MySQL.com, the official website of the database management system of the same name, was today subjected to an attack whereby hackers used SQL injection exploits to gain access to a complete list of usernames and passwords on the site.
News of the attack surfaced when the attackers posted details of the compromise on the FullDisclosure mailing list, publicly listing the contents of database tables used to store member and employee data, but also a small sample of user logins and password hashes.
Owned by Oracle, MySQL is used by millions of websites to store and deliver information, with some of the most popular online services and platforms including WordPress and Joomla utilising the software. Today’s attack was achieved using “blind SQL injection”, targeting MySQL.com, MySQL.fr, MySQL.de and MySQL.it, but also two Sun domains.
Naked Security reports that passwords were incredibly easy to crack, with the Director of Product Management’s WordPress password being set to a four digit number.
It appears that the attacks were not due to flaws in the MySQL software itself, but flaws in the implementation of their websites.
MySQL hasn’t commented on the compromise, we will update you as soon as we know more.Image Credit, Techie Buzz
All 21 tracks of Snoop Dogg‘s latest album, Doggumentary, have just been released on the artist’s MySpace page, two days prior to the album’s official release.
The new release features performances from such artists as Willie Nelson, Young Jeezy, R. Kelly, the Gorillaz, John Legend and many others. The album is a conceptual follow-up to Snoop Dogg’s 1993 debut, Doggystyle.
Some of the tracks have been available online for a while, but others are brand new. You can hear clean versions of the full track list now, and the album will be available for purchase on March 29.
Here’s a sample of one of the newer tracks for fans:
Call us spoiled, but we were expecting something a bit more modern than a MySpace release for the web-savvy artist, whose recent forays into Internet culture have included branded virtual goods and social gaming tie-ins. Heck, Snoop’s last album got the Ustream treatment, and that was back in 2009. And several tracks were released early via Snoop’s “Puff Puff Pass Tuesdays” on Twitter and Facebook, a practice that was inspired by Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Fridays weekly releases.
Maybe we’ve been led to expect a lot by digital efforts such as the thoroughly slick, Twitter-fied microsite for Jay Z’s latest release, but we were hoping for something a little nerdier from everyone’s favorite rapping herbalist. Who knows — perhaps something more impressive will be coming along with the album’s official release.
What do you think of the new album? If you were Snoop Dogg, would you have chosen MySpace as the digital location for the record’s debut? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Brands and businesses are looking for ways to leverage Facebook’s recently unveiled Questions tool in ways that differ from what they’re already doing on Q&A sites such as Quora, Yahoo Answers and LocalMind.
The feature, which Facebook rolled out to all users March 24, functions as a recommendation engine. It also presents a major opportunity for businesses to conduct market research and crowdsource in a far more elegant way than was previously possible, according to Ben Grossman, communication strategist for marketing agency Oxford Communications.
“We know from Nielsen that recommendations from friends and family and the opinions of online strangers are the top two most trusted forms of advertising,” Grossman told Mashable. “Facebook Questions offers the perfect opportunity for brands to tap into exactly that.” NOTE: Page owners can access Questions by logging into their page and then heading to the Questions page to enable the feature. For detailed instructions, click here.
Brands, businesses, groups and organizations can then use Questions in several ways. For example, Grossman said:
Ice cream parlors can find out what the flavor of the week should be.
A gym can find out what time is best for its new hip-hop yoga class.
Radio stations can determine the hottest concerts for the summer.
Manufacturers can do a pulse check on fans’ holiday shopping plans.
“The best part about this is that it’s in a trusting, social and real-time setting,” he said. “The opportunity to gain instant feedback from a brand’s biggest fans is amazing.”
Fittingly, we had some more questions about Questions. Below, Grossman weighs in on the feature to help brands better understand the tool.
Mashable: How is Facebook Questions different than the Q&A tools already online?
Grossman: Though Questions certainly falls into a similar category as Yahoo Answers and Quora, there are two very major differences:
Answers to questions are not free-form; users are limited to multiple-choice responses.
Questions (and their answers) are not catalogued by search engines at this time. Public Q&A sites like Yahoo Answers and Quora will still remain important for public-facing customer support and inquiries.
Mashable: How will Facebook Questions change the way users of Facebook Pages interact with their fans? Why is this important?
Grossman: Though third-party Facebook application development companies such as Involver and Wildfire have developed turn-key “poll” applications, many users were likely to get hung up on that pesky “Applications Permissions” box that demands access to users personal information.
Questions changes that. No permissions are required, and the Questions platform lets you answer and talk about questions with all your friends no matter if they’ve engaged with a third-party application before or not.
The other great thing about Questions is it comes with a setting that allows users to add more answers to the multiple-choice answers. This bit of flexibility will really and truly allow businesses to learn from their consumers — they just have to know the right questions to ask.
Questions also demands a higher level of fidelity to opinion statistics for brands. If brands bind themselves to the Questions platform to pose questions and they relate to the brand’s business, it’s going to be a lot clearer to all the fans what public opinion is. If the brand doesn’t follow through by acting on that opinion, Questions has a nice comment area that gives fans the perfect place to call a brand out on it.
Mashable: How have you or Oxford used Facebook Questions so far? How do you plan to use the feature in the future?
Grossman:Oxford Communications decided to test out the functionality and float this question out to our fans:
Within 15 hours, we had engaged 13% of our fanbase and had not only gained votes on answers we had given to the question; we also had fans suggesting (and voting for) new answers, including local couponing sites, LiveTVChat and more. For us, it was an opportunity to enjoy a high level of engagement with our followers, emerge as a thought leader and learn a little all at the same time.
The next frontier, after some additional testing, will be to activate Questions on behalf of our clients. Next month, we are planning on extending Legends Outlets Kansas City’s “Charity Check-In” program through use of Facebook Questions. On Legends Outlets Facbeook Page, Legends Outlets is currently encouraging its consumers to check-in with Facebook Places in order to trigger the brand to donate $1 to a pre-determined, local Kansas City charity.
Next month, the brand will be doing the same, but we will also be employing Facebook Questions to ask the fans what charities they would like to see appear as part of the ongoing Charity Check-In program. We’re excited to help Legends Outlets partner with the charities that mean the most to its fans, while raising their friends’ awareness of ways they can give back to the community.
Mashable: What was your initial reaction to the new Facebook Questions tool?
Grossman: Any time Facebook adds a new standard application to all user and business profiles, I get excited. When Facebook adds major new functionality like Questions, it stands to shift the social dynamic of over 500 million people, creating richer, more diverse and increasingly dynamic conversations.
Beyond the impact it will have on users, the widespread release of Facebook Questions is also emblematic of the continuing trend we’ve seen from Facebook: As soon as a new trend in social media begins to rise up, Facebook acts quickly and decisively. For those long-time Facebook users out there, Questions will hearken back to the days when Polls were far more common on Facebook. But this round of Q&A-based functionality released by Facebook is likely more of a direct response to the increasing popularity of up-and-coming sites like Quora and LocalMind.
What I love about Questions is how true it is to Facebook’s zeal for transparency and trust.
Will You Be Using Questions For Your Business or Brand?
How do you plan to use Facebook Questions for your brand, business, group or organization? Let us know in the comments.
