DeadMan’s Handle, the innovative concept in notebook security, has now been released as version 1.4. The software now inter operates with laptop tracking software, further enhancing its security capabilities. This advanced software protects sensitive notebook information when it is lost or stolen. It does so by invisibly erasing it, providing an additional layer of security that complements technologies now in use.

A new worm that targets users of America Online’s AOL Instant Messenger is believed to be the first that actually chats with the intended victim to dupe the target into activating a malicious payload, IM security vendor IMlogic warned. According to IMlogic, the worm, dubbed IM.Myspace04.AIM, has arrived in instant messages that state: "lol thats cool" and included a URL to a malicious file "clarissa17.pif." When unsuspecting users have responded, perhaps asking if the attachment contained a virus, the worm has replied: "lol no its not its a virus", IMlogic said. The malicious file disables security software, installs a backdoor and tweaks system files, the company said. Then it starts sending itself to contacts on the victim’s buddy list.

SWING Software announced the availability of SWING DocPublisher 2–agile content management software for IBM Lotus Domino. The new release improves the way companies organize, distribute, and maintain their documentation online. SWING DocPublisher targets companies that are standardized on Microsoft Office and Lotus Domino. Unlike traditional document libraries, DocPublisher automatically converts Word documents into Web content, so no additional skills are required to publish to corporate intranets and Web sites. SWING DocPublisher provides a secure, permissions-based access to documents, convenient in-place draft editing, and version control capabilities. It controls the entire document life cycle: creation, review, approval, publishing, notifications, expirations, archiving, new revisions, and user feedback.

Learn about all the new features added to the Lotus Domino 7 version of the Server.Load performance testing and planning tool. Server.Load is Lotus Domino’s feature-based load generation tool that measures and characterizes various Domino server capacity and response metrics. The workloads (also called tests or scripts) simulate the behavior of Domino client-to-server operations.

SpyCop warns that as the holiday season draws closer, computer users should be very wary of opening Internet e-greeting cards without checking to be sure they were sent from someone they know and trust. The reason to be cautious says Grey McKenzie, founder of SpyCop Security Systems, is that e-greeting cards have been used to secretly install keylogger spy software on unsuspecting consumer PCs in previous years. Once a spy e-greeting card is opened, the victim’s computer in essence becomes a recording studio, able to capture and record everything done on that computer. Many such spy software products have the capability to relay that stolen information over the Internet to the perpetrator, without the knowledge or consent of the computer owner.

A lawsuit seeking to potentially cover hundreds of thousands of America Online subscribers accuses the Time Warner unit of illegally billing customers by creating secondary accounts for them without their consent. The lawsuit, filed last month in St. Clair County Circuit Court on behalf of 10 AOL customers in six states, claims the company confused and deceived customers about the charges, stalled them from canceling unauthorized accounts and refused to return questioned fees.

Red Hat has opened the full source code of the Netscape directory server software it acquired from America Online nearly a year ago. The directory software is used to house information such as username-password pairs or computer user privileges. The newly released version 1.0 includes several modules for handling password encryption tasks, according to an announcement last week. However, the software doesn’t yet support x86 processors with 64-bit memory addressing abilities.

Though stories on the latest data breaches seem to pass through the headlines in the blink of an eye, experts warn that the loss or exposure of customer data can have long-lasting consequences. In fact, just one such incident can bring an enterprise to its knees. Data breaches seem to be getting more common, and soon they could get more costly. Many companies have not spent enough money on protection, according to Jon Oltsik, senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group.

This article is the third in a series dedicated to performance improvements measured with Domino 7. The first article, "Lotus Domino 7 server performance, Part 1: Lotus Notes client workloads," talked about standard Domino mail performance. The second article, "Lotus Domino server performance, Part 2: Domino 7 performance for Domino Web Access users," discussed Domino HTTP performance results observed with simulated Domino Web Access users. This article is focused on a new benchmark called Enterprise Mail. This benchmark simulates Notes users in an enterprise environment.

Good management is what separates winning projects from losing ones, and 2005 served up some telling examples. Good management allowed Sunny Delight to wean itself from Procter & Gamble’s technology infrastructure after the beverage company was spun off from the consumer products giant. In contrast, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s communications and logistics problems during and after the late August storm were blamed on FEMA’s managers.