Computer Weekly articles from December 2008

Computer Weekly archives from December 2008

Feature.(Argentina's IT industry)
December 16, 2008... 1. Argentina Argentinais seen by many companies as an ideal location for outsourcing [http://www.stevemezak.com/?cat=32]. For one, it has low market and labour costs. With budgets tighter than ever, this is a big plus for many UK...

News.(IT outsourcing)
December 16, 2008... The UK is creating a skills abyss that could deepen the recession and slow the next upturn by sending IT work offshore. Last week mining company...

News.(Chinook)
December 16, 2008... 1985: Almost at the start of development of the Chinook's Full Authority Digital Engine Control (Fadec) computer system there are unrealistic expectations. Delivery of the Fadec is promised within 23 months - it is delivered several years late....

News.(Robert John Burke to give evidence to House of Lords over accident of Chinook ZD576)
December 16, 2008... What follows is some of the evidence given by Squadron Leader Robert Burke to the House of Lords committee which investigated the crash of Chinook ZD576 on the Mull of Kintyre. Burke gave evidence to the Lords' committee on 16 October 2001. ...

News.(Chinook crash)
December 16, 2008... Victory over Chinook crash - after 14 years A brave, independent stand by the Defence Secretary John Hutton and his predecessor Des Browne, against 14 years of obfuscation and immovable arrogance by the Ministry of Defence, has led finally...

News.(Carphone Warehouse co-founder David Ross to resign)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Carphone Warehouse co-founder David Ross resigned today as deputy chairman of the company. This follows the disclosure this morning that he pledged over 136million of his shares in Carphone Warehouse against personal loans without telling...

News.(E.ON AG)
December 16, 2008... Energy supplier E.on Retail has gone live with a financial transformation software project that will give it an accurate view of the profits generated by each customer and better forcasting of future demand. The system is the fruit of a...

News.(survey on housewives)(Survey)
December 16, 2008... Housewives now spend most of their waking hours surfing the internet, according to a recent survey. Digital World, Digital Life - a study into how people spend their leisure time, released today - found British housewives spend almost half...

News.(cyber criminals)
December 16, 2008... Cybercriminals are proliferating while governments are distracted by the recession and the credit crunch, according a report on cybercrime released today. The annual McAfee Virtual Criminology Report reported a tripling in the volume of...

News.(mothercare)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Mothers can now get fast and accurate answers to more than 500 common child-raising questions by going to Ask Carrie, a revamped Mothercare website. The revamp follows successful deployment of website development firm Transversal's...

News.(research on European business companies)
December 16, 2008... Large European companies are spending more on http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2007/11/27/228319/broadband-wired-or-wireless-for-the-enterprise.htm wireless networks than on wired networks, according to research commissioned by network...

News.(Ministry of Justice in talks with Electronic Data Systems Corp.)
December 16, 2008... The Ministry of Justice is in talks with EDS to reduce the cost of a prisons project which has more than doubled in estimated cost and its scope has been cut. Officials want to reach a deal which could reduce their embarrassment when a...

News.(Nortel Networks Corp.)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Nortel Networks has hired lawyers to study possible bankruptcy protection in case its restructuring plan fails, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The embattled network equipment maker, North America's biggest, is also exploring...

News.(Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Internet traders are among the two million people believed to be cheating on their taxes in the booming cash-based black economy. The Public Account Committee (PAC) said today it regarded individual internet traders, some self-employed...

News.(Royal Mail Group PLC)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Royal Mail is planning a three-year revamp of its SAP-based human resources system. The new system will consolidate and integrate information from legacy payroll and HR admin systems, a multitude of bespoke point systems and a plethora of...

News.(Rio Tinto Co.)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Mining giant Rio Tinto will speed up its outsourcing and offshoring programme as well as delay a number of projects in an effort to cut capital and running costs. The firm said this morning it would cut "rapidly accelerate" outsourcing and...

News.(European Commission)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... The European Commission will spend [euro]55m next year on a programme to make the internet safer for children. The Safer Internet programme will fight grooming and bullying by making online software and mobile technologies more...

