IT Administration
eWeek, 6/2/03: Patch Management
Patch Work Gets Harder
By Cameron Sturdevant
Data center system patch management is growing in complexity and requires a concerted effort by IT administrators to control costs.
The pressing question of the day is how to maintain secure mission-critical systems while controlling operational costs in the face of a steady onslaught of software vulnerabilities. According to The CERT Coordination Center, more than 4,000 vulnerabilities were reported last year. In just the first quarter of this year, more than 900 vulnerabilities have been reported, according to CERT.
Putting it a different way, IT administrators face the task of evaluating about 10 new potential problems every day.
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Mobile
C|net, 6/4/03: Palm to acquire rival Handspring
By John G. Spooner
Palm said Wednesday that it will buy rival Handspring for approximately $169 million in an effort to strengthen its grip on the market for handheld devices.
Palm, which also announced that it has finalized plans to spin off its PalmSource software division, will purchase Handspring in a stock deal.
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Security
TechWeb, 6/3/03: Microsoft Launches New Security Certification
By Barbara Darrow,
Acknowledging that vendors and IT professionals have to step into the breach to make computing more secure, Microsoft Tuesday launched two new security certifications and again pledged to make software patches easier to apply. Scott Charney, Microsoft's chief security strategist, said Tuesday that he is working to adapt the company's corporate culture to make patch application more uniform and rational.
"Microsoft today has eight different installer technologies. Some patches register with the operating system, some don't. Some patch DLLs, some binary code," he said. "Every patch should have an installer and an uninstaller--a way to back out of the fix gracefully if needed."
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The New York Times, 6/4/03: Broadband Internet Use Has Its Risks, Study Finds
By LAURIE J. FLYNN
Besides speed, the most coveted feature of a broadband connection is that it is always on. But according to a study that is scheduled to be released today, those two advantages are exposing broadband customers to far greater risk than most of them realize.
The study, conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance, highlights the chasm between the assumptions of consumers about the security of their Internet connection and the reality. The result is a high risk of hacking, viruses and identity theft, according to Keith Nahigian, the spokesman for the alliance and a consultant to the Office of Homeland Security.
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