Sony shares tumble over latest cyber attack

TOKYO — Sony’s share price fell more than three percent to a two-year low Monday after the latest online attack against the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant targeted its European subsidiary.

Sony shares in Tokyo trade lost 3.14 percent to close at 2,062 yen, the lowest level since March 2009.

No confidential data was stolen or published on the Internet in the cyber attack on Sony Europe Ltd., said company spokeswoman......READ MORE

Internet Researchers Decry DNS-Filtering Legislation

Internet-security researchers are saying Senate anti-piracy legislation that would dramatically increase the government’s legal power to disrupt and shutter websites dedicated to infringing activity “raises serious technical and security concerns.”

In a white paper published this month, the researchers take shots at a measure in the Protect IP Act allowing the Justice Department to obtain.....READ MORE

Optical Gear Enters a New Era

NEW YORK -- Packet Optical Transport Evolution -- The rise of coherent detection is kicking off a new era of optical networking, the Digital Coherent Era.

Heavy Reading analyst Sterling Perrin used that term in his introductory remarks Wednesday, adding that he tried so hard to not call it the Digital Coherent Era. He wanted to call it the xDM Era, since it follows the TDM Era (the age of Sonet/SDH) and the DWDM Era (today).

The "x" in XDM would have referred to the variety of modulation techniques being deployed at......READ MORE

The Dwindling Case for Saving TDM

Much of the talk around replacing TDM switches has focused on the many benefits of IP transformation -- new service opportunities, fixed-mobile convergence and more efficient and lower-cost network operations.
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But there's an increasingly urgent catalyst for TDM switch replacement projects that doesn't come with any feel-good factor: The rapid retirement of TDM-trained personnel and the shrinking availability of spares and software patches for these massive voice systems, many of which are finishing their third decade of service.

Already, carriers are turning to.....Read More

How Cloud Computing Works

Let's say you are a Business Owner, CEO, CTO or IT Manager. Your particular responsibilities include making sure that all of your employees have the right hardware and software they need to do their jobs. Buying computers for everyone isn't enough -- you also have to purchase software or software licenses to give employees the tools they require. Whenever you have a new hire, you have to....READ MORE

VA Business: Sunny skies for cloud computing

Forgive Virginia’s IT companies for having their heads in the clouds these days. That is, after all, where they soon expect to rack up huge profits. Cloud computing is the next frontier in information technology, driven especially by the Obama administration’s mandate that federal agencies transition to computing resources via the Internet.
Anyone who....READ MORE

Cloud Computing (in Plain English)

Cloud Computing explained by the experts

Cloud to Replace On-Site IT Spending

Cloud computing will grow at the expense of other IT ventures as more companies funnel their spending toward deployment, according to new analysis from Saugatuck Technology Inc. In a research report entitled “Key SaaS, PaaS and IaaS Trends Through 2015 – Business Transformation via the Cloud,” Saugatuck anticipates 65% or more of new enterprise IT spending to be cloud-based by 2015. Within the next four years, one quarter of total enterprise IT workloads will be cloud-based or hybrid, and 15% or more of enterprise spending will be cloud-based or hybrid, according to...READ MORE

Inter-Cloud Peering Points

The golden question in the Cloud computing industry is what role will outsourcing providers play. Enterprise customers adopting lots of Private Cloud is an internal function, it does nothing to stimulate procurement from third-party outsourcing suppliers.

The Inter-Cloud

One key answer is ‘Inter-Cloud Peering’: Gateway services to inter-connect these private clouds.

As highlighted in their ‘Cloud for Clunkers‘ plan the US Government is......READ MORE

The Clock Is Ticking On Encryption

In the indictment that led to the expulsion of ten Russian spies from the U.S. in the summer of 2010, the FBI said that it gained access to their communications after surreptitiously entering one of the spies' homes, during which agents found a piece of paper with a 27-character password.

In other words, the FBI found it more productive to burglarize a house than to crack a 216-bit code, despite having the computational resources of the U.S. government behind it.

That's because modern cryptography, when used correctly.....READ MORE

Is a next-generation firewall in your future?

The traditional port-based enterprise firewall, now looking less like a guard and more like a pit stop for Internet applications racing in through the often open ports 80 and 443, is slowly losing out to a new generation of brawny, fast, intelligent firewalls.

The so called next-generation firewall (NGFW) describes an enterprise firewall/VPN that.....READ MORE

The Smart Paranoid's Guide to Using Google

Google is nearly everyone's best friend. But have you ever stopped to think about just how much Google knows about you?

Do you realize that Google may have recorded and stored every single search term you have ever punched into its search box? Chances are some of those searches could be soberingly damaging to your reputation. What about Gmail? Have you ever sent any sensitive e-mails? How about business information stored in Google Docs?

Unless.......READ MORE

Samsung WiMAX 2 test hits 330Mbps

Yes, it's only a demonstration. Even so, Samsung's trial of WiMAX 2 technology that touched speeds of 330Mbps is still impressive.

Samsung is holding a public demonstration of the yet-to-be-finalized WiMAX 2 standard at the CEATEC IT and electronics tradeshow in Japan this week. In teaming up with Japan's UQ Communications ISP, Samsung is wirelessly streaming full-HD 3D videos over a WiMAX 2 trial network. WiMAX 2 is an evolution......READ MORE

The Next Generation of Business Networks

The wide area network (WAN) is central to the IT strategy of any multilocation business. Employees expect the WAN to be available when they need it, much like any other utility in the business. WANs have historically been built on "best effort" circuit or packet-switched IP networks such as VPN, Frame Relay, or Private Line connectivity.

This strategy is effective when the WAN is required for email and file-sharing. However, with the growing need to add.....READ MORE