Google Wallet Explained

Google Wallet is basically a mobile payment system that allows customers to pay for things using their mobile devices. At the moment, this service is only available in the US but Google is promising to launch it to the rest of the world soon. Google Wallet can be used like a real wallet in that people can go to a shop and use it for making their purchases. It can also be used to make payments online in a similar way to PayPal. This week Google announced the ability to send money to other people using an email attachment, so this has improved the capability even further.

Google Wallet to Take on PayPal

An article this past week on Tech Crunch described how Google is now strategically trying to take on PayPal. Up until this point the Google Wallet has not been much of a threat, but this is about to change as it starts to step on the toes of PayPal. Over the coming months, Google is going to be integrating their money transfer products with more and more of their other services, and this ability to send Gmail money attachments is just the start.

Google has the ambitious plan of integrating their electronic wallet into every aspect of the customer’s life. In order to make this a reality, they have created a new checkout system that will work seamlessly beside Google Wallet. The company is working hard so that in the future when people visit any type of e-commerce website they will have the option to pay without using PayPal.

The fact that PayPal has had no competition means that it has been very slow to innovate. Their services have changed relatively little over the last decade. In recent months, they have been trying to do more to make point-of-sale possible in the real world, just like Google Wallet, but it seems unlikely that they will be able to be an effective competitor for Google in this arena.

It is going to take a bit of time before Google Wallet becomes a serious threat to PayPal, but it does look likely to happen. This is good news for the customer because with a bit of competition, both services will need to work hard to keep customers satisfied.

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Colocation Explained

Colocation is a system whereby a business will have a server in another company’s rack. This means that they will rent rack space and will get to share the bandwidth with the rest of the servers on the rack. The business can physically place their own server in this rented space on the rack, or they can just rent a server. This approach to dealing with server needs can work out well for many businesses and there are a number of benefits associated with it.

Benefits of Colocation

The most important benefit to choosing colocation is that it can be a very cost-effective solution. The business will be paying less for bandwidth, and they will not require an IT department to manage the server. It might also make more sense financially to rent a server in one of these places.

Another important benefit of colocation is that it usually means that the servers benefit from tighter security. These centres will be set up so that the data on the servers is kept protected – they will have some members of the team who are responsible just for security.

This type of server storage will also benefit from power redundancy. This means that if there is some type of power outage the venue will have backup systems so that the servers remain online. It would be prohibitively expensive for individual business to have this type of power redundancy resource for their own IT departments.

One of the nice things about colocation is that that this service can grow with the needs of the customer – in other words, it is scalable. This means that if your server needs suddenly increase you will not be running around trying to deal with this extra demand.  A good colocation service should be able to respond almost immediately to changes in your server requirements.

You will usually benefit from a much better service by choosing a colocation service – this will include things like faster speeds, better performance, and improved connectivity. The fact that the company providing this type of service is dealing with services in bulk means that they can enjoy economies of scale – in other words, they pay less for more.

One of the other benefits of choosing this option is that it provides business owners with peace of mind. They will know that their server is being managed by a professional service, and if anything does go wrong then there will be experts there to deal with the problem. A business that takes care of their own servers can have to deal with many headaches, and it diverts resources that could be better used elsewhere.

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In-Memory Viruses

The fact that Linux/Cdorked is an in-memory virus makes it particularly troublesome. The problem is that this virus is better at protecting its core files, meaning that it is more difficult to remove. Once this malware gets inside the memory it is no longer dependent on its host file, which means that even if the host file is removed the virus remains. Linux/Cdorked exists entirely in the memory, so this means that there is no evidence on the server’s hard discs that the virus is there; administrators will have a hard job locating it using system logs. There is also the problem that if the server were rebooted, all evidence of the virus will be removed.

How Linux/Cdorked Infects Computers

There is still a great deal of uncertainty about how Linux/Cdorked infects computers – although it is not believed that the virus uses a particularly unique vector. It was originally suspected that the virus might be spread via the installation of cPanel, but this idea has now been discounted as many of the systems that have been infected do not use this administration software. It is also not believed that the virus propagates by itself or that it relies on a weakness with software.

