Network World articles from March 2004

Network World archives from March 2004

Controlling messaging chaos.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Sandra Gittlen Maybe it's the statistics that get me - one legal firm spends $500,000 a year combating spam. Maybe it's that spam is threatening to ruin a prime mode of business communication. Or maybe it's all the other resources...

The external attack.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Deborah Radcliff For the most part, hackers break into corporations for one reason: Status. "The hacking community is a strong meritocracy where status is determined by level of competence," Kilger says. As such, most attackers...

Credit card crooks.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Deborah Radcliff What identity thieves are seeking is money, of course. But those who broker in stolen credit cards also are strongly motivated by status, says Dan Clements, CEO of CardCops.com, a credit card protection service...

Filching files from within.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Deborah Radcliff Revenge is one reason employees misuse and abuse systems, as was the case when Kenneth Patterson, former data communications manager for American Eagle Outfitters, disabled his company's ability to process credit...

MEECES to pieces.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Deborah Radcliff Max Kilger likes to get into the heads of computer criminals. He chats with these people at conferences and online, and studies their behavior when they hack inside Honeynet's decoy computers. Throughout his many...

Profiling definition.(computer hackers)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Byline: Deborah Radcliff Cyber crime profiling is defined as the investigation, analysis, assessment and reconstruction of data from a behavioral/psychological perspective extracted from computer systems, networks and the humans committing...

What are they thinking? Knowing hackers' favorite attack patterns and motivations can lead to better network security.
March 1, 2004... Byline: DEBORAH RADCLIFF Hackers, crackers, carders and thieves are putting the squeeze on your network security. But what do you really know about them? What draws them to your network, and why do they do the things they do? Knowing...

Are anti-spam appliances better than software? Two industry insiders debate the merits of their anti-spam approaches.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Yes, by Tim Chiu Appliances are a much better choice than software for spam protection because they address the broad range of security threats facing large companies, small businesses, service providers, and educational and...

The growth of spam in the past five years has created such a deluge that anti-spam technology has become a necessity rather than a precaution.
March 1, 2004... Byline: No, by Ken Schneider The growth of spam in the past five years has created such a deluge that anti-spam technology has become a necessity rather than a precaution. Enterprise customers face a choice between anti-spam software that...

New SSH Communications' offering adds ease of use to its Tectia package.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Rodney Thayer Secure Shell software New SSH Communications' offering adds ease of use to its Tectia package By Rodney Thayer, Network World Lab Alliance In our test of SSH Communications Security's Tectia 4.0 - its...

How we did it.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Rodney Thayer How we did it We configured several clients ranging from 900 MHz to 2-GHz processors with 256M bytes to 1G bytes of memory, and servers with 1-GHz to 2-GHz single processors with 512M bytes to 1G bytes of memory...

Profiling network administrators.
March 1, 2004... Byline: ADRIAN LAMO Editor's note: Adrian Lamo, a white hat hacker who pled guilty to accessing The New York Times computers without permission, agreed to share what he knows about some of the common IT security slips network...

Letters to the editor.
March 1, 2004... Byline: readers Flash, but no substance Regarding Mark Gibbs' Gearhead column "The nuts and bolts of Flashy presentations" (www.nwfusion. com, DocFinder: 9923): I understand that this is a help-type column and many would-be Flash...

Why are the R&D labs so bad?
March 1, 2004... Byline: Howard Anderson Every year major companies such as Cisco, IBM, Lucent and Nortel spend 6% to 10% of their budgets on research and development, yet are often blindsided by hot young companies. Last month, Juniper paid $3.3 billion...

Clearing the clutter; Don't let your storage rooms get overrun by obsolete equipment.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Sandy Gittlen Clearing the clutter Don't let your storage rooms get overrun by obsolete equipment. n BY sandra gittlen Vintage printers. Old PCs. Back-up tapes without the systems to read them. Out-of-date telephone...

XrML keeps content under control.
March 1, 2004... Byline: ARNY EPSTEIN Rights management technologies enforce predetermined rules, or policies, designed to protect and control electronic content. They can dictate a variety of vital day-to-day operations on content, ranging from simple...

the net buzz.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Paul McNamara Let's talk about punishment You've probably seen the Southwest Airlines commercial in which an office worker unintentionally unleashes an e-mail virus and then stands in astonishment as her negligent act comes...

Privacy as an afterthought.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Scott Bradner Y et another group has seized on radio frequency identification as the solution to one of its problems while carefully avoiding even thinking about the privacy aspects. This time it's the U.S. Food and Drug...

