Mediaboss Marketing

Sextortion, or extortion using sexual methods, tops the charts in the Thane City polices cybercrime statistics this year. According to police officials, of the 60 cases of cybercrime registered in Thane till September, 25 were of sextortion, which is over 40% of the total cases. Police officials said that despite their best efforts of raising awareness, cases of sextortion continue to rise.

A recent and fast evolving kind of cybercrime, sextortion involves befriending the victims through social networking platforms, which today exist in abundance. In case of male victims, the accused connect with them posing as women. After some initial chatting, the girl initiates a video call with the victim, convincing him to perform sexual acts on camera. These acts are recorded without the victims knowledge and then used to blackmail him for as much money as he can pay.

The same crime, when aimed at women, uses profiles in the name of men. However, as women are much more careful with regard to their online activities, a sextortion scam takes longer in their case, with the accused winning their confidence over time with promises of love and even marriage.

People who often get connected with strangers through social media or even gaming apps are targets of these crimes. It begins with offers of friendship but soon leads to sharing of compromising pictures or videos that are used for blackmail. The victims of such crimes belong to all age groups. We are investigating these cases by trying to trace the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the accounts in question. We are also trying some additional methods of technical investigation in order to trace and apprehend the accused, an officer with the Thane Polices Cyber Crime Cell said.

Officials said that sextortion can be damaging in more ways than one as even after the victim is bled dry for every penny that he has, there is no guarantee that the accused will not make the compromising videos public or upload them on pornographic websites.

There are hundreds of porn websites on the internet where all kinds of explicit content is hugely popular. Further, there are discussion forums on the dark web that serve as marketplaces, where such videos are auctioned and sold to the highest bidder, an officer with the Maharashtra Cyber department said.

What makes this trend all the more worrying is that not a single case has been detected yet. Further, the police believe that the number of cases reported to them are just the tip of the iceberg.

Victims of such crimes are unwilling to come forward and report them to the police for fear of embarrassment or disrepute it might bring. However, the best and surest way of bringing such cases under control is to report them to the authorities, Deputy Commissioner of Police Sunil Lokhande, Cyber Crime, said.

One of the cases that the Thane police is investigating is of a 19-year-old girl who stays by herself. Due to sheer loneliness during the lockdown, she turned to gaming apps and was befriended by a scamster who first offered emotional support and then convinced her to share explicit pictures of herself. Using these, the accused started blackmailing her, demanding more and more explicit pictures and videos till the victim confided in her parents and a case was registered.

Another case is of a 50-year-old man from a politically-connected family who was similarly targetted by an accused posing as a girl on social media.

Cyber expert Ritesh Bhatia said that the safest policy to follow given the rising trend of sextortion cases was to not accept any requests from strangers.

If you do connect with someone you dont know personally, never accept video calls from them. The very fact that someone who barely knows you is making a video call to you should set alarm bells ringing in your head. Further, it is advisable to make all social media profiles private. This prevents anyone from taking pictures from your social media pages and morphing your face over explicit content, Bhatia said.

Apart from sextortion, the Thane Cyber Cell is also probing cases of phishing, website spoofing and credit and debit card frauds, officials said.

Go here to read the rest:
Cases of sextortion extortion through sexual methods on the rise in Thane - Hindustan Times

Twitter has released a new update which would prevent tweets from disappearing while users are reading them on the Web. The company's new move comes after a barrage of complaints from Twitter users saying that tweets will sometimes disappear from view just when a user is partway through reading a Tweet. The timeline is said to refresh itself continuously, resulting in the disappearance of tweets. Now, with the latest update, users can choose when they want to load new tweets into the timeline on Twitter Web.

Twitter on Tuesday announced the rollout of the new update for the Web client via its Support handle on the microblogging platform. With this, it will no longer automatically refresh timelines on the Web with new tweets. According to the Twitter Support page, users can load new tweets when they want to by clicking on the tweet counter bar at the top of their timelines.

Twitter users who log in through the app have complained of disappearing tweets several times in the past. Tweets were said to be disappearing from view when the timeline would automatically refresh. Twitter assured a fix for this problem in September this year. The company announced that over the next two months, it would be rolling out updates to address the issue.

Twitter has been working on many features and updates for the platform. Recently, Twitter Spaces has rolled out a new feature that allows listeners and hosts to reach out to the audience by sending a direct link to a Spaces audio broadcast.

Separately, Twitter has joined hands with Instagram to ease cross-posting with the launch of Twitter Card previews on Android, iOS, and the Web.

Additionally, Twitter has introduced a new privacy-related feature that lets users remove a follower without blocking them. Once a Twitter user has removed someone, the user's tweets will no longer automatically appear in their timeline. It is currently available on the Web version.

See original here:
Twitter Finally Rolls Out Update to Stop Tweets From Disappearing as You Read Them on the Web - Gadgets 360

This week marks the 10th birthday of Facebook Messenger, which was launched as a separate app back in 2011as part of Facebook's broader push to dominate the social communications space.

