| Page 2 of 2 < Back |
Invasion of the Data Snatchers
"The index will be generated from data gathered by 2,700 International Business Machines information security employees and a global network of about a half-million sensors - software programs and security hardware distributed to its customers and its own networks in 34 countries. The network of sensors routinely detects 100 million suspected or actual attacks against IBM customers each month," the newspaper said.
• The New York Times: New IBM Report Will Warn of Computer Security Threats (Registration required)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spyware Sheriffs
Spyware has become such a problem that lawmakers have put it at the top of their list at a time when war, a presidential election and a recovering economy are at the forefront of voters' minds.
"Congress is considering three bills attempting to slow the spread of spyware, the unwanted and often harmful software creeping onto millions of personal computers. Spyware covers a broad array of software that's surreptitiously downloaded and can open the door to identity theft, scams or computer glitches. Consumer advocates say any new legislation would provide some relief, but they expect no quick fix because the proposed laws are flawed. Critics say the federal bills target some of the worst offenders -- those out to defraud computer users -- while giving others a pass to spread software, including 'adware' that serves up commercial pitches, to often unsuspecting consumers," the San Jose Mercury News said in a review of the spyware legislation. "The crafting of the anti-spyware measures underscores the complexity of regulating the Internet. Last year's CAN-SPAM Act has been criticized for doing little to stop unwanted e-mail pitches."
• San Jose Mercury News: 3 Measures Aim to Curb Spyware (Registration required)
In other cyber enforcement news, a man known as the "Spam King" -- who on Oct. 12 became the first individual targeted by a federal spyware lawsuit -- has been ordered to turn off the piggybacking programs, the Associated Press reported. "U.S. District Judge Joseph DiClerico issued a temporary restraining order Thursday against Stanford Wallace and his companies, SmartBot.net Inc. ... and Seismic Entertainment Productions Inc.. ... The judge ordered Wallace to remove software code that exploits security holes in computer operating systems and Web browsers, then tracks people's Internet use to bombard them with pop-up ads. ... Wallace formerly headed a company called Cyber Promotions in the 1990s that sent as many as 30 million junk e-mails daily to consumers, earning him the nicknames 'Spamford' and 'Spam King.' He left the company after lawsuits by America Online and CompuServe."
• Associated Press via washingtonpost.com: 'Spam King' Ordered to Disable Spyware (Registration required)
Security, Symantec's Way
John Thompson, chief executive of computer security software company Symantec, is the star of a profile today in USA Today's Money section. "Thompson often doesn't have much more visibility on the ground, where his company fights a never-ending battle against a growing number of computer hackers and virus writers. He's made his name by staying one step ahead of them -- and capitalizing on security fears like no other CEO. Symantec, best known for its Norton AntiVirus software, has a commanding lead in the security software business, with more than twice the market share of No. 2 McAfee, says researcher IDC," the paper reported. "The $8 billion security software market is expected to grow to $16 billion by 2008, says IDC security analyst Charles Kolodgy. Symantec is acquiring three to four companies a year to fuel its booming growth. Symantec's shares have risen from $4.31 the day Thompson joined the company to about $60 in recent trading. Revenue has doubled. The company hires 50 to 60 new employees a week."
• USA Today: Symantec CEO Turns Flying Blind Into Profit
Another Scourge: Identity Theft
Keeping tabs on your financial information has become harder and identity theft more rampant, thanks to the Internet. The New York Times calls identity theft "one of the fastest-growing white-collar crimes in the country. Identity theft involves the most intimate, the most stealthy and perhaps the most intrusive of frauds -- the wholesale lifting of someone's financial persona to secure bank loans, credit cards and mortgages in that person's name. Even when the crimes are discovered early, it can take months, sometimes years, for innocent people to restore tattered credit histories. While most consumers usually do not have to pay for illicit purchases on their credit cards, they may be held liable in thefts involving other types of loans," the paper said.
"Analysts say several factors have combined to make identity theft a particularly intractable crime: the growth of the Internet and digital finance, decades of expanding consumer credit worldwide, the hodgepodge nature of local and federal law enforcement, and the changing but often still inadequate regulations governing the credit industry. Everyone is fair game. Thieves recently snatched the identity of a three-week-old infant in Bothell, Wash. And authorities say that the dead have been favorite targets of identity thieves for years. Nor is identity theft limited to people. A growing number of thieves now assume the false guise of entire companies, adopting a business's employer identification number to secure commercial loans, corporate leases or expensive office products, according to analysts, security specialists and law enforcement officials."
