Don Smith

Wi-Fi Alliance launches updated 802.11n certification program

October 1st, 2009 at 9:58 AM No Comments Don Smith

Following the ratification of the 802.11n standard, the Wi-Fi Alliance has kicked off the Wi-Fi Certified n program, an updated version of the Wi-Fi Certified 802.11n draft 2.0 program. The ‘new’ program keeps all the draft 2.0 requirements and adds testing for optional features like:

– Simultaneous transmission of up to three spatial streams
– Packet aggregation (A-MPDU), to make data transfers more efficient
– Space-time Block Coding (STBC), a multiple-antenna encoding technique to improve reliability in some environments
– Channel coexistence measures for “good neighbor” behavior when using 40 MHz operation in the 2.4 GHz band

“Wi-Fi Certified n builds on the success of our draft-n certification program and marks a point of maturity in 802.11n technology,” said Wi-Fi Alliance executive director Edgar Figueroa. “Our expanded testing and branding program helps ensure the best user experience in the context of the Wi-Fi industry’s continued innovation and the evolving landscape of products implementing next-generation Wi-Fi.”

More info about the Wi-Fi Certified programs can be found here.

Yahoo Webmail Security Vulnerability

September 22nd, 2009 at 2:12 PM 1 Comment Don Smith

Users of Yahoo’s mail service are warned that a vulnerability in the service could be allowing hackers to easily access their accounts and steal their information.

Director of application security research at Breach Security Corp, Ryan Barnett, said that the problem starts with a web application that is designed to automate the login process for the service. Unfortunately the application does not adhere to the same security checks that the login page itself uses creating what Barnett describes as “some sort of water tunnel that the bad guys are walking right through.”

Hackers are using the application to carry out brute force attacks on user accounts, which is not being registered and blocked as most pages would do so.

Backend applications are a key factor in the increasing success of account hijacking cases targeting social networks and portal sites. Once hacked, the accounts can be used to send out spam and malware, or hackers may also choose to use the account details to try to access banking accounts, as many people use the same or similar passwords on multiple accounts.

Yahoo is said to be investigating.

AT&T, Intel collaborate to strengthen remote PC support for SMB

September 17th, 2009 at 9:53 PM No Comments Don Smith

Intel_logo AT&T and Intel have announced a collaboration which will see the former introduce AT&T Tech Support 360SM, an affordable IT virtual helpdesk that provides live, permission-based remote technical service for small and midsize businesses.

The upcoming option will enable them to simply enter a keystroke sequence on a failed computer – even if its operating system is down – to directly connect the system with technicians over the Internet via an encrypted connection. The Tech Support 360 technicians will then address the PC remotely, even when it has become inoperable due to problems such as hardware or operating system failure, or corruption by a virus or malware. This is made possible by the use of the Intel Remote PC Assist Technology (Intel RPAT), a feature of Intel’s vPro.

“As a result of the current economic conditions, small businesses are even more focused on controlling costs,” said David Tuhy, a general manager in the Intel Business Client Group. “AT&T’s Tech Support 360 in conjunction with Intel vPro technology opens the door for new managed services to address these concerns. By adding support for Intel Remote PC Assist Technology, AT&T will be able to deliver a higher level of service to customers by improving PC troubleshooting and reducing support costs using an encrypted connection over the Internet.”

Those interested can get more info about AT&T’s Tech Support 360 service via tech360.att.com.

Canon extends partnership with Adobe

September 17th, 2009 at 9:30 PM 1 Comment Don Smith

Canon_logo Canon told the press today that they will be extending the partnership with Adobe with a new software agreement designed to boost security and usability of the company’s products.

Canon and Adobe formed said partnership back in 2005 for various projects, with the printing giant now planning to offer integration with the Adobe LiveCycle Rights Management ES system into all of its new imageRunner Advance series of products, allowing users to apply security policies to scanned documents on the fly.

Canon’s European marketing manager, Paul Rowntree, gave a demonstration of how the system works, and showed how certain policies will do things such as prevent unauthorised users printing a certain document.

“This type of security is unique to Canon and shows how our printers fit with a secure document management system,” Rowntree said.

Users will also be able to assemble documents with material from multiple sources using easy drag-and-drop functionality, according to the firm. Now that Canon holds a niche feature set with combined document security and compilation software, it will be interesting to see if this helps them recover from the economic struggles of the first two quarters of this year.

New business desktop PC portfolio announced by HP

September 15th, 2009 at 9:32 AM 1 Comment Don Smith

HP today introduced the HP Compaq 6000 Pro and HP Compaq 6005 Pro desktop PC portfolio for businesses ranging from mid market, education and healthcare customers to corporate enterprises.

The portfolio offers proven technology, flexible productivity tools and security features that are easy to deploy and manage.

“HP continues to see strong and steady customer demand for reliable, secure and full-featured desktop PCs,” said Alan Reed, vice president and general manager, Desktop PCs, HP. “Featuring the right blend of productivity and manageability solutions, the HP Compaq 6000 Pro and HP Compaq 6005 Pro desktop PCs offer businesses the essential PC security, reliability and energy efficiency they need at a competitive price.”

