Firms urged to rethink spam strategy (Mar 23)
IT managers should rethink their spam filter strategy as the market is expected to experience dramatic vendor consolidation this year, Gartner has warned. According to the analyst group, fewer than 10 of the 40 vendors in the market will still be in business by 2005. And current firewall, antivirus and web filtering vendor technology fails to meet enterprise requirements, while companies that do offer viable products are smaller and have a limited track record.
Enterprises need sophisticated detection engines that are constantly updated, said Arabella Hallawell, research director at Gartner, in a statement. “If a solution blocks legitimate business email, or is too restrictive or inflexible for an enterprise culture, it’s not viable,” she said. “If the spam filtering solution requires a team of administrators or heavy end user involvement to administer and update, then it’s not practical either.”
Before signing contracts with suppliers, enterprises should request protection clauses to cover them in the event of a vendor being acquired, and should also demand shorter-term contracts. “Companies must consider a vendor’s core business fundamentals. A quality installed base also indicates sufficient strength to mitigate short-term vendor risks,” added Hallawell.
Maurene Caplan Grey, research director at Gartner, added that enterprises cannot afford to delay decisions until the market shakes out. “Their problems with spam have become too enormous,” she said.
Gartner said 60 per cent to 75 per cent of the incoming email received by its clients is spam.
View: Firms urged to rethink spam strategy
InfoPath 2003 Training: Hands-on Exercises (Mar 22)
The package contains practice files for use with InfoPath 2003 SP1 Training: Hands-on Exercises. To view the training labs, click the link available in the Related Resources section of this page.
This set of labs will help you learn how to design and deploy Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based forms in InfoPath 2003 SP1.
Download: InfoPath 2003 Training: Hands-on Exercises
View: InfoPath 2003 SP 1 Training- Hands-on Exercises on MSDN
Outlook 2003 Add-in: Video E-mail (Mar 22)
It got updated again
Use a Web camera to easily send a video e-mail to your friends and family. It takes just two clicks on the Video E-mail for Outlook 2003 add-in.
Download: Outlook 2003 Add-in: Video E-mail
Spam reduces faith in email (Mar 21)
The growing problem of spam is taking a heavy toll on US internet users’ perception of the safety of email.
According to a survey by cyber-monitoring group Pew Internet and American Life Project, 63 per cent of users are becoming less trusting of emails, while over a third claim to have cut back their use of email as a communication tool.
The majority of those surveyed indicated that the volume of junk mail has increased this year. This is despite the ratification of recent US Can Spam legislation, which became law on 1 January.
The findings appear to be backed up by a recent review from anti-spam and security company Brightmail, which found that spam accounted for 62 per cent of all email sent last month.
According to Pew Internet, the apparent failure of the US legislation and the rise in spam is causing increasing discomfort to internet users.
Three-quarters found spam unpleasant and annoying, while 86 per cent said that unsolicited email caused them distress.
The survey gives credence to concerns voiced by critics of the Can Spam Act who have suggested that, while the penalties are strong, the law’s weakness is that it attempts to regulate rather than ban the practice of spamming.
It does this by requiring email marketers to include legitimate return addresses and opt-out information in all the unsolicited messages they send.
View: Spam reduces faith in email
Microsoft Online Seminars: Office Solution Accelerator for Recruiting (Mar 21)
See how to maximize your business potential with Microsoft solutions. Seminars are learning resources designed to meet the needs of developers, IT professionals, and business decision makers. In this presentation see how the Microsoft Office Solution Accelerator for Recruiting automates interview scheduling, interview planning, and assessment processes for hiring managers, recruiters, and interviewers.
Download: Microsoft Online Seminars: Office Solution Accelerator for Recruiting
Windows SharePoint Services Administrator’s Guide (Mar 21)
Includes an updated index and a new topic: “Security Considerations for Server and Site Configurations”.
Download: Windows SharePoint Services Administrator’s Guide (version 1.3)
Microsoft MapPoint Location Server, Version 1.0 (Mar 21)
Microsoft® MapPoint® Location Server is an enterprise server product that works with PC and mobile device clients to help enterprise users determine the location of coworkers who are using a wireless devices. Mobile personnel can use MapPoint Location Server to locate each other and to find other places they want to visit; for example, to find a hotel or conference center while on a business trip.
MapPoint Location Server includes three main components:
MapPoint Location Server Web Service—A Web service, installed within the enterprise, that works with both mobile operators and MapPoint Web Service to provide location services, render maps, find points of interest, and supply driving directions.
MapPoint Location Server database—A SQL Server 2000 database that stores information about users, Find Nearby categories, and other information related to MapPoint Location Server.
MapPoint Location Server management console—A Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that can be used to administer MapPoint Location Server.
Download: Microsoft MapPoint Location Server, Version 1.0
Download: MapPoint MLS Fact Sheet
Download: MapPoint Location Server SDK, Version 1.0, for Visual Studio .NET 2003
Can I have an email quickie? – Phoenix says, ‘Yes!’ (Mar 19)
Phoenix Technologies this week has kicked off what will prove to be a protracted battle to own the PC before the OS loads with a new version of its FirstWare Assistant software that gives customers easy access to e-mail.
