Blackmail on Facebook

It is reported that an American teenager, Anthony Stancl (18) posed as a girl on Facebook and had male classmates send him naked photos. He has been charged with a number of offences after he blackmailed them into performing sex acts by telling them if they did not comply the photos or movies would be sent to friends or posted on the Internet. Stancl is alleged to have posed as a girl who persuaded more than 30 boys to send him compromising pictures.

The incidents came to light as a result of an investigation in to bomb threats. Police said the threats were sent via email from a computer that Mr Stancl was logged into at a public library. During the bomb threat investigation one of his alleged victims reported the incident to the police.

Facebook Snares Burglar

A criminal in New Zealand was captured with the help of a social networking site. New Zealand police posted pictures of the burglar on Facebook. He had removed his balaclava whilst breaking in to a safe and this was captured on a security camera and it was these pictures which helped lead to the arrest of the 21 year old in Queensland.

This is not the first time that Facebook has been used to track criminals. An Australian restaurant owner, Peter Leary, was left with an upaid bill of about £220 when five young diners left without paying their bill. Peter used Facebook to track them down when he remembered the diners had asked about a former waitress. She was contacted and suggested they check through some contacts on Facebook; Peter searched a few names and saw a picture of the diner with his girlfriend; as a result the diner was contacted and the bill settled.

Microsoft Launches Graphics Viewer for iPhone.

The freeware developed by Live Labs is called "Seadragon Mobile" and lets users view large images on their iPhone with "just a few taps of a finger". It is the first in a series of planned Microsoft iPhone applications and although historically Microsoft and Apple have been market rivals, Microsoft chose the iPhone because of it's popularity and technological capabilities.

The iPhone is the most widely distributed phone with a graphics processing unit, so it was the perfect choice for the new freeware graphics viewer. Seadragon is what powers Microsoft's photo browsing software Photosynth, and works by storing multiple resolutions of a file.

Other software planned for the iPhone for release in the near future includes a voice recognition program.

Web Browser Update

Internet Explorer

Microsoft have released a security update to fix the critical vulnerability recently identified in Internet Explorer (see item Internet Explorer Security Fears). It is reported that the vulnerability infected as many as 10,000 websites and it allowed criminals to direct victims' computers to infected websites. The security update is rated Critical for Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1 and Internet Explorer 7.

Microsoft's latest security updates can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/Search.aspx?displaylang=en

Firefox
Mozilla have just released version 3 of their web browser Firefox; for more information visit http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Internet Explorer Security Fears

A serious security flaw has been identified with Microsoft's Internet Explorer which could result in criminals taking control of people's computers and stealing their passwords.

The flaw only affects the most commonly used web browser, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft has urged users to remain vigilant whilst they prepare an emergency patch. Other browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera are not affected.

So far attacks have only been detected against Internet Explorer 7 but Microsoft said that the "underlying vulnerability" was present in all versions of the browser.

Microsoft advise that "Protected Mode" (in Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 in Windows Vista) limits the impact of the vulnerability. They also suggest that users change their Internet Explorer security settings to 'high', keep their virus and spyware detection software up to date and use a Windows user account with limited rights to change the computers settings. For more information see: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/961051.mspx

Cash Demand For Illegal Porn Downloads?

Thousands of internet users have been told they'll be taken to court unless they pay hundreds of pounds for supposedly downloading and sharing hardcore porn movies illegally. A German company has claimed the users are breaking copyright laws and is demanding in the region of £500 to settle out of court.

The company tracks down alleged 'pirates' by logging the IP address of the computer logged on to the file sharing network. It then applies for a court order to force the Internet Service Provider or ISP to release the details of the customer matched to the logged IP address.

Of course to those in the know, this method of tracking an IP address is unreliable. Fake IP addresses, unsecured wireless networks, easy to remember or default passwords could all lead to an innocent user being prosecuted. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the data being downloaded, many people will cough up rather than face the embarrassment of going to court.

Church Minister Resigns After Porn Brings Down Church Network

Computer viruses are now so common that they rarely get a mention in the press, however The Local (http://www.thelocal.se/), a Swedish on-line news site (in English) reports today that a Church of Sweden minister has resigned after his Internet surfing habits resulted in a virus which bought down the entire church network. The minister's habit of viewing pornographic websites whilst at work might not have been discovered but for the lethal computer virus.

Archbishop Anders Wejryd is reported to have said that "Priests are people too, but I have no understanding at all for someone sitting and surfing for porn on the parish computers." Perhaps this serves as another timely reminder that ALL employers should consider implementing an Internet Usage Policy.