How Linux/Cdorked Works

The capabilities of the Linux/Cdorked virus are not fully understood, but the effect that has been observed is that it redirects website visitors to other websites that are compromised – usually sites hosting the black hole exploit kit which is one of the most prevalent web threats around. Users of iPad devices have reported that this virus redirects them to porn websites. For some reason this virus will not work if the internet browser’s language is set to Japanese, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, Russian, or Finnish. It also does not affect IP addresses that have been blacklisted.

How to Deal with Linux/Cdorked

All server administrators are advised to check their servers to make sure that they are not infected by the Linux/Cdorked virus. All of the malicious code is encrypted so the trick to finding it is to look out for suspicious looking strings. It uses about 6MB of shared memory. A number of tools available can spot Linux/Cdorked and help server administrators to remove it. The biggest danger with Linux/Cdorked is, as mentioned above, that many administrators will not even be aware that they are infected. If it goes unchecked, it can cause problems for server users.

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What are Managed Server Services?

One of the main worries that people will have when they choose a dedicated server is the server management. When people choose to self-manage their server it can use up a great deal of their time and there can be a steep learning curve. With managed server services, the person still gets to have a dedicated server for their website (websites) but a professional will manage this. The services usually provided as part of this package include:

• Monitoring of the system so that any problems are dealt with right away
• Anticipating any problems
• Arranging backups and storage
• Keeping the system secure
• Keeping the system updated
• Making sure that the right software is available for admin purposes

Benefits of Managed Server Services

There are a number of important benefits to choosing managed server services. First, the owner will have the peace of mind of knowing that somebody who is professional and competent is managing his or her server. This will mean that things will be kept functioning smoothly and everything will be secure. A large website could potentially lose a great deal of money if it was to go offline or have a security issue but, with a managed server, it will have an expert looking after things.

Second, there are important duties associated with self-managing a server and the owner of the websites may feel too busy to take on this extra responsibility. By getting somebody else to take over this responsibility, the individual is free to use his or her time more productively.

Third, in order to self-manage a server, the person will need to learn how things work. There can be a steep learning curve involved and the individual many not enjoy this type of deep technical stuff. By choosing a managed server, the person can know that things are being taking care of without them having to understand all the details of managing the system.

Lastly, nowadays it is common practice for businesses to outsource the work that is outside of their core skillset. This means that they can focus on what they do best, and this is often the most cost effective solution. If they were to assign the job of managing the server to a member of their team it could easily mean that this individual will be taken away from the work where they are most productive.

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• One of the biggest news stories this month was the bombing at the Boston Marathon. It was a real tragedy, grabbing the attention of people all around the world, and for a few days it seemed to be the only thing people were talking about online. This event also managed to highlight the good and bad of social media. Many people wanted to help and they used social media to do this; unfortunately, though, there were groups on Reddit and 4chan who may have caused more harm than good by pointing the finger at innocent people.
• This was another month where a number of high profile websites were hacked by criminals. Among the casualties in April were LivingSocial – the data concerning credit card details was kept safe, so the obvious question is why isn’t other personal information given the same level of protection?
• One of the more surprising news stories this month was the suggestion that Bing is more dangerous when it comes to malicious software than Google. This will come as a shock to those people who moved to Bing out of security concerns surrounding Google.
• The hacktivist group Anonymous was in the news a lot this month. They launched campaigns against Israel and North Korea. There was also the news that an editor from Reuters was accused of helping this group.
• April also saw Google making it possible for people to control their data from beyond the grave – well, not really. The inactive account manager can be set up to remove data and send it to a loved one if someone’s account has been inactive for a certain period of time.

Stories We Missed in April

Here are some of the stories that we did not get around to covering in April:

• HP provided more information about their project Moonshot – this converged system was first announced in November 2011. The news coming from HP is that this system is now ready to enter the production stage, so we can expect to see it on sale soon enough. It is going to be powered by an Intel Atom S1200 2.0 GHz low-power processor.
• Last week saw the unveiling of the Ubuntu 13.04 Linux Server. This new version will benefit from the very latest OpenStack Grizzly cloud platform – although there will also be an update to make this available to other Ubuntu users as well. There are also going to be a selection of new software applications that will be designed to function with this server – as well as upgrades to existing software applications.
• In other news, Radhesh Balakrishnan, a former Microsoft executive, will become the new server virtualisation chief for Red Hat. It is hoped that his skills in market development will prove to be a real asset for the company.

