But Wait, There's More

IBM Launches Global Business Security Index

IBM has been compiling an IT security threat index for quite some time, based on hack attacks on its own systems and those that it has under management through its Global Services unit. According to the Global Business Security Index, attacks against utilities, telecommunications, and government agencies rocketed upward by 55 percent between July and August. Across all industries and geographies, IBM has monitored a 27 percent increase in such attacks.

The index is based on data collected by the 2,700 security experts who work for Global Services and from the half million systems and network devices that IBM has under its management. In the near future, IBM will offer the index and related services as a product; the company did not say what it would charge for such information or the related services.

IBM says that there were 997 attacks against its customers in September, a 27 percent increase over levels set in July and August. Worms such as Korgo and Sasser, which attack Microsoft's Windows platform, were the dominant tools used by hackers to try to gain access to networks. IBM sells intrusion-detection and vulnerability-testing services, through which the company says it has seen an incredible 100 million suspected or actual attacks against customers.

Europe Clears Oracle's Acquisition of PeopleSoft

The European Commission's antitrust authority, headed by Mario Monti, who will soon be stepping down as antitrust chief, announced this week that it will not impede the $7.7 billion hostile takeover of PeopleSoft by ERP rival and database powerhouse Oracle. Under Monti, the European Union has been aggressive about blocking big mergers but says that, after looking at hundreds of software deals, it has concluded that the merger of PeopleSoft and Oracle would not radically change software pricing practices in the EU.

With this move, both the U.S. and European antitrust bodies have given Oracle the green light. But the legal fight goes on. Oracle and PeopleSoft have been fighting each other in Delaware Chancery Court, where Oracle is trying to reverse some of the defensive financial moves (often called a poison pill) that make the acquisition more expensive than it might otherwise be. That court has not said when it would make a ruling, so the show goes on.

Big Japanese Distributor Picks the iSeries for Warehouse Management

In this case, the distributor is Nippon Konpo Unyo Soko, which is located in the suburbs of Tokyo and is the third-party logistics distributor that, among other things, handles finished goods distribution for Honda Motor's motorcycle and car businesses. The company has opted to put the OS/400-based warehouse management system from Manhattan Associates alongside its OS/400-based ERP package.

Intentia Makes Progress in Q3, Looks to Operating Profit in Q4

Swedish ERP application software provider Intentia International, one of the largest OS/400 application vendors in Europe, said that its revenues were 581 million krona in the quarter ending September 30, down 3 percent. (At current exchange rates, that's about $81.9 million.) The company said that it signed up 16 new customers in the quarter, but that overall software license fees fell by 7 percent, to $169 million krona (about $23.8 million). Services revenues were up a smidgen, however. As expected, the company booked a charge of 260 million krona (about $36.6 million) for restructurings announced this summer, when Intentia said that it would lay off about 16 percent of its 2,700-strong workforce to get sales and costs back in line and return to profitability. The company has actually cut a little bit deeper; it has laid off 234 people, and another 106 have been given termination notices. Including that charge, Intentia booked a loss of 310 million krona (about $43.7 million). Bertrand Sciard, Intentia's CEO, said that licensing orders were 118 million krona, up 18 percent, and that it had an order backlog of 493 million krona, up a tiny bit, as it ended the quarter.

As reported during the summer, Intentia received $50 million cash from U.S. venture capitalist Tennenbaum Capital Partners. Intentia is issuing about $22.9 million in new stock for Tennenbaum as part of the deal, which will give it a 12.9 percent stake in Intentia. The remaining $27.1 million is coming through a five-year loan with 9 percent interest, due in one fell swoop. This money was put on the books during the third quarter and leaves Intentia with 479 million krona (about $67.5 million) in cash.

Red Hat Says Security E-Mail Is Fake

Commercial Linux distributor Red Hat is warning customers that an e-mail claiming to come from "The Redhat Security Team" actually contains malicious code, in the form of a Trojan horse, that compromises the Linux system.

The e-mail says that people need to download a ".tar" file from Red Hat's Fedora development site. The message includes the usual assortment of typos and bad English that easily identify it as malware.

Some Europeans Come Out Against Software Patents

However, not everyone wants the Europeans to enact patent protection for software, and the people behind NoSoftwarePatents.com, including commercial Linux distributor Red Hat and open source database provider MySQL, are pushing for a grassroots campaign in the European IT community to block the adoption of laws enabling software patents.

Florian Muller, of SWM Software-Marketing, a German software company, is managing the NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign and is the main interface with the press and politicians. Muller is fired up on this issue.

"Software patents are used for anti-competitive purposes, stifle innovation, and would cost the entire economy and society dearly," said Muller in a statement accompanying the announcement of the organization. "On the bottom line, they create more injustice than justice. There is only a small group of people in the patent system who would benefit from them, and some large American corporations have ulterior motives. The public interest must prevail because every European citizen, every European company and every European government would end up paying a high price for such a monumental mistake." He called on everyone, particularly the open source and Internet service provider community, to support the campaign. "Anyone who mistakenly believes that patents are the same as copyright will see that this campaign is supported by successful businesses who protect their software development investments on the basis of copyright law. I have been living off copyright law for almost 20 years myself. Copyright protects innovators--software patents are used as weapons against innovators."

IDC Concurs with Offshoring Market Estimates

Analysts at IDC have put on their starry caps and pulled out their crystal balls to make their predictions about just how much money is going to be put into offshore outsourcing projects over the next few years, and the company's estimates sound similar to those of its competitors.

IDC reckons that offshoring (by which IDC means moving IT work from North America or Western Europe to India, China, the Philippines, Central and Eastern Europe, and other areas) will have a five-year compound growth rate of 20 percent between 2003 and 2008, from $7 billion to $17 billion. The researchers say that, among U.S. companies, spending will center around applications, specifically custom application development, system integration as it relates to these home-grown applications, and managing these applications.