• The New York Times: Identity Theft Is Epidemic. Can It Be Stopped? (Registration required)
A New Racket
The Los Angeles Times has its own scary Net piece out today, just in time for Halloween. The paper reports that online extortion is thriving on the Internet and is "fast becoming the scourge of Internet-based businesses: high-tech protection rackets in which gangs of computer hackers choke off traffic to websites whose operators refuse their demands. Rather than brass knuckles and baseball bats, the weapons of choice for these digital extortionists are thousands of computers. They use them to launch coordinated attacks that knock targeted websites off-line for days, or even weeks, at a time," the paper said. "The shakedowns generate millions of dollars. Many Internet operators would rather pay protection money than risk even greater losses if their websites go down. After more than a year perfecting their techniques on gambling and pornographic websites, the gangs are starting to turn their talents to mainstream e-commerce operations."
• The Los Angeles Times: Deleting Online Extortion (Registration required)
A Fading Tech Nirvana?
India's tech boom is experiencing some growing pains. A commentary in the current issue of Business Week magazine reports that the tech hub of Bangalore has hit some snags, with traffic and other infrastructure woes. "India's fast-growth high-tech industry has to worry about many things: high staff turnover; competition from China; and backlash from U.S. voters. But maybe what India should be focusing on is potholes and narrow roads. The fact is, Bangalore's growth explosion could cause the city serious trouble," the magazine reported.
"Just a year ago, Bangalore enjoyed a reputation not only as India's Silicon Valley but also as a pleasant, tranquil place to live, with a salubrious climate and tree-lined streets. But high-tech's Eden has proved a powerful lure. More than 1,300 software and outsourcing companies -- 450 of them multinationals -- have set up sprawling campuses, employing 170,000 workers. The influx, which has helped increase Bangalore's population by a third since 1995, to 6.5 million, has resulted in choked roads, power outages, an erratic water supply, and poor sanitation. A $1.1 billion metro system, long seen as a solution to Bangalore's transport headaches, is far behind schedule. Industry worries that a long-overdue new airport, due to begin operations in 2010, may also be delayed. 'The city is collapsing,' says Bob Hoekstra, chief executive of the Philips Software Center."
• Business Week: Asian Business/Commentary: Bangalore: Tech Eden No More
Browser War Rematch
The Web browser fight may not be so 1990s anymore. There's more activity in the browser space and it's enough to give Microsoft a fresh headache. Business 2.0 reports on some new salvos in the battle: "Blake Ross is lounging at his parents' Florida Keys condo, thinking ahead to his first day back at Stanford. His goal for his sophomore year: nothing less than to 'take back the Web' from Microsoft You might think the shy 19-year-old is outmatched. Think again. Ross, a software prodigy who interned at Netscape at age 14, is the lead architect behind Mozilla's Firefox -- a revolutionary new browser that's catching on the way Mosaic did in 1993."
More from the article: "In beta for the past four months, Firefox version 1.0 is set to be released in November. With that, Ross will issue the first truly formidable challenge to Internet Explorer that the world has seen in seven years. 'We're hoping for 10 million downloads in 10 days,' Ross says proudly. That's not sophomoric hype. Firefox, a free open-source browser that loads twice as fast as Internet Explorer, has already been downloaded 2.7 million times, and it has siphoned off nearly 2 percent of Microsoft's browser market share, now at 93.7 percent. Along the way, Firefox is fast becoming the browser of choice for anyone fed up with all the nasty things polluting the Web (pop-ups and viruses and spyware, oh my!). Google is rumored to be building its own browser based on the Firefox framework, and entrepreneurs are churning out hundreds of microprograms for it."
• Business 2.0: Microsoft's Worse Nightmare
In other smack-Microsoft-around news, The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro writes in his latest column about Google's new product. "Google is famed for its Web search engine, but over the past few years it has acquired a different role: Microsoft's No. 1 foreign aid donor. First, Google fixed some of Internet Explorer's worst defects with its Google Toolbar, a free add-in that blocks pop-up ads and provides a shortcut to (naturally) Google's search engine and an auto-fill option to complete Web forms. Now it has released the Google Desktop, another free program that fixes an equally glaring weakness of Windows: its woeful file-searching capabilities. What a wonderful favor to do: Microsoft ought to send Google a thank-you note sometime. What Google did for Web searching, Google Desktop -- available in a beta-test form at desktop.google.com for Windows 2000 and XP -- does for file finding."
• The Washington Post: Fast Forward: Google Desktop Outshines Windows' File-Search Capabilities (Registration required)