Author: admini

Cisco is moving key products to Linux

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Other important directions stated by Chambers and other executives at Cisco’s annual analysts meeting included moving key products off their current Windows-based platforms and onto Linux, and building better multifunction, integrated ASICs to boost system reliability.

Conference attendees also were given peeks at new products. One was an application for better managing multiservice blades in a Catalyst 6500 chassis. Another offering promises to make video calling as easy as dialing a Cisco IP phone.

The CEO discussed the company’s six advanced technology areas, which include IP telephony, security, storage, optical, wireless and home network products. Each of these businesses has the potential to grow to $1 billion in revenue for the company, Chambers said. IP telephony is one advanced technology that could be at the brink of hitting this goal.

More info: [url=http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/1215cisco.html]http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/1215cisco.html[/url]

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Retiring Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server: Changes in Product Availability

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April 1, 2004 Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server Retail Full Packaged Product (FPP) will no longer be available in the reselling channel.

April 1, 2004 Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server will no longer be offered through Microsoft Volume Licensing programs.

There are no changes to product support, which was announced October 2002, as part of the Microsoft Comprehensive Support Lifecycle.

More info: [url=http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/evaluation/availability/default.asp]http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/evaluation/availability/default.asp[/url]

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Security Event Management Projected To Hit $430 Million By 2008

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The $90 million SEM market could also could witness as much as 50 percent market consolidation in 2004.
The report, “Security Event Management Systems Defend Against Information and Regulatory Overload,” said that as security becomes a greater concern for network administrators, SEM systems that enable them to identify, manage and respond to virus and hacker threats are becoming more prevalent.

The $90 million SEM market also could witness as much as 50 percent market consolidation in 2004, said report author Phebe Waterfield. “Integrating a systems management solution with risk management has the potential to revolutionize the way enterprises manage security risks,” Waterfield added.

SEM systems burst onto the scene in the late 1990s, when security vendors created them to help network administrators cope with information overload generated by security devices.

More info: [url=http://www.securitypipeline.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=13LHM1WGIKYFKQSNDBGCKHY?articleId=17000228]http://www.securitypipeline.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=13LHM1WGIKYFKQSNDBGCKHY?articleId=17000228[/url]

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IPv6 fears seen unfounded

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These findings run counter to longstanding conventional wisdom from the Internet engineering community, which for years has warned ISPs and corporate network managers about the need to prepare for a time-consuming and expensive upgrade to IPv6.

The U.S. Department of Defense and several universities reported positive feedback about their IPv6 deployments at the U.S. IPv6 Summit 2003, held last week in Arlington, Va.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has worked on IPv6 since 1992. While the transition to IPv6 has taken longer than advocates expected, that pace appears to have generated an unintended benefit: Now that users want to deploy IPv6, it’s already bundled in the hardware and software they need to buy in the course of normal infrastructure upgrades. IPv6 promises easier administration, tighter security, greater mobility and an enhanced addressing scheme over IPv4, the Internet’s current protocol.

All the major router manufacturers – including Cisco, Juniper, Foundry Networks and Extreme Networks – support IPv6.

We need the major business applications such as Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP to support IPv6.” These applications are coming, as evidenced by Oracle executives unveiling their IPv6 road map at the IPv6 Summit last week.

IPv6 and IPv4 will coexist for many years because most companies replace desktops, servers and network gear every few years.

Early adopters say that because IPv6 comes bundled with network hardware and software, deployment costs are low.

More info: [url=http://seclists.org/lists/isn/2003/Dec/0064.html]http://seclists.org/lists/isn/2003/Dec/0064.html[/url]

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Don’t leave holes in your patching policies

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Bugs are an inevitable problem in a sector where companies are driven by shareholders to rush out equipment before it is ready.

From a security perspective, this presents users with a huge problem. Empirical evidence suggests that the average device – whether it is a perimeter network resource such as a firewall or router, or a core device such as a server – has more holes in it than a piece of Gruyere.

One of the rarest but most devastating security vulnerabilities in host computers is the buffer overflow error, said Gary Jones, professional services manager of security consultancy MIS Corporate Defence Solutions.

The problem is that too many companies are not implementing patches in a structured way. “If you are running a corporate database, you cannot just slap on a patch when it is released,” he said. “You need some form of development environment and the patch must be tested first.”

Companies must also react to critical patches. If another aggressive internet worm appears, companies must be aware of it before they read about it in the press and they must be able to implement a patch quickly.

One solution is to have an employee checking newsgroups, supplier sites and bulletins to pick up on patches before the hackers do. Unfortunately, many companies are not in a position to pay this extra salary.

Common sense plays a big part in locking down your network vulnerabilities, but resources are also an important factor.

Virtual patching, where an intrusion dection system dynamically configures against threats, is the way on insuring against unknown vulnerabilities.

More info: [url=http://www.computerweekly.co.uk/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=127212&liArticleTypeID=20&liCategoryID=1&liChannelID=7&liFlavourID=1&sSearch=&nPage=1]http://www.computerweekly.co.uk/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=127212&liArticleTypeID=20&liCategoryID=1&liChannelID=7&liFlavourID=1&sSearch=&nPage=1[/url]

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