الأحد، 24 فبراير 2013

متجر جوجل بلاي يكشف بياناتك الشخصية!



متجر جوجل بلاي يكشف بياناتك الشخصية!

نُشرت بواسطة 
هل يمكنك التضحية بخصوصية بياناتك في مقابل تحميل أحد تطبيقات أندرويد من متجر جوجل بلاي؟
جوجل بلاي
عند شراء أى تطبيق من متجر جوجل, يتم إرسال إسمك وعنوانك وبريدك الإليكترونى إلى مطور التطبيق،وتم إكتشاف هذه الثغرة بواسطة مطور تطبيقات من مدينة سيدنى الأسترالية يدعى “دان نولان” والذي قال لأحد المواقع:”أن المشكلة المحيرة هنا هي عدم وجود أى احتياج لإعطاء مثل تلك البيانات للمطور, فهو لا يحتاج أى منها”.

نولان كتب على مدونته قائلاً :”دعونى أقول بمنتهي الوضوح والشفافية, أى تطبيق يتم شراؤه من متجر جوجل -جوجل بلاي- يقوم مباشرة بإرسال بيانتك الشخصية وبريدك الإليكتروني إلى مطور التطبيق ويتم ذلك بدون إبلاغك بأى شئ! وهذه ثغرة رهيبة في جوجل لأنه لا يُقبل تحت أى ظرف من الظروف أن أكون قادراً كمطور أن أحصل على بيانات من يقوموا بشراء تطبيقي بدون أن يعرفوا ذلك إلا إذا تم إبلاغهم وجعل ذلك كخيار واضح لهم تمام الوضوح, ويجب على جوجل تصحيح تلك الثغرة ومنع الاعتداء على الخصوصية فوراً”، نعود إلى جوجل وبعد أن كشف “نولان” الثغرة, تم كتابة عدد من المقالات عن الموضوع وأتضح أن جوجل طلب من بعض الكتاب تخفيض حدة الخطاب عن الثغرة!.
الكاتبة “كلير بورتر” أضافت تعليق عن الموضوع بأن جوجل طلب تعديل عنوان مقالتها على المواقع وفي محركات البحث وأنهم تحفظوا على كلمة “ثغرة”! من هنا يمكننا القول أن جوجل يبيع بيانات مستخدميه.
أنها هذه ليست المرة الأولى التى تواجه فيها “جوجل” مشكلة الخصوصية وبيانات المستخدمين, وكما ذكرت وكالة “رويترز” أن عدد من المنظمات الحقوقية والإلكترونية الأوربية أعلنوا يوم الإثنين الماضي بأنهم سيتخذوا رد فعل قوي ضد “جوجل” خلال الصيف القادم نظراً لأن قواعد الخصوصية بخدمات “جوجل” تسمح لمحركات البحث بكشف بيانات المستخدمين.
أنا مستخدم لنظام أندرويد ومشجع له, ولكنى لن أسمح بتسريب بياناتى الشخصية بدون علمى, وأعتقد ان معظم المستخدمين كذلك، ما رأيكم؟.

صحافة استقصائية يا إعلام مصر البهية! حسين سالم

كما تعودنا من الإعلام المصري بمختلف منابره ومعظم مصادره..إعلام "البليلة" والانحيازات سواء السلطوية أو الرأسمالية..فنادرا ما نجد منبرا يقدم إعلام إحترافي خالص النية وغالبا ما نفتقد الموضوعية في معظم الأخبار والتغطيات, وهانحن اليوم نرى بضعة منابر, سأخص منها بالذكر مؤسسة الأهرام لأنها كما يطلق عليها "مؤسسة قومية" وعلى الأخص أن بوابة الأهرام الإليكترونية قبل "أخونتها" كانت قد وصلت إلى مستوى معقول من المهنية على الرغم من انحيازها أحيانا إلى النظام الحاكم..ولكن "رجعت ريما لعادتها القديمة".
ظهر صباح اليوم, الأحد 24-02-2013 حساب على موقع تويتر لشخص يدعى أنه "حسين سالم" رجل الأعمال الهارب صديق وشريك عائلات "مبارك" المخلوع
وكتب أربع تغريدات بعد تسجيله الحساب مباشرةً..وطبعا يمكن معرفة تاريخ إنشاء أى حساب على تويتر عن طريق عدة مواقع مثل:
http://www.howlonghaveyoubeentweeting.com/

وكما هو موضح, فالحساب تم إنشاؤه اليوم وقبل كتابة الأربع تغريدات الأولى مباشرةً, ولكن الحساب تجاوز عدد متابعيه 1000 متابع في خلال هذه الفترة الوجيزة.
وعليه وكما يتضح من عنوان وصياغة الخبر, قامت بوابة الأهرام الإليكترونية بإعتماد الحساب كمصدر أخبار مباشر!