Unveiled at CeBIT, the latest version of FirstWare Assistant lets users check their Microsoft Outlook email, calendar and contacts data without booting Windows XP. By holding down the “F” key, users get instant access to this information – technology thought to be ideal for checking up on appointments, recalling a phone number or pulling up directions while on the road. Phoenix is just one of a number of companies including Intel that is trying to beat Windows to the punch.
“Users typically spend several minutes to boot up their machine and then boot up Outlook,” said Michael Goldgof, senior vice president of marketing at Phoenix. “Now, they can turn on their machine and a screen comes up that gives them immediate access to information that is synched up.”
View: Can I have an email quickie? – Phoenix says, ‘Yes!’
New Bagle Worm Variant Can Run Without Launching Attachment (Mar 19)
A series of new variants of the prolific Bagle worm has raised alarms in the security community through an innovative infection mechanism: The e-mail message in which the variants arrive may have no file attachment, and it’s possible for a user to become infected without having to launch one.
The message includes a Windows ActiveX control and uses a vulnerability announced and patched by Microsoft Corp. in August and another problem from last October. The most recent Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer also includes a fix for the more recently discovered flaw.
The ActiveX control does not contain the actual worm, according to McAfee Security. Instead, it creates and runs a VBScript on the system, which downloads and executes the worm from one of a list of IP addresses. According to McAfee, as of 06:45 PST on March 18, “The majority of the 590 IP addresses seen have been closed down. At the time of writing, 39 were still responding.”
The ActiveX infection mechanism requires that the e-mail client permit ActiveX controls to run in HTML e-mail. Microsoft e-mail clients have disallowed this feature by default for several years.
View: New Bagle Worm Variant Can Run Without Launching Attachment
Excel 2003 Sample: NCAA Results Tracker (Mar 19)
This download contains Excel spreadsheets that you can use to track predictions of winners and losers for each NCAA college basketball 2004 men’s and women’s Division I championship playoff games. It is designed to work with the NCAA bracket Excel templates that contains the names of the final 64 teams.
Download: Excel 2003 Sample: NCAA Results Tracker
Server Consolidation Using Exchange Server 2003 (Mar 19)
As e-mail messaging continues to grow in both volume and business importance, organizations are looking for new options to manage future demand in a reliable and cost-effective way. One option is to build a messaging strategy based on advanced technologies available in Microsoft® Windows Server™ 2003 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. This article discusses strategies for server consolidation using Exchange 2003.
Download: Server Consolidation Using Exchange Server 2003
Microsoft Project 2000 Resource Kit (Mar 19)
The Microsoft Project 2000 Resource Kit is designed for administrators, information technology (IT) professionals, and support staff who deploy and support Microsoft Project 2000 and Microsoft Project Central. It features a comprehensive set of tools to help you with installation and configuration, and it describes strategies and techniques that you can use to support Microsoft Project 2000 and Microsoft Project Central in your organization.
Download: Microsoft Project 2000 Resource Kit
Customers squeezed, as ISPs close in on viruses (Mar 18)
High-speed Internet service providers are increasingly putting their customers in the security hot seat, as they try to fight recent virus attacks that turn computers into spam factories.
Broadband companies have said they routinely monitor customer accounts for signs of abuse and take action when it’s appropriate. Although such policies have been in place for years, they’re now being invoked more than ever, due to the spread of viruses that allow spammers to spew out millions of junk e-mail messages under victims’ noses.
The virulence of these virus attacks has sparked a fierce debate over countermeasures, security experts said. The problem has become so bad that broadband companies are considering whether it’s time to substantially beef up policing on their networks–something they’ve avoided in the past because of the cost and potential privacy concerns involved.
“Nowadays, a person sending spam is Granny, and she has no idea she’s doing it,” said Joe Stewart, a senior security researcher at Lurhq, a corporate security company. “(ISPs) can pull the plug, but it’s hard and time-consuming to spend time on each user on tech support.”
The debate touches on far-reaching questions about the direction of Internet security policy and about the roles of ISPs and individuals in maintaining safe networks. Should the primary responsibility for security fall to broadband ISPs or subscribers?
View: Customers squeezed, as ISPs close in on viruses
Updated: Outlook 2003 Add-in: Video E-mail (Mar 18)
Use a Web camera to easily send a video e-mail to your friends and family. It takes just two clicks on the Video E-mail for Outlook 2003 add-in.
Note 1: This is a new version, updated December 3, 2003, that fixes an issue with a link in the body of the video e-mail.
Note 2: FireWire digital cameras are not supported by this download
Download: Updated: Outlook 2003 Add-in: Video E-mail
Windows SharePoint Services Administrator’s Guide (Mar 17)
Guide for installing, configuring, managing, and maintaining Windows SharePoint Services.
Includes an updated index and a new topic: “Security Considerations for Server and Site Configurations”.
This download contains information about managing Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, including:
Planning
Deployment Scenarios
Installation
Security
Configuration
Administration
Backup and Migration
Maintenance
Customization
Troubleshooting
Reference
