Gawkwire: Web Hosting and Internet News Resource

iPhone News: Orange Caps 3G Speed; Security Flaw Seen

2008-08-29T09:39:00-04:00

The iPhone took hits on two fronts Wednesday as Orange -- an iPhone 3G carrier in France -- admitted to limiting 3G bandwidth for its customers, and a security flaw was discovered in the iPhone that enables unauthorized users to access private data on the phone when it is supposedly locked.

When 3G-bug rumors and substandard network performance on the iPhone prompted a groundswell of irate customers last week, forums overflowed with anecdotal tales of the 3G network's slow performance. One Internet forum began to collate users' data speeds to get some answers. After thousands of results were in, France's 3G carrier Orange came in consistently at the bottom of the performance heap. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/iphone_news_orange_caps_3g_speed_security_flaw_seen.html

Red Hat Confirms Intruder Breached Fedora Servers

2008-08-25T00:49:00-04:00

Red Hat confirmed Friday that a Fedora Linux server that signs for the authenticity of a Fedora code download was breached eight days ago.

The enterprise Linux software vendor referred to the incident on Aug. 14 as "an issue in the infrastructure systems," and Fedora users have been speculating since about what prompted the serious tone of that notice.

Fedora project manager Paul Frields is urging Fedora users not to try to download the Fedora operating system or update packages until Red Hat gives the all clear. He said administrators and security specialists are working to clear up the incident and reinstall the Fedora systems. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/red_hat_confirms_intruder_breached_fedora_servers.html

Microsoft Details Strategy To Grab Google's Market

2008-08-22T09:40:00-04:00

Microsoft laid out its "catch Google" strategy at the Search Engines Strategies Conference and Expo in San Jose Tuesday. Appearing as the second keynote, Satya Nadella, senior vice president for search and advertising, vowed that additional investment and new deep-search techniques will allow the company to gain share over market behemoth Google.

Currently Microsoft gleans less than 10 percent of all Internet searches and less than five percent of Internet ad revenue from searches. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/microsoft_details_strategy_to_grab_google_s_market.html

Microsoft Eases Server-Virtualization Restrictions

2008-08-22T12:00:00-04:00

Microsoft has elected to jettison certain licensing restrictions that previously discouraged its customers from moving the software giant's server Relevant Products/Services applications within a server farm at will.

Beginning next month, Microsoft says its customers will be able to move any of 41 server applications as often as necessary without paying additional licensing fees. The goal is to enable data center managers to more effectively employ virtualization technology as the means for creating more dynamic enterprise IT systems, the company said. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/microsoft_eases_server-virtualization_restrictions.html

A Look at How Cybercrime Went Professional

2008-08-21T00:54:00-04:00

A huge increase in Internet crime is only part of the picture. The bigger worry for many organizations is that they are now being individually targeted by criminals using sophisticated technology.

As Russian and Georgian soldiers were flinging explosive artillery shells at each other, both sides in the South Ossetia conflict were also exploiting the very latest in cyber aggression, using techniques honed by professional gangsters specializing in online crime.

Although the attacks are largely untraceable, both sides are pointing the finger firmly at each other. Russian reports claim that South Ossetian government sites were brought down by Georgian hackers. But Georgian institutions, including government departments and the National Bank, have also suffered a string of attacks. Georgia's foreign ministry is posting all news content to the Polish President's Web site after its own was taken out when President Mikheil Saakashvili's pages were replaced with pictures of Adolf Hitler. Meanwhile, reports also claim that Russia's RIA Novosti news agency site is being targeted and crashed. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/a_look_at_how_cybercrime_went_professional.html

Who Will Be Your Next CIO: An Insider Or An Outsider?

2008-08-19T09:55:00-04:00

Do you know where your next CIO is going to come from? If you don't, you're not alone. A surprising number of organizations don't have an official blueprint for filling a CIO void, according to trend data, recruiters, consultants, and CIOs themselves. Surprising because one of the most important decisions a company makes about its business technology strategy is who will lead it.

This pivotal decision boils down to promoting from within or hiring an outsider, and that decision has everything to do with finding the most qualified person for the job. An increasing number of companies are going outside for their CIOs, and one reason may be because they don't have qualified internal candidates lined up. According to a recent survey by CDW, a computer equipment reseller, only 38% of 1,000 or so respondents--both CIOs and corporate managers--say their organizations have formal CIO succession plans. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/who_will_be_your_next_cio_an_insider_or_an_outsider.html

Microsoft faces Taiwan antitrust investigation

2008-08-18T13:00:00-04:00

Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission has launched an investigation into whether Microsoft Corp. holds a monopoly position over the island's software market and whether it abuses such a position, an official said today.

