Tech News Stop - Sharing by Wasim Akhtar

::::Pre-launch Windows 8 usage doubles that of OS X Mountain Lion::::

<img src="http://www-bgr-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Windows_chart.jpg" border="0" alt="Windows_chart" width="420" height="267" align="left" />Since Microsoft released its Windows 8 Consumer Preview in February, millions of users have downloaded the software giant’s latest operating system, which looks to carefully blend its existing mobile and desktop experiences into one. According to research from ad network Chitika, the Windows 8 CP adoption rate in the U.S. and Canada has doubled that of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple’s upcoming operating system. Of course Microsoft’s Windows 8 preview is publicly available for free while Apple’s Mountain Lion preview is available only to those with paid developer accounts. Chitika’s research was conducted from April 13th to April 19th and it analyzed hundreds of millions of impressions across the Chitika ad network. The Consumer Preview makes up .1% of all Windows traffic and exhibits traffic levels more than three times the peak level that the Windows 8 Developer Preview produced. The increased level of activity is a good sign for Microsoft, which will reportedly complete work on Windows 8 this summer. According to rumors, the first wave of PCs and tablets powered by the new platform are slated to launch in October.

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::::Apple is 10 years behind Microsoft on security, expert says::::

<img src="http://www-bgr-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/apple-logo-sign-virus-mac.jpg" border="0" alt="apple-logo-sign-virus-mac" width="200" height="105" align="left" />Apple may be the most valuable company in the world, but when it comes to security, the Cupertino-based company doesn’t hold a candle to Microsoft.Kaspersky Lab co-founder and chief executive Eugene Kaspersky on Wednesday told CBR that Apple is a decade behind Microsoft in terms of computer security. ”I think they are ten years behind Microsoft in terms of security,” Kaspersky said. “For many years I’ve been saying that from a security point of view there is no big difference between Mac and Windows. It’s always been possible to develop Mac malware, but [Flashback] was a bit different. For example it was asking questions about being installed on the system and, using vulnerabilities, it was able to get to the user mode without any alarms.” More than 600,000 Macs were infected by the Flashback trojan virus before it was discovered earlier this month and the exploit it used to infect OS X PCs was patched. “Apple will understand very soon that they have the same problems Microsoft had ten or 12 years ago,” Kaspersky said. ”They will have to make changes in terms of the cycle of updates and so on and will be forced to invest more into their security audits for the software.”

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::::StumbleUpon Hits 25 Million Users - And is Gaining 1 Million a Month::::

<img src="http://6.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/stumbleupon.jpg" border="0" alt="stumbleupon" width="275" height="171" align="left" />StumbleUpon passed the 25 million user mark earlier this week — that’s about one million users every month since it announced it had reached 20 million users in October.  The discovery service has existed in some form since 2001. It accepted its first round of funding in 2006, was purchased by eBay in 2007 and became independent again in 2009. At that point, it had about 5.5 million registered users. It’s been growing at a lightning rate since, nearly quadrupling its userbase in three years. “For all intents and purposes this is a new company since the spin out from eBay,” StumbleUpon VP of Business Development and Marketing Marc Leibowitz tells Mashable. “Virtually all of the 120 employees we have today have joined since then [when there were about 30 employees].” Leibowitz also cites the launch of a web-based service and mobile apps as contributing to StumbleUpon’s post-eBay growth. Previously, StumbleUpon had been available solely through a browser extension, and it didn’t launch its Android and iOS apps until August 2010 — fairly late in the mobile game. Today, about 20% of the 1.2 billion Stumbles made per month are made on mobile phones. StumbleUpon is not yet a mainstream social network. Its 25 million users pale in comparison to Twitter’s 140 million accounts, Facebook’s 901 million users or Tumblr’s 53 million blogs. BranchOut, a startup that builds a LinkedIn-style social network on Facebook, recently reached as many users in about two years as StumbleUpon has in 11 years. But at its current growth rate, StumbleUpon could be on its way to some major mainstream recognition. The recommendation engine, by one StatCounter study’s measure, is already responsible for referring more traffic to websites than any other social network in the U.S. It has more than 75,000 advertisers. And its users are active — according to Leibowitz, on average they spend about seven hours every month hitting the Stumble button. Meanwhile, StumbleUpon has been busy building features that already come with mainstream social networks. A redesign in December added brand channels, which are somewhat equivalent to Facebook brand pages in that they create a profile for marketers separate from personal profiles. About 250 organizations have launched free channels since. StumbleUpon also plans to launch an API that helps power third-party products’ recommendation features. The company also wants to create international versions of its own discovery engine (only 15% of Stumblers are currently based outside of North America). Meanwhile, you can expect to see more social features. “I think StumbleUpon is often the source of content that goes viral on other social networks,” Leibowitz says. “But I don’t think we’ve done a great job of creating a viral loop. “Content is launched into other social networks, but we don’t do a particularly good job of capturing the content around that into StumbleUpon.”