Town's VoIP net delivers Amber alert system.
March 1, 2004... Byline: MICHAEL COONEY Few incidents can raise community angst, awareness and action like a missing-child report. So when Herndon, Va., had a chance to implement the national child-abduction warning system known as "Code Amber" last fall,...

Testing against oneself - the component wars.
March 1, 2004... Byline: kevin tolly A nyone who's followed The Tolly Group for more than a few months knows that IT vendors often ask us to conduct competitive tests. However, late last year we received a request we'd not received previously. A...

short takes.
March 1, 2004... n IBM next month will begin shipping its pSeries 690 servers with a faster, 1.9-GHz Power4+ processor, the company says. Further out it plans to offer a new memory card that will double the amount of memory the high-end systems can support. The...

IBM, Nokia team to ease business apps onto WLANs.
March 1, 2004... Byline: STEPHEN LAWSON IBM and Nokia are teaming to make it easier for companies to provide applications to their mobile workers. Next-generation Nokia Communicator devices will include Wi-Fi wireless LAN (WLAN) capability and a deal...

Accellion to manage e-mail attachments.
March 1, 2004... Byline: JOHN FONTANA With the proliferation in volume and size of attachments taxing e-mail systems, Accellion is introducing an updated version of its caching and management appliance designed to boost network performance and let...

Network certification choices grow with Cisco; INFRASTRUCTURE: Training.
March 1, 2004... Byline: PHIL HOCHMUTH Cisco certifications, such as Cisco Certified Internetwork Engineer and Cisco Certified Network Professional, have become sought-after credentials for most network professionals. They also are required levels of...

Enterprise Applications Short Takes.
March 1, 2004... NetPro last week unveiled two tools as part of its plan to evolve from its directory management roots to provide companies with software for managing distributed infrastructure services. NetPro introduced ChangeAuditor for Active Directory and...

A blueprint for effectively managing applications.
March 1, 2004... Byline: johna till johnson I t happens all the time: An application runs poorly. Application developers point fingers at the network engineers; network folks cast aspersions on the developers - and nobody's really sure of the root...

Gamers get a league of their own; Even moms are asking for autographs from pros.
March 1, 2004... Byline: JULIE BORT So your friends call you the Counter-Strike god - among them you're the undisputed champion of the anti-terrorist computer game. Ever think of going pro? No joke. As the popularity of computer games such as...

Novell previews business-continuity cluster.
March 1, 2004... Byline: DENI CONNOR Novell is expected to announce a business-continuity product this spring that lets IT administrators cluster as many as four geographically separate storage-area networks to replicate and mirror data among each other...

SOHO WLAN vendors weigh value of WPA cert.
March 1, 2004... Byline: TONI KISTNER Strong security for wireless LANs is finally here - in the form of Wi-Fi Protected Access. Since June, the Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 175 products, meaning they will interoperate with certified products...

Software helps battle network security threats.
March 1, 2004... Byline: DENISE DUBIE Two vendors recently upgraded products that promise to help network executives identify potential threats and reduce the effects of vulnerabilities on revenue-generating applications. Security information...

ask dr. internet.
March 1, 2004... Byline: steve blass Steve Blass The IPv6 protocol stack software that ships with Windows 2003 and Windows XP (and the IPv6 technology preview for Windows 2000) configures network addresses automatically at start-up. Can we use IPv6 on...

Net.worker briefs.
March 1, 2004... Byline: staff writers 2Wire recently launched the MediaPortal, a software platform that lets DSL providers offer satellite TV, DSL and entertainment services - such as media on demand, personal video recorder, music and photo management,...

Laurel's ShadeTree software branches out.
March 1, 2004... Byline: JIM DUFFY Edge router maker Laurel Networks last week unveiled software that it says enhances its router's broadband and Ethernet service performance, and lets service providers upgrade the system without deactivating the network....

AT&T and MCI find common ground; Carriers sign agreement ending dispute over calls routed through Canada, other disputes.
March 1, 2004... Byline: DENISE PAPPALARDO It turns out it was perhaps just a war of words. Last summer when AT&T accused MCI of routing calls through Canada to avoid paying access fees, AT&T tossed around strong terms such as fraud and racketeering,...

short takes.
March 1, 2004... n Equant last week announced two global satellite services aimed at keeping remote offices in far-flung regions connected to headquarters. The carrier's Dedicated Satellite Access service lets IP VPN customers connect users, especially in areas...