News.(Serious Organised Crime Agency)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... The Serious Organised Crime Agency(Soca) is to spend between [pounds sterling]300m and [pounds sterling]500m on anintegrated IT system to replace the legacy systems it inherited when it was formed almost three years ago. The so-called 2010...

News.(software companies)
December 16, 2008... The UK is falling behind Germany and Israel as Europe's software factories, a new report reveals. The Software Barometer, published for the first time today by the British Computer Society, the suppliers' trade association Intellect and...

News.(BT Group PLC to contract with Virgin Media Group Ltd.)
December 16, 2008... BT has tried to steal Virgin Media's high-speed broadband thunder with an announcement today that it is teaming up with television broadcasters BBC and ITV to offer video-on-demand services over broadband. The news comes as Virgin Media...

News.(Electronic Data Systems Corp. in talks with Ministry of Justice)
December 16, 2008... The Ministry of Justice is in talks with EDS to reduce the cost of a prisons project which has more than doubled in estimated cost even though its scope has been cut. Officials want to reach a deal which could reduce their embarrassment...

Opinion & letters.(trends in IT industry)
December 16, 2008... Tony Pullen, managing director of Experian's business information division, examines what IT businesses should be doing to manage risk. So far this year more than 590 firms in the IT sector have failed, and 60 businesses failed in November...

Opinion & letters.
December 16, 2008... Each card in this 4x4 array is marked with a number on its face-down side. You, the magician, ask a volunteer to take any card at random away from the array (keeping its number hidden) and discard the remaining cards from its horizontal row and...

Special Report.
December 16, 2008... Information security has become a mainstream concern with well-established governance and compliance, increasing public awareness and more business processes going online. Security is an integral part of every business process. It must be built...

News.(managing child death)
December 16, 2008... The Baby P case has raised the issue of child protection in recent weeks. Failures at Haringey Council led to the death of the 17-month old, but the concern now is that these problems are systemic, not isolated - and poor IT is playing its...

News.(document management software)
December 16, 2008... Common business document filescould be hiding malware capable of bypassing standard security systems and stealing confidential information. Cybercrimals are increasingly exploiting vulnerabilities in trusted file formats to slip through...

Feature.(DataPatrol to win BT Flagship Award for Innovation)
December 16, 2008... This year's BT Flagship Award for Innovation was won by Garlick's DataPatrol, which aims to give consumers greater power over their privacy and identity online In the BT Flagship Award for Innovation the judges were looking for an...

Feature.(BCS IT Industry Awards )
December 16, 2008... The entrants in this year's individual BCS IT Industry Awards have been outstanding," says David Clarke, chief executive of the BCS and chair of the individual judging section. "We were looking for individuals who could demonstrate best...

Feature.(technological innovations)
December 16, 2008... Innovative technology is one of the key elements the judges looked for in selecting the winners for the Project Excellence category of the BCS IT Industry Awards, says Steve Markwell, chief executive at NCC and chair of the judges for the...

Feature.(green agenda for IT industry)
December 16, 2008... The green agenda for the IT industry has never been more topical. The BCS has launched, through its Carbon Footprint group, several initiatives to stimulate discussion and action on the topic. Work includes a white paper on datacentre...

Feature.(BCS IT Industry Awards )
December 16, 2008... The seven awards that make up the Organisational Excellence section of the BCS IT Industry Awards recognise the contribution made to an organisation's success by the IT department and the systems they use. Public Sector Organisation of the...

Feature.(David Morriss of IBM Corp. to win BCS Lifetime Achievement Award)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... This year's BCS IT Industry Awards ceremony saw a special presentation of a BCS Lifetime Achievement Award to David Morriss. This is only the third time the award has been presented. Morriss, former IBM UK holdings director, BCS president...

Recruitment.(recruitment of IT workers)
December 16, 2008... While newspaper headlines may be filled with job losses and company closures, it looks like IT staff working in consultancies don't have to worry about job security. These days, it seems, there are few IT projects in the pipeline that aren't...

