Articles by Jay Lyman

Computer viruses and variants have been known to reemergeafter a lull in activity, but the latest case, the Bagle.aq virus, highlights continued security problems. Many users are unaware that they are acting as a relay for malicious code, spam and more. The threat level for Bagle.aq was raised by antivirus giant McAfee, which said that the virus -...

After extensive investment, testing and delay, Microsoft has made itsService Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP available and is urging corporate andconsumer users to update the operating system, which has been bombardedby Explorer browser and other vulnerabilities An enormous batch of security upgrades and other fixes typical of afull software update, SP...

Organizers of the CeBit America computer industry trade show announced thatthey have canceled the June 2005 event because of declining attendance The show is the second major technology event to be called off. In June the Comdex show was canceled for the same reason....

IBM has announced it is contributing its Java-based Cloudscape database software to the open-source community via the Apache Software Foundation, which will inspect the code and establish it as an open-source Java database to be called "Derby." IBM has been credited for supporting Linux and the open-source community but criticized by rivals regardi...

Microsoft has broken its monthly cycle of security updates to plug a fewholes in its Internet Explorer browser, including the Download.Jectscripting weakness that caused a widespread, Web-based attack scarein June. The Download.Ject vulnerability and similar browser weaknesses prompted many security experts to recommend the use of alternative brow...

As U.S. elections draw near, computer science experts and e-voting critics are making dire predictions about the outcome if paperless, closed-code touch-screen machines are used by Americans casting their ballots. The criticism grew into a challenge at the Black Hat Security Conference in Las Vegas this week when Harvard fellow Rebecca Mercuri cal...

Reports of rising numbers of IT jobs in foreign markets might mean Northern California's Silicon Valley is no longer the biggest tech employer, but analysts are quick to point out that Silicon Valley is different, providing the most diverse and robust mix of jobs and a higher level of talent. According to officials for the state of Karnataka, Indi...

Two independent groups seeking to win a private, US$10 million space-travel contest known as the X Prize have announced they are closer to actually meeting the terms for the prize, with back-to-back, manned flights planned for the fall The SpaceShipOne team, which achieved mankind's first private spaceflight with a person in the Mojave Desert last ...

Telecom and cable giants are moving quickly to keep up with innovations and opportunities surrounding Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), one of the latest technology trends to draw aggressive strategies from companies such as AT&T and Verizon. As the larger, more traditional telecom and cable companies try to keep up with VoIP developments pushe...

Sun Microsystems is carrying out its promise to provide Opteron-powered products for volume markets. The Santa Clara, California-based company said its expanded Solaris x86 combined with AMD's Opteron processor would be offered in new Sun workstations and Sun Fire V20z servers, which are priced to move, according to Yankee Group senior analyst Dana Gardner.

An Indianapolis bail bondsman is looking to cash in on the JohnKerry-John Edwards Democratic presidential ticket by selling hiswww.kerryedwards.com site to the highest bidder, with a starting priceof US$150,000. But the man, who has owned rights to the Internet address for nearly twoyears, is not what is known as a "squatter," a person who purveys...

Security experts are praising the international bust of a Russian Internet extortion ring, but they also warn that cyber strong-arm schemes -- which use viruses, worms, trojans and the threat of denial of service (DoS) attacks -- are increasing and spreading to different targets, including e-commerce and financial transaction sites The UK's Nationa...

Two of the world's largest computer and software companies have been sued by UK-based BTG International for patent infringement over Web-enabled software update and other technologies. BTG, a UK-based intellectual property and technology development company, along with New York-based Teleshuttle, filed suit in federal court in the Northern Distric...

The WiFi Alliance, a global nonprofit organizatin made up of 200 member companies that support the IEEE 802.11, or WiFi, wireless standard, has announced a new, more stringent policy on interoperability for products to obtain its WiFi certification The policy is effective immediately and threatens denial or loss of WiFi certification for products t...

One prominent computer hacker has been sentenced and a suspected hacker was indicted in the past week, both of them saying their cyber exploits were designed to point out security deficiencies. Infamous hacker Adrian Lamo, 23, who was known as "the helpful hacker" because he reported his exploits to his victims, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. Dist...

Those who get caught stealing personal identity information to committheft or fraud -- whether by sifting through trash or posting bogus Websites on the Internet to trick users into divulging data -- will befacing more time in jail thanks to a new federal law The Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act (ITPEA), signed by President Bush this week, ad...

In an effort to tailor their various instant messaging (IM) services for better use by enterprise and remove the interoperability issues that have precluded a bigger business embrace of the real-time communication, Microsoft, America Online and Yahoo today announced connectivity among the competing services using Microsoft's Live Communications Server 2005 (LCS)...

Microsoft has released its monthly round of patches, including two patches for critical vulnerabilities and one that patches a hole that could become the basis of a widespread computer worm attack. At the same time as the patch release, a Danish company announced additional security holes in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, which has been beaten by a string of vulnerabilities and attacks in recent weeks...

Microsoft immediately rejected Japanese antitrust regulators' call Tuesday to retroactively nullify its contract provisions that limit the legal recourse of PC manufacturers in Japan to which it licenses its Windows operating system Microsoft, noting it had already removed the provisions from new contracts as of last February, took issue, as expect...

Building on an existing relationship and trying to capitalize on a growing business-conferencing market that is becoming more integrated with both telecommunications and the world of information technology, Microsoft and British telecom giant BT announced a global deal on Monday The companies had announced a suite of business tools last month, sayi...