IT Week (UK) articles from June 2005

IT Week (UK) archives from June 2005

HP triples effort to cut downtime.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Martin Courtney in copenhagen. HP unveiled the first of its 64bit Itanium 2-based servers last week, designed to minimise downtime and guarantee seven nines - or 99.99999 percent - availability in corporate datacentres and server...

RFID privacy concerns.
June 6, 2005... Byline: James Murray. UK firms installing RFID wireless tag technology are being advised to plan carefully to address concerns about privacy. The warnings follow a recent report on US government agencies using the tags without considering...

Transmeta sells off Crusoe chip.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Chip firm Transmeta has agreed to sell its Crusoe product line to Hong Kong firm Culture.com Technology, as part of a $15m agreement. Transmeta's Crusoe, launched in 2000, was the first PC chip to focus on power efficiency and is thought to...

Novell bundles enterprise Linux.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: David Neal. Novell last week unveiled a new application stack made up of a number of its own products and those from JBoss, Oracle and HP. The release could encourage greater uptake of Linux within enterprises, according to...

Security Watch - Nortel router DoS.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... A DoS flaw has been found in Nortel VPN router models 1010, 1050, 1100, 600, 1600, 1700, 2600, 2700, 4500, 4600 and 5000. NTA Monitor found that a single malformed IKE packet less than 300 bytes long causes affected routers to crash. All...

Security Watch - Alcatel and Aruba WLAN.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Alcatel has released a new family of WLAN switches called OmniAccess, based on technology from Aruba Networks. The OmniAccess range includes the 4304, 4308 and 4324 models - 10/100 switches supporting four, 16 and 48 access points respectively....

Security Watch - Cisco alerts support CVSS.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Cisco has introduced a threat advisory service with full support for Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), a system introduced by the US Department of Homeland Security's National Infrastructure Advisory Council. CVSS is backed by Qualys,...

Security Watch - Explorer DoS problem.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... A flaw has been reported in fully patched versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Version 6 Service Pack 2 has a flaw in the "jscript.dll" file, which can be used to crash the browser through use of a specially crafted HTML page. Microsoft...

Security Watch - HP-UX flaw patched.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... HP has patched an unspecified vulnerability in its HP-UX trusted systems, which could be exploited to gain unauthorised access. HP-UX versions B.11.00, B.11.11, B.11.22 and B.11.23 are affected and HP has released patches. -...

Comment - Will Labour lose face over ID security? The greater the biometric security of the identity card scheme, the more false rejections will occur.(Column)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Neil Barrett. The prospect of identity cards has raised questions about the security of the biometrics likely to be included. Or rather it has exposed well-known arguments within the security industry to a wider audience. For...

Enterprise Week - Brocade extends storage control.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. Storage area network (SAN) specialist Brocade launched new server management and wide area file services tools last week at its user conference in California. The new offerings and their Tapestry brand name mark...

Enterprise Week - Discounts for trials of virtualisation software.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. Virtualisation specialist VMware has announced a new discount scheme targeting systems administrators, software developers, engineers and testers. A subscription to VMware's new Technology Network costs $299...

Enterprise Week - Fault-tolerant servers gain faster Xeons.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. Fault-tolerant server specialist Stratus has launched its ft4600, the first of its third-generation Windows servers. The new system has four 3.6GHz Xeon processors, each with 2MB of L2 cache, and comes with improved...

Enterprise Week - Comment - Making a hash of security. Weaknesses in the hash systems protecting online applications could leave some firms exposed.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. Even though humans make the stuff, we have yet to achieve more than a cursory understanding of how computers and software actually work. In the whacky world of software it's no wonder that vendors often don't...

Enterprise Week - BEA bets on web services boom. Web services Interview by James Murray.
June 6, 2005... Jim Rivera, director of technology at middleware specialist BEA Systems, argues that systems to support web services are finally ready to live up to all the hype. IT Week: As technology director at middleware vendor BEA Systems, what do...

Internet Week - Crypto curb law revoked.(London Internet Exchange)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: David Neal. ISP body the London Internet Exchange (Linx) last week welcomed the end of government powers to impose control over the use of encryption online. Part 1 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 had given the...

