IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (ComputerWorld) 24/01/2009

Saturday, January 24, 2009

IT News HeadLines (ComputerWorld) 24/01/2009

Elgan: The digital camera presidency
The technology that should be most closely associated with the Obama campaign and presidency isn't social networking or the BlackBerry. It's the overlooked and underappreciated digital camera. Here's why.

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Amazon cloud could be hijacked to harvest BitTorrent files, researcher says
Cloud services are now vulnerable to malicious use, a security company has suggested, after a techie worked out how Amazon's EC2 service could be used as a BitTorrent file harvester and host.

Senator questions, prods Microsoft on inclusion of H-1B workers in layoffs
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, a vocal critic of the H-1B visa program, sent a letter to Microsoft telling the company that it should give U.S. workers job priority over visa holders as it moves to cut 5,000 positions.

In battle for Friends, Facebook now twice as popular as MySpace
Facebook attracted almost twice the number of global visitors that rival MySpace counted in December.

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Despite laying off Flight Simulator team, Microsoft still 'committed to flying games'
The software maker would not say whether 'FlightSim' product was being permanently grounded, but hinted that FlightSim or technology from the game would re-appear in an Internet version for Windows and Xbox users.

Microsoft may shutter Popfly Web mashup tool
Microsoft Friday said that it may discontinue its free Popfly service, which lets nonprogrammers build Web 2.0 apps.

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Union: IBM layoff count nearing 3,000 this week
IBM confirmed that it is making internal cutbacks but wouldn't disclose the number of workers being let go. An employee union puts the number of layoffs at more than 2,800 thus far.

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Is Obama's handheld a BlackBerry or something else?
When President Obama took a handheld device out of his coat pocket in front of the White House press corps, his spokesman said it was a BlackBerry, but security experts say it may be another device that has stronger encryption.

New Yahoo CEO freezes employee salaries
New Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz announced that the company is implementing a salary freeze as it faces off against Google and a bad economy.

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Opinion: Time for the Gates Foundation to embrace Linux
This is a great time for the Gates Foundation to embrace Linux, bringing the value of FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) to people who might otherwise not hear its value. For the past 10 years the Gates Foundation has expanded access to technology by delivering Windows computers to public libraries. Wouldn't it be cool for the next 10 years for the Gates Foundation to deliver new Ubuntu systems for public access use at these same libraries?

Build your computer service client list the right way

Are you spending most of your time and energy chasing down one-shot deal computer service customers? Do you feel like you are always keeping your fingers crossed, wondering whether or not youâ€™ll get called again in a few months or a few years?

Computer repair jobs - How to get started

There are a lot of different options for someone looking to get into IT repair work and many opportunities for you in the small business space. A big question you probably have is whether or not you should get training first and then look for a job, or the other way around. The answer is really to always be doing both simultaneously.

Three things OS X could learn from the Classic Mac OS

Apple made a clean break from the classic Mac OS in 2001 when it introduced Mac OS X. And while few would argue that Apple's move to OS X has helped the Mac platform grow in exciting new directions, there are some Classic Mac OS features that are worth reviving in OS X.

Active Directory comes to Linux with Samba 4

Enterprise networks now have an alternative choice to Microsoft Active Directory (AD) servers, with the open source Samba project aiming for feature parity with the forthcoming release of version 4, according to Canberra-based Samba developer Andrew Bartlett.

Secure USB drives

Security consultants (MicroSolved, Inc.) point out three ways to secure a USB drive.

Conflicker growing at massive rate

Security company MSI notes today on its security blog that its HoneyPoint Internet Threat Monitoring Environment (HITME) is getting nailed by scans from the Downadup worm also called Conflicker.

British UFO hacker's extradition case to be reviewed

A British hacker who sought to find evidence of UFOs on U.S. military computers has another chance at avoiding extradition after a court ruling Friday.

Social media company can't stop making email blunders

Rock You is a popular social media company that provides apps and widgets for such blockbuster sites as Facebook and MySpace. Theyâ€™ve won awards, have sucessfully raised millions in capital and appear to be a rising star. Too bad they are completely clueless about email etiquette. Really, really clueless.