Though, in fairness, people only really started to care about Messenger in 2014, when Facebook forced users to download its separate messaging app by removing its messaging options from Facebook proper. Since then, however, Messenger has gone from strength to strength, adding millions more users and becoming one of the three biggest messaging platforms in the world, alongside WhatsApp (also owned by Facebook) and WeChat.

The app has gone through a lot of change in its first decade, and to mark the milestone, Facebook has announced a range of new Messenger features, designed to both spark a celebratory mood, while also adding entirely new functionality to prompt further messaging interaction and usage.

First off, Facebook's adding new Poll Games in Messenger, an interactive polling option that enables you to find out new things about your friends.

As explained by Facebook:

"You can now play Most likely to in pollsto help you discover what your friends really think about topics like who is most likely to give gifts on their own birthday?, most likely to fight zombies while everyone else runs away? and most likely to miss their flight?

You can also write your own prompt for your poll - which will doubt lead to varying levels of tension and angst. But it's another option to help boost engagement within Messenger chats, and it could be a fun idea to spark discussion in your groups.

"To play a poll game in your group chat, tap Polls'' and select the Most Likely To tab to pick a question and select the names of chat participants to be included as potential answers."

Facebook's also adding a new way to share Facebook contacts with friends through Messenger.

The process is fairly straightforward:

"Simply select the contact you want to share, access the chat settings and tap Share Contact under the More Actions'' section."

That could make it easier to connect people through the app, and refer people for business, providing potential networking benefits.

Facebook's also taking the opportunity to preview its coming Word Effects option, "an exciting new way to pair words with the emojisthat have meaning to you and your friends".

As you can see in this example, Word Effects will enable you to choose an emoji to be paired with a certain word or term, which will then spark an on-screen explosion of that emoji character whenever it's used within your chat. Which could get annoying, but it might also be an interesting way to spice up your group chats, and highlight specific terms that have special meaning to you and your friends.

Word Effects will be coming to Messenger in the near future.

Facebook's also adding a new birthday gifting option for payments in Messenger, which delivers your money transfer with new wrapping paper and virtual balloon effects, as well as a Birthday chat theme and 360 background, linking into the celebratory tone. It's also adding a birthday song Soundmoji and new effects for messages.

Facebook's also launched aMessenger is 10! sticker pack, if you're overly keen on celebrating the app's longevity.

And finally, Facebook has also shared some insights into key Messenger milestones -which, among other things,shows that voice notes are at an all-time high this year.

Maybe the lockdowns have made us miss hearing other people speak, or maybe it's part of the broader audio social trend. Either way, some interesting insights into Messenger use over time, and the key trends that have influenced the app's development.

It's difficult to measure the relative success of Messenger's first decade, when you consider its varying shifts.

As noted, Messenger usage surged only after Facebook forced users to take their private chats across to the app, which inflated its popularity from the outset, and while it has since remained a key connection tool, Facebook's efforts to expand its functionality -through Messenger Bots, Games, Stories and other functions - have largely fallen short.

Over time, Facebook has struggled to effectively monetize the app, because users are not overly welcoming of ads in their private spaces (see also: WhatsApp), while it's also been forced to scale back its additions to avoid crowding the UI and turning people away.

And while Messenger does have 1.3 billion active users, it reached that milestone back in 2017. Facebook hasn't provided an updated usage stat since.

Does that mean Messenger has plateaued, and people are switching to other messaging options instead, like Instagram Direct or WhatsApp? Overall, Facebook's 'Family of Apps' (Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp) are sitting on 3.5 billion monthly actives, and rising, so it's not like Facebook's at risk of losing its grip on its audience. But it does seem like it's lost some momentum, with Messenger, in particular, seeming to now have a little less steam.

Given this, it's hard to also predict what the future holds for the app. Messenger remains a critical connection option for many, but the increased push towards improved data privacy doesn't bode well for the app -even with its recent addition of more end-to-end encryption options.

Maybe, then, Facebook's push to integrate its messaging apps is as much about solidifying its hold on messaging as it is about improving functionality. By merging its two big messaging apps, Facebook can build a huge, inter-connected messaging network, which benefits from the western market presence of Messenger, and the higher security of, and user trust in WhatsApp.

The risk is that WhatsApp's reputation for security takes a hit - as it did earlier this year when Facebook announced a change to its Privacy Policy. But maybe, if Facebook can weather that, it will be able to solidify both apps as key utilities for more users moving forward.

Continued here:
Facebook Adds New Tools to Mark the 10th Birthday of Messenger - Social Media Today

Jamf, the popular Apple enterprise partner, has released a new report that details the most common permissions that apps are requesting on Apples App Store.

