India is the second largest spam relaying country in the world

From just being a nuisance to becoming a means for cybercriminals to grow their operations, Spam has come a long way. Many a times we are tempted to open a spam message out of curiosity, which could lead spammers to take control of your computer within seconds. Even if your computer does become part of a botnet, you could still be inviting further malware infections, which may compromise your personal or banking details.

If you thought that computer users in developed nations need to worry about Spam attacks, then think again. According IT security and control firm Sophos, India is the second largest spam relaying country in the world, behind the US. Almost all of this spam comes from malware-infected computers (known as bots or zombies) that are being controlled by ‘botherder’ cybercriminals. One of the primary tactics used by cybercriminals to grow botnets involves tricking computer users into clicking malicious links - either contained in spam email or social networking messages - which direct computers to malware infected webpages.

Sophos also notes a rise in social networking spam during Q3 2010, with the widely reported ‘onMouseOver’ exploit creating spam tweets on Twitter, and a raft of Facebook scams that have been created by spammers to generate money from survey websites.

“What’s interesting about the Facebook scams is that they exploit human weaknesses to spread - tricking users into filling in a questionnaire if they want to see a shocking picture or video that may not even exist. Unfortunately, these scams continue to proliferate, with new ones springing up every day, and Facebook seemingly unable to kill them off permanently,” says Graham Cluley, Senior Technology Consultant, Sophos

The best way for computer users to reduce the risk of being compromised is to run anti-spam and anti-malware protections, behave sensibly when online, and ensure systems are up-to-date with security patches. Users should always take care over where they enter their login credentials and be aware that they might be on a bogus website that has been created purely for the purposes of grabbing usernames and passwords.

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http://www.cxotoday.com/story/india-is-the-second-largest-spam-relaying-country-in-the-world/

Facebook acquires Drop.io's file-sharing service

                       Mashable) -- Simple file-sharing service Drop.io has been acquired by Facebook.  "Today, we're proud to announce that we've struck a deal with Facebook," the company said in an announcement on its blog. "What this means is that Facebook has bought most of drop.io's technology and assets, and Sam Lessin is moving to Facebook."  Drop.io was led by Sam Lessin, a former consultant for Bain & Company. He attended Harvard University (2001-2005) and even knew Mark Zuckerberg during the early days of Facebook. Now he will take up a new role at the world's largest social network.  As a result of the acquisition, drop.io will be shutting down. Paid accounts will be discontinued on December 15. This is yet another talent acquisition for Facebook. The data on drop.io will be deleted by the end of the year.

Theodore Sorensen, JFK's speechwriter, has died

(CNN) -- Theodore C. Sorensen, a close adviser and speechwriter to President John F. Kennedy, has died, the White House said Sunday.

He was 82.

Though he wore a number of hats in his relationship with Kennedy and later in life, he is best known publicly as the wordsmith who helped put Kennedy's ideas to paper in what remain some of the most recognizable speeches in American political history.

The youngest top official in the Kennedy White House, Sorensen was an influential policy adviser and a presidential confidante.

He served as special counsel and speechwriter to Kennedy from 1961 to 1963, and participated in secret White House meetings during the Cuban Missile Crisis, according to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.

Sorensen was a key aide on Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign and had earlier served as a speechwriter and assistant to Kennedy during his Senate years.

After Kennedy's 1963 assassination, Sorensen helped to shape the young president's legacy, writing four books on the Kennedy years, including the 1965 volume "Kennedy."

Sorensen also played an important role in helping the future president shape 1956's "Profiles in Courage."

A 2008 memoir, "Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History," was a candid look at his relationship with Kennedy.

Sorensen was often asked whether he wrote the classic line from Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

"Having no satisfactory answer, I long ago started answering the oft-repeated question as to its authorship with the smiling retort: 'Ask not,' " Sorensen wrote in "Counselor."

The lawyer later served as special counsel to President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1963 and 1964.

Sorensen played a major role in completing Sen. Robert F. Kennedy's book "Thirteen Days," based on notes left after the latter's 1968 assassination.

"I got to know Ted after he endorsed my campaign early on," President Barack Obama said in a statement Sunday. "He was just as I hoped he'd be -- just as quick-witted, just as serious of purpose, just as determined to keep America true to our highest ideals."

A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, Sorensen received his law degree in 1951, according to the publication Current Biography. He soon became an administrative assistant to Kennedy, then a newly elected U.S. senator from Massachusetts.

