We've just posted another article on security budgeting and getting the most value for your money when it comes to choosing a combination of security measures. Here is an excerpt: We all want to maximize the benefits of our security resources but it is not obvious how to do that. There is a wide array of risks that businesses must face; the applications we run and the processes that constitute our operations all harbor vulnerabilities. Security vendors provide an array of products that address many of the security threats in the constantly evolving environment of information security. No single set...

Take a walk down Canal St. in New York City and you won't get a few feet before being offered Gucci, Prada and Channel handbags or DVDs with just released to theaters hit movies. Of course these are rip off copies and if you didn't know it before then the fact that the vendor keeps his goods in a large suitcase and constantly scans the street for police should give it away. It's not always so easy to spot counterfeit hardware and if you could, it's harder to know if is harboring malware or a backdoor....

Last week I was contacted by Corey Goodman, a reporter for HCPro, about a story he is doing that sounds like it will be quite interesting! He is collecting examples and anecdotes about "little know HIPAA facts" and asked me to contribute some for his article. I anticipate that he will be cutting the couple of little known facts I provided to him down quite a bit, so I wanted to provide them here not only as a future reference for myself, but also for those of you who may be interested!...

I've known about this announcement for a week or two, but couldn't really talk about it until this week. BT is one of the most forward-thinking services providers on the planet. Siemens is one of the real thought leaders in technology advancement. I believe this partnering will deliver some truly new and advanced service delivery offerings to their combined customers.BT and Siemens to Deliver One-Stop Converged Communications SolutionWorldwide Relationship Brings Enterprises Centralized, Converged IP CommunicationsLONDON, UK and BOCA RATON, Fla. -- May 6, 2008 -- BT, one of the world's leading providers of networked IT services, and Siemens Enterprise Communications, one of the world's leading suppliers of Open Communications software and services for enterprises, have entered into a global sales agreement to offer a converged communications solution for large multinational enterprises. The solution aims at helping those enterprises reduce costs, remove complexity and risk, improve collaboration and enhance business processes. It achieves that by leveraging existing investments in currently separate voice and data infrastructures and offering a compelling transition path to a centrally managed IP-based communications platform. The BT and Siemens converged communications solution enables enterprises to consolidate and converge their voice and data communications at their own pace, one...

Alcatel-Lucent Certifies OmniPCX Enterprise Application with Mediatrix Analog Gateways Sherbrooke, QUEBEC, May 7, 2008 - Mediatrix Telecom, the leader in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) access devices, gateways and branch connectivity, today announced that the Mediatrix 4100 and 2102 VoIP gateways have passed Alcatel-Lucent's interoperability tests and have received certification with Alcatel-Lucent's OmniPCX Enterprise communications platform.The Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise is an integrated, interactive communications solution for medium-sized businesses and large corporations. The solution combines traditional telephone functions with support for Internet-based telephony and multimedia communication. "Mediatrix now provides a certified solution for companies deploying Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise communication platforms," explained Andres Torres, PLM Manager for Mediatrix Telecom. "Customers will find in Mediatrix Analog Gateways the perfect match for performance, interoperability and security requirements in a VoIP solution."Mediatrix Analog ProductsMediatrix 2102: 2 analog FXS portsMediatrix 4104: 4 analog FXS portsMediatrix 4108: 8 analog FXS portsMediatrix 4116: 16 analog FXS portsMediatrix 4124: 24 analog FXS ports The Mediatrix 4100 series provides a highly scalable and cost-effective analog solution for the Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX Enterprise platform. It can be deployed in remote offices to provide analog connectivity for analog phones, faxes, and legacy key systems. SOHO users can also make use of the Mediatrix...

If you've traveled through the southeast US you may have seen an invasive vine called kudzu that seems to spread quickly to the point of overtaking other plants in an area. The Nature Conservancy says: it grows out of control, smothers native plants and even uproots entire trees by the sheer force of its weight. Think of it as biological spam. True to form, spam is spreading and threating any messaging services. The latest victims are Twitter and your calendar....

I got a note from my good friend Pat Phelan, CEO at Cubic Telecom, yesterday afternoon while out running an errand about a new service called Twitterfone. You can see the press release down below. It isn't VoIP, but this is a really fascinating example of where voice services are heading.Please bear in mind that I was out in mobile mode, with only my Blackberry, so all I'd actually seen initially was the flurry of chatter on Twitter about Twitterfone and the expected flurry of test posts as people try it out. Sheryl and I got invitations to join the beta, but weren't back at the office until last night to actually get that done. For those of you who follow me at all, you know I'm an avid Twitter user, and have been since it was Twttr, long before it caught the wave of popularity. Sheryl and I use Twitter as part of our work at Stardust Global Ventures, and it's an integral part of our daily life.When I started using Twitter, it was SMS only, so it required a mobile phone to use. Now it seems to have come full circle, as Twitterfone enables people to use their...

I've blogged several times about how employers are inreasingly using information found on the Internet to make hiring, and firing, decisions, such as here and here. I've also written about it several times, such as here. Here's another example to add to your files for how information posted to social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, can impact your employment situation where a woman graduating with an education degree was denied teaching credentials, and this is not the first time a situation has occurred similar to this......

The Yahoo-Microsoft deal fell through but Yahoo is back in the news after making a deal with McAfee (site sponsor) to include warnings about sites infected with malware. This is important for several reasons, the most obvious, and least important, is that it allows Yahoo to keep pace with Google on this front. The real news here is that the dynamics of who is providing security and who is paying the cost for poor security is shifting....

There's an interesting story making the rounds this morning, with some opposing views already being expressed.Om Malik posted his findings and thoughts on an idea that's been gaining traction for a while in the dark hallways of the traditional telco world.Global Telcos Plotting a Skype Rival?AT&T, in conjunction with some 10-15 incumbent telecom carriers -- British Telecom, Deutsche Telecom and NTT among them -- is plotting to launch a Skype competitor, according to a research report issued this morning by ThinkEquity analyst Anton Wahlman.This is Wahlman's theory for now, but his track record is full of theories that have eventually been proven right. For instance, he once issued a report that outlined 16 reasons why Cisco should buy Scientific Atlanta -- which the networking giant went on to do, for $6.9 billion. For that reason alone, I put in a call to AT&T to get the lowdown, but all they would offer was the boilerplate phrase, "We can't comment on this type of speculation."Anyway, back to the Skype competitor! Essentially what Wahlman is saying is that incumbents are going to offer a VoIP client that will work on the incumbent broadband/3G wireless pipe, and will use a backend platform that...