SonicWall intrusion- prevention service on tap.
March 1, 2004... Byline: TIM GREENE SonicWall is adding intrusion prevention to its IPSec VPN and firewall appliances, offering users a way to protect small and midsize businesses as well as branch offices from multiple security threats using a single...

The latest from the Cool Tools zone.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Keith Shaw E ven with a few weeks of trade-show traveling, we found the time to get some quick testing done on some cool new devices. Here are some mini-reviews from the Cool Tools Test Zone. Product: Gateway DVD Recorder...

Lawmakers hear case for regulating VoIP.
March 1, 2004... Byline: GRANT GROSS WASHINGTON, D.C. - A U.S. senator, a state public utilities commission and a telephone company executive have asked the FCC and Congress to slow down their rush toward declaring VoIP service essentially free from...

It's a new domain-name game.
March 1, 2004... Byline: CAROLYN DUFFY MARSAN Touchstone Energy, an alliance of 600 user-owned electric utilities, is at the forefront of a trend toward businesses adopting specialized domain names to market their wares on the Web. Touchstone Energy...

A true 10G Ethernet switch, but failover tests raise resiliency issues; Foundry Networks' Big Iron MG8.
March 1, 2004... Byline: DAVID NEWMAN, NETWORK WORLD LAB ALLIANCE In an exclusive Network World lab test, Foundry Networks' BigIron MG8 switch proved to be one of only two enterprise backbone switches to deliver wire-rate throughput on all interfaces of its...

Foundry's MG8 features.
March 1, 2004... Byline: David Newman Foundry's MG8 features The MG8 offers a solid feature set. Its command-line interface bears a strong resemblance to Cisco's IOS, which should be reassuring to the legions of network professionals trained in IOS....

Foundry review how we did it.
March 1, 2004... How we did it We asked Foundry to supply two switch chassis (priced at $38,000), a management module ($6,500), four 10G Ethernet interfaces ($50,000, plus $5,000 for each of four 1,310-nanometer LR Xenpak transceivers), and two of its new...

Cascading Style Sheets (3), ho-ho!
March 1, 2004... Byline: Mark Gibbs O K, we've been delving into Cascading Style Sheets for the last few weeks, so let's get down and let's get dynamic with CSS. And to do this we need to enter the world of dynamic HTML (DHTML) - essentially HTML...

The new-fangled way to stay connected.
March 1, 2004... Byline: John Dix One e-mail about a new service is a quirk. Two e-mails in a few days is a curiosity. Three e-mails within the space of a week is a bona-fide trend. And when The Wall St. Journal and The New York Times write stories about...

VeriSign suit calls ICANN obstructionist.
March 1, 2004... n VeriSign last week filed a lawsuit against the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, accusing the organization of overstepping its authority and improperly attempting to regulate VeriSign's business. VeriSign alleges that...

Compellent rolls out packaged storage array.
March 1, 2004... Byline: DENI CONNOR Start-up Compellent launched a modular storage array last week that features integrated replication, provisioning, virtualization and data-recovery software that lets users license and turn on the components as they...

Shop talk: Factories embracing IP; Manufacturing conference highlights networking's role in linking factories, back-end systems.
March 1, 2004... Byline: PHIL HOCHMUTH CHICAGO - Manufacturing companies are IP-enabling their shops to pull real-time data off the factory floor and into back-end databases and ERP systems. These firms say the goal is to drive productivity and increase...

Microsoft to make its software 'behave'.
March 1, 2004... Byline: ELLEN MESSMER SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft's revelation last week that it is adopting a new approach to computer security dubbed "behavior blocking" represents a radical shift in the company's software design strategy that could pay...

Alcatel debuts wireless gear.
March 1, 2004... Byline: JOHN COX Alcatel this week plans to round out its enterprise network product line with wireless LAN and voice products. The hardware is based largely on third-party products that have been integrated with Alcatel's network...

Doubts dog Microsoft spam plan.
March 1, 2004... Byline: JOHN FONTANA, CARA GARRETSON AND ELLEN MESSMER Even with Microsoft lending its clout to an expanding anti-spam movement centered on authenticating e-mail senders, experts caution the approach comes laden with technical challenges...

VoIP to be scaled down, untethered at VoiceCon.
March 1, 2004... Byline: TIM GREENE AND PHIL HOCHMUTH Vendors this week at VoiceCon will introduce IP gear designed to give small and midsize businesses sophisticated voice and data capabilities while converging all their traffic on one network. ...

Fighting spam: My theory (Part 2).
March 1, 2004... Byline: mark gibbs Last week I started to outline what I see as the only way to cure the spam problem for consumers and businesses. My plan requires a mechanism for the e-mail recipient to be able to verify the sender, to some level. ...