News.(Australian government planning to state website blocking system)
December 16, 2008... The Australian government is planning a state website blocking system designed to prevent illegal content reaching its citizens. There are concerns, however, that such a system could slow web speeds in Australia and eventually be used to...

News.(Bank of America Corp. to cut 35,000 jobs)
December 16, 2008... Bank of America will cut 35,000 jobs over the next three years when it integrates the Merrill Lynch business and prepares for lower levels of business in the recession. But core IT staff are likely to be in a strong position to keep their jobs....

News.(trends in IT and telecom industry)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... IT and telecoms services companies continue to show resilience, but may soon face job cuts like other firms in the sector, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Unlike most other services firms, business volumes and...

News.(trends in IT and telecom services)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... IT and telecoms services companies continue to show resilience, but may soon face job cuts like other firms in the sector, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Unlike most other services firms, business volumes and...

News.(Department of Health and Human Services)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... The Department of Health is about to end a consultation on increasing its use of patient data. The department launched the consultation to look at ways the NHS can use information it collects about patients. It is looking at using data...

News.(HR organizations)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... HR organisations must exploit social networking to engage the best candidates, according to analysts at Gartner. Few HR organisations have grasped the effect social networks have on the employer brand, Gartner said, and by 2011,...

News.(Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd.)
December 16, 2008... HSBC predicts it will save $11m every year using environmentally friendly IT. The bank's green IT strategy, which began in 2005, will provide a significant return on investment, said HSBC. This will pay dividends when the world enters...

News.(identification cards)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... A poll conducted by ICM for anti-national ID card group NO2ID shows almost two-thirds of the public are opposed to the government database behind the scheme. Asked by ICM what they thought of storing information on large computer systems...

News.(internet service providers)
December 16, 2008... The founder of Wikipedia has told Channel 4 News that he is considering challenging the decision to block access to part of Wikipedia in the UK. Criticising the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) for blocking access in order to prevent UK...

News.(IT security)
December 16, 2008... IT security consultant NCC Group has picked its top ten IT security blunders of 2008. "2008 should go down as the year IT security forgot. Or, more accurately, the year everyone forgot about IT security. Countless well-known organisations...

News.(cyber security)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... US president-elect Barack Obama should set up a new cybersecurity agency, in the wake of the failings of the US Department of Homeland Security, a think tank report is expected to recommend today. The Department for Homeland Security was...

News.(small and medium sized companies)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Three in ten UK SMEs expect to fail in 2009, but a new breed of "super SME" is set to beat the economic downturn using IT. Research by communications headset maker Plantronics has found that SMEs maintaining investment in IT infrastructure,...

News.(usage of data encryption)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Only 10% of UK city councils are using data encryption to protect sensitive data on laptop computers, research has found. This means 90% of councils cannot guarantee that data held on mobile devices is protected, according to a survey of 40...

News.(IT system)
December 16, 2008... The IT system which supports the UK's Faster Payments system was created, in 18 months, by a team of "obsessional planners" facing a non-negotiable deadline and no room for compromise. APACS and UK banks decided to create a service which...

News.(Computer Aided Manufacturing International)
December 16, 2008... International development charity Computer Aid International has welcomed the European Commission's proposals to strengthen the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, but says the move doesn't go far enough. The...

News.(Banco Santander S.A.)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Spanish bank Santander will cut 1,900 jobs across its three UK businesses in 2009, with reductions in the back office planned as IT is migrated to the bank's Partenon core banking platform. Back office jobs at Abbey, Alliance & Leicester...

News.(mobile adult content market)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... There is plenty of stamina in the mobile adult content market, with sales expected to reach $5bn by 2013, says market analyst Juniper Research. Juniper said video chat services are expected to be the largest contributor to a burgeoning...

News.(Forestry Commission to use employee expenses system)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... The Forestry Commission is using its employee expenses system to help measure its carbon footprint. The commission uses emissions data from the system, together with data drawn from its internal credit card reconciliation and fleet...

