Tech Giants Declare, 'United We Stand'
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By Cynthia L. Webb, washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Tough times often make for strange bedfellows, and the explosion of viruses, computer worms and spyware programs on the Internet is producing unique alliances among top technology firms.
Case in point is this morning's news that Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. are collaborating on computer security issues. The alliance hammers home the increasing realization in tech circles that the Lone Ranger approach to computer security just won't work, and with lots of money in lost sales, worker productivity and fried hardware at stake, it just makes sense to work together.
The Associated Press noted the obvious about the two new partners: Cisco and Microsoft have both been hit hard by security problems. "Microsoft's Windows operating system and server software have been particularly hard hit, with attackers using flaws in its products to launch assaults that have slowed or crippled some of Microsoft's biggest corporate clients. In response, Microsoft has begun an initiative to improve the security of its products and recently released a massive security fix for its Windows XP (news - web sites) operating system. Cisco also has been a target. In a high-profile incident in July 2003, the networking equipment maker was hit by hackers who attempted to bring down Cisco equipment that carries the bulk of the world's Internet traffic. Many companies were forced to work quickly to install a patch or find other solutions."
• The Associated Press via The Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Microsoft and Cisco Team Up On Security
The Cisco-Microsoft move is also "an attempt to address concerns that the two high-tech giants were headed in different directions," the Wall Street Journal reported. "In the past year, Cisco, the dominant maker of computer-networking equipment, and Microsoft, whose software runs the vast majority of personal computers and many corporate computer servers, had each laid out strategies for protecting corporate networks from threats such as worms and viruses. Both approaches generally would require computers to be checked for viruses and antivirus software before they are allowed access to a corporate network. But the two approaches differed in many technical details, including which machines would run the protective software. That prompted concerns from corporate tech managers, most of whom rely on both Cisco, San Jose, Calif., and Microsoft, Redmond, Wash."
The Journal said the two companies "would share technical details, integrate their technologies, and push for industrywide standards. There are no deadlines or timetables. Still, the companies 'understand that collaboration is key to addressing and minimizing' threats from worms and viruses, said Bob Kelly, general manager of Microsoft's Windows Server group."
• The Wall Street Journal: Cisco and Microsoft to Cooperate On Computer-Security Issues (Subscription required)
The AP report speculated on when this collaboration might make a difference for computer users: "The companies plan to make those systems compatible by 2007, when Microsoft releases the next version of its Windows server software. That would allow corporations to better secure Microsoft's Windows software and Cisco's network infrastructure in one sweep, saving time and money. The system would screen a new computer for viruses or other threats as it enters a corporate network. The goal is to prevent an infected computer from passing the threats to the rest of the network."
CNET's News.com explained that the partnership "will allow them to share technology and integrate security features on Cisco's networking gear and Microsoft's server and desktop products. Earlier this year, each of the companies introduced its own 'end to end' security architecture. Unfortunately for customers, the proposed architectures were not interoperable. Because the companies had not officially pledged they would work together, customers feared they would be forced to choose between a Cisco implementation or one from Microsoft. But now, the companies say that customers will not be forced into a tough either/or decision." More from the article: "The Cisco and Microsoft architectures are part of a new movement in information technology that treats security more holistically. As the cost of fighting and cleaning up after worms and viruses mounts, corporate customers are looking for solutions that combine traditional virus scanning with network policing to keep attacks from ever entering the network in the first place. As a result, both the Cisco and Microsoft approaches are concerned not only with scanning for viruses but also with policing networks to deny connections to machines that don't conform with security policies."
• CNET's News.com: Cisco, Microsoft Pledge Security Interoperability
Here's Cisco's take on the partnership, from a PR-polished Q&A on the company's Web site today: "It is clear that the threat from viruses, worms, hackers and other attacks presents a major challenge for organizations. This integration effort aims to help customers better utilize their existing investments in Microsoft and Cisco's products and technologies. The collaboration has the bottom-line goal of improving the security of our customers' networked systems and information assets while reducing the costs of security management. In working with Microsoft, Cisco is again demonstrating its leadership in network security by developing new approaches and technologies for protecting IT resources," said Jayshree Ullal, senior vice president of Cisco's Security and Technology Group.
