Spouse-vs.-spouse cyberspying dangerous, possibly illegal
Increasing use of stealthy surveillance software for computers and phones is raising legal concerns and alarm among those who help victims of domestic violence.
Google, Viacom lawsuit takes a hilarious turn
Google wants to question under oath two Comedy Central stars, Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report and comedian Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, in connection with the $1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit brought against the company and online video company YouTube by Viacom International.
Nokia asks U.S. to ban import of Qualcomm products
Nokia wants the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban the import of Qualcomm chipsets that allegedly infringe on five patents held by the Finnish handset maker.
VoIP requires strict attention to security best practices
New exploits against VoIP continue to emerge, but experts say these demonstrations reveal the need for vigilant security and are not fatal flaws to the technology.
Skype outage disables millions of users
Skype is experiencing software problems that have disconnected service for millions of users.
IBM, PWC settle U.S. contracting lawsuit
IBM and PriceWaterhouseCoopers have separately agreed to pay the U.S. government a total of $5.3 million to settle allegations that the companies solicited and provided improper payments on technology contracts with government agencies, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
SCO to partners, customers: It’s business as usual
If the SCO Group’s future looks grim, CEO and President Darl McBride apparently hasn’t gotten the memo. In a letter to partners and customers filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, McBride said SCO is still committed to doing business as usual even after the company was dealt a crushing blow in its ongoing litigation over Unix copyrights.
Vista stricken by embarrassing gadget hole
Security vendor Finjan has claimed the credit for spotting an embarrassing flaw in Windows Vista, which Microsoft only patched this week in its monthly updates.
Xandros expands Microsoft deal with Exchange protocols
Linux distributor Xandros is licensing messaging protocols from Microsoft as part of an expansion of the partnership the two companies forged in June.
NSA spying program argued at court hearing
A U.S. appeals court agreed on Wednesday to weigh a government motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the National Security Agency (NSA) monitored phone lines and e-mails without a warrant, but judges asked a government lawyer tough questions over the issue.
Live Chat Today
Cool tools, your questions answered
The best Palm OS gadgets, securing USB memory sticks, and ways to play games at work without getting caught. These subjects and more will be discussed by Cool Tools columnist Keith Shaw today in a live text-chat from 2-3 p.m. EDT today. No registration required. Join anytime while the live text chat is in progress.
Podcast
Safety tip: Keep your cell phone out of your pocket
Special co-host Neal Weinberg joins Keith to talk about the Citrix/XenSource $500 million acquisition, why Nokia cell phone owners might want to check their batteries, and why naming your kid a punctuation symbol isn’t such a great idea. (36:25).
Blogs
Buzzblog: The CD turns 25 today and I’m getting old
Gather ’round kids because Grandpa Buzzblog is going to tell a story about about how the introduction of the CD came within a whisker of killing off the entire music industry.
Today on Layer 8: Where we avoid tinkering with mainframe code anytime we can…
IBM is expected to roll out a new version of its z/OS mainframe that features a huge swig of security enhancements.
Today at Cisco Subnettwo flaws in its VPN Client for Windows that could allow unprivileged users to elevate their privileges to those of LocalSystem account. Cisco Japan leader steps down for health reasons. IP routing expert Jeff Doyle considers BGP filtering at the edge.
Cisco is warning of
Today on Microsoft Subnetdiscuss the future of the technology industry. Windows freeware has gone out of vogue now that people are afraid of the security risks involved. Software from unknown sources can turn your PC into a spam serving zombie faster than you can say bot. But there is still one safe source for it. Microsoft has a master plan to allow users to synchronize data from any application on any device.
Ballmer and Chambers will meet on Monday to have a nice sit down to
Forum
What’s the best bargain on enterprise network products you’ve ever gotten?Join the discussion.
Bought a bunch of Cisco routers for a song? Nabbed Windows Vista (legally) for a great price? We know people love to brag about saving money. Here’s your chance to show your peers just how smart or lucky you’ve been. And if there are lessons to be learned here, all the better. We plan to write a story based on the best stuff.