News.(Google Inc.)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Google is reported to be preparing to take its Chrome browser out of beta, with a likely launch date of the "ready" browser some time in January. The beta version of Chrome has barely made any impact on the browser market, according to web...

News.(Free Software Foundation to file copyright infringement against Cisco Inc.)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has filed a software copyright infringement lawsuit against Cisco. The FSF's complaint alleges that in the course of distributing products under the Linksys networking kit brand, Cisco has violated the...

News.(Citrix Systems Inc.)(Survey)
December 16, 2008... There was a greater dispersion of the workforce this year, with many more working remotely, says Citrix. A survey Citrix conducted among 160 IT decision makers at one of its remote working and app delivery management events found that 43%...

News.(Employers in the IT sector to celebrate Christmas)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Employers in the IT sector are continuing to celebrate Christmas despite the credit crunch, says the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Far from being the victim of cutbacks, Christmas parties remain on the agenda for many organisations...

News.
December 16, 2008... Trading Standards officers in Cardiff have conducted their first random search of a business in the city under new copyright powers to stamp out illegal use of software. Officers conducted a full forensic inspection of all the company's...

News.(software-as-a-service )(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Almost 90% of company security officers (CSOs) believe that software-as-a-service (SaaS) will replace enterprise software for mission-critical applications. This is the finding of a survey of CSOs conducted at the CSO Interchange Event in...

News.(information technology)
December 16, 2008... IT should be "at the core" of the primary curriculum and taught across all subjects, a report by former senior Ofsted inspector Jim Rose says today. Computing skills are increasing in importance for children and should be taught across the...

News.(O2 Ltd. to launch ultra-slim BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... O2 is to launch the ultra-slim BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone in the UK. The BlackBerry Curve 8900 weighs around 110 grams. It measures 109mm x 60mm and is 13.5mm thick. The BlackBerry Curve 8900 will be available to customers from 5...

News.(MainSoft Corp. to introduce SharePoint Integrator)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Mainsoft, a provider of integration tools has introduced SharePoint Integrator a product that gives Lotus Domino users access to Microsoft SharePoint. SharePoint Integrator for Lotus Notes is a Java add-in which the company said enables...

News.(Japanese scientists to design software which can take images from the dream)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Japanese scientists have designed software capable of taking images from dreams and processing them into images on a computer screen. The team at the ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories produced the device by focusing on the image...

News.(Hewlett-Packard Co. to acquire Electronic Data Systems Corp.)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... EDS CEO Ron Rittenmeyer is retiring as Hewlett-Packard integrates the IT services firm it acquired earlier this year. Rittenmeyer's departure, effective on 31 December, follows thousands of redundancies announced at the two merged firms....

News.(BT Group PLC to build extranet for Cabinet Office)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... The Cabinet Office has enlisted BT to build an extranet to help the UK respond to emergencies. The National Resilience Extranet (NRE) will provide organisations such as fire and rescue services, utility companies and strategic health...

News.(Facebook)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... A variant of the Koobface worm is hitting Facebook social networking users. The worm first appeared this July, but security firm McAfee reports a variant of the worm getting past Facebook security filters. When a user follows a link to...

News.(Federal Bureau of Investigation to develop new technique to stop computer hacking)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... The FBI has identified a new technique used to conduct "vishing" attacks, where hackers exploit a known security vulnerability in Asterisk phone software. Asterisk is free and widely used software developed to integrate Private Branch...

News.(usage of Adobe Flash during cyber crimes)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Cybercriminals are using rich content applications such as Adobe Flash files to distribute malicious code in the latest online crime trend, says security supplier Finjan. Adobe Flash applications are widespread on the internet and are...

News.(survey on small and medium sized company workers)(Survey)
December 16, 2008... Business decision makers are missing out on important networking opportunities because they feel guilty about being out of the office, it was claimed today. Some 81% of SME business leaders said they willspend less time out of the office...

