The launch of the virtual currency for Facebook? Not too excited

On Tuesday night, Los Angeles Times blog noted that a Facebook Soundbite guru of gambling "Gareth Davis GamesBeat place in the conference in San Francisco that the company is" looking "offering a virtual currency for developers. The industry of virtual goods, the article notes, is a giant $ 1.5 million.

This would mean that games and other applications with a presence in Facebook could use universal "Facebook currency" that would not only be interoperable applications, but Facebook could line their pockets with more cash. But Davis language ( "looking") is as ambiguous as it gets, so my advice to potential developers would be excited "does not hold your breath."

What this reminds me of the once-hyped "Facebook Wallet." Remember that? A few months after the social network launched its developer platform in May 2007, began to spread the word that also works as a PayPal payment system. Executives hinted at the conference panels. In a high-profile move, Facebook hired Benjamin Ling, the Google engineer who was instrumental in developing the Google Checkout product. Ling but left after less than a year in the company and returned to Google. Began to spread rumors that Facebook has scrapped the plan entirely.

Once home, I spoke with earlier this month in the virtual currency wallet Facebook said that it was never so close to success, as some seem to think there was. "It's not like that Ditch, which is never off the ground," the source said, adding that some developers are wary of the idea first, because of the extra work with little obvious benefit of not "easier".

I'd assume would be similar to a Facebook for its own currency. He had a lot of development for the developers of a product that does not necessarily want. However, one back: Facebook has offered its own virtual property in the form of "Facebook gifts that members can buy each other for the profiles, since 2007. Late last year, Facebook has changed the payment system for Facebook Gifts U.S. $ a "credits", making it easier for the site to load more or less than their previous standard $ 1 for virtual items.

Obviously, one should be very easy for Facebook to make these funds available to developers. Facebook of the road map, but in these days has shown that its focus is on the Facebook Connect platform component of the strengthening of functions of the applications for incorporável. It is also unclear whether the developers who want to alter products ripe for a new institute's virtual currency - or if we all had to be interoperable with competitors.

"Koobface" Worm Resurfaces on Facebook, MySpace

Security experts are warning users of Facebook, MySpace and other social networking communities to be on guard against a new strain of the "Koobface" worm, which spreads by tricking users into responding to a message apparently sent from one of their friends.

The latest version of Koobface arrives as an invitation from a user's friend or contact, inviting the recipient to click on a link and view a video at a counterfeit YouTube site. Visitors are told they need need to install an Adobe Flash plug-in to view the video.

The bogus plug-in instead installs a Trojan horse program that gives Koobface author(s) control over the infected user's computer, according to security firm Trend Micro, which documented the new strain on its blog.

In addition, the worm also hijacks the victim's social networking account, by sending out additional invites in order to spread the worm to the victim's friends and contacts. The worm currently is spreading across multiple networks, including hi5.com, friendster.com, myyearbook.com, bebo.com and livejournal.com.

Trend also reports at least two different bogus Facebook apps being used to harvest users' personal data. Last week, a rogue Facebook app called "The Error Check System" quickly spread among Facebook users, arriving in a notification that told users that one of their friends "has faced some errors when checking your profile." Hours later, Trend spotted another rogue Facebook app, which urged recipients to click a link to find out why they had supposedly been reported to Facebook for violating the site's terms of service.

It's important to note that practicing basic online street smarts can save you from falling for these types of attacks, regardless of the medium. As always, be extremely cautious about clicking on links in unsolicited messages, even if they appear to have been sent by a friend or acquaintance. Also, don't install applications or programs if you didn't go looking for them. Before you install anything, take a few minutes to research the program and its vendor first. If you decide to install the application, make sure to download it directly from the vendor's Web site, if possible.