NetFlash: Harvard and Oxford team with Consumer Reports on ‘Badware’

Harvard and Oxford team with Consumer Reports on ‘Badware’

Academic institutions Harvard University and Oxford University are teaming with Consumer Reports to launch a Web site called StopBadware.org to be an online ‘hall of shame’ for those trafficking in spyware or questionable forms of adware. Read more about “The Stop Badware Coalition”.

VoIP vulnerability may be over-hyped, analyst says

The surfacing of a pair of flaws in Cisco’s CallManager IP telephony servers last week raises the hot-button issue of how to secure enterprise VoIP networks from attacks. But one industry expert says the threat of an attacker or virus taking down a businesses IP PBX or VoIP network is more phantom than menace. Read more.

EMC to unveil high-end array

EMC Thursday is expected to announce an ultra-high-end storage array for customers with the largest storage needs. At an event in London, the company plans to roll out a new version of the DMX-3. This version of the DMX-3 was originally announced last summer and projected to be available in the first half of this year. Get all the details.

The future of business communications

The future of business communications looks less and less like a strict division between voice and data and more like a collection of communications components that can be blended with business applications as needed, according to opening day keynote addresses at the Internet Telephony conference Tuesday. Read the full story.

San Diego OKs $667 million outsourcing deal

San Diego County officials Tuesday approved a $667 million IT outsourcing contract with Northrop Grumman Information Technology and hope to complete a transition to the new contractor by year-end. The deal made Tuesday covers IT services for the 17,000-employee county government, which operates on a $4 billion budget. See the full story.

Symantec president Gary Bloom resigns

Symantec Tuesday announced its vice chairman and president Gary Bloom will step down from his post by March. In a statement, Bloom said he wanted to “take a break after almost 25 years in the high technology industry.” Click here for more.

Call centers heading for home

When they’re not on the road for a service call, but they are on the clock, field technicians for Aspect Software pitch in handling customer calls that require technical expertise. They can take calls from their homes or satellite offices. Either way, adding to the pool of agents is no big deal, Aspect CTO Gary Barnett says. Read more of our story on routing customer calls to employee homes.

Microsoft takes aim as RIM battles in court

With Research in Motion’s BlackBerrys in danger of a shutdown for patent violations, Microsoft is ready to exploit the opportunity with its own push e-mail offering. Click here for more.