The post April 2013 Roundup appeared first on Coreix Blog.

Boston Bombing Shows Humanity at its Worst as Well as at its Best

This event highlighted the evil that humans are capable of, but it also highlighted the goodness of people –many people at the race ran towards the explosion with the hope of helping people. This story went wild on the internet, and it brought out the best and worst in people on here as well. It was also another powerful demonstration of just how much power social media has developed in its ability to influence the world.

Negative Impact of Reddit and 4Chan on the Boston Marathon Investigation

The users of Reddit and 4Chan no doubt meant well with their attempts to help the Boston Marathon investigation. This story received a huge amount of attention, and these social media groups threw themselves into the middle of the investigation. They launched their own unofficial investigation online and they began naming people who they believed were acting suspiciously in photographs. There was a danger that this crowd of online helpers would turn into a lynch mob, and they undoubtedly caused distress for a number of innocent people. Despite causing a great deal of disruption, none of the leads provided by Reddit and 4Chan ended up pointing to the real bombers.

The lesson from the Boston Marathon is that amateur sleuths on Reddit and 4Chan can actually do a great deal more harm than good. It is encouraging that many people wanted to help, but naming and blaming innocent people online is not the way to go. This type of activity leads to a lynch mob mentality, and this often means innocent people end up getting hurt. There was also a high degree of racism associated with these amateur investigations, and this meant that almost anyone who looked Middle Eastern in the crowd ended up being discussed as potential suspects.

The Future of Social Media and Criminal Investigations

There is no doubt that social media can be a powerful force to help the police catch criminals. The problem occurs when members of these social media sites begin to launch their own investigations. The best thing is to always hand over any information directly to the authorities and leave the investigations to the professionals – that is what they are paid for. Second-guessing the people running these investigations is always going to be difficult because the public will not have access to the same level of information as the police.

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What is LivingSocial?

LivingSocial is a very successful website that is based in Washington, and they now have over 70 million members around the world. The company has only been around since 2007, but they have managed to win a loyal following by hooking members up with the best deals around. As well as offering deal of the day promotions, they also offer special deals on discounted gift certificates.

LivingSocial Hacked

LivingSocial was hacked last Friday (April 26th, 2013). Soon after this, the company sent an email to all of their customers warning about the breach of security. The email explains that some personal details were stolen from the database, and that they are now working with authorities to get to the bottom of this crime. The email also assured customers that no credit card information was ever compromised – apparently this other information is kept on a more secure database. The company also says that private information belonging to merchants who use the site was not compromised. They did not say exactly how many customers were affected by this attack, but they have admitted that it was a substantial number – including many from the UK.

Security of Commercial Websites

The fact that so many high profile websites have been hacked in recent weeks is a sign that something is seriously flawed with the security of these sites. It is worrying that the hackers seem to be able to target these websites almost at will and that they can so easily walk away with sensitive information. This type of event is damaging to public confidence and it means that people are going to become less willing to divulge personal information online. It is obvious that more needs to be done to protect information.

One of the questions that will need to be asked is why a website like LivingSocial is able to protect credit card information, yet they cannot protect other sensitive personal information. This would certainly seem to indicate that the problem is not that the hackers are so good at what they do, but that these websites have a relaxed attitude to certain types of data. If they provided the same level of security for all personal information as they do for credit card information they would have a better chance of keeping this information secure. This problem is not going to go away, so it is vital that these websites do more to protect customer information.

The post 50 Million Customers May Have Been Impacted by LivingSocial Attack appeared first on Coreix Blog.