A chief goal was getting Kennedy elected president. Sorensen's efforts included helping Kennedy overcome anti-Catholic prejudice during the successful 1960 campaign.

Sorensen's later career included serving as an attorney in Manhattan, attending Democratic conventions and serving as a presidential and political adviser, according to the JFK Library

Pre-Islam Saudi treasures on show for first time

London, England (CNN) -- A "groundbreaking" new exhibition of rare artifacts from Saudi Arabia's ancient past -- some which have never been shown abroad -- has opened in the Louvre, Paris.
The world-famous museum is hosting Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a traveling exhibition showcasing 300 archeological treasures found in the Gulf country, many pre-dating the birth of Islam.
"It's a groundbreaking historic event," the Saudi Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abulaziz Al Saud told CNN.
"Saudi Arabia has never been known for its history, and I don't mean recent history but the procession of civilizations that have existed in Arabia," he said.
The exhibition is the result of 40 years of excavation across Saudi Arabia, with several artifacts only unearthed in the last decade.

                                                     Gallery: Artifacts include jewlry, statues and bowls

Works include funerary stelae -- upright commemorative stone slabs -- dating as far back as 4,000 BC; huge statues of the Kings of Liyhan, an ancient kingdom in what is now Saudi.
Also on show are major discoveries from the island of Tarut; gold and pearl jewelry, including a single gold glove, found in a tomb unearthed in the ancient town of Thaj.
Some of the artifacts were only discovered in the last five years and have recently been restored.
Dr. Ali Al-Ghabban is Vice President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA).
He told CNN: "These objects and this exhibition tell people about the history of Saudi Arabia, about the participation of Saudi Arabia in the history of humanity and also the exchange and the peaceful relations between Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world."

Saudi has been a major trade hub since the dawn of time, and was a connecting point between the Arabian Peninsula and the rest of the world.
Trade routes criss-crossed the country, the largest in the Arabian peninsula, followed later by pilgrim routes leading to Mecca and other holy sites.
Another section of the exhibition explores Saudi's role as the cradle of Islam, displaying artifacts such as a door from the Ka'ba in Mecca, a gift from an Ottoman sultan in the 17th century.
Focusing on the roads that took pilgrims to the country's holy sites, it suggests that Saudi Arabia was specially chosen to spread the message of Islam because of its geographical position linking major civilizations.
Today, Saudi, a member of the G-20, is participating increasingly in global politics, and Roads of Arabia gives Riyadh an opportunity to assert its cultural and historical significance, al-Saud said.
Roads of Arabia is the result of an agreement between the Louvre Museum and the SCTA in 2004. An exhibition of Islamic masterpieces from the Louvre at the National Museum in Riyadh kicked off the agreement in 2006.
"It's a breakthrough, and of course the Louvre has a reputation," al-Saud said.
As for the Louvre, a relationship with the largest country in the Middle East comes as part of a wider strategy to extend its cultural influence to the Gulf.
In 2007, France and Abu Dhabi signed an intergovernmental agreement to open the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the cultural district being built on Saadiyat Island. It is currently expected to open in 2013.
The Louvre's Islamic Art curator Carine Juvin told CNN: "The Louvre Abu Dhabi was a very important project for the Louvre.
It's about ... a cultural exchange ... It's an occasion for people of the Gulf to learn much more about European and Western culture."

Roads of Arabia will be on display at the Louvre Museum until September 27, after which -- in the spirit of the roads which it celebrates -- it will embark on a tour of museums across the world. Spain is slated as the next host.

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Microsoft’s Newest Acquisition Is About 3-D Gesture Controls

Microsoft has acquired Canesta, the manufacturer of semiconductor chips capable of sensing movement and gestures in 3-D. The technology could be applied to everything from Windows 8 motion controls to its Xbox Kinect motion-sensing device.

Canesta, founded in 1999, specializes in the 3-D sensors that power “Natural User Interfaces.” A NUI doesn’t require inputs like a mouse or a keyboard for user to interact with a program or interface; it gets its commands from natural human gestures. While the fictional UI utilized in the 2002 film Minority Report is the best-known NUI in popular culture, Microsoft actually owns two popular ones: Microsoft Surface and Xbox Kinect.

Canesta has raised approximately $60 million in funding since its inception from investors including Carlyle Venture Partners, Venrock and Honda. The latter is hoping to use Canesta’s technology to help its cars detect and avoid obstacles. The financial terms of the Microsoft acquisition were not disclosed.

Microsoft utilizes 3-D sensing technology from competitor PrimeSense in its Xbox Kinect gaming system, according to The New York Times. Kinect launches on November 4.