Internet Week - Comment - ISPs must save us from zombies. It is a no-brainer that internet service providers should do more to stop the zombie PC hordes.(Internet Service Providers)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Tim Anderson. Dangerous vehicles are not allowed on the road, so why are virus-infected computers allowed on the internet? A compromised PC rarely endangers life and limb, but it is a source of financial fraud, denial of service,...

Client Week - AMD releases dual-core Athlon.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. AMD last week started shipping its dual-core Athlon 64 X2 processor - a desktop and laptop chip that combines two 64bit Athlon processors in a single package. System builders including HP, Lenovo and Acer have...

Client Week - New chips pave way for mini desktop PCs.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Mini PCs took a step towards the corporate desktop last week as Intel demonstrated prototype systems based on its Pentium M mobile chip, and rival chipmaker VIA Technologies unveiled its own chip for compact...

Client Week - HP bundles iPaqs with sat-navigator.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: IT Week staff. HP will this month ship a navigation package combining an iPaq PDA with a GPS car cradle and satellite navigation software on a Secure Digital (SD) card. The bundle is available first with an entry-level device, but...

Client Week - Comment - Intel makes desktop control easier. Intel's new Active Management Technology for desktops is impressive but will it lock in customers?
June 6, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. The announcement late last month of Intel's Professional Business Platform for desktops looks like good news for firms. The new specification defines a standard PC platform built around the Pentium 4 processor and...

Client Week - Lightweight Latitude pulls no punch. The Dell Latitude X1 meets most users' needs in a compact and lightweight design.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Dell's Latitude X1 laptop is an ultra-portable that lives up to the name, weighing just over 1kg and with a footprint smaller than an A4 sheet of paper. However, the system is as capable as many full-size laptops,...

Network Week - Application accelerators spread.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. Cisco last month moved to improve its application acceleration technology by agreeing to acquire FineGround Networks in a deal valuing FineGround at $70m. The move follows rival Juniper Networks' recent acquisition...

Network Week - Bulldog doubles speed of broadband to 8Mbit/s.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. Telecoms provider Bulldog Communications last week upgraded all its business and residential customers to a fully unbundled 8Mbit/s ADSL broadband service - double the previous 4Mbit/s rate. In a statement, Bulldog...

Network Week - 3Com adds to switching capabilities.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: IT Week staff. 3Com last week announced new enterprise switches that can work with quarantine protection capabilities in its TippingPoint intrusion-prevention system (IPS), and also launched new enterprise configuration and...

Network Week - Comment - Firms look to teleworking to cut costs. The predicted trend towards consolidation is likely to lead to an increase in remote working.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Martin Courtney. The tongue-twisting technical jargon and indecipherable acronyms of IT can throw even seasoned professionals momentarily off their stride, but one term guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of the IT department...

Management Week - UK leads EU for IT investment.(European Union)(Information Technology)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Phil Muncaster. The UK is spending more on public-sector IT than any other country in the European Union, according to a survey released last week. The UK public sector is also outdoing the private sector in the area of IT...

Management Week - Oracle suite simplifies financial consolidation.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Phil Muncaster. Oracle last week released its Financial Consolidation Hub, part of its Corporate Performance Management (CPM) suite of analytical applications. The product will help companies comply with regulations by providing...

Management Week - Will firms foot the bill for ID cards?(Identity Card)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: James Murray. The Home Office has massively underestimated the cost of the proposed national identity card scheme, according to a report leaked last week from the London School of Economics (LSE). Experts also warned that if...

Management Week - Comment - What are people saying about you? Weblog search services can be a vital tool to help managers understand what customers really think.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Ken Young. There is a web site on the internet that says more about the laws of attraction than a degree in psychology ever can. Called "Am I Hot or Not?" it is based on a devastatingly simple concept. Visitors to the site are...

Management Week - How to balance security and progress. CSC's Doug Neal explains some of the developments changing the face of corporate IT.(Interview)
June 6, 2005... Byline: IT strategy Interview by Phil Muncaster. IT Week: As director of innovation research for IT services company CSC, what trends do you see affecting IT departments? Doug Neal: Looking at the bigger picture, I think we're seeing a...

EC moves to unify technology regulation.(European Commission)
June 6, 2005... Byline: James Murray. The European Commission has announced a new five-year initiative to drive growth in the digital economy. But experts warned that differences in IT development across Europe could hamper the proposals to increase...