How Twitter #Music Works

It is possible to use Twitter #music on the website or by using an iPhone/iPad app – there is no Android option yet. The app works by analysing the music that your followers are talking about in their tweets. It then uses this information to make suggestions for what you might like to listen to. Of course, this is all based on the assumption that you are going to want to listen to the type of music that these people are listening to. The app makes music suggestions, and if you are interested, you can click to listen to the song on Spotify, Rdio, or iTunes. With Spotify, you will be able to listen to the full song, so long as it is a song that they have in their collection (at the moment some bands like the Beatles are not available on this service). In the case of iTunes, you will have the opportunity to listen to a sample of the music, and if you like it you can then choose to buy it. The app also keeps track of what you like to listen to, and they make it possible for you to click on avatars of the bands you like to find out more information about them.

Twitter is hoping that musicians will become enthusiastic with this new service, and that they will use it as a way to engage with their fans. There is a great deal of potential for this service, but a lot will depend on how users react to it. If Twitter users do not take the ball and run with it, this service could quickly fall off the map – it wouldn’t be the first time that this type of thing has happened.

Is There a Need for a New Music Discover Service?

Twitter #music makes sense, but it is hardly an earth-shattering new development. There are plenty of other new music discovery services out there, and these will usually allow the ability to listen to what friends are listening to. Probably the most interesting thing about Twitter #music is that it is a fine example of cooperation between the different services and hopefully there will be more of this in the future. In the meantime, it is way too early to say if Twitter #music is going to be successful.

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Bing Five Times More Likely to Link to Malware Websites

The report is based on an 18-month study carried out by AV Test (this is an anti-virus testing company). The results of this research show that Bing was five times more likely to deliver search results containing websites hosting malicious software. There were a number of other search engines tested in this study including Ask Jeeves, Faroo, Baidu, and Teoma. There were over 40 million websites produced by searches on these search engines and 5,000 of these websites had malware. Google was the search engine that produced the least amount of malware from its searches.

Bad News for Microsoft

The news that Bing hosts so much more malware than Google is going to come as a surprise to many people. One of the main selling points of Bing is that it appears to be a safe haven and users of this search engine will often take pride in the fact that they are savvy enough to choose such a better option. Microsoft, who own Bing, have pushed their search engine as being the safest around, and they have boasted about their power to eliminate spam and dangerous sites from web searches. It seems certain now, though, that their claims for the effectiveness for keeping these searches secure have been grossly exaggerated.

For a long time there have been complaints that the Bing search results are based on the Google search algorithm – in fact, Google have even complained about this in the past. The news then that Microsoft is so much less secure than Google seems to torpedo this theory out of the water because if they were using the Google algorithm, they should not be seeing so much more malware than Google in their search results. Actually, it now seems that Bing would be much better off if they did just copy Google. Some experts are speculating that for a long time Bing were using the Google algorithm, but they have now changed to something else, and this is why they are ending up with so much malicious spam.

It will be interesting to see how users of Bing react to this news of just how less safe the search results from this search engine are when compared to Google. It is likely that this will encourage at least some people to give Google another go.

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Google Launches the Inactive Account Manager

The name ‘Inactive Account Manager’ does not sound very interesting, but most people are referring to it as a digital will. It basically allows you to manage your Google data in the event of your death. Of course, even Google does not have the technology to allow you to literally manage things from the grave, but what it will do is follow the instructions you have left in the event of your death. It is also important to understand that Google has no way of telling when you are physically dead – they are not going to be sending around someone to your house in the Google car to check out if you are okay. However, they will consider you virtually dead if you fail to interact with your Google accounts for a set period of time.

The Inactive Account Manager allows you a good deal of control over what happens to your Google accounts after you die. This will include things such as Gmail, your YouTube account, Picasa Web Albums, and your Google Drive account. These digital assets can be erased in the event of your death, or you can decide to have the data sent to your loved ones (up to 10 people) – once Google has pronounced you dead, an email will be sent to these people offering them the opportunity to download all of your stuff before it is erased.

You get to decide when you become dead on Google. You do this by determining the length of inactive time that will need to pass before your digital assets are sent into the abyss (or sent to someone you know). You can set the date for this timeout period as 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and one year. During this time, Google will send you warnings about the impending removal of your stuff – just in case you are alive and just taking a break from the internet.

The Inactive Account Manager can be found on the Google Account Settings page. The procedure for setting things up only takes a few seconds and afterwards you will have the peace of mind of knowing that you have taken care of some after-death business.

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