Information Technology

March 3, 2008

Internet Society (ISOC) Participates in the Open Consultations of the Internet Governance Forum

The following was contributed by Bill Graham*

The Internet Society played a significant role in the second meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Rio de Janeiro in December, 2007. ISOC hosted an Open Forum on ISOC’s work and worked with partners to organize or participate in nine other sessions, including the Opening and Closing Panels of the IGF itself.

Planning has now begun for the 2008 IGF, which will be held in Hyderabad, India from 3-6 December. ISOC Board of Trustees members, ISOC staff members, and a large number of ISOC members participated in the IGF Open Consultations held in Geneva on 26 February 2008. The meeting was convened in the United Nations headquarters and was attended by

February 29, 2008

Implementing Virtualization: Techniques and Tools for Microsoft Windows

by David Badertscher

From Symantec

Summary:

Most IT professionals know or suspect that virtualization of computer systems may have an important role in their organization’s evolving infrastructure – though where and how are likely under investigation. Some organizations will decide that virtualization isn’t necessary. Others will find that they want to implement it in places, but not across the board. Sill others will move to implement it on a large scale. For those who decide to implement virtualization, the question is how to do it. Many people are not aware that a number of conversion tools and techniques are available now in the Microsoft Windows environment.

February 26, 2008

Stop Criminals from Using Your Website As a Gateway to Fraud

by David Badertscher

“The Web has exploded as medium for commerce and communication, but it’s also become a favorite attack vector for criminals. And while the bad guys are motivated by money, the damage they wreak transcends the balance sheet: loss of reputation, lawsuits, loss of investor confidence and sometimes crippling liability.”

“Click below to get a new whitepaper from FinJan that highlights the new techniques hackers use to infiltrate your networks, with critical steps you can take to prevent them by using real-time content inspection technologies.”

From: CIO Security Alert, February 23, 2008

February 21, 2008

Information Security Update: February 21, 2008

by David Badertscher

The following is some updated information that we thought might be of interest. This is not a separate issue of the Newsletter:

NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF CYBER SECURITY AND CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE COORDINATION CYBER INFORMATION BULLETIN

DATE ISSUED:

February 1, 2008

Wireless Technology for Oregon Courts

by David Badertscher

Jackson, William. “Wireless Rules for Oregon Courts,” Government Computer News, (February 1, 2008).

“Officials at the Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) ran into a problem several years ago when they began looking for a new home for the department’s information technology staff and equipment. ”

“Managers had to figure out how to connect the network operations center (NOC) with the state’s data center and support more than 2,000 department employees at 70 locations statewide without requiring IT staff members to spend all their time on the road….”

January 18, 2008

Top Ten Reasons Hackers Use the Web for Attacks

by David Badertscher

This technology brief by Blue Coat Systems details the vulnerabilities hackers use to take advantage of the web for attacks. To see entire document click on the link below:

Top Ten Reasons Hackers Use the Web for Attacks

January 16, 2008

Implementing Knowledge Management: Key Planning Considerations

by David Badertscher

BY Brett Haywrd, Vice President of Professional Services for the Americas, InQuira

Summary:

Today’s consumers expect fast and convenient online self-service, and they demand knowledgeable, responsive support from contact center agents-anything less and today’s consumers are perfectly willing to take their business elsewhere.

January 16, 2008

Lessons from the Best Web Sites on Capitol Hill: The Gold Mouse Report

by David Badertscher

The information below is from the Press Release announcing the Report, followed by a link to the complete Report:

Washington, D.C. – A new report from the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) on congressional Web sites says the overall quality “continues to be disappointing,” with more than 40% of congressional Web sites earning a substandard or failing grade. The report also contains recognition and praise for the best Web sites on Capitol Hill with the announcement of the winners of the 2007 Gold, Silver, and Bronze Mouse Awards.

“The good news is that 19 more offices won awards in 2007 than did in 2006, including 16 freshmen Members. The bad news is that there were 20 more D’s and F’s,” said Beverly Bell, Executive Director of CMF, a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded 30 years ago to promote a more effective Congress. “We were glad to see good sites getting better, but discouraged to see the bad getting worse.”

December 21, 2007

Internet Explorer 8 Beta Due in Mid 2008*

by David Badertscher

The following is an edited version of an article by Peter Galli, published on eWeek.com:.

December 19, 2007

By Peter Galli

December 20, 2007

A Preview of HTML 5

by David Badertscher

BY LACHLAN HUNT

Abstract

The web is constantly evolving. New and innovative websites are being created every day, pushing the boundaries of HTML in every direction. HTML 4 has been around for nearly a decade now, and publishers seeking new techniques to provide enhanced functionality are being held back by the constraints of the language and browsers.