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::::Not updated your computer anti-virus? Conficker targets Microsoft Windows Operating systems::::

<img src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/12879303.cms" border="0" hspace="10" align="left" />Are you using weak passwords or have not updated your computer anti-virus? Well, there's something to worry about and that threat comes from Conficker, a computer worm that targets Microsoft Windows Operating systems.  Microsoft Corp released the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report volume 12 (SIRv12), which found that theConficker worm was detected about 220 million times worldwide in the past two-and-a-half years, making it one of the biggest ongoing threats to enterprises. The study also revealed the worm continues to spread because of weak or stolen passwords and vulnerabilities for which a security update exists.  According to the report, quarterly detections of the Conficker worm have increased by more than 225% since the beginning of 2009. In the fourth quarter of 2011 alone, Conficker was detected on 1.7 million systems worldwide.  A whopping 92% of Conficker infections were a result of weak or stolen passwords, and 8% percent of infections exploited vulnerabilities for which a security update exists.  "Conficker is one of the biggest security problems we face, yet it is well within our power to defend against," said Tim Rains, director of Microsoft Trustworthy Computing, in a release. "It is critical that organizations focus on the security fundamentals to help protect against the most common threats."  The report also revealed that many of the threats often referred to as Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) are no more advanced or sophisticated than other types of attacks. In most cases, these attacks leverage known vectors such as exploiting weak or stolen passwords and vulnerabilities for which security updates exist, but their efficacy lies in the persistence and determination in trying different tactics to compromise the target. This is why these types of threats are referred as 'Targeted Attacks performed by Determined Adversaries', rather than APTs.  "Labeling cyberthreats as 'advanced' is often times misleading and can divert organizations' attention away from addressing basic security issues, which can prevent more common threats from infiltrating their systems," Rains said.  Microsoft recommends that users adhere to the following security fundamentals to help ensure they are protected:  · Use strong passwords and educate employees on their importance.  · Keep systems up-to-date by regularly applying available updates for all products.  · Use antivirus software from a trusted source.  · Invest in newer products with a higher quality of software protection.  · Consider the cloud as a business resource.  "With organizations being presented with significant amounts of data and reports on cyberthreats, the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report gives us good perspective on recent trends in the global threat landscape," said Bob Rodger, global head of IT Infrastructure Security at HSBC. 

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::::CCI orders formal probe against Google on BharatMatrimony complaint::::

<img src="http://www.indiadigitalreview.com/sites/default/files/Google-consim.jpg" border="0" width="250" height="180" align="left" />The Competition Commission of India has taken cognizance of the complaint filed by Consim Info (BharatMatrimony Group) against Google and ordered a formal probe against Google, a person close to developments have told India Digital Review, in condition of anonymity. We are also told that this makes it the first formal probe against Google in India, joining the global noise against the search major.In February 2012, Consim Info (BharatMatrimony.com) had filed a complaint against Google in the Competition Commission of India (CCI), citing discriminatory trade practices related to its Google’s AdWords program. Consim had earlier approached the Madras High Court on the same issue in 2009."Google has abused its dominance by engaging in discriminatory and retaliatory practices relating to AdWords. We have requested the Commission to investigate Google's practices and impose remedial measures to protect competition," BharatMatrimony.com has said in a statement then.Meanwhile, we are also told that Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS), a non-profit consumer advocacy group, which had earlier urged competition watchdog CCI to investigate potential misuse of dominant position by search engine giant Google Inc in the Indian internet space, has been asked to submit a detailed report on the matter and CUTS is in the process of preparing the report.According to CUTS, Competition Commission of India (CCI) should ensure that Google does not use its dominance in the search engine/online advertising markets to affect the growth of Indian search and advertising space, as well as related fast growing ecommerce markets like online shopping and travel sites. 

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::::Finally, Professional Social Network LinkedIn Gives Users An iPad App::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1335491699_temp.png" border="0" align="left" /></div>Although the iPad has been available for more than two years, LinkedIn has yet to offer its users a native app despite the fact that mobile engagement has been growing at a fast pace for the network. But last August, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said that the company is doubling down on its mobile strategy. And the network then debuted new versions of its iPhone and Android apps as well as an HTML5 mobile site. In fact, LinkedIn now says 22 percent of its active members have been visiting on mobile devices. And today, LinkedIn is finally launching its native iPad app to the public. As LinkedIn's head of mobile products Joff Redfern explains, the app was built with the user and tablet interface in mind. Since the iPad has become a leanback experience, LinkedIn wanted to make sure that the app satisfied iPad users' needs. Via the web, LinkedIn noticed that iPad users were visiting the site mostly in early in the morning, which they call a 'coffee session,' and in the evening, between 7 pm and 11 pm. With this data, the company wanted to build an application that allowed professionals to start the day and end the day with LinkedIn.

