apps

Viruses hit 1 million mark

Mehan Jayasuriya — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:44:05 -0400

It was bound to happen sooner or later: According to security vendor Sophos, there will be 1 million distinct computer viruses and malware apps by the end of 2008. Now, you might be quick to dismiss that number as nothing more than fodder for alarmist headlines--and rightfully so--but there's a little more to the story than that. It seems that a whopping 25 percent of that malware was produced just in the last six months, which points to a rapid acceleration in malware on the web. Still, it's not all bad news. For example, one in 1000 emails currently contains a piece of malware; a major improvement on the one in 40 ratio that existed in 1995. And despite the growth of malware, security companies are logging upwards of 25,000 samples a day. "About 85 to 90 percent of malware families have a fix created for them almost immediately," Sophos chief technology officer Paul Ducklin said.

For more on current malware and virus trends:
- see this PC World article

Google Calendar, Outlook get in sync

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 06:59:54 -0500

If you're a Google Calendar fan, you likely experience a level of frustration when you're forced to use Outlook at work each and every day. That's because, until now, the only reliable way to sync Google and Outlook calendars was manually. Now, however, there's a better way: Google has released an applet called Google Calendar Synch, which allows users to automatically sync their Google and Outlook Calendars. "People aren't always connected to the Internet, and they may prefer to use different applications (like Microsoft Outlook calendar) at their home or office," Google Apps Associate Product Manager Matt Kulick explained in a blog post. "One of the biggest issues we hear from users is how hard it is to keep all of their calendars up to date."

For more on the new syncing tool:
- see this eWeek article

Google expands enterprise offerings

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:59:57 -0500

As you will recall, just a few short weeks ago, Google expanded its enterprise offerings with Google Apps Team Edition, a controversial product that would allow end-users to deploy collaboration software without the IT department's blessing or knowledge. While the dust that the company kicked up with that release still hasn't settled, that hasn't stopped the big G from unleashing yet another piece of web-based productivity software on the corporate world. Last week, the company launched Google Sites, essentially a reworking of the JotSpot online service, which Google acquired in 2006. A sort of companion application to Google Docs, Sites allows users to create documents and websites that can then be collaboratively edited and managed by various members of a team. Additionally, the suite allows users to track tasks, create image galleries and organize their contacts. While it might seem like Sites can perform a wide range of functions, as Ars Technica notes, "...many users may feel that Google stripped out far too many of the rich collaboration tools that originally made JotSpot so appealing." Regardless, it seems likely that the company will continue to improve the service as it has with Docs, in order to inch closer toward a full-fledged online collaboration suite.

For more on Google Sites:
- see this Ars Technica article

Tech tool may identify disgruntled workers

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:59:58 -0500

The Air Force is developing a data-mining tool to root out disaffected insiders based on their email activity, according to an article in this month's International Journal of Security and Networks. This could be a big step for corporations that routinely focus on electronic threats from the outside and it may be the dream of many tech executives to find the divisive employees with access to sensitive data. No one has yet talked about the potential privacy issue here, but we are sure you already have a corporate policy that the office computer is only to be used for work. Or do you?

For more on development of this technology:
- See this CNET blog

More tech stories from the FierceCIO network:
> Manage your reputation online. Article
> WGA changes coming to Vista SP1. Article
> 10 great apps for Symbian phones. Article

ALSO NOTED: Gartner: 80% of apps to use open-source by 2012; Flash drives get serious about security;

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> Gartner: 80% of apps to use open-source by 2012. Article
> Motorola CEO takes helm of handset division. Article
> Lenovo ThinkPad power adaptor charges phones, PDAs too. Article
> Apple bumps iPhone to 16GB of storage. Article
> Linus Torvalds blasts Sun, Microsoft, virtualization. Article
> Flash drives get serious about security. Article
> Remembering failed Apple buyout amid Microsoft/Yahoo speculation. Article

And Finally... A brand-new computer from 1984 gets unboxed. Article

Vista loses steam

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:59:59 -0500

Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system is not winning any popularity contests these days. Bill Gates, the outgoing head of Microsoft, disclosed on Sunday at the Consumer Electronics Show that Microsoft has sold more than 100 million copies of Vista since January. But numbers do not tell the whole story. While 100 million sounds like a lot, Vista was loaded onto 39 percent of the PCs that were shipped in 2007--a far poorer showing than had been expected.

