But Wait, There's More

Let's Not Forget to Reset Those Critical Servers, People!

The Voice Switching and Control System application gives ground-based air traffic control personnel the capability to quickly communicate with planes by use of a touch screen. The application was designed by federal contractor Harris, which received the original $1.5 billion contract from the FAA in 1992, to run under the Unix operating system. In 2001, Harris completed testing on a major upgrade that would allow the application to run on what the vendor termed "commercial off-the-shelf" components, namely Intel-based servers running the Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server operating system. The vendor claimed the application would be capable of "an operational availability of 99.99999" (that's seven nine's).

However, there was a problem with the upgrade to Windows, which FAA officials became aware of about a year ago. Apparently, the upgraded Voice Switching and Control System system needs to be rebooted every 49.7 days in order to prevent it from being "overloaded" with data, the Times reports. Rebooting the system is preferable to allowing an overloaded system to keep running, which could potentially give air traffic control stations wrong information about flights, FAA software analysts told the Times. This computer glitch was first discovered more than a year ago, when the Atlanta air traffic control station upgraded its system. So far, the only station to fix the problem, out of 21 stations nationwide, is the one in Seattle. The Southern California air traffic control station lost contact with many (but not all) flights when the system went offline and the backup failed to kick in. The backup failed because station personnel had failed to reboot it, as FAA protocol requires them to do every 30 days.

Microsoft Issues Systems Management Server SP1

Microsoft recently issued an update to Systems Management Server 2003, which is used to deploy applications and roll-out patches and other updates to Windows server and client operating systems. SMS 2003 Service Pack 1 mostly consists of a "rollup of hotfixes" for the product, along with Windows XP SP2. But, due to security concerns, Microsoft has also restricted the upgrade path, and SMS 2.0 clients and Legacy Clients running on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 will not upgrade to SMS 2003 SP1. Other security improvements include the encryption of inventory data from SMS clients, full authentication between SMS clients and the SMS infrastructure, and improved security certificate provisioning.

Lawson Warns of Big Declines in License Fees, Net Loss

Traders pushed Lawson Software's share price down 13 percent last week, following the release of the company's preliminary first quarter results, which, needless to say, were not good. The St. Paul, Minnesota, company, which writes ERP software for Windows, Unix, and OS/400 platforms, said it expects total revenue for the quarter to be about $82 million, which would be about a 7 percent decline from the $88 million it posted for the first quarter of fiscal 2004, which ends August 31. That translates into a one to two cent loss using the GAAP method. Perhaps more worrisome is the paltry $13 million in software license revenues Lawson expects for the quarter, a 43 percent drop from the $22.7 million it recorded for the quarter last year. Lawson CEO Jay Coughlan said there were many causes for the shortfall, including industry consolidation, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and the Department of Justice's lawsuit again Oracle, which Oracle won, and which should bolster Lawson's argument that it's a tier-one player that can hang with the big boys. "Lawson experienced what many other enterprise software companies have recently announced: lower business activity, longer customer decision cycles, and contract deferrals," Coughlan says. He added that he is committed to cost cutting and keeping Lawson profitable for the year--on a non-GAAP basis, anyway. Final financial results will be announced September 30.

Details of Microsoft Proxy Statement

Microsoft announced changes to its board of directors, made public its executives' compensation, and declared its regular quarterly dividend this week. The $.08 dividend will be payable on December 2, the same day Microsoft plans to pay out its one-time $3-per-share special dividend, which will account for $32 billion of the huge $75 billion shareholder payout program the Redmond, Washington, software giant announced in July. William "Gary" Reed will not seek re-election to the board at Microsoft's November shareholder meeting, the company announced this week. There will not be a replacement for Reed, former chairman of Simpson Investment Company, who joined the board in 1987, as the board has voted to remain at nine members. In its annual proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission , it was disclosed that Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and Chairman Bill Gates both received total compensation (salary plus bonus) of $901,667 for fiscal 2004, of which $310,000 was bonus money.

Meta Says Passwords Aren't Effective

Passwords have failed as an effective identity management tool, according to a new report from META Group. Before saying to yourself, "Well, duh," and slinking off to read more "obvious" news reports on www.fark.com, consider this: the problem with passwords is not the sheer number of passwords you must memorize, as your experience may have led you to (mistakenly) believe. No, the problem is actually due to a lack of respect for the sheer level of access and authority that passwords afford, META says. Or, as Earl Perkins, vice president with META's security and risk strategies advisory service, puts it: "The issue with password protection isn't just a number issue. Rather, from a cultural standpoint, many individuals do not believe the value of the password reflects the value of the assets it protects."

So how best to resolve this password conundrum? Whatever it is, it ain't single sign-on, which, META says, will just "inject new problems regarding the balance between authentication and authorization." Instead, META says, the "ultimate solution" (which we understand has not yet been finalized) to this password problem will be based on these three facts: that people want to know their identity is secure, they want to identify themselves easily, and want to know the value of what they're accessing, based on how they access it. After running this through our cultural translation device, the answer is actually quite simple: biometric brain implants! And just think of how easy it will be to check out at Wal-Mart. Okay, you can go back to www.fark.com now.

Microsoft to Unveil Office 2003 Source Code to Select Governments

To help quell the growing momentum that Linux and open-source software in general is enjoying among governmental agencies, Microsoft this week announced a new plan to share with select foreign governments the source code to its Office 2003 applications. Under the Government Security Program component of the Microsoft Shared Source Initiative, qualifying governments and other international organizations can gain access to the source code for the latest versions of Outlook, Word, Excel, and other pieces of the extremely popular (and profitable) Office suite. Microsoft says it is making this move, ostensibly, to allow the organizations to improve the integration and security of their specific Office implementations. Among the first of 30 governments involved in the program to peer into the guts of Office is the British government, which cited improved security as the big benefit. The release of Office 2003 source code follows similar source code disclosures Microsoft made last year with Windows and Microsoft Office 2003 XML Reference Schemas.

Iran Considering Linux, Not Likely to Get Office Source Code Anyway

You will not find the Islamic Republic of Iran on Microsoft's short list of governments it wants to release source code to as part of its Government Security Program anytime soon, as nearly all of the estimated 7 to 9 million PCs in the country use pirated copies of Windows and Microsoft applications. Government officials openly admit this fact because, in Iran, there are no laws against the illegal copying of intellectual property--software or otherwise. However, Iran is now trying to gain entry into the World Trade Organization, according to a report in the South African Business Report, and, to do so, it must comply with international intellectual property laws. Just the same, the Iranian government is now considering moving its 1 million PCs to the Linux operating system. The government is doing this, according to the Business Report story, not only because it would be prohibitively expensive to properly license the software but also because Microsoft's software is hopelessly ridden with security holes and back doors, which could conceivably provide an avenue for its enemies, such as the United States, to compromise its digital sanctity. And you thought Ahmad Chalabi had problems.