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::::Here Are 20 Companies Who Sell Your Data (& How To Stop Them)::::

<div class="custm_img_blk"><img src="http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1335492696_temp.jpg" border="0" width="250" height="180" align="left" /></div>Meet the data brokers. There’s a whole industry full of companies who make their money buying and selling our personal information. The FTC is working on busting this dark racket wide open, but in the meantime, they’re out there. Who are they? Can we stop them? Read on to find out. What Are “Data Brokers?” Data brokers scrape public information like names, home addresses and purchase histories, credit card activity and other such sensitive tidbits. Then they sell it. There is nothing at all to like about this. At best, they’re Spam-as-a-Service companies. At worst, they enable violent criminals. It’s mostly marketers who are interested in this information, particularly people who do online targeting. But many of them just sell it to whoever wants it. Here’s a horrifying example of what any crazy person with a credit card can do with this information: 'My husband was killed in March 1987. The person who killed him was tried, and convicted in 1992. The defendant went to jail and was released last July after only serving 18 yrs out of a 25-life sentence. The defendant being savvy and enraged at being incarcerated has been using been [been]verified.com to try to find 'me'.' She goes on to write that BeenVerified.com, as well as “dozens of other companies,” never responded to her attempts to be removed from a database. BeenVerified is one of the most notorious and irresponsible of these companies. Here are many more examples of its sleaziness. The Most-Wanted List There are tons of data broker companies. Here’s a selection to give you a sense of the kinds of language these companies use to describe their products, namely us: <div class="super-pullquote">More Data Brokers: <ul> <li>Intelius</li> <li>Zabasearch</li> <li>Archives</li> <li>PeopleLookup</li> <li>US Search</li> <li>PeopleFinders</li> <li>PeekYou</li> <li>PublicRecordsNow</li> <li>USA People Search</li> <li>Epsilon</li> <li>White Pages</li> <li>MyLife</li> <li>PIPL</li> <li>PeopleSmart</li> </ul> </div>Acxiom- “The 21st Century Marketing Funnel” - “Clean Your List: our data hygiene services start at $25.” RapLeaf - “Upload… your customers’ emails and instantly get age, gender, and more.” - Best part: it asks for your “work email address” before you can use the free trial service. Spokeo - “Not your grandma’s phone book.” - Its listed use cases are “Find Friends,” “Find Family,” and “Identify Unknown Callers and Emails.” I wonder what else you could do with it? PrivateEye - “Billions of Records At your fingertips” - “You don’t have to be a member! Just enter as much info as you have about the person you are trying to find and our People Search Engine will do the rest.” Radaris - “Radaris is a powerful search engine geared specifically to help people find one another easily despite distance and time.” And then there’s the infamous BeenVerified. Just read the whole disclaimer on the footer of the site: Disclaimer: While we are constantly updating and refining our database and service, we do not represent or warrant that the results provided will be 100% accurate and up to date. BeenVerified is a database of publicly available sources of information aggregated for your convenience. BeenVerified does not provide private investigator services and this information should not be used for employment, tenant screening, or any FCRA related purposes. BeenVerified does not make any representation or warranty as to the character or the integrity of the person, business, or entity that is the subject of any search inquiry processed through our service. None of the above-featured companies either sponsor, endorse, or are in anyway affiliated with BeenVerified. You get the idea. What Can We Do About This? On Monday, the FTC released a detailed report calling for Congress to act to give consumers control over the data these companies gather and sell. Sites are currently not required to delete your data upon request. While the government slowly churns toward possibly someday doing something about this, there are companies out there to help individuals delete these records. SafeShepherd is one such company, which deserves specific mention because it does such a good job of explaining the problem it solves. Its basic service is free, and it will find your info, give you privacy alerts and request removal of basic records. You can also pay for a more thorough cleansing. SafeShepherd stays on top of all the data brokers it can find (including all the ones listed above). On average, it finds customers’ info on 11 such sites. Keep in mind, these sites don’t have to comply with removal requests. But there are way too many data brokers to contact them all yourself, and SafeShepherd will keep trying over and over again. For a lasting solution, we’ll need legislation. U.S. citizens who want to require data brokers to delete records on request should contact their representatives.

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