HitChrome

If you think your computer is attack-proof merely because you had the latest and licensed antivirus software, it is time to worry. Clickjacking, has come to light and has caused enough anxiety among the security researchers, a new browser vulnerability.

The worrying fact is that none of the popular browsers, including the newly launched Google Chrome, besides Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera are free from this exploit. The only browser which is reported to be immune to this attack is the lesser-known Lynx which incidentally is a text-only browser.

A security advisory issued by Adobe with regard to its Flash Player states that it could be subject to clickjacking attacks and hijack webcams as well. Clickjacking enables an attacker to force a user click on an invisible link, obviously without his knowledge or consent. Once a user clicks the link unknowingly, the hacker takes over the control.

When you might think you are clicking on your bank funds transfer link, or saving a favourite link at Digg, or Facebook application, the reality could be entirely different, and dark.

So if you havn’t heard of it, it looks like a variant of the clickjacking vulnerability was outed before Rsnake and Jeremiah Grossman could present it publicly. An attack can invisibly hover these virtual buttons below the users’ mouse, so that when they click on something they visually see, they actually are clicking on something else the attacker wants them to, security experts have reported the vulnerability. Read the rest of this entry »

BusinessWeek has just revealed its annual listed of the 25 most influential people on the internet, as voted by its readers and staff.

While the usuals have made the list, some unexpected entrepreneurs make an appearance with their smaller, but just as significant, contributions to the web.

Who has missed the cut? Who doesn’t deserve their spot. We would love your feedback on this, so please take a moment to have your say at the end of this list.

1. Steve Ballmer. Microsoft’s CEO is suffering complaints over Vista and a consumer base that’s moving from software to the internet. While the group’s revenue is bringing in $1.8 billion each month, Ballmer will have to chart a new course to stay on top.

2. Mitchell Baker. The founder of the Mozilla Group has seen its market share rise to nearly 20% while Microsoft’s Explorer has lost ground from 95% to 72%. But competition from Google’s Chrome browser may see them bring out new software quicker than usual.

3. Jeff Bezos. Amazon.com’s leader brought the group’s stock to a record high last year, continuing to focus on technology and the site’s new music download service.

4. Sergey Bin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt. Google’s trinity have managed to turn this once simple search engine into a massive online force, expecting over $US16 billion in sales and an employee base of over 18,000. The new G1 smartphone, running on software developed by Google, may make an impact in the mobile market.

5. Jeff Clavier. This angel investor started a venture capital firm that has seen the rise of sites such as SocialMedia, Mint and news feed aggregator NetVibes. Clavier has been one of the most influential investors in web 2.0, with five of his start-ups acquired by Yahoo and AOL, among others. Read the rest of this entry »

Ok listen up if you are part of the population that has to deal with monthly fertility cycles. Newly launched Go28Days may be the thing for you if you are really trying hard to get pregnant, or really trying hard not to get pregnant. Like a bunch of other sites, they monitor your cycle days, temperature and other stuff I’m not going to talk about, and let you know the days you are most fertile. But the site also has a number of nice touches, including sharing of information with select friends. And soon they say they’ll have a Facebook app (of course) and a mobile version to for adding data and, presumably, making a last minute fertility check before engaging in behavior you’ll likely regret in the morning.

The service is newly launched, but is a sister site to a Polish version that launched late last year. Users of the Polish service have created 100,000 fertility charts, the company says, and over 2 million comments have been added (users can add information daily about their…bodies I guess).

In Japan, girls are crazy over virtual boyfriends. Webkare (Web Boyfriend in Japanese), a mix between a social network and dating simulation site, is Nippon’s newest web sensation. Geared exclusively towards girls, the site attracted over 10,000 members just 5 days after its release on September 10, racking up 3.5 million page views in the same time frame.

The site is a huge hit over here. Girls sign up and become members of a social network but also users of a dating simulation in cartoon style. They have to try to hook up with one of four male Anime characters (who are the “stars” of the site) through “conversations” and must collaborate with other Webkare members in order to move on in the game. Eventually they conquer the heart of the chosen cartoon boy.

It’s pretty weird but clever. Dating simulations have been popular in Japan for quite a while now, but Webkare marks the first time the concept has been brought online and combined with social networking functionality.

Girls choose between one of four different male cartoon characters they want to hook up with upon registration. They can then “communicate” with their digital crush in cartoon-like sequences to try to win over his heart over the course of the game. It’s also possible to meet other boys later in the story, which uses a virtual high school as the main setting. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently Google launched their new browser called Chrome (what a great name). As always Google’s release was surrounded by a lot of buzz and let me tell you now that it was worth it every single bit. Currently the two most popular browsers on the market are Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and the webmaster friendly Mozilla Firefox.

The expectation of the browser was very high and so it should be as Google are a multi million dollar company, actually the fastest growing company in the world. They have met the expectation and exceeded it by miles. Now we will take a look at the beneficial factors of the new browser.
The new browser is better, faster and stronger than IE - long the bane of Internet users the world over, many of whom have converted to Mozilla’s Firefox.

Here’s why:

* Bye-bye world-ending crashes. Each tab you open in Chrome represents its own computer process. This means that if one tab or window crashes, you won’t be forced to close all of your tabs and windows.
* It’s pretty! Google prides itself on simplicity and usability. While Chrome has both, it’s a soothing shade of blue with minimal buttons to fuss over.
* Less memory bloat. One of the problems with Firefox is that if you’ve been using it for too long, it’ll suck up all of your computer’s memory. Each time Chrome goes to a new page, it throws away the last page’s data, reducing its baggage and freeing up your computer’s memory.
* An address bar with brains. Sure IE will help you fill in a Web address, but it won’t make suggestions based on the most powerful Web search engine and you certainly can’t use it as a Google search box. Chrome does both.
* It’s open source. Don’t know what that means? Don’t worry! The smarty-pants geeks do. They will be able to tweak and improve upon the original design, fine-tuning it into perfection.
* Customized welcome page. Whenever you open a new tab in Chrome, it offers users a thumbnail list of their most visited sites.
Read the rest of this entry »