Filtering outgoing email in Exchange environments is important

When planning an email security solution many organizations put a lot of thought and effort into protecting their environment from external threats. They use such measures as blocklists and content filtering to prevent spam from reaching end user mailboxes.

Obama plan says cyber infrastructure is 'strategic'

In a new position paper, the Obama administration says it will consider cyber infrastructure a strategic asset.

Symbian malware takes money from phone

Kaspersky Lab warns that a new mobile-phone Trojan spotted in Indonesia uses SMS messages to steal money.

Heartland says it has closed security hole

The revelation this week by Heartland Payment Systems, the sixth-largest payment processor in the U.S., that criminals had secretly installed spying software on its computer network could go down as one of the biggest data breaches on record. Heartland says it has closed the security hole that allowed criminals to infiltrate their systems, but the matter is far from settled.

Planning a secure migration to IPv6

You should begin planning your secure migration to IPv6 sooner rather than later, says Scott Hogg, author of IPv6 Security. Remember the tortoise and the hare story. You will regret not spending more time planning when you end up scrambling to implement it in a hurry. And besides, learning about IPv6 is exciting because it's new.

'Vista Capable' case could cost Microsoft $8.5B

Microsoft would have to come up with as much as $8.5 billion to settle accounts with the customers affected by its 2006 "Vista Capable" marketing program, according to documents unsealed by a federal court.

Cuts call for Microsoft to rethink Windows client

Microsoft's first-ever layoffs point to a need for the company to rethink its Windows client business, which is largely responsible for the disappointing financial results that led to thousands of Microsoft job cuts announced Thursday.

Panda Security: Downadup worm now infects 1 in every 16 PCs

The computer worm responsible for the biggest attack in years has infected at least 1 out of every 16 PCs worldwide, a security company said Wednesday, and may have managed to compromise as many as nearly 1 in 3.

US-CERT: Microsoft's advice on Downadup is flawed

Microsoft's advice on disabling Windows' "Autorun" feature is flawed, the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) said Wednesday, and leaves users who rely on its guidelines to protect their PCs against the fast-spreading Downadup worm open to attack.

Microsoft delays Vista SP2, says report

Microsoft has delayed Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) by at least a month, and will now ship it to manufacturing sometime in May or June, according to a Web site that has accurately predicted Windows release dates in the past.

Apple updates QuickTime media player

Apple has released QuickTime 7.6, which includes performance tweaks and critical security fixes.

Stimulus package runs into House opposition

Parts of a huge economic stimulus package being pushed by U.S. President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are running into opposition, including so-called open access requirements tacked onto a fund intended to spur broadband deployment.

Craig Barrett to retire from Intel

Intel announced that Craig Barrett would give up his role as chairman in May after 35 years with the company.

Mozilla wants to watch Firefox users

Mozilla Labs, the research arm of Mozilla Corp., wants 1% of Firefox users to allow it to watch how they use the browser -- and the Web in general.

Satyam board meeting ends inconclusively

The board of scandal-ridden Satyam Computer Services met again on Friday without arriving at a solution to the company's liquidity crisis, or selecting a new management team for the company.

DRAM maker Qimonda files for bankruptcy

Qimonda filed for bankruptcy with a local court in Munich, Germany on Friday, becoming the first DRAM maker to do so.

Twitter says purported White House account was a fake

For more than a year, an @TheWhiteHouse account on Twitter was used to dutifully send out more than 1,500 alerts about speeches, press briefings and other Bush administration news. The Twitter account's claim that it was officially sanctioned by the White House appeared believable, if only because it was so earnest - and boring.

Windows 7 for free?

Rumors are floating around that Microsoft is planning to offer a Windows 7 upgrade to Vista owners, for free.

Smartphones key as phone vendors regroup

The fourth quarter wasn't a good one for the mobile phone manufacturers, and now they are looking to smartphones to save the day.

1 comment:

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