Inside the DoD's crime lab; Digging for digital dirt.(Department of Defense )
March 8, 2004... Byline: Deborah Radcliff Inside the DoD's crime lab Digging for digital dirt. By Deborah Radcliff Digital evidence comes in all shapes and sizes: pallets full of computers, a hard drive with an AK-47 bullet hole in it, audio...

Securing the digital crime scene.
March 8, 2004... Byline: Deborah Radcliff Securing the digital crime scene Whenever corporations suspect legal trouble, they'll need to preserve digital evidence, says Robert Goto, senior technical forensics adviser for Electronic Evidence Discovery in...

Testing and accreditation.(Department of Defense forensic laboratory)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Deborah Radcliff Testing and accreditation The DCFL is working toward becoming an accredited computer forensics lab through the American Society of Crime Lab Directors, which in 2003 adopted computer forensics standards. ...

The busted hoyfriend.(video surveillance)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Deborah Radcliff A suspect said the gun used in the murder of his girlfriend was stolen earlier that day from his car by someone who smashed his right passenger car window. A video technician at the Department of Defense lab...

The watered-down evidence.(forensic science)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Deborah Radcliff If you watch the television series "CSI," you might think forensics work is glamorous. But Melody, a forensics video examiner who used to work for a state crime lab before moving to the DCFL, says it can be highly...

The meandering hubby.(crime lab work)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Deborah Radcliff A man called 911 to report that he came home to find that his wife had been stabbed. But instead of saying, 'Oh my God, someone's tried to kill my wife,' he babbled incoherently on the phone for 15 minutes while...

Wanted: A few good forensics investigators.
March 8, 2004... Byline: DEBORAH RADCLIFF The Defense Computer Forensics Lab's caseload has grown each year. In 2000, the DCFL investigated 148 crime and intrusion cases. In 2003, that number was 425. Lt. Col. Ken Zatyko, special agent with the Air Force...

Dell's PowerConnect 6024; dELL HITS THE PRICE/PERFORMANCE MARK WITH NEW Gigabit Ethernet switch.(Product/Service Evaluation)
March 8, 2004... Byline: John Bass Dell's PowerConnect 6024 Dell hits the price/performance mark with new Gigabit Ethernet switch n By John Bass, Network WOrld LAB Alliance ith the outstanding performance numbers and extensive feature set...

Weigh risks of offshore outsourcing.
March 8, 2004... Byline: daniel blum Offshore outsourcing might be a good economic decision for some organizations based on lower labor costs. But make sure you carefully consider the security risks of the decision. Regulations such as the Health...

Quick fix is no fix for spam.
March 8, 2004... Byline: daniel briere Every time I see a government official or someone on CNBC talk about improving U.S. productivity, I immediately think of the obvious solution - find a way to stop spam, and you'll see productivity increase...

Letters to the editor.
March 8, 2004... Byline: Readers Regarding Mark Gibbs' Backspin column "The charge is in the e-mail" (www.nwfusion.com, DocFinder: 1022): I agree e-mail postage is a silly idea, but not for the reasons Gibbs cites. People wouldn't leave the 'Net in droves;...

Training on a shoestring budget; IT executives share smart suggestions for boosting IT skills without breaking the bank.
March 8, 2004... Byline: LINDA LEUNG Your training budget probably took a hit in the IT spending squeeze, but you're still charged with providing a solid IT infrastructure to ensure your company stays competitive. To do this, your staff needs to learn how...

IBM survey: Training, tech needed to grow revenue.
March 8, 2004... Byline: ANN BEDNARZ NEW YORK - Revenue growth is the top corporate priority, but a lack of technology tools and skills stands in the way of achieving it, according to a new IBM study. IBM's Business Consulting Services division...

Moving Linux to the desktop.
March 8, 2004... Byline: JENNIFER MEARS Increasingly, businesses, government entities and schools are starting to look beyond Windows, which IDC says securely dominates the desktop market with a 94% market share. Instead they're considering running Linux...

Network World launches its newest Technology Tour.(Interview)
March 8, 2004... Byline: Mark Gibbs Network World launches its newest Technology Tour, "Messaging and spam: From chaos to control," later this month. Keynoting the tour is Network World Columnist Mark Gibbs. Network World Events Editor Sandra Gittlen...

short takes.(information technology )
March 8, 2004... n The IEEE last week approved a standard for 10G Ethernet over copper, opening the way for short-reach, high-speed data center links that are more affordable to corporations. The 802.3ak standard will be implemented as 10Gbase-CX4, providing...

