Info-Tech Advisor Newsletter articles from February 2003

Info-Tech Advisor Newsletter archives from February 2003

SQL worm makes net admins squirm.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (CIO Analyst Corner Article, TechWeb Article, ZDNet Article) The January 2003 outbreak of the SQL Slammer worm (also called Sapphire) couldn't be blamed on the usual suspects of undisciplined users or buggy software. Instead, lack...

Govern cell phone use with this policy.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (Braun Consulting Article, Business First Article, BusinessWeek Online Article, USA Today Article, Workindex.com Article) An employee makes excessive personal calls on a company-issued cell phone. Another causes a traffic accident...

A solution for diagnosing network glitches.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (CrossNodes Article, InformIT Article, Windows & .NET Magazine Buyer's Guide) The effective use of a network protocol analyzer saves time and money by quickly diagnosing network problems in order to shorten expensive downtime....

WebSphere vs .NET: bust the FUD.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (ASP Street Article, Network World Fusion Article, Newsfactor Network Articles, O'Reilly Network Article) You are the IT manager of a small- to mid-sized company contemplating the creation of your first honest to goodness data...

Bury the hatchet between operations and development.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (CNETAsia Article, Harris Kern's Enterprise Computing Institute Article, Sunworld Online Article) Your IT operations group is responsible for the performance and reliability of every system within the company, but the application...

Selecting a spam suppressor.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (eMarketer Article, InformationWeek Article, WindowSecurity.com Article) A recent report released from Ferris Research estimates that the cost of spam to US corporations was $8.9 billion in 2002, and expects this number to grow to...

Scenario planning: full-dress rehearsal.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (Curtin University of Technology Article, Global Business Network Article, ManyWorlds White Paper, Wharton School--University of Pennsylvania Article) Scenario planning is one of the most important components of a continuity or...

The latest in removable storage.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (CNET.com Article, Dell Computer Corporation White Paper, Howstuffworks Article, PC Technology Guide Article, TechTV Article) A growing mobile workforce combined with the need to tote around increasingly large files has brought...

Can't get no job satisfaction.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (Computerworld Articles, TechRepublic Articles) Maintaining a high level of job satisfaction can increase employee productivity, and reduce costs associated with high employee turnover. In order to gain a better understanding of...

Two new job descriptions.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (Info-Tech Research Group Research Center) Response to our IT Job Descriptions Bank continues to be enthusiastic, and we'll keep adding more templates every two weeks. Based on your feedback, we've included the following two new...

Comprehensive guidelines for e-mail security.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (National Institute of Standards and Technology Paper) After your Web server, your e-mail server and client e-mail applications are the most likely target of attack via viruses, worms, and other malicious code. The National...

Design matters: survey of Web credibility.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (Consumer WebWatch Survey) Usability, up-to-date content, and clearly-stated privacy policies are all important in Web development. But these facts often leave the impression that design is superfluous, that a solid utilitarian...

Legal Technology Buyer's Guide.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (Institute of Management and Administration Guide) The average law firm spent more than $40,000 on technology in 2002, says the Institute of Management and Administration (IOMA). If you are acquiring technology for a legal firm in...

Top tips for wireless security.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (Software Quality Management Magazine Article) Wireless computing is the latest "brave new world" of corporate technology. Like any new technology adventure, the road ahead is full of risks, particularly in the area of network...

New PC roundup.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (PC Magazine) Purchasing a PC ain't quite what it used to be--these days, there are far more products with far more capabilities on them, and you have way too many options to choose from. If you're faced with the task of...

NetWeaver dances with .NET and J2EE.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (SAP) NetWeaver is a great big whack of technologies from SAP designed for integrating multiple applications. Most important here is the fact that NetWeaver embraces HTTP, XML, and Web services, but will interoperate with both...

Lock down off-site PCs with SecuriKey.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (Griffin Technologies) From Griffin Technologies, SecuriKey Personal Edition is a USB token that prevents unwanted access to off-site notebooks, laptops, or PCs. User authorization is supplied by the physical key and a password,...

Voice over WLAN, anyone?
February 4, 2003... Sources: (TeleSym Inc.) PDAs running on Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 can now make voice calls over the WLAN with TeleSym's SymPhone application. You can get the technical lowdown on SymPhone at TeleSym's Web site, or read Network Computing's...