News.(De Montfort University Leicester team wins 2008 Machine Intelligence Competition)
December 16, 2008... Fans of football computer games could soon be playing against more realistic opponents thanks to the winning entry in an artificial intelligence competition. The De Montfort University Leicester team won the 2008 Machine Intelligence...

News.(Ranjit Singh caught)
December 16, 2008... The first illegal immigrant has been caught at one of the government's new national identity card centres for foreigners. The man was caught out by fingerprint technology on the first day that an identity card centre for foreign nationals...

News.(trends in video games industry)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... The video game industry is bucking the retail recession, reports the Financial Times. Microsoft said November was its biggest sales month in Europe for the Xbox 360 console, with sales up124% year-on-year. European retailer Game Group...

News.(data breach in Germany banking firm)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Germany's biggest breach of banking details is a wake-up call to all organisations handling personal data, say security experts. At the weekend a German economic magazine reported that cybercriminals were offering 21 million bank account...

News.(Google Inc.)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Google has taken its http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/09/09/232257/googles-chrome-web-browser-an-essential-guide-for-it.htm Chrome browser out of beta even though it still contains bugs. The move was floated by Google at a trade...

News.(online search terms)
December 16, 2008... Google has revealed the top search terms for 2008 in its year-end Zeitgeist roundup. The Zeitgeist explores the billions of search queries Google receives each year to highlight annual trends in topics like entertainment, politics and...

News.(Google Inc.)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Google is adding digitised magazines to search results for its Google Book Search digital book service, in a move that will surely lead to another copyright spat with authors. The first magazines have already been added to the book site....

News.(investments in technology)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Investment in technology is necessary to get the UK through the downturn, according to the prime minister Gordon Brown. The premier said investment in the UK's digital infrastructure will be a key part of getting the country through the...

News.(House of Commons)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... The speaker of the House of Commons has reassured MPs that data held on Parliament's computers were not accessed by police during raids on the Tory immigration spokesman's office at the Commons. Damien Green's office was searched by police...

News.(Hewlett-Packard Co. to offer 0% finance)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Cliff Saran HP is offering 0% lease financing for its Business Technology Optimisation and Information Management (IM) software through HP Financial Services, HP plans to offer the 0% finance on a range software products including...

News.(Microsoft Corp. to investigate attack on Internet Explorer 7.0)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Microsoft is investigating a zero-day attack affecting Internet Explorer 7.0, which could enable a hacker to take over infected PCs. Microsoft said, "At this time, we are aware only of limited attacks that attempt to use this vulnerability....

News.(Intel Corp. to develop 32 nanometers)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... Cliff Saran Intel has developed a 32 nanometers (a billionth of a meter) fabrication process which it claims will support the manufacturer of energy-efficient, denser and higher performing chips in 2009. The company will be unveiling...

News.(IT industry)
December 16, 2008... IT professionals with hands-on IT skills will be most indemand in the investment banking sector as the industry focuses on IT investments to maintain business and meet regulatory requirements. This will help firms survive the carnage left...

News.(John Lewis Direct to contract with Omniture Merchandising)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... John Lewis Direct, the online division of John Lewis department stores, has selected Omniture Merchandising to make its website more attractive to potential customers. John Lewis Direct is already using Omniture SiteCatalyst for web...

News.(Kroll Ontrack Inc.)
December 16, 2008... Data recovery firm Kroll Ontrack has announced its fifth annual data disaster league, featuring the top 10 worst data mishaps from 2008. A video of the top five data disasters has also been produced by the firm. The annual global list...

News.(Logica PLC)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... IT services firm Logica expects to raise about [pounds sterling]85m via a share issue designed to reduce its debt. It is also more than halving its share dividend for the year to save cash. Logica announced last month that it was intending...

News.(International Business Machines Corp.)(Brief article)
December 16, 2008... A 'no gain, no fee' consultancy offering is being made to IBM mainframe users who want to slash their processing costs. A study of 100 UK mainframe users by mainframe performance management firm Macro 4 shows that 84% want to reduce their...