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Scams are all over Facebook. There are stories telling users that Facebook will end on a certain date, miracle diet pills, celebrity sex tapes, and other shady posts. With a little vigilance, though, users can make sure that they're not continuing the chain. Miranda Perry, staff writer for Scambook, spoke with AllFacebook about ways that people can make sure that they're not giving away information to scammers or spamming their friends' News Feeds with malicious links. Scambook is a complaint-resolution platform where customers can air their grievances and let others know about unscrupulous business practices and identity theft. The company also informs people of scams on social media, using its blog to write about the newest hoaxes that are going viral on Facebook. Perry shared with AllFacebook some ways that users can protect themselves (and their friends) from Facebook scams. Consider The Source One of the most common Facebook scams involves links that either infect computers with malware or automatically share content to users' Timelines. Perry said that by taking a couple of extra seconds to examine not only suspicious links, but the people who shared them, people can protect themselves. For instance, if a fitness buff friend shares a link showing how she's lost 30 pounds by using a weird old trick, or if a pastor shares a link purportedly showing Rihanna's sex tape, odds are extremely high that it's a scam. Perry said red flags should go up whenever someone shares something to Facebook that seems atypical of their nature. If users truly aren't sure, Perry recommends calling or contacting that person offline to see if their account has been compromised: The No. 1 step is just to look at the source and avoid clicking on links or sharing anything on Facebook that seems suspicious. For instance, if you know that your friend is a super-skinny athlete, they are probably not going to be telling you that they've just used weight loss pills. If t

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-27/pune/38068982_1_cyber-criminals-symantec-social-media PUNE: An invitation to a Bollywood Holi party in your inbox may entice you, but there are chances that the slightest carelessness you show in responding to such an email will drain the colour from your face. Cyber goons may be exploiting your festive mood through such 'offers' to rob you of your personal information and money, say experts. Antivirus software and internet security solutions developer Symantec has warned that fake emails and social networking feeds that offer free passes for Bollywood parties or share celebrity updates are likely to proliferate around festive times. "It is that time of the year when social media witnesses a spike in malicious activities; cyber criminals won't miss the opportunity to scam you or steal your personal information," a statement from Symantec has said. Ritesh Chopra, the firm's country sales manager, has said in the release that a user should be careful when clicking on links or responding to notifications and abide by social media etiquettes, which go a long way in securing personal information and reputation online. Chopra said one should keep social media settings private, so that only selected friends can find you and post or respond on your profile. "Using tools such as Safe Web to scan news feeds on Facebook and identify URLs containing security risks such as phishing sites, malicious downloads and links to unsafe internet sites will help," he said. The note said people should be responsible when socialising offline as well, as the risk existed even when users of digital devices are offline. During Holi parties and get-togethers, when everyone is in a playful mood, mobile devices can easily be lost or stolen, putting personal identity and privacy at stake, the statement added. "It is important to set a password to lock the keypad of the device and to make sure mobile security software is up-to-date, Chop

latest abney and associates technology news Google's Eric Schmidt Invests in Obama's Big Data Brains During the 2012 campaign, Barack Obama's reelection team had an underappreciated asset: Google's (GOOG) executive chairman, Eric Schmidt. He helped recruit talent, choose technology, and coach the campaign manager, Jim Messina, on the finer points of leading a large organization. "On election night he was in our boiler room in Chicago," says David Plouffe, then a senior White House adviser. Schmidt had a particular affinity for a group of engineers and statisticians tucked away beneath a disco ball in a darkened corner of the office known as "the Cave." The data analytics team, led by 30-year-old Dan Wagner, is credited with producing Obama's surprising 5 million-vote margin of victory. For all its acclaim, the analytics team's main achievement is often misunderstood as "microtargeting" or some variant on wooing voters. This reverses the relationship between campaign and voter at the heart of Wagner's method. Recent campaigns have employed a top-down approach to identify what they thought were vital demographic groups such as "soccer moms." Wagner's team pursued a bottom-up strategy of unifying vast commercial and political databases to understand the proclivities of individual voters likely to support Obama or be open to his message, and then sought to persuade them through personalized contact via Facebook (FB), e-mail, or a knock on the door. "I think of them as people scientists,'' says Schmidt. "They apply scientific techniques to how people will behave when confronted with a choice or a question." Obama's rout of Mitt Romney was a lesson in how this insight can translate into political strength. Traditional marketing has the same inherent limitation as traditional campaigning: It's impossible to appeal to everybody, even among the groups likeliest to favor a product. "Budweiser might target football fans with an ad s