Timeline

A while back, we blogged about some upcoming changes on Facebook. The new Timeline layout is now ready for release. All Facebook accounts will be updated to the new Timeline layout on December 29, 2011.

You may already have noticed changes in some profiles. Timeline has been accessible to all users for a while, giving them the choice to publish or simply modify their Timelines prior to the December 29 release. 

We're interested to know what you think of these new Facebook features. Please enter your comments at the bottom of this blog post. 
And
keep in mind that Websense technology can protect your Timeline from spam,
malicious links, and unwanted comments.
(Read here about the security
partnership with Facebook that we announced in October.) 

Sponsored Stories

In January 2012, Facebook users will start to see their photos appear in third-party advertisements in News Feeds. Facebook’s new “Sponsored Stories” feature will appear in the Ticker section – a feature released earlier this year and located on the right-hand side of the Facebook page.

Users will see targeted Sponsored Stories based on their friends' and their own “Page likes,” check-ins, app shares, games played, and so on. These stories are visible only to people who are already eligible to see your News Feed story.

For example, if you own a small business and you want people to hear about you, you can pay to have activity posted in the Sponsored Stories column. These postings are based only on the actions of users' friends. Your business is more credible because the link comes from a friend.

Facebook will implement this feature slowly, starting with one advertisement per day per user. According to a Facebook spokesperson, up to 10% of the stories appearing in the Ticker will be Sponsored Stories.

As the leading
web content classification and security firm, and as a security partner with
Facebook, Websense tracks these trends closely. We do not see increased
security risks based on Sponsored Stories, but let us know what you think.

Last week, China's largest software programmers' Web site CSDN (China Software Developer Network) was hacked, and account information for more than 6 million users was leaked and quickly spread via the Internet. One day later, Tianya, the biggest Chinese online forum, was reportedly hacked for the account information of 40 million users. This cyber attack has continued, with several well-known sites like the Duowan game, the 7k7k game, the e-commerce sites 360buy and Dangdang, the popular dating sites like Zhenai being hacked and user data leaked. Some sites' databases have been published on the Internet and can be easily downloaded.

…(read more)

Catalyst Corporate FCU announced Thursday the schedule for town hall meetings it will conduct in January and February to help credit unions transition from Western Bridge Corporate FCU during 2012.

CUNA’s Regulatory Advocacy department has created a chart that lists proposals from a variety of agencies that affect credit unions that are pending as the credit union world heads into 2012.

Thousands of consumers got an early start to a financial healthy 2012 by joining credit unions in the weeks leading up to Bank Transfer Day Nov. 5.

CUNA’s Project Zip Code (PZC) has played a pivotal role in recent credit union advocacy efforts, and a new version of CUNA’s PZC software can give credit unions a great advantage as they work to advocate for their credit unions and their members in discussions with legislators and candidates for office.

CUNA’s Washington, D.C., and Madison, Wis., offices will be closed Monday in observance of the New Year’s holiday. News Now will not publish an issue Monday but will resume regular publication on Tuesday.

Ohio credit unions’ financial performance during third quarter continued to stay among the strongest in the nation, said the Ohio Credit Union League.

Sunday’s H&FF Radio program covers college savings, financial planning for newly single women, job-hunting and financial lessons from the Amish.

Still using Internet Explorer version 5 or 6? Not sure what version of Internet Explorer you’re using? You can find out by going to “About Internet Explorer” in the “Help” menu of your browser window.

Why?

The Internet is always changing and improving. New threats also surface regularly. It is important to keep your browser up to date to ensure a safe, straightforward, and hassle–free experience on the Internet.

How?

We have provided links below to a few of the most popular current browsers.

Mozilla Firefox

Available for most platforms including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Very customizable and extensible with Add-ons.

Internet Explorer 8 & 9

More secure and standards–compliant version of Internet Explorer.

Google Chrome

An up and coming browser using the same standards compliant WebKit rendering engine as Apple’s Safari.

Apple Safari

It renders web pages at lightning speed. It works on iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, and PC.

What if my computer won’t run these browsers?

Although it might be nice if that computer you bought years ago would keep working the same way forever, that’s just not the online world. The increasing need for better security and the constant improvements in features and capabilities require hardware and software that can keep up…and keep your important financial information safe and secure.