IT Management
TechWeb, 8/8/03: IT Thinks It's Overworked
Most IT professionals think they're overworked, according to a survey released Friday by Robert Half Technology, a technology-worker placement firm.
In the survey--which polled more than 1,400 chief information officers (CIO) in U.S. companies with more than 100 employees--55 percent said that their workload had increased over the last 12 months.
New projects were the biggest cause of the bigger burden, said 46 percent of the CIOs who complained of an increased workload. Not far behind, at 36 percent, was the expansion of their companies.
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Security
InternetNews.Com, 8/8/03: Merrill Bans Third-Party E-mail Use
By Ryan Naraine
Financial services firm Merrill Lynch (Quote, Company Info) has confirmed a company-wide ban on the use of third-party e-mail by its 50,000 employees, citing security and regulatory requirements.
A spokesperson for the New York-based brokerage house told internetnews.com the company would block e-mail access to all third-party ISP providers. The move effectively bans employees from using AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail for personal mail.
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Computerworld, 8/11/03: Black Ice: Cyber-terrorism and the Private Sector
Corporate America is still in denial about the threat of cyber-terrorist attacks against critical facilities in the energy, telecommunications and financial industries.
By DAN VERTON
Editor's Note: Dan Verton's book gets its title from an emergency planning exercise for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah, code-named Black Ice. In the simulation, a major ice storm combines with the disruption of utility computer systems to produce regional blackouts, Internet outages, cell phone overload and telephone failures. It demonstrated the devastating effect of physical and electronic attacks on the power grid and everything that depends on power, including computer systems. An earlier exercise, run by the National Security Agency (NSA) and code-named Eligible Receiver, was equally chilling:
Prior to launching their attacks on June 9, 1997, officials briefed the team of 35 NSA computer hackers on the ground rules. They were told in no uncertain terms that they were allowed to use only software tools and other hacking utilities that could be downloaded freely from the Internet through any one of the hundreds and possibly thousands of hacker Web sites. In other words, the Pentagon's own arsenal of secret offensive information warfare tools, which the NSA certainly had, could not be used. And while they were allowed to penetrate various Pentagon networks, the Red Team was prohibited from breaking any U.S. laws. The primary target was the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii, which is responsible for all military contingencies and operations conducted in the Pacific theater, including the tension-wracked Korean peninsula.
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The New York Times, 8/11/03: Internet Providers Question Subpoenas to Stop File Swapping
By AMY HARMON
Arguing that the record industry is trying to force its members to become the "police of the Internet," a group representing over 100 Internet service providers plans to deliver a letter to the industry's trade association today. The letter asks a series of pointed questions about plans to sue people suspected of illegally trading music files online.
The letter from NetCoalition is the latest objection from Internet service providers to a flood of subpoenas from the record industry seeking the identities of Internet subscribers suspected of swapping files.
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Mobile
TechWeb, 8/11/03: Enterprise Benefits From Microsoft's Smartphone Mis-Dial
By David Haskin
Microsoft's tried-and-true formula for gaining market domination isn't working—yet—for its Smartphone platform. That's good news for enterprises looking for wireless choices.
As it has been before, Microsoft was tardy entering the market for smart phones, which are wireless phones that handle data and personal information. Over time, it has made its platform more competitive. Now it is leveraging its more successful products by telling phone vendors and IT managers that it's easier to transmit information from Microsoft applications and servers to Microsoft phones than to competitive platforms.
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Microsoft
InternetNews.Com, 8/11/03: Microsoft Reveals Greenwich Pricing
By Thor Olavsrud
Microsoft Monday unveiled the pricing of its forthcoming Live Communications Server (formerly known as both Greenwich and the Real-Time Communications Server), another indication that the product is inching closer to its third quarter launch.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software titan told internetnews.com the server will have an estimated price of $929, with Client Access Licenses (CALs) coming in at $34.95. Microsoft said final pricing will be based on the volume of the purchase.
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