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What do twitter and bit.ly have to do with spammers and botnets ?

Who doesn't know twitter? A microblogging platform allowing people to send and receive updates within the limitation of 140 characters (tweets). It was created in 2006 and since its beginning, services for URL shortening became even more popular, due the limitation of 140 characters. By using a service like that, a long URL may be shortened to less characters than the original one. For example, the address http://joeshall.blogspot.com/2011/06/dirty-jobs-ii.html can be written as http://bit.ly/m9K6m0 , that's 63% size reduction, which is very welcome in a service like twitter.

URL shortener service providers, of course, are not providing the service for nothing. They are able to track clicks for each URL, showing information as traffic, source conversations for the addresses, history, they are able to sell customized shortened addresses, etc.

We may think URL shortener is a service like any other, but there are some drawbacks we need to analyze before posting a shortened link. Spammers are making use of techniques to hide the real addresses of links sent by e-mail, redirecting users to some servers pretending to be an Internet Banking website, just to give one real example. URL shortener is another useful way to hide the real address and cheat the users to steal passwords, infect their computers with worms, etc.

This is the main reason services like bit.ly, for example, are listed as a real threat to end-users and beginning to be included in some domain blacklists for e-mails. Just thinking a little bit for now, why use a shortened URL in an e-mail message? They might be useful if used on twitter, but that's enough, right?

Updated (12/21/2011): Some interesting thoughts in the same way. Malware behind QR Code using a similar technique. http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=1938

Dirty Jobs - II

In 2007 I wrote another post in this blog about quality, early adopters and cheapest "gadgets": Dirt Jobs - I

Ok, the beginning of that post was only an introduction for my "dirt job" during a Saturday afternoon.

Four years later, today, once again my Logitech Elite Keyboard was struggling to keep the keys working properly due to all the dust it got in all these 4 years of hard work.

Here are some pictures during the process:

1. Without the keys

2. Without the screws

3. This is a multimedia keyboard with some aditional keys for Windows Media Player integration. If you also need to take your keyboard to take a bath, caution when removing these wires to not damage your keyboard

4. From another angle

5. After monting and washing all the keys with soap and hot water, it's time to put all the keys in place. This is the best part of the process, when you will test your memory to put all of them in the correct place! :-)

6. Great, my keyboard is in place again and working well... for another 4 years?

Thanks for your visit and don't throw your old keyboard away, buy a good one and have it cleaned once in a while, it will be with you for several years!