In another attack against social networks, a malware 
author targeted Twitter over the weekend — and the worm was still spreading in mutated form on Monday. Security experts warn that Twitter may be battling variants of the worm throughout the week.The micro-blogging service was struck with a computer virus that plagued tweeters with unwelcome messages on Saturday. Dubbed “Mickeyy,” the latest Twitter worm spreads when tweeters click on an affected page linked from a message posted by another infected user. That click sets off a chain reaction that automatically starts posting annoying tweets to other Twitter members. It’s a vicious cycle that has the ability to spread rapidly among users not aware of the worm.
Richard Wang, a U.S. manager for SophosLabs, isn’t surprised to see attacks against Twitter. Malware creators have a tendency to target popular software and services, he said, and the more people who use a site, the more attractive it is for those who want to spread their message — or worse, their criminal software.
“Currently this worm is an annoyance to Twitter users, sending bogus tweets and attempting to gather their username and browser cookie,” Wang said. “The worm will spread rapidly within the Twitter community until Twitter closes the cross-site scripting hole in their profile code. Of the three sites that have hosted versions of the worm’s code, one is still active.”
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April 15th, 2009
In the deal that refuses to die, Microsoft and Yahoo are reportedly in talks once again about joining forces in search advertising.This time, it’s not a merger or a Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo’s search assets. Rather, Yahoo might take over Microsoft’s display-advertising business, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Yahoo’s stock rose 6.5 percent in early trading on the news.
According to the Journal, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz have discussed what a potential partnership might look like. A variety of ideas are being explored, but a full acquisition of Yahoo is reportedly not on the table.
“We have to take all these rumors with a grain of salt. We’ve heard all of this before. What’s different this time is the personnel change at the top of Yahoo. That makes it possible for the two companies to talk and consider how they might work together in a less emotional way,” said Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence. “In a way, it would be irresponsible for Carol Bartz not to have a conversation with Microsoft.”
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April 15th, 2009
EMC on Tuesday took the lid off its latest approach to high-end data storage: A new architecture to support virtual data centers. The company also announced a storage system based on the new architecture that it said will serve as a cornerstone of virtual computing infrastructures.Dubbed Virtual Matrix Architecture, the technology integrates industry-standard components with EMC Symmetrix capabilities to enable massive scale to the tune of hundreds of thousands of terabytes of storage to support hundreds of thousands of virtual machines. The Symmetrix V-Max system is the first storage system based on Virtual Matrix. It uses quad-core Intel Xeon processors.
“The shift from physical to virtual computing is being driven by efficiency gains too compelling to ignore,” said EMC Chairman, President and CEO Joe Tucci. “Virtualization’s ability to maximize resources and automate complex and repetitive manual tasks is overtaking the server world and is now happening in the storage world.”
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April 15th, 2009
In the wake of a stalled IBM acquisition deal, Sun Microsystems on Tuesday unveiled new products and technologies in its Open Network Systems strategy. The products aim to maximize the economics of computing for data centers and clouds and include an advanced blades architecture, new networking technologies, and seven new systems based on the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series.As John Fowler, executive vice president of Sun’s Systems Group, said today’s IT customer is looking for three things — speed, simplicity and savings. He said Sun’s Open Network Systems approach offers all three: “Our new x64 systems with integrated networking technologies, advanced thermal management, open software, and (Sun) Open Storage enhancements will give the data center an extreme makeover, boosting efficiency and maximizing IT investment.”
Speed, Simplicity, Savings
Sun said its approach uses “The Network is the Computer” as a guiding principle to integrate technologies such as Flash-based solid-state disks (SSDs) and Open Storage platforms for speed, integrated networking for simplicity, and advanced thermal management and the Solaris operating system for savings.
Sun is offering SSDs across all platforms and delivering systems with onboard Flash modules. These storage technologies help eliminate I/O bottlenecks and improve application performance. With SSD integration across software, systems and storage, Sun said customers can achieve up to 70 times faster response times, up to eight times better throughput, and up to 38 percent less power consumption than servers with traditional spinning hard disk drives.
Sun is also delivering low-latency, high-performance networking in its new Sun Fire x64 servers and Sun Blades. With Sun NEM technology for Sun Blade Modular Systems and servers, Sun said customers can reduce cost and complexity and simplify large-scale blade server deployments into existing network fabrics. Fire x64 products start at $1,488.
“We anticipate that the new high-performance capacity computing systems we are developing in partnership with Sun — which make use of the new Intel Xeon 5500 series, onboard InfiniBand communication, Sun’s new IB switches, and the innovative Sun cooling doors — will provide us a tremendous increase in our space, power and cost efficiency,” said Dr. Robert W. Leland, director of the computing center at Sandia National Laboratories.
IBM’s Opportunity
Sun is taking a different approach to blades than Hewlett-Packard and IBM, according to Gordon Haff, an analyst at Illuminata. Although HP and IBM blades find their way into large installations — both companies consistently rank on the top 500 list — the companies also target small and midsize businesses. Sun focuses solely on large blade deployments. If IBM acquired Sun, it would open up new opportunities for Big Blue with Solaris.
“Clearly what is going to happen to Sun is the elephant in the room in any of these discussions, but Sun has to continue to operate as an ongoing business. Otherwise they might turn out the lights,” Haff said. “You can debate particular areas of the product line and compare them with other vendors, but the fact is that Sun has a very respectable x86 lineup. The issue for Sun in x86 is around execution, around channels, partners, sales models, and so forth. That’s really where Sun has fallen down.”
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April 15th, 2009