Jamf used metadata within a sample of almost 100,000 popular apps across the store catalog. This sample was determined by looking at the apps that are installed within Wanderas customer base, which has 2.5 million devices under its management. The metadata analyzed in the research came from aggregated logs that dont contain any identifying information.

Jamfs analysis shows the most requested data type is photos, with at least half the apps across every category requesting access to a devices photo library. The top categories of apps requesting photo library access are:

Apple has tightened up permissions around the photo library, though. With iOS 14, apps now have to give the option to just give access to certain photos.

The camera app is the second most popular permission requested. The top categories of apps requesting access to the camera are:

Apple has gone to great lengths to make sure users know when their camera is being requested and additional permissions and clear UI indicators.

Apple has always been focused on location tracking and privacy. Steve Jobs, before his passing in 2011, had this to say at the D8 conference.

We take privacy extremely seriously, said Jobs. A lot of people in [Silicon] Valley think were old-fashioned about this.

The third most requested permission requested is location. The top categories of apps requesting location information are:

With iOS 13, Allow Once was added as an option for users when an app requests location.

The fourth most popular app permission request is the microphone. The top categories of apps requesting access to the microphone are:

Social Networking (69%) Photo & Video (64%) Business, equal third with Productivity (41%). The Productivity category includes apps such as Asana and Google Calendar.

So what are the key things we should take away from this report? Heres what Jamf had to say:

Despite improvements by both Apple and Google in promoting personal privacy, consumers need to take steps of their own to secure their data. The purpose of this research is to encourage users to consider the data they are sharing before accepting any request that appears on their devices. There are some data points in this analysis that arent surprising, and some that are.

Personal privacy has been in the discussion lately, with the new CSAM and iMessage functionality coming in iOS 15 aimed to prevent harm to children. In my opinion, here are some actionable things you can do as a result of this report: Think twice before giving an app your location, delete apps you no longer need and audit the Privacy section of the Settings app related to location, photo access, and camera access. If you cant think of a reason why a random app would need access to your photos, revoke permissions.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

Read more:
Jamf: These are the most common permissions requested by popular apps - 9to5Mac

Sayef Turan is a genius Blogger, Wikipedian, Social Media enthusiast and Influencer who shines against all odds to be a social media sensation and has made it big in the digital world. Recently he has achieved something extraordinary. Worlds largest search engine Google recognized him as an influencer and social networking site Facebook has verified hisofficial account. He is the first Bangladeshi wikipedian to be verified on Facebook. Facebook authorities confirmed it through an email to the public figure. Facebooks Verified badge, blue tick mark is designed to let people know that theyre authentic accounts.

Out of the few influencers Sayef Turan is the one who has eventually built his presence as a high-end influencer with humongous fan following on the internet. Hails from Narayanganj, Sayef pursuing his BSc degree in Computer Science & Engineering. He has dwelled deep into the subject of Influencer marketing to emerge gaining in-depth knowledge. His hard work did pay off, and all the sweat and toil and years of practice to master the craft led him to success. He has been ruling the Internet through his social media strategy and creative writing on several international platforms. In an interview with The Independent Sayef expressed about his achievements and passion for social media and plans for the future.

Youre now globally recognised as an authentic public figure, how do you feel?

Ive been using my profile since 2014. I used to upload my personal thoughts there. Its become popular among my fans for its regular updates and provided information. Im very happy that my official Facebook account has been verified by Facebook authority. Few days back, world's largest search engine Google recognized me as an author and influencer too. Now whenever people search me on Google theyll see a knowledge panel with my name.

Please tell us about your principle approach to Wikipedia journey

Wikipedia, the worlds largest volunteer-made online encyclopedia with as many as 55 million articles, it is the 13th most-visited space on the internet. Many people dont know this but Wikipedia is also available in 300 different languages. From the beginning of my journey, I encouraged people to contribute for Wikipedia through their knowledge. Ive been editing Wikipedia since 2018 and have created more than 400 pages and in addition, have edited more than 10,000 pages on Wikipedia

What is your advice toyoung generation ?

Always have a positive approach to your work. Failures come and go, dont let that become a hurdle and stop you from moving forward. Before creating the content, it is important to get in-depth knowledge and understand the target audience. Success can never be measured and there is no end point to it. We should keep hustling to achieve more even after reaching the plateau

Please tell us about your future plan

I believe in multitasking. It is not that I will concentrate on one particular aspect. Im a social media enthusiast so one thing is for sure after completing my study I want to continue my passion on this field

In this cut-throat competitive world, Sayef is one of the emerging stars in the digital world. Started on a small scale, his own venture Sayef Digital in the career of more than three years has collaborated with brands like Unilever, Lakme, Nestl, LOreal, Adidas and various other international names.With dedication and sheer interest, he made his mark on the National as well as the International stage and miles are there for him to reach.

SI

Continued here:
In conversation with the versatile social media maestro- Sayef Turan - theindependentbd.com