Save by Googling with Froogle.
February 4, 2003... Sources: (Google) Now in beta, Froogle is the new search engine from Google that focuses specifically on product searching. To quote the Web site, "Froogle applies the power of Google's search technology to a very specific task: locating...

Microsoft Server 2003 heralds licensing shift.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Network World Fusion Article, TechWeb Article, InternetWeek Article, ZDNet Article) Microsoft Windows Server 2003, due for release in April, will feature per-user licensing. This change is seen as a reprieve for many IT shops...

Port security best practices.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (DNSWATCH.com Article, SANS Institute Paper, TechRepublic Article, Wiley Europe White Paper) Ports are essential to IP networking since they effectively function as the "doors" to your computing systems. However, if not managed...

When it comes to projects, size does matter.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Tasmanian Government Article, TenStep Articles, U.S. Department of Energy Document) Big project, small project-all projects are basically the same, right? Wrong. The size of your project has a big impact on the level of...

Rescuing data from the void.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (ActionFront Data Recovery Labs White Paper, Anil Desai White Paper, Contingency Planning & Management Article, Reynolds Data Recovery Tip Sheet) You have a sound data backup policy and procedure, but no backup plan is 100 percent...

How to hire a hacker.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Builder.com Articles, eSecurity Planet Article, Security Beat Article, Tommee.net Article) Hackers have a wide range of technical, programming, and computing skills that could be put to good use by enterprises for penetration...

VPN headaches? consider these alternatives.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Computerworld Article, Network Computing Article, PC Magazine Article) Although VPNs (virtual private networks) have in the last year become the standard for remote access, they aren't necessarily the end-all and be-all solution...

Graduating to ASP.NET.
February 19, 2003... Sources: Builder.com survey article, ASP.NET FAQs, 4GuyFromRolla.com articles If you have been using Microsoft's ASP (Active Server Pages) to script your Web, and are wondering if ASP.NET is an improvement, the answer appears to be, "Yes!"...

The danger of unsanitized hard drives.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Open Source Security Feature, CNN.com Article, CNET.com Article) When you get rid of old hard drives, make sure you aren't also sending valuable personal or corporate data out the door with them. "Unsanitized" drives--drives...

Scout future talent through internships.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Indiana University Career Development Center Article, InfoWorld Article, InternWeb.com Article, ITworld.com Article, Michael True Guide) Implementing an internship program for your department is an excellent way to get projects...

Total cost of ownership 101.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Sun Microsystems Presentation) The cost of a technology--and reducing the costs of technology--is never as simple as dickering over the sticker price of a piece of hardware or the licensing of software. The total cost of ownership...

Extension best practices for e-mail.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Manitoba Education Research & Learning Information Networks Web Site) A good e-mail security system will block a wide range of executable file attachments--not just EXE and BAT, but dozens of others. But what do you do if you...

What not to do in organizing IT.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Gartner Group Paper) The ideal IT organizational structure is like a holy grail that many IT managers are searching for as they try to cope with the enormous changes wrought by new technologies and business demands. Unfortunately,...

Optimizing network file system performance.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (InformIT Article) The speed of your network file systems (NFS) is affected by latency and network bandwidth. This chapter article by Dave Olker, "Network Considerations for Optimizing NFS Performance," will help you identify...

So you want to be a tech editor.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (InformIT Article) In tight times, a skilled IT professional might look at alternative sources of income--areas where they can apply their IT knowledge while not, strictly speaking, doing IT. These could include teaching, writing,...

MS business-grade IM.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Microsoft Corporation) Chances are that instant messaging has worked its way into your organization, so Microsoft figured it's time for a corporate edition of this service. MSN Messenger Connect for Enterprises logs and audits IM...

Prioritize bandwidth for special apps.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Expand Networks) Last month, Expand Networks added quality-of-service software (a.k.a. "Instant QoS") to its Accelerator line of bandwidth optimizer appliances. Instant QoS now allows the bandwidth optimizer devices to actually...

Enterprise firewall protection through sidewinder.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (Secure Computing) The Sidewinder G2 Firewall from Secure Computing offers strong enterprise protection in an out-of-the-box solution. Sidewinder's SecureOS UNIX software "protects every file, every directory, and every executable...

IBM introduces a really small PC.
February 19, 2003... Sources: (IBM Corporation) About the same size as a dictionary, the NetVista S42 is IBM's smallest desktop PC offering. Only 3.3 inches high, 12.2 inches wide, and 13.6 inches deep, the S42 comes equipped with a 1.8GHz Intel Pentium 4...