IT Management
Computerworld, 8/14/03: Blaster shows IT departments the need for speed on patches
One user compares patch management to a migraine headache
By JAIKUMAR VIJAYAN
The frequent patching required to stay on top of potential attacks, viruses and worms, such as this week's W32.Blaster worm, may soon be unsustainable for some IT organizations, users and analysts cautioned yesterday.
As a result, companies will have to find more automated and proactive ways to deal with such threats, they said.
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TechWeb, 8/14/03: IT Spending Picture Not All Doom and Gloom
By Don St. John
The strings on IT's purse are loosening a bit—but only for companies in the right markets. At least, that's the word from a variety of recent market research studies and surveys.
IDC found that higher-level vertical markets such as banking and discrete manufacturing (assembling products from pre-made parts, to make cars, for example) still have some play in their IT budgets. Those two markets, in fact, will likely account for a quarter of all IT spending over the next few years, with government constituting a third sector where IT managers aren't forced to scrimp constantly. Don't be too jealous, though: IDC says that even for those higher-flying vertical markets, the days of double-digit growth are over.
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Federal Market
Information Week, 8/14/03: Huge Federal Outsourcing Outlays Predicted
A market-intelligence firm says $85 billion will be spent on large projects over the next three years. Most will go toward IT security, enterprise integration, and network architecture projects.
By Eric Chabrow
The federal government will award $85 billion in large IT contracts--valued at $500 million or more--over the next three years, according to a study issued by the market-intelligence firm Input.
The bulk of the awards will go toward IT security, enterprise integration, and network architecture projects. Given the technology requirements of such large projects, the opportunity exists for vendors of all sizes--not just the large companies that already have government contracts--to get government work, says Ashlea Higgs, Input's senior analyst of federal market development services.
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Remote Desktop Management
Computerworld, 8/13/03: Carnival Cruise Lines to manage its 4,000 PCs remotely
The new On iCommand system allows automated provisioning, patches and updates
By Bob Brewin
Carnival Cruise Lines plans to deploy a system to remotely manage and provision 4,000 PCs, including 1,200 installed on the company's 19 ships -- eliminating the need to fly technicians to various ports of call to handle critical upgrades or fixes.
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Security
The New York Times, 8/13/03: Microsoft to Change Distribution of Vulnerable Software
By JOHN MARKOFF
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 13 — Microsoft acknowledged today that it planned to change the way it distributes its flagship Windows XP operating system software, in response to a malicious software "worm" that has spread over the Internet in recent days attacking tens of thousands of personal computers by exploiting vulnerabilities in Windows.
Dissemination of the worm slowed today as network administrators and individual computer users around the world took steps to protect their machines, even as Microsoft's critics stepped up their complaints that the company's software, which dominants the industry, puts its customers at risk of such outbreaks.
In at least a partial answer to its critics, Microsoft said that it would begin shipping the consumer and business versions of Windows XP with the protective network firewall completely activated, to make PC's less vulnerable to attacks.
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Computerworld, 8/14/03: Variation of Blaster worm now showing up
But users that patched against the original Blaster should be protected already
By JAIKUMAR VIJAYAN
A modified version of the W32.Blaster worm is on the loose, according to advisories from two security firms. But users whose machines are patched against the original Blaster should be protected against the variant as well.
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Collaborative Technologies
The New York Times, 8/14/03: Can Johnny Blog?
By PAMELA LiCALZI O'CONNELL
Can Johnny Blog?
This may be the year that school blogs come into their own. A school blog is simply a Weblog - an online blend of diary, links and commentary - that is used by teachers and students.
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