FRAMINGHAM (10/17/2003) - This week was a busy one for Verisign Inc., as it launched new services designed to grow its security portfolio well beyond its core authentication technologies. The company delivered the first of a series of quarterly reports on the state of global Internet security. It sold its Network Solutions business, which provides Internet domain name registrations, to Pivotal Private Equity for approximately US$100 million. And it was busy fending off continued criticism of its recent Site Finder service. Here's what VeriSign Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stratton Sclavos had to say about this week's developments:
FRAMINGHAM (10/14/2003) - BEA Systems Inc. this week will roll out middleware technology aimed at helping companies build a shared security infrastructure for authenticating, authorizing and auditing user access to both Web-based and legacy applications.
COLUMBUS, OHIO (10/03/2003) - Regulatory requirements and the need to protect corporate reputations are making it crucial for companies to implement comprehensive data privacy programs, said users at the PrivacyCon 2003 conference in Columbus, Ohio this week.
FRAMINGHAM (09/26/2003) - Southwest Airlines Co. has just implemented software that allows hundreds of its engineers and mechanics to access proprietary information from its aircraft supplier's systems, using a single Web sign-on.
FRAMINGHAM (09/19/2003) - Five federal agencies, in collaboration with the Center for Internet Security and Oracle Corp., next Tuesday will announce a broad federal procurement initiative to improve software security.
Companies doing business in California may soon be required to keep detailed records of all the customer data they sell to third parties for direct-marketing purposes.
Companies will have even less time than usual to properly protect themselves against attackers attempting to take advantage of three critical flaws in Windows software that were revealed this week by Microsoft.
An abundance of low-cost labour and a reputation for high-quality work will, for the next several years, continue to make India one of the top outsourcing destinations for US companies looking to cut IT development and maintenance costs.
Microsoft has issued an advisory warning users of three critical vulnerabilities that affect multiple versions of its Windows operating system, including the latest Windows Server 2003.
An administrative error at Web hosting provider Interland may have caused thousands of hosted sites to become infected with malicious code.
"You need to literally drop everything else"
"It's more of a slug than a worm really"
This week's Fizzer worm appears to have had little impact on corporate networks, according to users and analysts. But with a growing number of users logging into corporate networks from home and other relatively insecure remote locations, the malicious code and spyware that such viruses leave behind on unprotected systems could prove to be a long-term headache for companies.
The recent theft of 13,000 customer records from a major credit reporting agency shows why it's important for companies to ensure that their business partners are following strong security practices, analysts and users said.
Problems with the consumer version of an online extension to Windows that's aimed at making patch installation easier are prompting concerns about the reliability of an upcoming corporate release of the Microsoft technology.