Today’s deal may be more about Canesta’s intellectual property than it is about bringing more natural user interfaces to Microsoft’s products. Canesta is the owner of 44 different patents on 3-D sensing technology, processing algorithms and chip design. Having those patents handy will be useful in avoiding lawsuits as Microsoft experiments with even more NUIs.
                                                                         

                                                                                        By following CNN news website

Mount Everest gets 3G mobile network

'I'm on the way down': Everest at 8,848 meters high now has a 3G network.

                                                                 Katmandu, Nepal (CNN) -- The world's highest third generation (3G) mobile network services base station was set up at the bottom of Mount Everest on Thursday.

Ncell, a mobile phone and internet operator in Nepal, said it set up a 3G base at an altitude of 5,200 meters (17,000 feet) near the village of Gorakshep, according to Aigars Benders, the chief technical officer of Ncell.

"The speed of the 3G services will be up to 3.6 MB per second," Aigars said.

"But we could have it up to 7.2 MB if there is demand."

A total of nine stations, with the lowest at 2,870 meters (9,400 feet) at Lukla where the airport in the Everest region is situated, came into operation on Thursday.

The service is mainly targeted at the approximately 30,000 tourists who come to trek in Nepal's Himalayan region every year.

A few hundred mountaineers attempt to climb Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain at 8,848 meters (29,028 feet) and it is estimated that the annual total number of mountaineers in the region number several hundred.

Although Ncell has not tested its 3G services from the top of Everest, Aigars said it is theoretically possible.

Up to 50 people can use the services at a time and if there is demand this capacity can be increased.

Four of the base stations are run by solar power with a back-up battery that can power the stations for up to three days.

Sweden-based Teliasonera, the fifth largest mobile company in Europe, has the controlling and operating stake in Ncell.

"Teliasonera also has the world's lowest 3G base station in the world," said Teliasonera's CEO Lars Nyberg. He said that the lowest one is at 1,400 meters (4,595 feet) below sea level in a mine in Europe.

                                                               by following CNN news website.......

5 Riskiest Web domains

-TOI Tech

Which are the most dangerous Web domains that host maximum malware? Domains that can launch a virus, phising or a botnet attack on your PC?

Security agency McAfee has released its annual '2010 Mapping the Mal Web' report that names top five riskiest country Web domains. Alarmingly, the report found an increase in the security risk posed by these websites.

Here's over to top 5 most riskiest Web domains geographically.

Vietnam (.VN)

Topping the list is Vietnam (.VN) which has overthrown Cameroon (.CM) as the Web's riskiest domain. The domain poses an overall risk of 29.4% in contrast to 0.9% last year.

According to the report, 58 per cent of the country's registered sites are risky.

Cameroon (.CM)

At No 2 is Cameroon (.cm), a small African country that borders Nigeria. This year the domain's security risk has slipped down to 22.2% from 36.7% last year.

According to Web reports, the domain .cm is a common typo for .com, many cyber criminals set up fake typo-squatting sites that lead to malicious downloads.

Armenia (.AM)

Next riskiest country domain is Armenia (.AM), situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe.

According to the report, the domain has a security risk of 12.1% this year in contrast to 2% last year. 

 

 

Cocos (.CC)

The fourth riskiest Web domain is Cocos (.CC), an Island located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The domain poses an overall risk of 10.5% this year from 3.3% last year

 

 

 

Russia (.RU)

At No. 5 is Russia (.ru) with an overall risk percentage of 10.1%. Last year, the domain posed a security risk of 4.6%.

 

 

Windows 7 secrets

WASHINGTON: Windows 7 is one of those rare operating systems that seems to keep on surprising you - and often pleasantly - the longer you use it. The surprises come in the form of features and productivity enhancements that didn't exist in previous version of Windows and that have largely escaped the attention of the majority of reviewers and users. Think you know most of the hidden features of Windows 7? Read on to find out.

Turn features off

In previous versions of Windows, you were pretty much stuck with the features that Windows gave you. Or you had to be a veritable hacker to figure out how to turn off or remove features that you didn't want.

With Windows 7, the mystery is history, thanks to the 'Turn Windows features on or off' dialog box. Can you do without the games that come with Windows 7? The media features? The gadget platform? The Windows search service? With the 'turn features off' dialog box, you can remove or disable over two dozen components of Windows 7, slimming down your system and potentially speeding everything up in the process.