StorageTek buy strengthens Sun.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Sun Microsystems last week positioned itself as a one-stop-shop for the datacentre by agreeing to pay $4.1bn ([pounds sterling]2.26bn) in cash to acquire storage vendor StorageTek. The integration of the two companies' technologies will...

HP makes management easier.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Martin Courtney in Copenhagen. HP last week released new software to centralise storage administration, new high-availability servers, and utility computing tools for firms running SAP systems. Systems Insight Manager (SIM) 5.0...

Comment - It's golden children face growing pains.(Column)
June 6, 2005... Byline: Martin Veitch. Despite a promising start in life, a lot of today's fashionable young IT businesses are very likely to mix with the wrong companies and go off the rails. Bill Gates has a short fuse when it comes to warped logic,...

Borland details JBuilder plans.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Borland has fleshed out plans for forthcoming updates to its JBuilder tool for creating Java apps. The firm said last week that it would issue one further release of the JBuilder integrated development environment (IDE) later this year....

System combats zero-day threats.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... F-Secure has launched a system to protect corporate networks against so-called zero-day attacks, where an exploit takes advantage of a security flaw before specific countermeasures can be developed. Anti-Virus Client Security 6.0 analyses...

Communicator brings IM to Office.
June 6, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Microsoft's Office Communicator 2005 has been released to manufacturing and is expected to be available to enterprise customers within the next few weeks. The tool integrates instant messaging (IM), telephony and...

Yahoo and Cisco merge anti-spam specifications.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Byline: David Neal. Yahoo and Cisco have teamed up in an effort to reduce the amount of junk email reaching users' inboxes. The firms last week announced a specification called DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) that they hope will...

Tools let users talk to web sites.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... The Voice Commerce Group last week launched its WhitePhone and Hello products to voice-enable web sites for customer support. The system gives online retailers a new tool to help shoppers complete purchases, and reduce the number of abandoned...

Easier controls improve security.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Martin Courtney. Computer Associates and RSA Security released products last week to centralise security management and make policies easier to define and deploy. The aim is to make it simpler to implement complex data security...

Virtual operators push 3G.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Martin Courtney. The UK is likely to see the emergence of more mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) offering 3G mobile data services within the next 12 months, according to a new report from research company Analysys. This...

Offshoring goes further.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Madeline Bennett in Prague. The traditional offshore outsourcing model is set to disappear and will be replaced by a global services delivery model, leading to more IT functions being handled overseas, according to experts at last...

Security Watch - Bluetooth pairing vulnerability.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... A flaw in Bluetooth could allow remote attackers to get a valid pairing key and decipher the user's PIN. This could allow all messages transferred between compromised Bluetooth devices to be intercepted. Until a patch is issued, the only...

Security Watch - Sunbelt desktop fights spyware.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Security software vendor Sunbelt Software has added desktop anti-spyware to its CounterSpy Enterprise software. The upgrade to version 1.5 adds active protection monitors for user desktops, which check system and application changes. CounterSpy...

Security Watch - WebSphere apps server flaw.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... A flaw has been identified in version 5.0 of IBM's WebSphere Application Server, which can be exploited locally or remotely by attackers to execute arbitrary commands. The problem is due to a buffer overflow in the administrative console's...

Security Watch - Kaspersky AntiVirus danger.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Security firm SoftSphere Technologies has found a flaw in version 5.0.325 and earlier of Kaspersky's AntiVirus software running under Windows 2000, due to an error in the "klif.sys" driver. Local users could exploit this to execute arbitrary...

Security Watch - LANDesk manages Apple Tiger.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Security and management software vendor LANDesk has added administrative console support for Apple's Mac OS X "Tiger" operating system, allowing IT managers to centrally manage and secure enterprise networks using a Mac and Apple's Safari web...

Eclipse takes BI down open road.
June 13, 2005... Byline: James Murray. Global open-source body the Eclipse Foundation last week launched its first business intelligence (BI) tool, providing Java developers with reporting functionality for embedding in enterprise applications and...

Comment - Viruses don cunning disguises.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Neil Barrett. Authors of email-borne viruses are using increasingly sophisticated methods to hide their wares. The most important element in information security is the people involved. The best-considered security can be...

