Social networks a hacker's paradise

Social networking sites, where millions of people communicate with friends and family, are emerging as the next frontier for Internet pickpockets.

These hackers and data miners are beginning to tap into the vast amount of personal information stored on these sites to defraud unsuspecting chatters. So far, such efforts have been limited. But security experts believe social networkers could be vulnerable to "spear-phishers,'' criminals who send masked messages to a small number of people that appear to be from someone they know, as well as other, more general scams.

Social networking spam is spam directed at users of social networking services such as MySpace or orkut. Users of social networking services can send notes to one another, including embedded links to other social network locations or even outside sites.

This is where the social network spammer comes in. Utilizing the social network's search tools, a spammer can target a certain demographic and send them notes from an account disguised as real people. These notes typically are embedded with links to pornographic or other product sites designed to sell you something.

While the damage has been limited, security professionals believe social-networking scams could easily defraud young people or even the tech savvy, if they lower their guard when visiting the sites.

Trust me my readers, that at present there is so much personal information on the internet (social netwroking sites plus some other tools) that you can do absolutely anything - starting from selling any product, finding a girl to get laid, getting a job, getting your life-partner!

Random Reading:

The Wealth of Networks

Stock.Gyan & Stock.Mitanshu: Learn & Play with stocks

To all the people interested in stock markets, here's an exciting opportunity for you.
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Tales of CAT aspirants and IIMA stories

It's about getting admission to the most prestigious business management school in Asia-Pacific: the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA). It's a tale from the successful students about CAT and IIMA. It's an insider's view!

Visit http://catiimatales.blogspot.com/

Umpire Hair breaks silence

Darrell Hair said his decision to ask for $500,000 to quit his role as an umpire following the Pakistan ball-tampering furore is not a panic reaction to events at the Oval last week.

Hair has been heavily criticised since the International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed details of an email he sent to officials requesting a one-off payment in return for quitting their elite panel of umpires after the row.

"It wasn't a spur of the moment thing. I didn't do it off the cuff," Hair told Australia's Sunday Mail.

But Hair, who has been vilified in Pakistan's media over his decision and a perceived bias against Asian teams, said he meant no harm with the shock offer to stand down revealed on Friday.

"This correspondence was composed at a very difficult time and was revoked by myself after a period of serious consideration," he said in a statement. "There was no malicious intent behind this communication with the ICC. I am anxious the code of conduct hearing takes place as soon as possible so these matters can be resolved and allow me to move on with my umpiring."

Hair insisted his request had fallen on some sympathetic ears before he retracted it following an intervention from ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed.

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