"برغم نفي النيابة.. حسين سالم يؤكد عبر "تويتر": 3 لقاءات جمعتني بالشاطر ومالك للتصالح مقابل 50% من ممتلكاتي
"

ولم يتم مراعاة النقاط التالية:

1- أن الحساب لا يوجد به أى إثبات على إنتماؤه لرجل الأعمال الهارب.
2- الصورة الخاصة بالحساب هى صورة منتشرة على الإنترنت ل"حسين سالم" وهى ليست أفضل ما يعبر عنه, حيث أنها تظهر بوضوح مشكلة عينه اليمني والتي يتعمد إخفاؤها بقدر المستطاع "إن لم يكن قام بعملية تجميل في خلال العامين الماضيين".
3- المعلومة التى تم ذكرها بخصوص التصالح مقابل تنازله عن نصف ممتلكاته ووساطة "خيرت الشاطر" و "حسن مالك" هى معلومة تم ذكرها في العديد من وسائل الإعلام.
4-  الحساب تجاوز عدد متابعيه 1000 متابع في خلال هذه الفترة الوجيزة..وهو ما يبدو مريب وقد يشير إلى تعمد شخص ما تسويق هذا الحساب.
5- لن أبحث كثيرا وإعتقادى الشخصي أنه حساب زائف, ولكن إن ظهر خلاف ذلك فهو لا يشفع لأى وسيلة إعلام نقلها عن الحساب أى أخبار بشكل مؤكد..

أنصحكم بالبحث خلف الحسابات المزعومة ل "صفوت الشريف" و "زكريا عزمي" وغيرهم من الشخصيات المثيرة للجدل, هؤلاء لم ولن يهتموا بتبرئة انفسهم أمام الرأي العام ومسئلة برائتهم جنائيا هى صفقات مع النظام لا يحتاجوا إعلانها.

وأترككم مع لقطة لمن قاموا بعمل "ريتويت" لأول تغريديتين كتبهما الحساب بعد إنشاؤه :) 




الخميس، 21 فبراير 2013

“Google Play” reveals your data!!


“Google Play” reveals your data!!

Would you give your privacy data for an Android application?
EVERY time you purchase an app from Google Play, your name, address and email is passed on to the developer, it has been revealed!
News.com.au wrote:
The “flaw” – which appears to be by design – was discovered by Sydney app developer, Dan Nolan who told news.com.au that he was uncomfortable being the custodian of this information and that there was no reason for any developer to have this information at their finger tips!
GooglePlay
GooglePlay
“Let me make this crystal clear, every App purchase you make on Google Play gives the developer your name, suburb and email address with no indication that this information is actually being transferred”.
This is a massive oversight by Google. Under no circumstances should I be able to get the information of the people who are buying my apps unless they opt into it and it’s made crystal clear to them that I’m getting this information. This is a massive, massive privacy issue Google. Fix it. Immediately.
The author, Claire Porter, added a comment on the story after its headline had been neutered to the nicer “Google ‘flaw’ puts users’ details on display” that stated, “For the people asking how the story was amended: Despite the fact that Google refused to comment on the record, I was asked to change the headline (both the homepage headline and SEO headline inside the story), as well as the standfirst and lead (first paragraph). Google’s issue was with the use of the word ‘flaw.’
So it is not hard to say that Google is selling you out! From here you might be interested to know The difference between Apple’s app store and Google Play: User data
Google faces privacy issues, as Reuters mentioned that European data watchdogs said on Monday they plan to take action against Google by this summer for its privacy policy, which allows the search engine to pool user data from across all its services ranging from YouTube to Gmail.
I am an Android fan, I like it and I use it, but I will not allow to give my personal information without my permission, and I guess that most of the users are the same, aren’t you?

الخميس، 14 فبراير 2013

How to stop Social Media notifications from annoying you?


