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Tag: Google

Report: AdWords Fraudbot Helps E-Commerce Firms Compete

July 25, 2014 Paul Roberts

One of the more interesting stories to come out this week is from Brian Krebs over at Krebsonsecurity.com. Writing on Friday, Krebs used his prodigious knowledge of the cyber underground to profile “GoodGoogle,” one of a growing number of specialized online fraud services that helps e-commerce firms target competitors by gaming Google’s AdWords feature. As you probably know, AdWords are one of Google’s biggest sources of revenue. They allow companies with products or services to sell to “bid” on words or phrases (like “Internet of Things”). Users who search on those terms will see hyperlinked ads to the right of their search results that link to a site of the advertiser’s choosing. Advertisers pay a premium to own popular (and lucrative) keywords – more than $40 per click for keywords like “loan,” “insurance,” “mortgage” or “attorney” depending on the word and time of day. Typically, advertisers set a certain daily budget […]

A Guide to Internet of Things Standards | Computerworld

July 23, 2014 Paul Roberts

From Colin Neagle over at Computerworld: a run-down of emergent IoT standards – a list that has suddenly become rather long. From his article: “The complexity of these standardization efforts has evoked comparisons to the VHS and Betamax competition in the 1980s. Re/Code’s Ina Fried wrote, “there’s no way all of these devices will actually be able to all talk to each other until all this gets settled with either a victory or a truce.” In the meantime, we’re likely to see some debate among the competing factions. “If this works out at all like past format wars, heavyweights will line up behind each different approach and issue lots of announcements about how much momentum theirs are getting,” Fried wrote. “One effort will undoubtedly gain the lead, eventually everyone will coalesce and then, someday down the road, perhaps all these Internet of Things devices will actually be able to talk to […]

Apple And IBM: The Corporatization of Consumerization

July 17, 2014 Paul Roberts

Apple Computer has built up a brand so strong that it borders on being a cult. That is why it is jarring to realize that, at the end of the day, Steve Jobs’ baby is just another company that needs to make its numbers each quarter and keep Wall Street happy. The company’s announcement of an exclusive partnership with IBM is just that: a reminder that Apple’s core business is business, and that the company has been sorely underperforming in a key market: the enterprise. Whatever its faults, IBM is flush with the very things that Apple lacks: the brand, technology, expertise and reach that puts enterprise technology buyers at ease. As we reported, IBM will offer mobile device management, security, data analytics and cross-platform integrations for Apple’s iPad and iPhone that leverage IBM’s cloud services. There will be IBM-managed offerings around mobile device activation, supply and management tailored to businesses. But the partnership is something more- […]

Google Unveils Project Zero Hacking Team

July 15, 2014 Paul Roberts

Google has unveiled an all-star team of hackers and security researchers it is calling “Project Zero.” According to a post on Google’s security blog, the company is hoping to use its security research muscle to investigate the security of “any software depended upon by large numbers of people, paying careful attention to the techniques, targets and motivations of attackers.” Research like Google employee Neel Mehta’s, which helped expose the “Heartbleed” vulnerability in OpenSSL is a good example of the kinds of stuff Project Zero will do. Researchers will devote their time to finding and reporting software vulnerabilities and researching new exploits, mitigations and “program analysis.” The company said it plans to disclose any vulnerabilities it finds to the vendor first, then to the public in an external database. The public can monitor “time to patch” (given that the vulnerability is disclosed ahead of a patch). Project Zero brings Google’s elite hackers under […]

Hacker Takes on the World’s Spy Agencies | WIRED

July 9, 2014 Paul Roberts

Andy Greenberg over at Wired has a fine profile of former Google hacker and human rights champion Morgan Marquis-Boire (aka “Morgan Mayhem”), who is now working for the start-up publication First Look Media Marquis-Boire is an expert in malware analysis, with particular expertise in analyzing the software that oppressive regimes use to spy on journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents. At First Look, he will be devoting his talents to defending what Greenberg calls “an endangered species: American national security journalists.” First Look is a nascent, independent online media startup founded by eBay billionaire Pierre Omidyar. The site is best known as the (new) home of Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, and the launch pad for whatever secrets are still hidden in the trove of information Edward Snowden leaked to Greenwald. According to Greenberg, Marquis-Boire was hired away from Google and given the task of safeguarding those documents as well as the […]