Comment - Can nations reach an e-trade consensus?(Column)
June 13, 2005... Byline: George Gardiner. Countries must be willing to sacrifice some sovereignty if global e-business is to be properly regulated. This month's column finds me in Dubrovnik, Croatia, attending a security conference. What has become...

Enterprise Week - PCI Express hot-plugs due soon.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. Intel last week told industry figures to prepare for new server technologies that will boost server performance, ease maintenance and enable significantly more RAM to be fitted in servers. Intel's industry...

Enterprise Week - Appliance automates storage management.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Roger Howorth. Storage vendor StorageTek last week launched a new Serial ATA (Sata)-based disk array and a complementary controller appliance that can apply management policies to data stored on the new array. The new FlexLine 600...

Enterprise Week - Open-source server suite gets a facelift.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Byline: IT Week staff. The popular Webmin open-source server management project has released version 1.210 of its web-based multi-platform software. The latest improvements alongside those from the version 1.2 upgrade in April, have...

Enterprise Week - Comment - Will consolidation pay off?
June 13, 2005... Byline: Martin Banks. IT managers need to consider the big picture before trying to consolidate systems to reduce costs. HP's recent Ensa@Work exhibition and conference was, like so many corporate-sponsored events these days, more...

Enterprise Week - Blade servers Analysis - Blades to trim server complexity.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Martin Banks. Cisco's planned $70m acquisition of FineGround Networks, a maker of network application optimisation kit, highlights a growing trend towards application-specific servers. Typical of these are the XML accelerators from...

Internet Week - Google simplifies site indexing.
June 13, 2005... Byline: David Neal. Google is offering webmasters a new, simple method of getting their sites indexed and linked to its search pages. Sitemaps, which is a free service, lets companies automatically submit pages to Google. Previously,...

Internet Week - Comment - Work homes in on remote staff.
June 13, 2005... Byline: David Neal. Instant messaging, intranets and voice over IP services threaten to take the fun out of working from home. I am working from home as I write this. An unusual occurrence - despite what the folks back in the office...

Internet Week - E-business law book review - Legal pitfalls on the e-business road.
June 13, 2005... Byline: David Neal. Law firm Osborne Clarke's new guide will help e-traders meet their legal obligations. A Practical Guide to E-commerce and Internet Law is a comprehensive guide to the legal issues related to doing business online....

Client Week - Microsoft delivers push email.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Microsoft is to add push email capability to its Windows Mobile 5.0 platform for handhelds and smartphones. Updated code will ship in October along with Service Pack 2 for Exchange 2003, which will add the...

Client Week - Tablet PCs get boost with Lenovo ThinkPad.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Lenovo has announced a new Tablet PC portable, the first ThinkPad to ship since it acquired the personal computer division of IBM. The new model is a convertible design, combining the advantages of handwriting...

Client Week - Optical disk stores up to 100GB of data.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Byline: IT Week staff. TDK last week announced it has developed a prototype Blu-ray disk capable of storing up to 100GB of data. However, the firm has not announced a date for when products using the technology are expected to ship. ...

Client Week - Comment - Will thermal printers be a hot buy?
June 13, 2005... Byline: Alistair Dabbs. Smaller, faster printers with greater resolution may not be far off thanks to a new laser technology. Last month's announcement by the UK Film Council that 209 cinemas around the country are turning digital is...

Client Week - Desktops Report - Blade PCs cut desktop operating costs.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Some firms are moving entirely to blade PCs because of the benefits of central control. Blade PCs have been attracting firms' interest because of the benefits in security, higher availability, and reduced...

Client Week - Personal computing interview - Dell sees no end for desktop PCs.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Martin Veitch. Dell founder Michael Dell explains why he does not expect any radical design changes. Never a man to jump at the latest IT fads, Michael Dell is sticking to a formula that has seen his company rise from a direct...

Network Week - AT&T and Microsoft push services.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. Communications giant AT&T and Microsoft have agreed to work together on a five-year plan for worldwide services. The first goal will be for Microsoft to web services-enable AT&T's VoIP service so that it can run...