Despite the fact that Microsoft spent millions on developing Vista, customers are concerned about its compatibility with older apps and its resource requirements. A new survey in InformationWeek released last week found that nearly one-third of corporate desktop managers had no plans to upgrade their company's PCs to Vista. The new OS has also encountered a few other problems. Many competitors are moving into new desktop alternatives such as Apple's beefed up Leopard OS and open source offerings from Ubuntu and other Linux distributors. We'll be interested to see the next turn of the wheel for Vista.

For more on Vista:
- See this InformationWeek article

Twitter messaging comes to the enterprise

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Evidence of enterprise adoption of consumer Web 2.0 apps--like social networking and blogs--continues to build. The most recent development revolves around something called the Twitter micromessaging system. According to CIOInsight magazine, Twitter lets users send short messages, free, via SMS, IM, email or the Twitter Web site. It is a platform independent group messaging system that lets users send messages that are a maximum of 140 characters long and can be read by anyone who is subscribed to the sender's account. Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone told CIOInsight that the service was not intended for businesses, but possible uses have emerged, particularly when dealing with distributed teams, in conference environments or in emergency situations.

For all the Twitter details:
- read the article in CIOInsight

Malware's $7 billion Hit

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:59:59 -0400

It turns out that phishing schemes and spyware are more than just annoying; they're both turning out to pack a serious wallop for the wallets of online consumers. A new study from ConsumerReports.com says that such malware apps have cost consumers a whopping $7 billion in losses for over the last two years. The report also says that consumers have a 1-in-4 chance of becoming a cyber victim. The good news is that these numbers are down over last year. The report notes that 38 percent of those surveyed reported a computer virus infection in the last two years, and 17 percent did not have anti-virus software installed. During the past six months, 34 percent of respondents' computers were exposed to a spyware infection. Meanwhile, the median cost of a phishing incident is around $200.

Learn more about the study:
- read the article in eWeek

Web 2.0 to drive Cisco's growth

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:59:59 -0400

This week, Cisco CEO John Chambers said that he expects Web 2.0 to drive the company's revenue and to contribute to significant growth--rekindling the type of surge that Cisco experienced during the heyday of the Internet and telecom spike at the end of the 1990s. How exactly is Cisco defining "Web 2.0"? It's lumping collaboration and hosted apps together, along with a number of alternatives to more traditional IT enterprise offerings. After his earnings report this year, Chambers said that Cisco raised its forecast for average revenue growth each quarter to between 12 and 17 percent; over the past three years, growth hovered at a solid 10 and 15 percent year-over-year in each quarter. No doubt, some of this newfound Web 2.0 focus is due to Cisco's recent acquisition of web conferencing company WebEX. "This truly is the top of the first inning of a nine-inning game," Chambers said.

Not long after his talk, in a very strange set of developments, Cisco lost power at its data center and Cisco.com--the main corporate website--was down for three hours. How did the company deliver the news? In very Web 2.0 form, the communication was made over its official blog.

For more on these developments:
- check out the article in InfoWorld
- read this article in ComputerWorld

Saas provides an alternative to outsourcing

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 06:59:58 -0400

As more products come of age, companies looking to cut costs and drive innovation are turning to SaaS as a cost effective alternative-one that is less risky than outsourcing or offshoring. And no matter what application a CIO is searching for, it is increasingly likely that is being offered as a service. Everything from customer relationship management to online backup to expense reporting is now being offered as a service. CIOupdate.com this week offers a succinct look at the pros and cons of the technology. Pros include cost, risk mitigation, flexible contracts and predictability. Some of the cons are characteristics that current SaaS applications don't yet have: IT departments want apps that customize easily, scale effectively, and are evolved to a point of product maturity.

For all the SaaS details:
- read the article in CIOupdate.com