9 things about botnets that will scare your pants off; IBM, HP use big discounts to woo Sun users; Black Hat's best

IBM, HP use big discounts to woo Sun customers; Black Hat roundup Daily News AM Alert NetworkWorld.com | Update Your Profile Sponsored by Quest Software, Inc. Realize Significant Storage Cost Savings with Automation Dramatically increase storage utilization with a system that automates storage capacity management. Benefits include: Identifying and redirecting dark storage, allowing data to grow into existing storage safely, the ability to reclaim over-provisioned storage, a fast return on investment. Don't let storage unnecessarily drain your IT budget. Spotlight Story Nine things about botnets that will scare your pants off If you (like me) have been under the impression that botnets are no big deal, it's time to realize what a big threat they are to legitimate businesses and organizations. Corporate PCs that are turned into zombies can be forced to distribute spam, steal identity credentials and intellectual property, log keystrokes, commit click fraud and so much more. Here are nine things you might not know about botnets that are guaranteed to make you nervous. Read full story Related News: IBM, HP use big discounts to woo Sun customers Sales programs designed to poach rivals' customers are commonplace, but IBM and HP have become significantly more aggressive since the April 20 announcement that Oracle is buying Sun. Black Hat roundup In one of the more exciting Black Hat conferences in recent memory, researchers revealed holes in everything from SSL to Microsoft software to the iPhone's SMS. Here are some of the best stories from the conference. Detente in Cisco/IBM "war"? Buried at the end of this Marketwatch story on Cisco's upcoming earnings is a quote by a securities analyst to the effect that IBM will continue to sell a significant amount of Cisco product despite the networking giant's invasion of IBM's data center server turf. New features can open up Cisco IOS to hackers New features embedded in Cisco IOS like VoIP and Web services -- which could be enabled by default -- can present an opportunity for hackers, according to this story in SearchSecurity.com. A security researcher at this week's Black Hat conference in Las Vegas delivered a presentation in which he outlined ways hackers can infiltrate Cisco routers through these new IOS features. iPhone Support by Enterprise IT Groups Grows So what mobile device should CIOs support? BlackBerry? Windows Mobile? iPhone? A new study from Forrester Research suggests that CIOs will eventually support all of them. The truth about new SSL attacks Cisco Security expert Jamey Heary has been attending Black Hat this week and has been especially interested in new exploits on SSL. However, he notes that most of them require that an attacker has already gained significant access before they can hack into the encoded data stream. Fixed Wireless vs. Wire: And the Winner is... We recently did a study of the cost-effectiveness of wide-area ("outdoor") wireless access vs. wire. BlackBerry Troubleshooting Tips & Tricks from RIM Experiencing problems with that new BlackBerry Tour? Is your tried-and-true Curve 8300 acting up on ya? Have no fear; you don't necessarily have a "lemon" on your hands. FTC delays identity theft rules for third time Well this is getting kind of predictable. The Federal Trade Commission this week has delayed for the third time in less than a year the deadline for companies to enact its identity theft rules known as Red Flags, which were set to become practice Aug. 1. July Giveaways Cisco Subnet is giving away 15 copies each of books on Enterprise Web 2.0 and Building a Greener Data Center; Microsoft Subnet is giving away training from New Horizons to one lucky reader and 15 copies of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Unleashed. Entry forms can be found on the Cisco Subnet and Microsoft Subnet home pages. Deadline for entries July 31. Network World on Twitter? You bet we are Black Hat's best How well you remember the Black Hat conference's most notorious incidents? Wireless burning questions How much longer are you going to hang onto that Ethernet cable? And other questions. Gaining the Performance Edge Using a Column-Oriented Database Management System Many organizations are increasingly recognizing the potential benefits of how analytic databases can support reporting, strategic analysis, and other business intelligence activities. Explore the data explosion phenomenon and why column-oriented database systems are able to provide the boost that is needed to gain the performance edge. Learn More   July 31, 2009 TOP STORIES | MOST DUGG STORIES iPhone SMS attack to be unleashed at Black Hat Mystery solved: MS emergency patch precedes Black Hat session Clampi Trojan plunders financials for botnet CERT and ISC warn about BIND9 DNS vulnerability 5 technologies Iran is using to censor the Web Microsoft-Yahoo will change cloud computing Cloud computing confusion reigns in U.S. government Black Hat's most notorious incidents What business is Cisco in today? Cisco fixes critical WLAN flaws Next-Generation Data Centers IT transformation begins at the data center, as enterprises embrace technologies such as virtualization and cloud computing to build adaptable, flexible and highly efficient infrastructures capable of handling today's business demands. Read this Guide. Compare products, get advice, and check out tests and reviews from the experts at Network World. Over 70 categories. 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