Security
C|net, 7/31/03: Commentary: People, process secure businesses
By Michael Rasmussen, Director, Forrester Research
Microsoft and Cisco Systems announced major vulnerabilities last week.
Companies need a plan to respond and should not rely on products alone for protection.
This is a people and process problem. The Microsoft vulnerability is a significant exposure into every operating system running the NT code base from NT to 2003. The Cisco vulnerability is an exposure that could crash every router.
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Spam
New York Times, 7/31/03: Fortifying the In Box as Spammers Lay Siege
By MARK GLASSMAN
WHILE Congress continues to struggle with just how strict to make laws that regulate unwanted e-mail, technology is evolving to curb it, or at least separate the wheat from the chaff.
Microsoft, Eudora, America Online and other software makers and Internet service providers have improved their spam filters in response to the steady increase in annoying messages sent by direct marketers, political activists and practical jokers. Yet while many applications and services filter spam, there are subtle differences among them that can affect system performance, filtering speed and accuracy.
Most Web-based e-mail applications, for instance, are less reliable in identifying spam than new desktop software and the latest versions of online services are. Users should consider these factors in deciding which e-mail program or service to use.
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Microsoft
Infoworld, 7/30/03: It's all about Longhorn at Microsoft
Integration, .Net feeding forthcoming OS
By Joris Evers
Longhorn, the next major release of Windows, is "a bit scary," Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates confided to financial analysts last week. Scary to computer users, that is, because Longhorn products will be very different from today's Microsoft software, he said. But it appears the software is also causing some shivers at Microsoft.
Microsoft last year said Longhorn would be just another Windows client. However, it is now clear that the software stable is breeding a whole herd of long-horned cattle with a dose of .Net Web services hormones. "Longhorn is the next generation, it's a big bet for us," Gates said at Microsoft's financial analyst meeting last week.
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Collaborative Technologies
Business Week, 7/21/03: For Some, the Godsend of Groove
By Lisa Miller
It wasn't designed for small outfits, but entrepreneurs have become some of the online-collaboration service's most ardent advocates
It's your startup's biggest project ever, your team is spread across the country, and a major deadline is approaching fast. Your long-distance phone charges are climbing, the fax machine is gushing memos, and you're wasting valuable time sifting through the deluge of "reply alls" clogging your e-mail inbox.
Welcome to the collaboration woes of the small-business world. Technology was supposed to usher in the virtual office, but for many smaller outfits, the wider world beyond the cubicle doesn't go much further than e-mails and instant messaging. While it's better than costly phone calls, e-mail is an unwieldy way to work on projects that require team feedback on documents, real-time collaboration, brainstorming, or other forms of multiple-party communication.
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Business Week, 7/21/03: "Our Biggest Competitor? The Status Quo"
The man behind Groove Networks talks about his collaborative system, the future of technology, and what he owes his video-gaming son
To hear Ray Ozzie tell it, he and his cohorts at Groove Networks never thought about pitching their user-friendly collaboration software to small businesses. Then, the e-mails and phone calls started rolling in. "We've noticed this emerging phenomenon," Ozzie says. "The smaller businesses are just getting [the software] and figuring out what it's useful for." Now, Groove offers specific software packages for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and is looking for ways to further extend its reach in both the U.S. and British small-business markets.
Ozzie's name-recognition -- he created Lotus Notes, whose potential was a major factor in IBM's 1995 decision to pay $3.5 billion for Lotus Development -- has helped convince large corporate clients to give Groove a try. But SMEs are largely immune to that pull. Instead, the key is to show them how easy-to-master Groove makes running a business both easier and cheaper.
Mobile
The Wall Sstreet Journal, 7/31/03: Wi-Fi Moochers: Some Wireless Internet Fans 'Borrow' Access
By NICK WINGFIELD
Nigel Ballard was hauling the trash out one night several months ago when he spotted a digital loiterer in front of his house.
A man was sitting in a car blocking Mr. Ballard's driveway, the soft glow of a laptop illuminating the vehicle's interior. The driver was checking his e-mail. Mr. Ballard had set up a wireless antenna to share his high-speed Internet connection with neighbors, but he hadn't expected to see strangers dallying after dark.
"I was a little perturbed ... it was 11 o'clock at night," says Mr. Ballard, a member of a Portland, Ore., group that promotes free wireless Internet access. Still, he says, he didn't really mind as long as the stranger stayed off his property.
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C|net, 7/30/03: Business IM added to BlackBerry mix
By Jim Hu
Research In Motion is slotting instant messaging for businesses into its BlackBerry wireless e-mail device, using software produced by IBM's Lotus division.
The incorporation of the feature will help Research In Motion (RIM) enhance its appeal to enterprise customers, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said Wednesday. It has struck deals to carry instant messaging on the BlackBerry in the past, but these were for consumer-targeted services. For example, it sold a cobranded device with partner America Online that offered access to the Internet giant's e-mail and instant messaging service. AOL announced it would phase out the partnership by this summer.
RIM is using Lotus Sametime Everyplace 3 on its Java-based BlackBerry handhelds. The instant messaging software promises to allow businesspeople to exchange real-time text messages with recipients using desktops or handheld devices. It includes firewall security, single sign-in and message logging.
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