To access this little-known dialog box, open the Start menu, and type 'features.' Then click the 'Turn Windows features on or off' entry. To remove a feature, simply clear the check mark next to its name. When you're done, click OK, and let Windows 7 do the rest.

Colour calibration

Tired of seeing your digital photographs print out differently than how they look on your screen? Want to make sure that the colours you're seeing are just as the designers intended them to look? If the answer to either question is 'yes,' you need to make sure you're working on a colour-corrected monitor.

Correcting a monitor's colour is referred to as calibration, and it involves using your monitor's brightness, contrast, and colour correction controls to achieve display settings that are accurate. Windows 7 is the first version of the operating system that comes with a colour calibration tool built in.

To use it, open the Start menu, and type 'calibrate.' Then click the Calibrate Display colour entry that appears. The resulting dialog box will walk you through a series of steps to help you adjust the gamma, brightness, and contrast of your monitor. While Windows 7's calibration tool is not as sophisticated as professional, hardware-based calibration systems from manufacturers such as X-Rite, Datacolour, or Lacie, it can nevertheless help you to achieve a quick and fairly accurate calibration that may improve greatly on your monitor's current settings.

On the fly power settings

For notebook users, saving power is critical, and thanks to the new Windows Mobility Centre, Windows 7 makes it easier than any previous version to adjust power settings on the fly so that you get the most life out of a battery charge.

To access the Mobility Centre, hold down the Windows key and tap the letter X on your keyboard. While the Mobility Centre gives you access to several features that are critical to notebook users, the Brightness setting and the Battery Status setting will have the most impact on your notebook's battery life. Turn down the brightness of your display as much as possible, and be sure you're using a power setting that's appropriate for your notebook. You can also turn off your wireless card from the Mobility Centre if you're not using the Internet. Doing so will turn off yet another power-sapping feature.

Wireless network discovery

Connecting to wireless networks was far from intuitive in previous versions of Windows. Thanks to Windows 7's wireless network discovery feature, all wireless networks within range are quickly displayed when you click the wireless icon in the Windows system tray. If you see a wireless network that you'd like to access, all you have to do is click its name. If a wireless network requires a password for access, you'll be prompted for it once you click Connect.

Keyboard shortcuts

Windows 7 makes good use of the by now ubiquitous Windows key that's a fixture of most keyboards sold for PCs. Typically situated next to the Alt key, the key with the Windows logo stamped on it does far more than open the Start menu.

In Windows 7, hold down Windows key and tap the spacebar to get a quick view of what's on your desktop - behind all the clutter of open windows and applications. To activate Windows 7's new zoom feature - which quickly enlarges the contents of your screen for better visibility - hold down the Windows key and tap the plus (+) key on your numeric keypad. Conversely, use the Windows key plus the minus key on your numeric keyboard to zoom back out.

Want to quickly get rid of all screen clutter except for the application you're currently working in? Hold down the Windows key and then tap the Home key. Doing so activates the Windows 'Snap' feature. Tap the same key combination again to return the screen to its former messiness.

And don't forget that the Windows key in combination with the left or right arrow keys on your numeric keypad will snap the foreground application to the left or right of your screen, adjusting it perfectly so that it occupies half of your screen real estate. The Windows key and the up and down arrows maximises or minimises the foreground application.

Read more: Windows 7 secrets - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Tech-Personal-Tech-Computing/Windows-7-secrets/articleshow/6841709.cms#ixzz13td2ctG9

Wikipedia to open first office outside the US in India

The owner of the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, plans to open an office in India.

The Wikimedia Foundation co-founder, Jimmy Wales, said it would be the first office outside the United States.
He told the Indian website, CIOL, that no location had been chosen yet, but the office would open within several months.
Mr Wales said the operation would initially consist of two to four people and serve the local community.
"For Wikimedia, going multilingual and sharing content for all the languages is the way forward," he said.
Indian enthusiasm Europe and Africa had been considered as possible locations. But Europe was already highly developed and there were concerns about the technical capabilities in Africa, he said.
"India was in the middle of the two extremes," said Mr Wales. "It is a growth region and I also like the enthusiasm in the country."
Wikipedia has more than 91,000 active contributors working in more than 270 languages, according to the Wikipedia website.
Barry Newstead, the chief global development officer, said there was "a general commitment to free knowledge in India".
"We hope to support Indians to realise the vision of a world in which every single person can freely share in the sum of all knowledge," he said in e-mailed comments.
Since its creation in 2001, the free-to-access website has grown rapidly. It attracts nearly 78 millions visitors a month, according to its own figures