot recently, over its dispute with China, but also because of its Super Bowl advert, its fibre-optic plans and now Buzz. It has become a household name and shows no signs of slowing.

If our future is rooted in the Internet and Google is the main controller of the Web, then is our future in Google’s hands? It seems that the company wants a huge influence, and for now they have it. But we must be wary, total power corrupts and we don’t want the Internet, our global communication system, to be corrupted.

What do you think of the Google’s plans for the Internet; are Buzzing with excitement or do you think it should Buzz off?

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Image credit: Oversocialized

Illustration by Erica

Since the 7.0 earthquake struck the capital, Port-au-Prince, Twitter has become a hub for information about the city, loved ones and how we can help.

Devastation

This morning most people in the UK will have woken up to gentle snow fall, in Port-au-Prince people woke up to fallen buildings in a city shattered overnight.

The earthquake struck the unsuspecting country at 4.45pm local time, 10 miles south-west of the capital. It is said to have lasted about a minute and was followed by two aftershocks measuring 5.9 and 5.5 on the Richter scale.

Thousands of people are feared dead after buildings collapsed and the town was virtually reduced to dust. There are many casualties and due to such extensive damage rescue attempts are extremely difficult. The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that there is, “A high number of casualties and widespread damage, with an urgent need for search and rescue”.

Twitter was hub of communication

With all mobile and landlines down, Twitter became a site for relaying live news from the city. The Internet Haiti Twitter feed and Haiti Feed are giving constant updates on the crisis and users in and around Port-au-Prince are tweeting reports of further aftershocks.

Carel Pedre, a TV and radio host from Haiti used his Twitter page to release the first photos of the disaster and also used it to help others get word to their families. He tweeted last night:

“After Shock every 10 Mns! I can’t stay where I am! I have to be in a safe place! I got All the Message! I will do my best To Call ur family.”

Pedre spoke to CNN America this morning and described the devastation he saw and said that Haiti is not well equipped to deal with such a large scale disaster.

Other tweets reported that the city’s most famous landmark, the National Palace, has been destroyed but that “the Port-au-Prince airport is in good standing.”

Both The LA Times and The New York Times have created useful Twitter lists compiling information about the catastrophe.  Tweets include reports of missing people, suspected arrival of aid from the US coast guard, link to pictures and statements from world leaders such as Obama.

Tweet-aid

The most popular topic on Twitter today is YELE, an organization raising funds for the victims in Haiti. The YELE page is filtering information about the disaster as well as sending out plea s for donations:

“Text ‘yele’ to 501501 to donate $5 to the Yéle Haiti Earthquake Fund.”

A statement from Haitian singer Wyclef Jean is popping up on Twitter pages too, he stated:

“I cannot stress enough what a human disaster this is, and idle hands will only make this tragedy worse. The over 2 million people in Port-au-Prince tonight face catastrophe alone. We must act now.”

Twitter will continue no doubt to serve as a platform for people to find each other, to send condolences and read reports on this tragic event. The social networking site helped the victims and their relatives find news, when all other methods of communication have failed them.

You can visit InternetHaiti, YeleHaiti or HaitiFeed for up-to-date information on the situation and on how to make a difference yourself.

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Some criminals think they are safe behind their fake screen names and goofy profile pictures but recent law enforcement successes have shown that they cannot always hide on the Web.

Facebook fugitive stalking

Let’s be honest, we all do a bit of Facebook stalking in our spare time, the UK’s police force are no exception. You may have read about the recent escape of burglar Craig Lynch from an open prison where he was allowed a day’s release in September last year.

Lynch, 28, was serving a seven year sentence for aggravated burglary when he escaped and Suffolk police officers are desperately trying to track him down.

Fortunately for the police he has been frequently updating his friends on Facebook about his life on the run, from the meals he has eaten and where he has slept. He claims to be mocking the authorities with his photo and status updates but with technology as advanced as it is surely these will lead to his discovery?

WoW, who knew?

At the end of 2009 reports were made of a fugitive in the US who was found via the popular game World of Warcraft (WoW). The makers of the game, Blizzard, helped and Indiana Sheriff locate an alleged drug-dealer and WoW player who absconded to Canada.

Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Roberson who was also a fan of the game discovered that Alfred Hightower who went by the screen name Rastlynn was an avid player and so contacted Blizzard for help in finding him.

Blizzard sent Rastlynn’s IP address, billing address and other info to the Sheriff Deputy who then, after finding out the fugitive’s latitude and longitude from his IP, used Google Search to pinpoint his exact location.

Maybe Craig Lynch should think again about broadcasting his actions so much; a little cooperation from Facebook and his discovery could be a Google search away!

Tweet and shame

Not only have the authorities started using social media to try and catch criminals, they seem to be using is as a way of deterring law breakers.

Over the recent holiday period the Montgomery County district attorney’s office in Texas decided to name and shame its drunk drivers on popular networking site Twitter.

The aim of this revelation of DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) convictions was to deter people from making the same mistake and being publically humiliated.

Too far?

Some people believe that these uses of social media sites by the authorities are a form of privacy invasion, but how private is a profile that is on the net anyway?

You must admit that when you chose to put up a page on a site that lists your information you risk it being breeched at some point, but where will the line be drawn?

Will we begin to find council tax reminders in our Facebook inboxes and the DVLA tweeting about our parking tickets? If dangerous criminals or escaped prisoners can be found in such a way then surely that’s for the greater good, but authorities must be sure not to take liberties, or our internet liberty, away from us.

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Image credits:  S1m0nB3rry , Xurble

One of the world’s top 20 most visited sites was hacked into last night by a group of Iranian hackers, leaving it inaccessible for several hours.

Twitter’s security was compromised at around 6am in the UK when the main page disappeared and was replaced with page containing a mixture of English and Farsi, an image of a flag followed by a subtitle that read “This site has been hacked by the Iranian Cyber Army.”

The message on the page, translated into English, said:

“Iranian Cyber Army

THIS SITE HAS BEEN HACKED BY IRANIAN CYBER ARMY

iRANiAN.CYBER.ARMY@GMAIL.COM

U.S.A. Think They Controlling And Managing Internet By Their Access, But They Don’t, We Control And Manage Internet By Our Power, So Do Not Try To Stimulation Iranian Peoples To….

NOW WHICH COUNTRY IN EMBARGO LIST? IRAN? USA?

WE PUSH THEM IN EMBARGO LIST

Take Care.”

The site became active again roughly two hours after the attack. A tweet was then posted on Twitter’s official page saying:

“Twitter’s DNS records were temporarily compromised but have now been fixed. We will update with more information soon.”

The DNS (Domain Name System) connect the name of a website to the web servers that hold its content, so by hacking into Twitter DNS, the Iranian Cyber Army were able to redirect traffic to a page of their choice.

This is not the first time that the sites security has been jeopardised. At the beginning of the year a hacker broke into CNN anchor, Rick Sanchez’s account and posted feeds saying that he was “high on crack”.

This latest attack combined with earlier attacks in the year and the phishing scams which frequent Twitter posts, will surely push the site to step up their security.

Rosie Khdir

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Image credit: @z_ing