How to stop Social Media notifications from annoying you?

Nowadays, there is no one don’t use the social media websites. When you signed up for serviceswithout configuring your settings you will found your e-mail inbox filled with many of notifications. So, you want to know how to disable those settings.
social-media-notifications-trendingdig
Here we go with a special website called NotifyMeNot which help you to do so.
NotifyMeNot helps you stop annoying emails from reaching your inbox and aims to make your inbox a cleaner place.
 They introduce the features saying:
“You don’t need an email every time
Re: something happened.
Save your inbox for Real Messages from Real People.
Most notification emails are neither. We show you the exact tips for limiting these emails and give you direct links to your settings.”.

NotifyMeNot
NotifyMeNot
This is the interface which you will find when you go to http://www.notifymenot.com , every square represents a website, and when hovering over it with the mouse pointer, it shows 2 options:
1- Go to settings:
Which is simply and direct you to the settings page for the desired website or service, to configure it.
2- See tips page:
Which recommends some tips and options that you should not disable.
notifyOptions
notifyOptions
 Also you could find some other tips like:
 What’s wrong with deleting them? — It takes over 4 minutes to get back on track from each distraction.
 Don’t I need some of those notifications? — It takes over 4 minutes to get back on track from each distraction.
Interesting service might offer you some help or save some extra time. Do you know any similar social media services? Share your thoughts below.

الأربعاء، 30 يناير 2013

Look inside the Core of #Twitter!


Look inside the Core of #Twitter!

Would you like to have a direct look inside the core of  Twitter?
You can check out the Twitter activity in real time via TweetPing, which is a new service allows to visualize and count Tweets from all over the world.
TweetPing
TweetPing

TweetPing is based on 4 technologies:

1- Node.js: A platform built on Chrome’s JavaScript run-time for easily building fast, scalable network applications.
2- Socket.io: Aims to make real-time apps possible in every browser and mobile device.
3- Processing.js: The sister project of the popular Processing visual programming language, designed for the web. Processing.js makes your data visualizations.
4- Backbone.js: Gives structure to web applications by providing models with key-value binding and custom events, collections with a rich API of enumerable functions.
Back to TweetPing functionality, it is following Twitter data directly from the API, with 7 columns represent 5 continents “global geographic areas” and a columns contains total statistics plus a column about the project,  and 5 rows represent all (tweets, words, and characters) per second, as well as latest hash-tags and latest “@” mentions.
Tweetping monitors each of the world’s posts on the micro-blogging site, and identifies them with a small flashes of light on a map of the Earth as they happen.
A Twitter heart beats and a  real-time traffic monitoring tool, which you could make a very good use of it, if you are a social media researcher, marketer or if you are a geek.
The fascinating tracker is the work of Paris-based developer Franck Ernewein, who launched the site several days ago.
Do you know about any other similar tools? OR do you have a good idea to make use of that project? share it with us.

الأربعاء، 16 يناير 2013

Dear World: Why you should stop #Java immediately?!


Dear World: Why you should stop #Java immediately?!

