Neocleus announced the culmination of 18 months of innovation and research by unveiling its strategy and approach for addressing the security, performance and IT manageability requirements of enterprise endpoints across a distributed network. The Neocleus strategy provides businesses with a new paradigm for endpoints such as desktops and laptops that changes the way business is conducted and resources are secured, to allow IT departments to maintain unprecedented control of their distributed IT assets and to give end users the complete flexibility they need to do their work.

The discipline of systems management is composed largely of managing the computing endpoint. The 'endpoint' is traditionally a computer that takes the form of an application/process server or an end-user desktop/laptop. This definition doesn't cover all endpoint types or devices but does represent a large enough population size for the purposes of this discussion.

There's no question that advances in server virtualization technology are becoming popular among corporations that want to save money by consolidating resources and improving operational efficiency. Virtualization enables a dramatic increase in cost savings in ongoing maintenance and the cost required to keep physical assets afloat.

There are pitfalls in using software-based network interface cards and host bus adaptors. They don't scale well in I/O-centric loads running on scaled-out architectures. The CEO of a leading virtualization companies said, 'Software virtualization addresses 80% of the market and it leaves 20% for hardware-based I/O virtualization.'

Blue Lane announced the availability of VirtualShield 4.2, a virtualization security solution to include inter-VM flow analytics and enforcement, application-aware partitioning (VMwall), and a robust set of application, protocol and vulnerability security policy controls.

Apani announced the launch of EpiForce VM, the single-platform security solution for protecting both virtual and physical machines. Enterprises are deploying server virtualization to realize benefits associated with increased operational flexibility, improved utilization, avoidance of unplanned downtime and a reduced carbon footprint. The rush to virtualize has caused many to overlook security best-practices common in a physical environment. According to Gartner, through 2009, 60 percent of virtual machines used in production will be less secure than their physical counterparts. While the benefits of server virtualization are clear, security challenges force enterprises to make trade-offs between broad deployment and security that is robust enough to protect their business. By offering robust virtual and physical machine security, EpiForce VM enables enterprises to fully deploy server virtualization and realize the benefits it offers.

Recent high-profile security breaches have taught us a clear lesson: organizations that rely primarily on a secure perimeter to protect sensitive data are fooling themselves. This year, hardly a week has passed without headlines about a security breach involving sensitive data.

Security is a hot topic of the moment and as potential threats are identified and news about viruses, worms, bots, and unauthorized access abounds, a multitude of new security technologies continue to be introduced to the market.

Microsoft has said it will address a security hole in the IE browser by April 11 or sooner. But certain Web security companies have already developed temporary patches until Redmond fixes the problem on its own.

Wipro Technologies, the India based IT Service company, has announced that it revamped and expanded its remote managed services center located in Bangalore, India. The center has some $5 million worth of new generation technology and tool sets, giving customers a technology agnostic, secure managed services environment, the company says.

It would seem only logical that after 9/11, one of the most horrific days in American history, corporations large and small would be ready for unforeseen catastrophic events. However, by one recent estimate, less than 38% have put a complete disaster recovery plan in place - the policies, processes, procedures, and architecture to deal with unforeseen events. In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, IT managers are again forced to reassess how well prepared they and their organizations are to manage through and recover from natural or man-made disasters.

As network perimeters become more porous, and endpoint security becomes even more critical, companies are struggling with the problem of unwanted software - whether it's new, unknown, and potentially malicious software, or simply known non-business applications.

Information security is a top priority for many companies. Protecting information from external threats such as hackers, viruses, and spam, as well as governmental regulation requirements (SOX, HIPAA, NISPOM, etc.), are driving IT purchases beyond ROI as C-level executives seek to assure shareholders (and themselves) that assets are secure within the company complex. Viewed as today's growth market, many software/hardware/service companies are creating offerings to mitigate perceived risk or actual liability.

In spite of legislation and the first conviction of a spammer under that law, it appears spammers will keep spamming as long as there's money to be made. According to Symantec's September Internet Security Threat Report, one of the most comprehensive analyses of trends in cyber security activity, spam made up more than 60% of all e-mail traffic during the first half of 2004. And Jupiter Research estimates that the average consumer will get 2,000 spam hits a day in 2005, up from 40 in 1999.

An independent study, commissioned by Unisys, yesterday revealed that UK consumers' apathetic attitude to fraud could be helping to perpetuate the rapidly growing identity theft industry, which is now estimated to be costing UK businesses £1.3 billion per year.

Adware and spyware - they may be as hard to define as they are to eradicate. But there's one thing just about everyone can agree on: what started as a minor annoyance has ballooned into a full-blown corporate headache.