Lisa Vaas

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Theres a Swedish word, “lagom.” It means not too little, not too much, and its what MySQL AB CEO Marten Mickos wants database users to think about when scaling out, he said in his keynote address here Wednesday during the MySQL Users Conference. “Traditionally, its never lagom,” Mickos said. “Either you have too […]

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—Oh, if only the whole despicable idea of software patents would crumble as quickly as the fudge cake that MySQL users scarfed down at the third users conference (and 10-year birthday bash) for the database here on Tuesday. Grumbling about how patents stifle innovation and throwing cheerful jibes at how Oracle databases slow […]

Idera has come out with a version of its SQL Server database auditing tool that provides real-time auditing and continuous compliance for organizations dealing with Sarbanes-Oxley, GLBA, HIPAA, BASEL II and the USA Patriot Act. Idera worked in partnership with both security and auditing firms, including Ernst and Young LLP, to design SQL Compliance Manager, […]

Adrenaline is a dangerous drug. It can make otherwise intelligent journalists get downright giddy, throwing logic and common sense right out the window if they smell a hot story. I know—I was nearly one of them. It happened on Thursday, when the German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche reported that SAP CEO Henning Kagermann said hed be […]

Two-factor authentication may well be the key to stemming the onslaught of identity theft now plaguing businesses and consumers—if you can talk customers into using it, that is. “Its easy to apply two-factor authentication when you have employees [or a government mandate],” said John Carlson, senior director of BITS, a nonprofit organization of financial institutions […]

The day before data broker LexisNexis increased by nearly tenfold the number of identities feared stolen in last months data breach, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Monday filed beefed-up identity legislation that privacy experts hope will close large loopholes in existing and previously filed legislation. Feinsteins current bill, which the Senate Judiciary Committee will examine […]

A startup has come out with software that promises to overcome a major grid computing headache: namely, converting applications so they can be spread across a grid or cluster with standard machines, as opposed to exotic, high-end computers. Aspeed Software Corp.s Accellerant 3.1, a software development kit that the New York company announced on Tuesday, […]

A flaw has been discovered in Computer Associates International Inc.s eTrust intrusion detection software that could allow remote attackers to trigger a denial-of-service attack. iDefense Labs, at security firm iDefense Inc., on Tuesday posted an advisory that described the vulnerability as being caused by insufficient checking on values passed to Microsoft Corp.s Crypto API function […]

Oracle has taken control of Retek after 83 percent of shareholders tendered outstanding stock, the company announced Tuesday. Oracle Corp. announced its intentions to buy Retek Inc., a retail software developer largely considered to be the leader in its industry, a month ago. It was a slap in the face to Oracles bitter rival, SAP […]

Sybase has dropped its threat of legal action and allowed a security research company to release information about previously addressed database vulnerabilities. Next Generation Security Software Ltd. on Tuesday published details of six security flaws in Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise. NGSS initially reported the flaws—six buffer overflows and one denial of service—to Sybase Inc. last […]

Fujitsu Computer Systems on Tuesday unveiled PrimeQuest, a new line of Itanium 2-based servers aimed at the high end of the market. At a press conference in San Francisco, officials with Fujitsu Computer Systems Corp.—a subsidiary of Fujitsu Ltd.—were joined on stage by executives from Intel Corp., Red Hat Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Oracle Corp. […]

In another move to attract Oracle customers, SAP has extended its Safe Passage Program to all users of J.D. Edwards and PeopleSoft applications. SAP AGs Safe Passage program, which the company rolled out in January hard on the heels of Oracles PeopleSoft acquisition announcement, initially pertained only to SAP customers who also use PeopleSoft and […]