Facebook's free Anti-virus Marketplace targets malware

Facebook's logo Facebook says that only 4% of the site's content is spam
Facebook has launched Anti-Virus Marketplace - a new portal to protect the social network's users.
Members are being encouraged to download anti-malware programs which they can use at no cost for six months.
The firm's flotation filing had previously flagged the issue, saying: "As a result of spamming activities, our users may use Facebook less or stop using our products altogether."
The firm is expected to raise $5bn through the share sale before July.
The move comes three months after security firm Sophos described the site as "a fertile breeding ground for hoaxes, spam and chain letters", adding that Facebook needed to "work harder than ever to reduce the havoc criminals are wreaking".
Sophos is one of the five firms with which Facebook has partnered. The others are McAfee, Microsoft, Symantec and Trend Micro.
Users are limited to installing software from one of the companies as part of the promotion.
The social network also states that it has expanded its web address blacklist to include dangerous sites identified by the security companies.
"This means that whenever you click a link on our site, you benefit not just from Facebook's existing protections, but the ongoing vigilance of the world's leading corporations involved in computer security," it said.

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Because content is typically posted by a trusted source - a friend - many users incorrectly assume links are safe”
Sophos
According to Facebook, spam makes up less than 4% of the content shared on its pages. It says it hopes that the project will help reduce this further.
Malicious links "Now that Facebook is a primary platform for communication, whether you're nine or 99, it's only become a bigger target for cybercriminals," said Trend Micro.
"This partnership will better enable us to protect the people who use our service, no matter where they are in the web."
Sophos added: "Because content is typically posted by a trusted source - a friend - many users incorrectly assume links are safe.
"Scammers often take advantage of the trust relationship to fool users into clicking malicious links.
"Our partnership... will educate users to make more informed decisions regarding what they click on and will help reduce the spread of malicious links."

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Samsung overtakes Nokia in phones

Lucy Williamson reports from Seoul on Samsung's success
Samsung Electronics has overtaken Nokia to become the world's largest maker of mobile phones, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
Nokia took the top spot in 1998 from Motorola, but in the first quarter of 2012 Samsung shipped 93m phones compared to almost 83m by Nokia.
Samsung also reported its highest quarterly profit since 2008.
Net profit was 5.05tn won ($4.5bn; £2.8bn) in the quarter ending 31 March, up 81% from 2.78tn won last year.
Samsung is also the world's biggest TV and flat screen maker.
"We cautiously expect our earnings momentum to continue going forward, as competitiveness in our major businesses is enhanced," said Robert Yi, head of investor relations at Samsung.
Bright future The firm said its IT and mobile communications division, which manufactures the smartphones, made an operating profit of 4.27tn won during the period, as revenues in the division surged 86% from a year earlier.
Samsung will unveil the latest version of its Galaxy range of phones on 3 May.
The Galaxy range has been very popular and helped Samsung overtake Apple to become the world's biggest seller of smartphones.
"The smartphone market has almost only two players, Samsung and Apple," said Lee Sei-Cheol of Meritz Securities.
"Since its Galaxy3 phone is being unveiled in May, Samsung will keep enjoying sales growth in its mobile phone division."

Global mobile handset shipments (Q1)

Company Units (millions) Market share
Source: Strategy Analytics
Samsung
 93.5
 25.4%
Nokia
 82.7
 22.5%
Apple
 35.1
 9.5%
Other
 156.7
 42.6%
Profit call Global demand for smartphones is expected to increase further in coming years, with research firm IDC forecasting that global smart phone shipments will rise by a third to 659.8 million units in 2012.
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Samsung's handset earnings may weaken in the latter half of this year, with the possible launch of Apple's iPhone 5”
Brian Park Tong Yang Securities
Analysts said that given its robust growth and dominance in the sector, Samsung was well placed to benefit from this growth and boost its market share.
However, given the robust growth in the sector, other smartphone makers are also keen to introduce new products and tap into the fast-growing market.
Samsung is facing stiff competition from rivals such as US-based Apple, Finland's Nokia, and Taiwan's HTC.
Apple, which said earlier this week that it sold 35 million of its iPhones in the first quarter, is expected to launch a new version of its handset later this year.
Analysts said that as more models are launched, manufacturers may have to the cut price of their handsets in a bid to attract consumers, a move that may see profit margins shrink.
"Samsung's handset earnings may weaken in the latter half of this year, with the possible launch of Apple's iPhone 5," said Brian Park of Tong Yang Securities.
Chip troubles Another area of concern for Samsung is likely to be its chip manufacturing unit, which has been hurt by slowing global demand for personal computers.
Models showing Samsung Galaxy phones The success of Galaxy range of handsets has helped Samsung offset falls in other units
The firm is one of the world's biggest makers of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips, which are widely used in personal computers.
However, demand for these chips has been declining as consumers turn to tablet PCs, which mostly use flash memory chips.
At the same time, falling prices have also hurt profitability in the sector.
Samsung's memory-chip division saw its profits slide by 54% during the first quarter when compared with the same period a year earlier.
The company said it expected the demand for DRAM chips to rebound in the coming months, but warned that growing competition in the sector "will lead to a price decline".

Facebook buys Instagram photo sharing network for $1bn

Instagram screenshot Instagram says more than 1 billion photos have been uploaded to it
Facebook has announced it is to buy Instagram - the popular photo-sharing smartphone app.
Facebook is paying $1bn (£629m) in cash and stock for the takeover.
Instagram was only launched in October 2010 - initially just for the iPhone before being offered as an Android app last week.
Facebook's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has pledged to continue to develop Instagram as a separate brand, allowing it to post to rival networks.
The app is free and allows users to apply 17 filters to the pictures they take - changing the colour balance to give the images a different feel - before they are uploaded.
It has proven hugely popular. The firm says that it has more than 30 million users uploading more than 5 million new pictures every day.
Paul Kedrosky, a tech investor and author of the Infectious Greed blog, told the BBC: "I understand Instagram has 13 employees - so at $77m a head that makes it the most expensive business deal in history that I can think of."
'Important milestone' Mr Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page: "We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience.
"We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook."
He added: "This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all."
Mr Kedrosky said the speed of the deal was unusual.
"I'm told it also came together very quickly, like a lightning strike.
"After launching on Android last week and adding one million users a day, it became obvious that this wasn't just a photo sharing app - it was a competitive social network, and the concern may have been that there would be rival bids.
"That's the only reason to think Facebook would have done this in the quiet period ahead of its flotation."
Instagram's FAQ says it had previously raised $7.5m in funding from three venture capital firms and "a small group of angel investors".
The deal marks the second time in four months that Facebook has taken on staff from another social network.
In December, it announced it was hiring the co-founders of the location-based check-in service Gowalla. The network closed down shortly afterwards.
The moves come ahead of Facebook's planned flotation later this year. The firm reportedly plans to issue $5bn worth of stock on the New York-based Nasdaq exchange in May or June. The deal could value the firm as being worth as much as $100bn.

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