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Online swindlers are hoping to cash-in from Facebook's recent integration with Skype by spamming those looking to use their social networking platform as a means to conduct video calling. Cyber scumbags are not only targeting individual users on ... Facebook, but all of their 'friends' as well. According to a report posted on Sophos' Naked Security blog, the latest scam makes the video chat feature appear as a safe application (called "video call") and comes in the form of a Facebook wall post, enticing users to click onto a link dubbed "enable video calls". As Sophos states, the format of the ... (view more)

The number of people using Facebook has dropped in several major countries, according to a recent report. It's not enough to stop an ongoing rise in the global total, but the growth rate worldwide has notably slowed. The figure comes from a firm ... named Inside Facebook, which takes its figures from Facebook's own advertising tools. It notes that measures may vary from source to source and can depend on exactly what is counted. With these figures, only active users are counted, rather than those who leave accounts dormant. National drops include the US falling from 155.2 million to 149.4 million ... (view more)

As of Wednesday, the Winklevoss brothers abandoned an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and it appeared that they had finally given up their long-running crusade to win further compensation from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. A day later, however, ... a new court document has been filed which aims to prove that Zuckerberg hid instant messages that may have helped prove their original case. How Facebook Came to Be As depicted in the movie "The Social Network," the Winklevoss twins were once involved in a very similar project with Zuckerberg, and their falling out led to years of legal wrangling ... (view more)

There's a new malware attack on Facebook and it's significant for multiple reasons. This attack in particular spreads through bogus links, and it appears to change form in line with news events. While there have been several similar scams in the ... past, they've usually involved tricking users into handing over personal data or outright hijacking accounts. Malicious Drive-by Downloads Initiated on Click The new Facebook attacks tricks users into clicking on a link to a supposed online video. Once the link has been clicked, a Trojan virus is automatically downloaded to the users' computer without ... (view more)

A security firm reports that hackers have intercepted email messages from Hotmail user accounts after manipulating a bug found deeply rooted within Microsoft's website. While security officials admitted that victims needed to be logged into Hotmail ... for the attack to work, the virus was also found to affect those that had previewed the message for a short period of time before logging out. Attack Source: Cross-Site Scripting Flaw (XSS) The source of the attack was revealed to be a common web programming error called a cross-site scripting flaw . As security firm Trend Micro explained in a ... (view more)

An Italian security researcher has found a new security flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser that could allow hackers to steal login information and passwords. The threat comes in the form of a 'cookiejacking' scheme (related to session ... hijacking ), which allows hackers to review website history and then use that to enter protected domains. Rosario Valotta recently demonstrated his cookingjacking findings at security conferences in Switzerland and Amsterdam. He acknowledged that exploiting the flaw isn't particularly easy, requiring a hacker to convince an online user to drag and ... (view more)

Should kids be allowed to use Facebook? Facebook Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg doesn't see anything wrong with it, despite concerns that they might be exploited through a social networking platform known for its controversial privacy ... policies. 7.5 Million Kids Under 13 Already Use Facebook Zuckerberg took on the issue at the recent NewSchools Summit, where a Consumer Reports finding that approximately 7.5 million kids under 13 had lied about their age in order to create Facebook accounts was at the center of much discussion. In a presentation, Zuckerberg revealed that he ... (view more)

A woman from Malaysia was recently cajoled out of $366,000 by a Facebook con artist, according to reports. And while several arrests have been made, most of the cash remains at large. Overseas 'British Citizen' in Need of Bank Account The man behind ... the scheme allegedly told the woman he was a British citizen in need of access to a bank account in order to cash in a $1.53 million contract with Malaysia's national oil and gas company, Petronas. Here was the kicker: the man in question said he couldn't afford the service and insurance charges associated with the agreement, and was looking for ... (view more)

Google plans to launch its own deal-of-the-day service, one quite similar to that offered by Groupon. The search giant has officially launched a beta test of Google Offers, which is designed to give those who sign up for the service daily discounts ... at local restaurants, shops and other attractions. According to the Google Offers sign-up page, members can expect coupons for 50 per cent or more off regular price goods and services. Groupon Turns Down Google Offer Google Offers surfaces mere months after Groupon turned down an acquisition offer from Google. As of last November, various reports ... (view more)

Do you feel safe using Facebook? Given the social networking site's incredible growth in previous years, it would appear most people do. But one prominent security company says the site should do a whole lot more to protect its millions of users, ... and has made three major suggestions for beefing up Facebook's privacy shields. The suggestions include: Introduce major adjustments to the default privacy settings so that user data cannot be shared in any circumstance unless they give express consent. (Right now, people have to seek out and adjust these settings to keep people from snooping ... (view more)