About 3 billion devices worldwide are using Java, why you should “or you must” kick it out of your systems, until further notice?!
3 billion devices are running Java
Java 3 Billion
 Most of the tech guys and online “updated” users now by know about Java critical flaw “new Java zero-day vulnerability,” which simply allows hackers reach to your computer by spreading malicious files to infect users who could browse a malicious page or click a spam link, as most of the browsers are Java enabled by default.
This exploit targets the vulnerability in Java Version 7 Update 10 and earlier, so DHS “The Department of Homeland Security” published an alert on United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team’s website “US-CERT” which forced Oracle to release a patch this week and you can find it here.
US Computer Emergency Readiness Team Logo
US Computer Emergency Readiness Team
Cool? No, not yet, as DHS updated the alert, saying:
“Disable Java in web browsers
This and previous Java vulnerabilities have been widely targeted by attackers, and new Java vulnerabilities are likely to be discovered. To defend against this and future Java vulnerabilities, consider disabling Java in web browsers until adequate updates are available. As with any software, unnecessary features should be disabled or removed as appropriate for your environment.”
CNET has contacted Oracle for comment and they will update their report when they learn more, whileDailyDot wrote about the issue saying that the recent discovery of the Red October computer spying campaign  perhaps has made the DHS even more sensitive to the possibilities of exploitation, given the wide penetration of Java, which is used on PCs and Apple machines as well as on mobile devices, as many as 100 million machines have been estimated at risk, which made Apple to block Java 7 Plug-in on OS X to address widespread security threat.
Also, ZDNET reported that Red October hackers also used Java exploit for spy campaign.
Operation Red October
Operation Red October
So, why fixing the Java flaw will take so long? Oracle isn’t saying much, but the OpenJDK community has provided InfoWorld with a complete analysis — and a critique of Oracle’s patch:
“While Oracle’s quick fix appears to have broken the exploit chain in this instance, researchers fear that building another chain could be possible — and may already have happened within the shadows of the black-hat cracker community. They fear that no single developer has the overall knowledge of all of the subsystems involved to safely create a rapid fix, so it will take a process of experimentation stretching over many months to work out what must be re-engineered to make new exploit chains impossible. Oracle seems to agree: It has set the default security level in Java to “high,” just in case.”
Now, what to do? First, make sure you have Java Version 7 Update 11, then turn off the Java Runtime in all of your browsers, from inside the Java Control Panel, (you could follow InfoWorld or NakedSecurity to disable Java in your browsers step by step for each browser), and follow US-CERT updates, also I highly recommend to read their paper about securing your web browser, if you didn’t do that before!
Have you faced a recent issue related to Java? And do you have any other ideas about that issue? Come on, share your view.

الجمعة، 11 يناير 2013

Finding and Archiving all your Tweets


Finding and Archiving all your Tweets

Yes you can archive your Tweets, but you should pay attention!
Have you ever wanted to check any of your old tweets? Wanted to recall a situation or an old memory, even needed to reach any of your Retweets?
 Yes Retweets-  Indeed most of Twitter users wanted to do, and mentioned that on so many occasions, while Twitter was not supporting that option as the user was allowed to reach theoretical maximum of 3,200 statuses.
twitter-archiving-congress-librarry

So here we are, on 19 December 2012, Twitter Engineering Team posted on their blog telling that:
It’s no secret: You make Twitter what it is. And if you tweet, you may have found yourself wanting to go back in time and explore your past Tweets. Maybe you wanted to recall your reaction to the 2008 election, reminisce on what you said to your partner on your 10th anniversary, or just see your first few Tweets. We know lots of you would like to explore your Twitter past. Today, we’re introducing the ability to download your Twitter archive, so you’ll get all your Tweets (including Retweets) going back to the beginning. Once you have your Twitter archive, you can view your Tweets by month, or search your archive to find Tweets with certain words, phrases, Hashtags or @usernames. You can even engage with your old Tweets just as you would with current ones.”

How it works ?

You can do this by going to your Twitter account Settings, go down to the bottom of the page and look for the button to request your Twitter archive, If  it’s there, click the it and you’ll receive an email with instructions when your archive is ready to download.
Archive button screenshoot
Twitter Archive button

Now! Are you asking yourself, what if  the option is not there? Don’t worry it’s on the way as Twitter rolling out the feature slowly, starting with some users whose language is set to English, and they will make it available to all users around the world, for all the languages.
 It’s cool..yeah? Not really! on personal level, most of the users would love that feature, but here is the thing, on 04 January 2013, The Library of Congress posted  on their blog :
Library of Congress Logo
Library of Congress
Update on the Twitter Archive at the Library of Congress:
In April 2010, the Library and Twitter signed an agreement providing the Library the public tweets from the company’s inception through the date of the agreement, an archive of tweets from 2006 through April 2010. Additionally, the Library and Twitter agreed that Twitter would provide all public tweets on an ongoing basis under the same terms.”
Twitter-archive
Twitter is donating a full stream of all public tweets to the Library of Congress. That archive includes 21 billion tweets generated between 2006 and April 2010, as well as 150 billion more tweets posted since then, amount to roughly 133 Terabytes of data!
But, the issue is not clear enough till now, and no clue about how the Library of Congress is planning to handle that archive, neither it will make it public nor  it will be by users permission or even if it will be for researching purposes, but you should know  for sure that your tweets are not only for you! Anyway they issued a white paper  that summarizes the project and outlines the progress and challenges.
Now it’s time to ask yourself, do you have any Tweets that you don’t wish them to be public? Share your view, and comment below!