The Internet as us.
March 8, 2004... Byline: Scott Bradner One of the early dreams about the Internet seems to be approaching reality. The Internet is more democratic than anyone dared to hope for a few years ago. There has been a lot of focus over the past few years on...

Porting wireless numbers could pay dividends; PORTABILITY: Opportunities and pitfalls.
March 8, 2004... Byline: DENISE PAPPALARDO If you're interested in significantly reducing your company's wireless service expenses, it might be time to go shopping with your wireless phone numbers. St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Patterson, N.J.,...

Enterprise Applications briefs.
March 8, 2004... Byline: Staff writers Microsoft and eBay last week delivered tools that enable links between the 2003 editions of Excel and FrontPage and the eBay online auction service. The tools will let frequent users of eBay's service manage their...

Dunn discusses comeback of Nortel.(Frank Dunn; Nortel Networks Corp.)(Interview)
March 8, 2004... After free falling for three years, Nortel has stabilized, and landed some big deals, including a VoIP coup with Verizon. CEO Frank Dunn recently discussed the state of his company and the industry with Network World Editor-in-Chief John Dix,...

Cascading Style Sheets (4), woo-hoo!
March 8, 2004... Byline: Mark Gibbs Welcome to week four of Cascading Style Sheets. Last week we began a descent into the depths of Dynamic HTML, a quasi-standard that lets scripting languages modify HTML content (which includes CSS) to make Web content...

Patching: The cure that's worse than the disease?(computer security patches)
March 8, 2004... Byline: dave kearns Y ou might be familiar with the cliche that the cure can be worse than the disease. When it comes to patching software, Microsoft's David Aucsmith now appears to be saying that the cure is frequently the cause of...

The latest in trackers, players and more.
March 8, 2004... Byline: Keith Shaw Here are some testing nuggets from the Cool Tools labs: Product name: Psion Teklogix NetBook Pro Company: Psion Teklogix Price: $1,500 What it does: A cross between a PDA and a notebook computer, the...

XMPP transports presence data.(Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol)
March 8, 2004... Byline: JOE HILDEBRAND Businesses increasingly require real-time interaction among people, applications and devices that span many networks. Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol offers a way to route context-sensitive data among a...

Microsoft's long road to security; Company makes progress, but experts and users say it still has a long way to go.
March 8, 2004... Byline: JOHN FONTANA Two years after Microsoft Chief Software Architect Bill Gates vowed the company was making security its top job, users and experts say progress has been measurable but that a lot more work has to be done. "There is...

AT&T: Not your mother's Ma Bell.
March 8, 2004... Byline: Johna Till Johnson S ome see AT&T as the poster child for the decline of the telecom industry. From a high of about $110 in 2000, the company's stock fell to less than $14 in April 2003. Its failed attempt to expand into the...

Vendors set to advance security plans; Sun, Cisco and IBM ready technologies designed to reduce impact of attacks.
March 8, 2004... Byline: ELLEN MESSMER Vendors are pursuing a variety of security initiatives intended to rein in the worst effects of problems such as worm attacks, which sometimes scan at ferocious speeds for vulnerable machines. Sun recently gave a...

Ask Dr. Internet.(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... Byline: steve blass Steve Blass As most machines on the Internet have a unique IP address, why can't we avoid media access control and use IP addressing all the way to the destination machine? Because LAN hardware relies on data...

Last year proved productive for DSL service providers as 2.7 million new users signed up for the broadband service - up almost 30% over 2002 - according to a new report by the DSL Forum.(Brief Article)
March 8, 2004... Last year proved productive for DSL service providers as 2.7 million new users signed up for the broadband service - up almost 30% over 2002 - according to a new report by the DSL Forum. The report, which was put together by consulting firm...

Putting the squeeze on audio/video.(data compression)
March 8, 2004... Byline: JASON MESERVE Broadcast International is looking to redefine the way audio and video is compressed with CodecSys, a new compression method that uses the best qualities of multiple coder/decoders to shrink the size of multimedia...

MCI offers DoS safety net.
March 8, 2004... Byline: DENISE PAPPALARDO MCI last week announced its first service-level agreement that covers response time for denial-of-service attacks directed at its customers. The carrier guarantees its security team will respond to DoS...

How the bad guys view software.(virus prevention)
March 8, 2004... Byline: John Dix The recent RSA Security conference might have seemed like an odd venue to announce a book called Exploiting Software: How to Break Code, but the intention isn't what it seems. The authors hope that showing why software is...