MPack Hacker Tool Claims 10,000 Compromised Web Sites
by Alex Woodie

A Russian-developed hacker tool called MPack is being utilized this week in a Web attack that has compromised an estimated 10,000 Web sites, primarily in Italy but also in other parts of Europe, security researchers report. As the largest such attack in recent memory, MPack shows how sophisticated hackers and malicious software developers are getting at compromising network security, and ups the ante in the ongoing battle against cyber crime. READ MORE >

Microsoft Ships Updated Dynamics ERP Products
by Alex Woodie

Microsoft this week unveiled new releases of two of its ERP products, including Dynamics GP 10.0 and Dynamics SL 7.0. Users of the new ERP systems will find greater refinement in the graphical interfaces, including the new capability to interact with the ERP systems through their standard Office productivity applications. READ MORE >

Intel Bangs the Itanium Drum, Draws Out Roadmap
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Chip maker Intel, which is in the midst of a substantial technological turnaround with its X64 chips for laptops, desktops, and servers, doesn't want the world to think that it has forgotten about Itanium, the step-child that it more or less adopted from Hewlett-Packard a decade ago to create a better and more elegant processing architecture that was--and you must remember this--supposed to replace the 32-bit X86 chip utterly and completely. That didn't happen, of course, but Itanium has found its place in the data centers of the world. READ MORE >

Linspire Hooks Up with Microsoft, Too
by Timothy Prickett Morgan

You would think that partnerships with commercial Linux distributors were like baseball cards, the way that Microsoft is collecting them. You are supposed to collect baseball cards and trade them with your friends, but in this case, Microsoft seems to be collecting Linux distros as its friends. In any event, late last week, Microsoft announced that Linspire, which has prevailed in legal battles against the Windows powerhouse, has inked a cooperation pact similar to those negotiated by Novell and Xandros.READ MORE >