Cisco and Microsoft were both part of a conference on information security in New Delhi last week, sponsored by India's National Association of Software and Service Companies and the U.S. high-tech trade group, the Information Technology Association of America.
• The Associated Press via The San Jose Mercury News: India, U.S. Experts Discuss Cybersecurity Cooperation (Registration required)
Dell Joins Spyware Fight
Dell Inc. is the latest company to sign up for the broader industry fight against spyware. The Texas-based company is partnering with the nonprofit Internet Education Foundation -- a coalition whose members include everyone from AOL to Microsoft to Yahoo -- to educate consumers about the online scourge. "The IEF and Dell released a survey conducted last month of 742 Internet users taken from a representative sample of 1,000 adults nationwide. The survey showed 39% felt less secure online than they did a year ago, while 33% feel more secure, 26% feel the same as they did and 2% were unsure. Mike George, vice president and general manager of Dell's U.S. consumer business, says that since January, more customers have called Dell seeking relief from spyware than any other technical support issue," Dow Jones Newswires reported. There's more info. on the IEF's efforts at getnetwise.org.
• Dow Jones Newswires via The Wall Street Journal: Dell to Teach Customers How To Fight Against Spyware (Subscription required)
In reporting on Dell's anti-spyware moves, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported: "In July, Dell began offering tech support services for customers willing to pay $39 per incident for diagnostic help in fighting spyware. [Dell's] George declined to say how many people have paid the fee but said demand has outstripped capacity.' Addressing spyware attacks is both expensive and time-consuming because each caller could have as many as 200 spyware programs downloaded onto his or her computer, he said. Dell, the world's largest computer maker, usually does not become deeply involved in software issues. But in recent months, it has accelerated efforts to root out software viruses, worms and spyware because they are turning off potential computer users."
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Computer Maker Calls Spy ware 'Alarming Trend'
• The Associated Press via Wired News: Dell Teams Up to Fight Spyware
Dirty Clicks
The New York Times has a piece today about the latest type of fraud threatening Internet commerce -- fraudsters who try to game the click-through rates of some online ads. "If there is any single axiom of the digital age, it must be this: for every advance, there is a scourge. ... It should come as no surprise, then -- and some might say it is a bit of poetic justice -- that online advertisers are becoming acquainted with their own special plague: click fraud. The variations are many, but it essentially works like this: merchants typically pay a fee to the sites that play host to their ads whenever those ads are clicked by a visitor. In an ideal world, the visitor, now transported to the advertiser's Web site, hangs out for a spell, examines the wares and eventually makes a purchase. In click fraud, those clicks that the advertiser is paying for are not coming from potential customers, but from scam artists, automated scripts, and even underhanded competitors."
• The New York Times: With Each Technology Advance, A Scourge (Registration required)
Update From the Search Wars
Google may be setting the innovation pace among search-engine firms, but the company is having to race to stay one step ahead of the competition, the New York Times reported today. "Propelled by Google envy, new players and Internet industry giants are rushing into the online search market, setting off a burst of activity that contrasts sharply with the lull after the dot-com collapse. To fend off its challengers, Google has furiously intensified efforts to add new services to its brand," the article said.
For example, the Times noted last week's launch of Google Desktop Search "a program that is a direct challenge to Microsoft's control of desktop computing because it searches for information on a user's personal computer as well as on the Web. In recent weeks, Google has also announced Google Print, to compete against the Search-Inside-the-Book feature of Amazon, and Google SMS, a new software tool for searching the Web from cellphones. But despite its push into new areas, some experts say that Google may be vulnerable because the search market, one of the Internet's most profitable areas, will increasingly be shaped by brand and other nontechnology factors. And that shift may play to the advantage of larger competitors like Microsoft and Yahoo."
