Larry Dignan

Ask the average network administrator about Cisco Systems MCK or NRK, and youre likely to get a blank stare. Thats because, other than international relief agencies, few know about Ciscos skunk works project—a network in a box designed to deliver in the worst circumstances. The box, which is about the size of a large suitcase, […]

Enterprises that dont protect customers personal information should be hit in their wallets. Maybe then, lax corporate security practices will improve. How these penalties get levied will be subject to debate, but its becoming apparent that something dramatic needs to happen, and money talks. How much is personal data worth? The Department of Veterans Affairs […]

Boot Camps rival has officially launched. Parallels, a Herndon, Va.-based startup said June 15 that its Desktop for Mac virtualization software has emerged from beta and is available for $49.99. The software, which allows Intel-based Apple computers to run Windows XP, lets Apple users run Windows XP and Apples OS X at the same time. […]

Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates is planning to leave in 2008 the company he founded 31 years ago, in order to focus on his philanthropy work. Gates said June 15 he will remain as chairman and doesnt “see a time when Im not chairman of the company.” “Its not a retirement. Its […]

Telecom Vonages IPO follies First, Vonage pitches its IPO to its customers. Nice idea—at least on paper. Then customers take Vonage up on its offer to participate, and the IPO tanks. Whoops. Now Vonage has a few customer service issues to worry about. Lesson: Perhaps its not such a bright idea to have customers and […]

Veterans groups may have accidentally found the remedy for companies lax protection of customer information. The cure: $1,000 for each person affected by a data breach. The veterans groups behind a massive class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which opened the door for the personal information of 26.5 million veterans to be […]

Marketing What if Microsoft had created the iPod? Lets play the “what if” game and hand over the marketing of Apples iPod to Microsoft. What would happen can be summed up in one word: disaster. But to really get the feel for what would happen, watch a video on YouTube. (Search for “Microsoft iPod” on […]

Data Resellers Peddling Social Security numbers Just how hard is it to purchase a Social Security number? The Government Accountability Offices answer: Its not easy. The GAO found 154 Internet information sellers with SSN services. Many of these sites offered a range of data including date of birth, drivers license information and telephone records. According […]

President Bushs vision for space exploration calls for human and robotic missions to the Moon and Mars, not to mention other far-flung planets. The problem: NASA needs an improved space communications network, according to the General Accountability Office. In a report released May 22, the GAO noted that NASAs Deep Space Network—a series of antennas […]

Online fraud Gone phishing The best phishing apparently is abroad, according to a study by RSA Security. In its online fraud intelligence report for April, RSA found the majority of all the banks targeted by phishing were based outside the United States. In fact, 57 percent of phishing targets were international. Note that while more […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs said the personal information of up to 26.5 million veterans was swiped from an employees home. According to the VA, an employee took home electronic data containing the names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth for millions of veterans and some spouses, as well as some disability ratings. The […]

Money talks. Loyalty walks. And in a potential price war you need to open the door to a larger Advanced Micro Devices partnership. That sums up why Dell finally (and we mean finally) decided to use AMD for multiprocessor enterprise systems. Rest assured that this AMD deal will expand to the desktop. Why? Dell plans […]