The government investigation into Microsoft will also look into complaints that Microsoft is limiting consumer choices by restricting the availability of Windows XP on new PCs and whether pricing of Microsoft products is fair to consumers on the island. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/microsoft_faces_taiwan_antitrust_investigation.html

YouTube User Sues Google

2008-08-21T07:00:00-04:00

Benjamin Legeri of Rehoboth, Mass., claims to have attracted 3.5 million video views through his YouTube accounts and he believes that's worth something.

So he's suing Google, YouTube, and several members of YouTube's support staff for revenue that he believes he should have received.
... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/youtube_user_sues_google_because_he_feels_he_deserves_something.html

Why Passwords Are a Weak Cyber-Defense

2008-08-15T09:51:00-04:00

The best password is a long, nonsensical string of letters and numbers and punctuation marks, a combination never put together before. Some admirable people actually do memorize random strings of characters for their passwords -- and replace them with other random strings every couple of months.

Then there's the rest of us, selecting the short, the familiar and the easiest to remember. And holding on to it forever.

I once felt ashamed about failing to follow best practices for password selection, but no more. Experts in computer security say that choosing hard-to-guess passwords ultimately brings little security protection. Passwords won't keep us safe from identity theft, no matter how clever we are in choosing them. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/why_passwords_are_a_weak_cyber-defense.html

Court Ruling Upholds Open-Source Copyrights

2008-08-15T13:00:00-04:00

Commercial software developers, listen up: If you think open source is a free toolkit from which you can borrow at will, look a good look at Wednesday's legal ruling. A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in New York City, where many intellectual-property cases are heard, overturned a Northern California court decision in Jacobsen v. Katzer, a pivotal case in open-source and Creative Commons law.

The bottom line? Even if open-source or Creative Commons licensing agreements charge no cash, if you violate terms of the license you are infringing on copyrighted material. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/court_ruling_upholds_open-source_copyrights.html

Facebook Tops MySpace as Social Sites Globalize

2008-08-15T23:45:00-04:00

The social networking arms race has gone global. According to a recent report form online metrics firm comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR), social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, Bebo and Hi5 have collectively seen their traffic rise by 25 percent over the last year.

Of course, the popularity contest is usually dominated by talk of Facebook vs. MySpace. In April, Facebook overtook MySpace to become the world's largest social network. The new report shows the Facebook posted 153 percent growth in unique visitors from June 2007 to June 2008. In that same period, MySpace grew just 3 percent.

In June, Facebook logged 132.1 million unique visitors, compared to MySpace's 117.6. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/reviews/facebook_tops_myspace_as_social_sites_globalize.html

Update: Estonia, Poland help Georgia fight cyberattacks

2008-08-14T10:10:00-04:00

In an intriguing cyberalliance, two Estonian computer experts are scheduled to arrive in Georgia by evening to keep the country's networks running amid an intense military confrontation with Russia.

And Poland has lent space on its president's Web page for Georgia to post updates on its ongoing conflict with Russia, which launched a military campaign on Friday to eject Georgian troops from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two renegade areas with strong ties to Russia. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/update_estonia_poland_help_georgia_fight_cyberattacks.html

Diving deep into Amazon Web Services

2008-08-14T00:03:00-04:00

Amazon's Web Services (AWS) are based on a simple concept: Amazon has built a globe-spanning hardware and software infrastructure that supports the company's Internet business, so why not modularize components of that infrastructure and rent them? It is akin to a large construction company in the business of building interstate highways hiring out its equipment and expertise for jobs such as putting in a side road, paving a supermarket parking lot, repairing a culvert, or just digging a backyard swimming pool.

More specifically, AWS makes various chunks of Amazon's business machinery accessible and usable via REST or SOAP-based Web service calls. Those chunks can be virtual computer systems with X2GHz processors and 2GB of RAM, storage systems capable of holding terabytes of data, databases, payment management systems, order tracking systems, virtual storefront systems, combinations of all the above, and more. And when I say "usable," I really mean "rentable." You pay only for the services (and their accompanying resources) that you use. ... Go to source

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/diving_deep_into_amazon_web_services.html