• The New York Times: Google Envy Is Fermenting Search Wars (Registration required)
And a Google-branded instant messaging tool for the masses may be next on the horizon. CNET's News.com reports: "Such speculation isn't new, but it's gained legs as some intriguing facts have come to light this week. First, although few people seem to realize it, Google already owns an instant-messaging (IM) client called Hello that it picked up this summer with its acquisition of photo-sharing service Picasa. Meanwhile, code uncovered in the Google Desktop Search tool released Tuesday suggests that the company may have broader plans to integrate IM into its growing list of products. Richard Smith, a well-known security consultant, said he examined the code in the desktop application and found included in the program files a new protocol: 'google_im://'. (A protocol allows desktop software to interact with the Web browser.) 'This is a good sign there's an IM client,' he said."
• CNET's News.com: Will Google Say Hello To IM?
Speaking of code, Google held a coding contest at its headquarters on Friday. "The event was the Google Code Jam a digital shootout to see which programmer could solve a series of progressively harder programming puzzles. The winner -- Sergio Sancho of Argentina -- took home $10,000 and a chance to impress Google engineers and perhaps land a job with the world's most famous search engine. The contest is both a recruiting tool for Google and a way for the company to nurture programmers it will need to draw on as it continues to grow," the San Jose Mercury News reported.
• The San Jose Mercury News: Google Holds Coding Contest (Registration required)
Offshoring Ramps Up
While the issue of offshoring jobs has taken a back seat in the presidential race to Iraq (news - web sites) and health care, it's a trend that is still affecting a lot of jobs and industries, the high-tech sector included. How many jobs? The San Jose Mercury News picked up on a study released by a congressionally chartered commission. Released Friday, the study "estimated that as many as 406,000 U.S. jobs will move to Mexico, China and other countries this year -- nearly double the number of jobs lost to production shifts in the global economy in 2001. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission issued the study after examining news media reports of 'firm and job relocations' that resulted in job losses during the first three months of this year. Those findings were projected on an annual basis, and compared to findings from a similar study conducted over seven months from October 2000 through April 2001."
• The San Jose Mercury News: Study: 406,000 Jobs Going Offshore (Registration required)
CBS MarketWatch also reported on the study: "While the government found only 4,633 private sector workers lost their jobs to global outsourcing from January to March 2004, the authors said they were able to 'find solid confirmation for an absolute minimum of 25,000 jobs shifted out of the United States during that same period.' The report said its methodology likely captures only a portion of the job shifts."
• CBS MarketWatch via Investor's Business Daily: Study Sees 406,000 U.S. Jobs Shifting Overseas In 2004
Adversity + $$ = Innovation
Homeland security is a lucrative business for government contractors, including a lot of tech firms. The New York Times Sunday Business section compared and contrasted Uncle Sam's current security needs to Cold War defense spending. Excerpt: "As the overall cost approaches $100 billion, domestic security is beginning to take on the characteristics of military spending in the early years of the cold war. Just as an open-ended fear of Communism drove that spending surge, the open-ended terrorist threat is driving today's spending on domestic security. Bush administration officials point to spin-offs from spending on domestic security that are likely to offset some of the drag. The Internet, after all, started life as a Pentagon (news - web sites)-financed research project, connecting military and academic laboratories. To cite another example, two leading high-tech companies, Sun Microsystems and Silicon Graphics, grew out of government funding in the 1980's that aimed to develop highly sophisticated computer workstations for scientists, designers and engineers.
"Domestic security, however, may be a different animal. In the cold war, there were vast expenditures from public coffers for troops and weaponry to contain Communism and to prepare for an all-out nuclear war against a Soviet enemy. Domestic security is focused on a different mix of products and services, many of them still coming to market. The primary goal is to build global electronic networks that monitor the movements of cargo and people and thwart terrorists or keep them at arm's length. The innovation required by all of this is showing up in Silicon Valley, although sorting out the spending on domestic security and computer security is difficult. 'We are seeing a pretty healthy $12 billion annual market related to cybersecurity infrastructure,' said Ted Schlein, a partner at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, the venture capital firm."
• The New York Times: Terrorbusters Inc. (Registration required)
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October 19, 2004 at 11:59 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink
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