messages

Google has restored access to email for around 40,000 customers whose accounts were mistakenly wiped clean this past Sunday. It says the delay in sorting the problem was because it had to restore from a physical back-up. The problem began on Sunday ... afternoon when some customers found either they were unable to access their Gmail accounts, or that the accounts appeared as if they were open. That is to say, there were no messages whatsoever in the archive, except for a welcome message from Google. Google said it was working on the problem and noted that in cases where users were unable to log- ... (view more)

A Russian man has appeared in a US federal court accused of running a network of infected computers that had the capability of sending 10 billion unsolicited emails a day. Oleg Nikolaenko is said to be responsible for a third of the world's spam ... messages. 23-year old Nikolaenko has denied the charges, brought under the federal CAN-SPAM act. That doesn't make sending unsolicited email an offense in itself, but rather places specific restrictions upon the practice. In this case, the claim is that the email messages contained false information, for example by disguising the identity of the ... (view more)

The FCC is working on ways to modernize 911 call centers across North America. If current plans come to fruition, it would enable emergency response teams to accept text messages, picture messages, streaming video and other emergent technologies. ... The update, called Next Gen 911, marks the first change made to the 911 system in close to a decade. The most recent revamping occurred back in 2001, when the FCC required cellular carriers to offer the emergency service along with the GPS data of the caller (within 50 to 300 meters in proximity). (Source: computerworld.com ) Phone Calls Are Not ... (view more)

Facebook recently confirmed its enhanced messaging system, Facebook Messages. Officially launched November 15th, the system is designed to channel email, instant messaging and SMS text messages (cell phone messages) into a single @facebook.com email ... address so that users can manage their communications through a single inbox. (Source: eweek.com ) @Facebook.Com On-the-Way The idea of the service, which builds on the existing Facebook messaging feature, is to break down the barriers between different forms of communication such as email, site messaging, live chat, instant-messaging and the text ... (view more)

The worldwide volume of spam has decreased in the third quarter of this year, thanks in large part to the mass shutdowns of some major botnet systems . In their latest reports, security software companies Symantec and Kaspersky have found that spam ... volumes decreased 47 percent compared to August figures. Botnets are formed when (for example) malicious software is unknowingly installed on an MS Windows PC. That PC then becomes part of a "zombie network" of infected systems which are then used to propagate spam email messages. Kaspersky weighed in on the correlation between legitimate ... (view more)

Most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) restrict, redirect, or reject inbound emails to save users the time and hassle of having to deal with irrelevant 'junk' messages. However, new studies are showing that a number of ISPs are rejecting millions of ... legitimate emails every day. The problem does not pertain to one-to-one personal messages. Rather, mass marketing emails and communications from sources like social networking sites (and even infopackets.com) are not being delivered to users. The problem is that even though users have specifically requested to receive these emails, the messages ... (view more)

Twitter has reiterated that users of its microblogging service retain the copyright to their comments. However, the site has refused to rule out using posts for targeted advertising purposes in the future. The site has revised its terms and ... conditions to clarify various legal positions. The move appears to be a reaction to public relations problems experienced by rival social networking site Facebook, which recently declared it had the right to use content even after the relevant user had cancelled their account . On the face of it, Twitter is using plain language to reassure users of their ... (view more)

While millions of people clamored to hear late-breaking news and updates on the sudden passing of the Prince of Pop, hackers and online deviants around the world rushed to their computers to spread spam and malware to an endless sea of vulnerable ... mourners. Hundreds of cases of malicious messages masquerading as information about Jackson's death were reported Thursday night. The emails claimed to have contained "vital information" about the circumstances surrounding his death, while also asking users to respond in order to become privy to the "secret" details. (Source: infoworld.com ) ... (view more)

Hackers have taken notice of the worldwide H1N1 hysteria and, in an effort to catch people reading up on the virus, have begun flooding email inboxes with messages promising "swine flu" news. These messages instead deliver malware and dubious ... advertisements promoting anything from herbal medications to male enhancement pills. The "hot topic" of the past few weeks has been the worldwide spread of the H1N1 virus, more commonly referred to as "swine flu". All across the globe, analysts and experts have urged people to help stop the global outbreak by reading up on the virus, and if any symptoms ... (view more)

Google has said sorry to users of its Gmail service after they were left without access to their emails for almost two hours early last week. The firm made a rare apology on its official blog after the outage, saying "The issue was caused by a ... temporary outage in our contacts system that was preventing Gmail from loading properly." (Source: blogspot.com ) There has been some speculation the problem may be connected with a recent change to Gmail's contacts system, designed to separate contacts users have manually added from those which are created automatically when you send or receive a ... (view more)