YouTube Becomes SpamYou

(NEWSER) - So why did Tweets fall silent for much of today? One leading theory traces the problem to the unlikeliest of places—the conflict between Russia and Georgia, CNET reports. It goes like this: A pro-Georgia blogger with accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and the other sites affected by today's slowdown attracted the ire of foes. "It was a simultaneous attack across a number of properties targeting him to keep his voice from being heard," says Facebook's security chief. More»

Spammers launch massive 'Obama Trojan' malware campaign to capitalize on victory

(NEWSER) - Malicious hijackers have hitched a ride on the Barack Obama bandwagon, ChannelWeb reports. "Obama Trojan" emails offer a link to an amazing Obama speech or election results, but when the link is opened, it infects computers with malware that sends the user's personal data to a command center and turns the machine into a spam-spewing zombie. More»

Puzzling hit, but most hacked tied to spammers or dupe accounts

(NEWSER) - The usernames and passwords of more than 55,000 Twitter tweeters were leaked online Monday in a data dump that has puzzled experts. Twitter says that at least 20,000 of the leaked accounts were duplicates, and many more were spam accounts that had already been suspended, InformationWeek reports. Password resets have been sent out to affected accounts, and the possible security breach is being investigated, Twitter says. More»

Consumers fume, FTC files lawsuits

(NEWSER) - Getting spam on your cell phone? You're not alone: Spam text messages in the US soared 45% to 4.5 billion last year, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "I don't even get that much junk mail in my Gmail account," says a journalist in Washington, DC. "This is my phone. It seems more personal." But her effort to seek revenge on one spammer—by calling him back 20 times—was more personally satisfying than effective, because the texts are still flooding her phone. More»

Olympics protected by stringent branding laws

(NEWSER) - The Olympics are headed to London this summer, but visitors and athletes alike better beware of what they post online, reports Mashable . London has passed legislation ahead of the games to penalize people who violate the games' official branding. Legally speaking, this would include:

• Athletes posting media of themselves with products that are not Olympics sponsors
• Fans uploading their own photos or video of the games
• Businesses attracting customers with official Olympics nomenclature, like "2012 Games"