On the fifth anniversary of the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, cyber-terrorism scenarios are front and center for Sandia, the Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement agencies across the United States. The Red Teams’ job is to anticipate cyber-terrorism, create contingency plans that assume the worst and ultimately thwart a pending attack by plugging existing holes. Michael Skroch, leader of the Red Teams, said utilities and government agencies are increasingly at risk as they replace custom IT systems created in the 1950s and 1960s with less expensive, off-the-shelf Windows and Unix systems that, incidentally, are easier marks for hackers. The older systems were secure because they weren’t well known and had limited contact with other systems.

A study released by staffing firm Accountemps found that one of the most common mistakes made by candidates in job interviews was having little or no knowledge of the company, according to 47 percent of the senior executives surveyed. While IT recruiters and managers still peg a lack of preparation near the top of their lists of interview gaffes, they cited many others that turned interviewees from dream candidates to inevitable nightmare employees in a matter of moments. eWEEK rounded up some of the worst offenses.

A survey released on Friday shows that while emails pushing porn are down, overall spam emails are growing significantly. The survey was conducted by Ipswitch, a vendor of SMB security software. It found that 70 percent of all email received is spam, compared to 62 percent the previous quarter, and just 57 percent last Christmas. In spring 2005, however, the number of spam emails topped 80 percent, the company found. The survey ranked the most prevalent forms of spam and found the most pertained to medication, at 36 percent. More significantly, financial/phishing spam entered the list at 19 percent of all emails received.

After Oracle’s move in 2000 from client/server to Web-based applications with its E-Business Suite 11i–a notoriously buggy technology shift–the company isn’t taking any chances with its next big development undertaking. Oracle has implemented a zero-defect policy for Fusion Applications, its next-generation suite of ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications expected in 2008.

The Home Office has admitted that the security of its ID and passport service database has been compromised several times, but denied that remote hackers were responsible. In a response to a parliamentary question at the end of last week, the Home Office said it had had five security breaches in five years, mostly caused by civil service staff. Four of the five incidents involved members of staff accessing the ID and Passport databases for unauthorized purposes. Three used their systems access privileges to conduct checks that were "not connected to their duties", according to an ID and Passport service spokesman, while in the other breach the staff member "misused data he was entitled to access".

More than 4.5 million online viewers are expected to tune into the United States Tennis Association’s US Open being held August 28-September 10. As viewers watch what is widely recognized as one of the world’s most challenging tennis competitions, IBM will be serving as the technology net for the USTA’s scoring system. The USTA is relying on IBM WebSphere and DB2 software to create an integrated scoring system for the US Open. This scoring system helps collect data from all courts and then stores and distributes the information to USOpen.org, the official Web site of the US Open. The ability to immediately and simultaneously distribute scoring information–with IBM supporting more than 156 million scoring updates for the US Open in 2005–is illustrative of the value and capabilities a larger technology industry trend known as a service oriented architecture. The technology supporting the US Open is an example of how SOA can help an organization use its existing computing systems to become more responsive and more closely aligned with the needs of its customers and partners.

The high-profile RSA Conference has proven to be a worthwhile podium for Microsoft’s security message, and now Oracle is following suit. Oracle Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison is slated to address the RSA Conference 2007 in February, Sandra Toms LaPedis, general manager of the conference, told CNET News.com. The Redwood Shores, Calif.-based business software maker is paying $220,000 to be one of nine "platinum sponsors" of the San Francisco event, she said.

Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini is expected to announce a massive layoff as soon as Tuesday that could eliminate as many as 10,000 jobs. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker, having suffered several financially disappointing quarters, launched an internal analysis in April to find ways to increase its efficiency. Otellini is scheduled to announce the results of the analysis, including the layoff, on Tuesday after the stock market closes.

The organizational chart is increasingly irrelevant as a definition of job identity and accountability. Traditional hierarchical structures with clear lines of authority, unity of command and discrete accountabilities no longer accommodate today’s real-time, unpredictable business environment. To whom you report is less relevant than with whom you work, and that group increasingly includes colleagues, partners and customers in the context of virtual workgroups and communities of practice.

High-end desktop PCs will sport quad-core processors from Intel as the fourth quarter gets under way. The company, which pulled forward the launch of its "Kentsfield" quad-core desktop chip from the first quarter of 2007 into the fourth quarter of 2006, is still several months from launching the chip. However, it’s now expected to introduce the quad-core processor as part of its Core Extreme family in early November.