Technology

An IT security company has launched in the UK, claiming that its outsourced security service can protect enterprises from the threat of web and IM-borne viruses.

The service from Scansafe routes a customer’s web traffic through a proxy, monitoring for virus activity in file downloads and malicious Java, Javascript and ActiveX code executed when users visit infected websites or use instant messaging.

At the moment, conventional anti-virus programs are not guaranteed to find viruses caught through web browsers, especially if relevant patches have not been applied.

Some Internet phone service providers say they're willing to cooperate with police seeking to wiretap conversations--but they can't because of technical limitations.

It's a PC user's nightmare: You're almost done with a lengthy e-mail, or about to finish a report at the office, and the computer crashes for no apparent reason. It tries to restart but never quite finishes booting. Then it crashes again. And again.

Getting caught in such a loop is frustrating enough on Earth. But imagine what it's like when the computer is 200 million miles away on Mars. That's what mission controllers faced when the Mars rover Spirit stopped communicating last month.

Technically, Stephen Thaler has written more music than any composer in the world. He also invented the Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush and devices that search the Internet for messages from terrorists. He has discovered substances harder than diamonds, coined 1.5 million new English words, and trained robotic cockroaches. Technically.

Hyped for years, technology known as multiprotocol label switching is finally hitting the mainstream amid growing demand for services that marry voice, video and data on a single network.

Networking gear makers have long pitched MPLS as the next big thing for the telecom industry, offering simplicity, cost savings and new revenue opportunities. Now buyers are starting to listen, thanks in part to applications such as voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) that are slowly reducing the importance of traditional voice networks.

For the medium-sized business, moving from conventional telephony to VoIP has major business benefits. These include lower communication costs, increased user productivity and easier management with lower cost and predictable growth. This white paper looks at the industry issues surrounding a successful VoIP implementation and the tools that will help you manage a converged data and voice network.

Conventional wisdom has it that the telephone network will evolve away from old-fashioned circuit switching and be replaced by voice over IP.

Investors have ponied up to the bar to fund VoIP companies; most major telecom manufacturers have largely abandoned development of new circuit-switching and time division multiplexing (TDM) products. But before we nail the coffin shut on the legacy of the digital telephone technology that was so widely hailed two decades ago, let's examine the strengths and weaknesses of VoIP.

Could one comment that this somehow reflected on Scottish infrastructure? This author most certainly wouldn't.

Thousands of Scottish homes could soon get high-speed internet access through the sewerage system. Scottish Water has launched a pilot scheme in Rosyth and believes leasing sewage pipes to broadband providers could drive down internet costs. It also avoids the problem of digging up streets to lay wires and could bring access to remote parts of Scotland.

When I tell customers that my company does Web services management, the question I often hear is, "So, what do you mean by Web services management?"

Two major needs have dramatically increased the value of the concept of grid computing in the last few years. A lean economy has forced those with a limited IT budget to more fully utilize their existing computing assets and to become more flexible to respond to rapidly evolving markets by being able to intelligently allocate finite resources to the appropriate business applications.