April 25, 2005 (Computerworld) --
... defenses offered by current technologies. Most antispyware tools apply a range of protections, such as URL filtering or signature analysis, but they catch less than 40% of the spyware that sneaks onto corporate computers, according to tests reported on SpywareWarrior.net. The study, done last fall, showed that even the best scanners overlook more than one-fourth of the spyware on PCs. Blue Coat Systems Inc. in Sunnyvale, Calif., claims that its upcoming Spyware Interceptor appliance can dramatically improve your defense efforts. Chris Harget, a Blue Coat product manager, says the company has already surveyed 7.3 million Web sites to determine which ones carry spyware, be it knowingly or unknowingly. Blue Coat's engineers found "tens and tens of thousands of sites" rife with the pesky programs, Harget says. Interceptor will let end users navigate to a spyware-tainted site but doesn't allow the malware to slip through to their computers. It also recognizes when executable code has been hidden in a nonexecutable file such as a JPEG and stops the nefarious program from firing up. And because mobile users often pick up spyware outside the corporate network, Interceptor can stop the performance-sucking programs from contacting their home Web sites to report on what they have learned from infected machines. The appliance can handle 100 to 1,000 PCs on a network and is priced at $2,295, plus a subscription fee that starts at $695 for 100 users. It's due to ship on May 31.
Noel Barnard, CEO of HyPerformix Inc.
Predict an application's performance ... ... before you unleash it on your network. Software modeling technology that HyPerformix Inc. in Austin plans to release this week promises to help IT managers "predict the impact of change" that a new application will bring to a network, says CEO Noel Barnard. She notes that the Performance Designer tool can predict response times from an end user's perspective by applying more than 1,700 templates of the possible infrastructure configurations that applications will work within. You pick the appropriate template and run your code through its paces in a virtual IT world. Companies engaged in application consolidation work will particularly benefit, Barnard claims. Pricing starts at $100,000. Track VoIP performance in real time ... ... to determine where the hang-ups are. With the ClearSight Distributed Analyzer, you can literally watch how your end users' voice-over-IP conversations are going. "The real-time flow of conversation views are broken down into a time-ladder diagram," says Bill Berkman, CEO of ClearSight Networks Inc. in Fremont, Calif. He means that the diagram visualizes step by step how data packets move across the wire. A technician can even replay conversations to analyze faulty
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Computerworld Executive Bulletin: Building a Robust Antivirus Defense
Download this Executive Bulletin (a $49.95 value) for free, compliments of MessageLabs. (Source: MessageLabs) Antivirus software alone isn't enough to prevent today's speedy, sophisticated virus attacks. Security managers should consider multitiered approaches that include behavior scanning, appliances that check e-mail for worms, and restricting user access to dangerous Web sites. Download this Executive Bulletin (a $49.95 value) for free, compliments of MessageLabs, to learn more. Download this executive briefing
Quick Sizing Guide for SAS Grid Running on HP BladeSystems and EVA Storage
Download this white paper today! (Source: HP) Designed for CIOs, IT managers, data center managers and grid computing architects seeking to improve performance, SAS Grid Computing on the HP BladeSystem c-Class helps accelerate growth and mitigate risks with a simplified, consolidated infrastructure that's agile enough to efficiently handle change. SAS Grid Manager on HP BladeSystem can lower costs through automation, virtualization and improved IT efficiency. Download this white paper
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Securing your network begins at the gateway, also called the perimeter, to keep unauthorized users, viruses and malicious code from entering your systems. Deploying multilayer technologies is your first line of defense. With the mobility of employees and the ease with which external devices can be brought in and out of a network, continuing to build your security plan for network servers and clients is a must. Fortunately, there is much that organizations can do to protect themselves from attacks - internal and external. One of the key facets of a successful security strategy is protecting the servers that run critical applications and house so much of your essential data. Having the right policies, procedures and server configurations is critical.
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Companies today are realizing that competitive advantage is harder to sustain when based solely on gains in productivity and cost efficiency. The focus is shifting to invest more in business optimization initiatives which rely on trusted information to develop new insights that deliver better business results. But how can this be done efficiently in a business environment across multiple applications and processes. The answer is an Information Agenda - an innovative approach to transforming business information into a strategic asset for competitive advantage.
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Seth Weintraub:
Apple Macbook Event Liveblog
I'll be liveblogging here when the event begins. That's scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT. ... [more]
