Researchers from security vendor Sophos say a new worm targeting removable drives is an example of a potential security threat for businesses.

The SillyFD-AA worm searches for removable drives such as floppy disks and USB memory sticks and creates a hidden file called autorun.inf so that a copy of the worm runs the next time the device is connected to a computer running Windows. In addition, it changes the title of Internet Explorer windows to say that the computer has been "Hacked by 1BYTE."

Major information technology firms, including Oracle, IBM, and NEC, will set up a consortium to sell servers and systems running the Linux operating system in Japan, a financial daily said on Thursday.

It would be the first time in the world that major IT firms join hands to market equipment running the free software, the Nikkei newspaper said.

IBM introduced a storage software management package for OEM distribution that provides backup and restore capabilities for Microsoft SharePoint environments.

SharePoint is a Web-based workplace for online collaboration, which provides sharing of business data and support of Microsoft Office documents. Deployments are in the tens of millions worldwide, a company spokesperson said.

The new Tivoli Storage Manager for SharePoint, IBM’s enterprise data protection software developed with OEM partner AvePoint, aims to reduce the risks of data loss, help users protect the integrity of data and comply with new data-retention requirements.

A new report by security vendor Commtouch claims attackers are increasingly spreading server-side polymorphic malware via email in a bid to circumvent antivirus tools.

According to the report, which focuses on the first four months of 2007, malware writers are using speed, variation and social engineering techniques to mass-distribute their malicious code across the Web.

IBM is cutting 1,315 services-related jobs in the United States, a union trying to organize IBM workers said on May 1.

The cuts affect employees in a variety of areas including computer server systems operations, technology integration and management and financial services, said the Alliance at IBM, a union group affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, on its Web site.

Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect, is not one to take extreme views or make outlandish claims. But he is adamantly sure of one thing: a combination of software and online services is the future.

And so far, Ozzie’s contention that the industry is going through a disruptive shift from software to services is bearing out.

ShareMethods, a leading provider of on-demand sales and marketing document management, today announced the immediate availability of ShareDrive OnDemand. ShareDrive OnDemand, built on webDAV industry standard supported by IBM, Adobe, Microsoft, and Oracle, addresses key limitations of Office 2.0 application services, allowing ShareMethods subscribers to access their documents on their desktop, based on open industry standards. One of the biggest limitations cited with the emergence of Office 2.0 online office applications, is the requirement to work solely in a web browser and to be connected to a live network. ShareDrive OnDemand addresses a number of these limitations and provides a variety of powerful capabilities for offline work, access in traditional desktop applications, and for desktop integration.

Researchers at IBM have come up with a way to create vacuum spaces between copper wires in semiconductors, an insulating technique that will allow these chips to increase in speed and performance and reduce power consumption. Early indications show that chip performance can be increased by up to 35 percent, power consumption can be cut by 15 percent, or some combination of increased performance and power savings can be achieved.

The vacuum technique, called Airgap, will be introduced to IBM’s manufacturing process with the 32-nanometer generation of microprocessors, said IBM fellow Dan Edelstein, who led the project. These chips will start rolling out in 2009.

April was an unusual month according to Kaspersky’s Senior Virus Analyst Alexander Gostev, with variant Dlena.cb not only making the rankings for the very first time, but also topping the charts in its debut appearance. Dlena.cb is a program from a large family of Trojans with approximately 90 variants, and in over a year of being detected, there’s never been a single user complaint about any program from this family–until now. And although Dlena.cb is so far a typical Trojan proxy which can be used to send spam, it may cause serious problems in the near future.

NetSky.t also made an unexpected return to the top of the email charts. In the three years since NetSky.t appeared, its highest ranking ever was fourth place in February 2006. It subsequently disappeared from the rankings and later returned to lurk close to the top of the table, and this month has pushed aside all the new generations of worms, taking first place by storm.

IBM Global Services has created a set of productized managed services designed for small and midsize businesses that are available through its channel partners.

The technology giant said it was reaffirming its commitment to the channel by making these packaged services, called "Service Products," available to be sold the same way partners sell computer systems or software licenses.

And that approach holds great appeal for IBM’s channel partners.