Network Week - Colubris defines new wireless LAN appliance.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. Wireless LAN vendor Colubris has announced a new type of appliance for firms wishing to roll out large, centrally managed WLANs to provide clientserver and internet access with improved quality of service (QoS) for...

Network Week - Fast switches offer route to voice over IP.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Byline: IT Week staff. HP last week announced a new core routing switch, upgraded network management software and software upgrades for its Layer 3 5300 series switches and 420 wireless access points. HP's ProCurve networking arm...

Network Week - Comment - DSL offers business quality.(Digital subscriber line)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Alan Stevens. New quality of service guarantees mean DSL services might be a better option than leased lines. With basic broadband connectivity widely available, it's easy to overlook the availability of DSL broadband options...

Network Week - WAN optimisation analysis - Demand grows for WAN accelerators.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Dave Bailey. The pace of change in the wide area network (WAN) accelerator market shows no sign of slowing. Application delivery firm Citrix recently said it will buy hardware application-accelerator vendor NetScaler for about...

Management Week - Suites improve process controls.
June 13, 2005... Byline: James Murray. Firms were last week offered new tools to help optimise the performance of processes and meet regulatory requirements. Business Objects and IDS Scheer released new products heralding growing integration between...

Management Week - Public sector ignores risks of outsourcing.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Phil Muncaster. The government must improve the way it manages risk when outsourcing services to the private sector, according to a report last week from the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Experts said the...

Management Week - Fashionable IT industry lures graduates.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Phil Muncaster. The IT skills gap could soon begin to narrow, according to new research from IT recruitment consultancy Computer People, which found university graduates have grown more attracted to the industry. It also found that...

Management Week - Comment - IT's roadmap is in the printer.
June 13, 2005... Byline: James Woudhuysen. The latest inkjet printers highlight the benefits of a decentralised approach to technical innovation. One of my enduring gags of the 1990s was that only techies could ever regard printers as "peripherals"....

Management Week - Wireless tags analysis - RFID tags need privacy policies.( IT managers security management issues)
June 13, 2005... Byline: James Murray. To maintain security and privacy, firms must improve the way they manage wireless tags. Two new reports show that radio frequency identification (RFID) wireless tags are entering the mainstream of business, but...

BT Bluephone links landlines to mobiles.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Martin Courtney. BT will this Wednesday launch Bluephone, a hybrid portable phone service that will let a single mobile handset make calls over both Vodafone's GSM network and BT landlines. The service could cut costs for...

State groans under net porn.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... The public sector is failing to stop staff accessing internet pornography, according to the Audit Commission. The spending watchdog called for more use of filtering software and the end of a "culture of complacency". More than half of 400...

Calls to cut back-office diversity.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Madeline Bennett in Prague. Standardised IT infrastructures are key to helping firms get high returns from their technology investments, according to experts at last week's GigaWorld event in Prague. Forrester Research chief...

Comment - Technology vendors must learn to share.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Madeline Bennett. Apple and other IT vendors may have to develop more co-operative relationships if they want to develop their businesses for the long term and retain customers. Technology vendors need to change their attitudes...

Dell promotes its green status.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Dell last week continued its pursuit of "most environment-friendly computer maker" status by announcing plans both to increase the amount of hardware it takes back and to recycle printer cartridges. The firm's expanded environmental...

Seagate boosts drive capacity.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Hard disk maker Seagate has detailed 12 new products that it expects to launch later this year, including 500GB capacity Serial ATA (Sata) mechanisms, bringing it in line with most of its competitors. The advances will let vendors such as...

Winter date for Microsoft tools.
June 13, 2005... Byline: Martin Veitch. Microsoft last week laid out plans for key program upgrades this year, together with its strategy to be a force in RFID wireless tagging. At its TechEd conference in Orlando, Microsoft said SQL Server 2005,...

Intel move could attract firms to Mac desktops.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Byline: Daniel Robinson. Apple's announcement that Mac systems will in future use Intel chips could help the company to gain a greater share of the business desktop market, and could also lead to it opening up the OS X operating system,...

Agility needed in business rules.(Analyst Gartner)(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Firms must improve the agility of their systems if they are to remain competitive and meet regulatory needs, experts warned last week. Speaking at the European Business Rules Conference 2005 in Amsterdam, Jim Sinur of analyst Gart- ner said...