Security Heavyweights Team To Fight Spyware
Spyware causes more problems on computers in small-to-midsized
businesses than almost any other issue. Today, the security giants,
McAfee, Trend Micro, and Symantec announced that they would be teaming
up with ICSA Labs and Cyber Security Labs. The group plans to develop
industry standards for identifying and testing spyware control and
removal.
The group, Spywaretesting.org, wants to standardize evaluation and
testing criteria and methods. Many consumers are currently confused
when buying antispyware products, and the collaboration wants to make
choices easier for consumers.
Most of the testing that has been done in the past has not been
properly documented and cannot be replicated. Thus, most of the
available products are simply not effective enough and companies are
making their fortunes mining information using Spyware.
Monte Robertson, president of Software Security Solutions, commented
on the collaboration: "Antispyware vendors use different techniques
and algorithms for how they detect malicious programs, and in
determining what is important to detect and remove. This process needs
standardization badly because there are a thousand ways to approach
spyware detection and mitigation."
Learn more about this new team who will be standardizing spyware
solutions and making your job as an IT consulting firm much easier
(link above).
Blogged by Joshua Feinberg
posted by Computer Consulting Kit @ 2:54 PM
ProactiveWatch Launched For Citrix VARs
At the Citrix Summit 2006, ProactiveWatch announced that their newest
service, ProactiveWatch, for Citrix VARs is available immediately.
ProactiveWatch, a hosted diagnostic and monitoring service, can help
VARs working with mid-sized businesses using between 1 and 20 Citrix
servers. VARs can now provide clients with proactive technical support
services to help companies avoid potential problems.
Currently, Citrix VARs and their clients have to rely on manual
services to find problems. Since these companies can't afford a
full-time IT staff, the problems often escalate and have a major
impact before they are caught.
Once the ProactiveWatch VAR console is installed, the VAR can see the
status of all of his customers in one spot and can immediately access
diagnostics as problems arise. Citrix VARs can use the ProactiveWatch
system to guarantee an ongoing stream of work while keeping clients
happy and loyal.
Bernd Harzog, CEO of APM Experts, says, "ProactiveWatch is the first
service that delivers the needed functionality to these customers
while also improving the top line revenue and profitability of the
VAR's support services offerings."
Find out more in the full article,ProactiveWatch Launches at Citrix
Summit 2006 (link above).
Posted by Computer Consulting 101
posted by Computer Consulting Kit @ 2:49 PM
Computer Business Reviews: Xandros Uses Desktop for Opportunities in
Education
Linux and Desktop specialist Xandros, Inc., a New York-based company,
announced recently a new campaign to target the education sector. The
Education Edition of its Xandros Desktop OS Linux operating system
starts at $10 per seat for use by students.
Xandros already offers business and consumer versions of its Linux
desktop product, but hopes that the recently-launched education
edition will open up a brand new market for Linux in regards to the
desktop computer. This package will introduce a new base of clients
for the computer business to Linux.
Xandros Desktop OS Education Edition is compatible with Microsoft
Corp's Active Directory, the Firefox web browser, the OpenOffice.org
productivity suite, the Ximian Evolution email client, and support for
Microsoft's Office applications in the form of a trial of Codeweavers
Inc's CrossOver Office.
Academic Institutions that qualify can receive the Xandros educational
software package starting from $10 per station for both students and
faculty. This deal also allows students and faculties to use the
standard version of the software at home for personal use. Certain
individual qualified students and staff can also get copies of Xandros
Desktop OS Education Edition for less than $50.
Blogged By: Computer Consulting 101
posted by Computer Consulting Kit @ 11:10 AM
Computer Business: Software Groups Encourage Employees to Report Illegal
Software Use
Software trade organizations are creating incentives to encourage
discontented, recently fired or ethically charged employees to report
company executives for illegal software use. Rewards for employees are
reported to be as high as $200,000.
Laurie Atkinson of the Business Software Alliance states that many
people are responding, either because they are unhappy at work or
because they simply think reporting such activities is the right thing
to do. The Alliance has paid for radio ads to promote this campaign
and appeal to as many workers as possible.
The software industry is losing millions of dollars annually because
of the epidemic of illegally copied software. Computer business giants
from Microsoft to Adobe have called upon the help of organizations
like the BSA and the Software and Information Industry Association to
help spotlight companies that are using pirated packages.
Computer business trade associations are not going after small
companies. But companies that have more than 500 work stations loaded
with more than one illegal and expensive software programs are
definitely targets.
In the past year, both the SIIA and the BSA - two of the country's top
copyright protection groups -- have started offering hard cash to
reporting employees. Both are also offering online filing forms for
employees to further ease the process. The SIIA alone gets
approximately 200 reports per month and investigates about 50 of
those. The penalty for each company determined to have pirated
programs is three times the market rate for each illegal program it
has.
The BSA and the SIIA offer very similar rewards to employees that
report their companies. If a settlement or judgment ranges from
$10,000 to $50,000, the tipster receives $500; from $50,000 to
$100,000, the reward is $5,000, and so on, as long as it is under
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