The series features an array of energy-saving components to help businesses monitor and reduce energy use. Both models are EPEAT® Gold registered⁽²⁾and offer an optional⁽³⁾ 89 percent efficient power supply – the highest percentage of power savings HP offers on its desktop PCs – which helps lower energy consumption and costs. HP Power Manager software maximizes energy savings, default S3 sleep settings conserve power after periods of inactivity, and a holistic thermal design enables these PCs to last longer.

Both models include two independent audio streams that allow Voice over IP (VoIP)⁽⁴⁾calls to be routed to the headset while restricting other audio playback to PC speakers.

Featuring a new industrial design with a sleek black, modern chassis with silver accents, the HP Compaq Pro series boasts a 12 month-plus product lifecycle and global SKUs to meet global business deployment needs. Available in a traditional microtower for expandability or the space saving small form factor, the series also features internal and external bays for removable media options or a second hard drive, and PCIe slots to expand capabilities. Simplified serviceability is a snap with a new, simplified tool-less hood removal, quick release latches, and color-coded connectors and wires. HP will also be the one of the first in the industry to offer 100 percent recycled single packaging expanded polyethylene (EPE) cushions across the 6000 Pro series, available in NA and LA.

HP Compaq 6000 Pro Desktop PC
The HP Compaq 6000 Pro now offers integrated dual-monitor capability and improved video and 3D graphics support with Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500, which enables integrated graphics with Microsoft® DirectX-10 support.⁽⁵⁾ High-definition multi-streaming and four-channel audio with echo-cancellation features provide rich sound quality with increased audio flexibility, performance and noise reduction. DDR3 SDRAM memory technology provides higher bandwidth and performance while using less power.

Equipped with a choice of Intel® processors⁽⁶⁾ and the Intel Q43 express chipset, the HP Compaq 6000 Pro desktop provides solid computing for businesses that need flexible management capabilities for office and remote workers. Integrated Intel Standard Manageability enables remote PC access so IT departments can quickly identify and resolve issues. The Intel Stable Image Platform Program helps reduce costs by providing components that support a standardized, common and stable software image across the series.

HP Compaq 6005 Pro Desktop PC
New HP RapidDrive technology, which pairs a solid state drive and regular serial ATA hard drive, is an optional⁽⁷⁾ configuration on the HP Compaq 6005 Pro that provides customers with quicker boot-up and response times with extended storage capability. High-end features such as integrated dual-display capability and DDR3 memory raise productivity while optional⁽³⁾ RAID technology with data mirroring minimizes disruptions and protects critical business documents.

The HP Compaq 6005 features integrated DASH 1.1 for expedited remote access to security patches, troubleshooting, and automated system startup and shutdown. All HP Compaq 6005 Pro PC configurations are ENERGY STAR®5.0 qualified, and a new integrated sideport memory interface helps reduce system power. Businesses will appreciate that the HP Compaq 6005 Pro PC idle quad core processor power measurements show an average of 25 percent improvement over the current HP Compaq dc5850 PC. In addition, a solenoid hood lock and sensor help protect the unit from theft or tampering.

AMD Business Class technology and the new AMD 785G chipset along with Athlon™ II Dual Core and Phenom™ II Dual/Triple/Quad Core processors⁽⁷⁾ provide stability with exceptional multi-tasking processing power and an excellent integrated graphics experience which supports Microsoft DirectX-10.1.

For more information, please visit HP.com

Microsoft delivers Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2

August 27th, 2009 at 9:13 PM 1 Comment Don Smith

This, more then likely, last major update for Microsoft’s e-mail server comes a week after the final beta on Exchange Server 2010 and is said to provide the foundation for transitioning to the upcoming, final release of the 2010 version.

The Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 can be downloaded from this page for free and includes the following:

Enhanced Auditing – New Exchange auditing events and audit log repository enable Exchange administrators to more easily audit the activities occurring on their Exchange servers. It allows the right balance of granularity, performance, and easy access to audited events via a dedicated audit log repository.
Exchange Volume Snapshot Backup Functionality – A new backup plug-in has been added to the product that will enable customers to create Exchange backups when a backup is invoked through the Windows Server 2008 Backup tool.
Dynamic Active Directory Schema Update and Validation – The dynamic AD schema update and validation feature allows for future schema updates to be dynamic deployed as well as proactively preventing conflicts whenever a new property is added to the AD schema. Once this capability is deployed it will enable easier management of future schema updates and will prevent support issues when adding properties that don’t exist in the AD schema.
Public Folder Quota Management – SP2 enables a consistent way to manage quotas by improving the current PowerShell cmdlets to perform quota management tasks.
Centralized Organizational Settings – SP2 introduces new PowerShell option that enable centralized management of many of the Exchange organization settings.
Named Properties cmdlets – SP2 enables Exchange administrators to monitor their named property usage per database.
New User Interface for Managing Diagnostic Logging – SP2 enables Exchange administrators to easily configure and manage diagnostic logging from within the Exchange Management Console.