Articles by Jay Lyman

The Swen computer worm is turning out to be a bigger problem than earlier expected, using a brief head start on computer antivirus defenses, as well as complex abilities and an effective masquerade, to infect Windows machines and spread via e-mail to many users The worm, also known as "Gibe" or its more technical name of "w32.swen@mm," takes advant...

Similar to the action toys of two decades ago, prototype ThinkPad notebooks from IBM can be transformed from the traditional notebook form factor to a disconnected desktop with a more comfortable keyboard and separate monitor While the models, which Big Blue showed off at a trade show this week, are not yet slotted for production, they follow a tre...

Despite the recent success of computer worms, such as Blaster, that have pounced on newly discovered vulnerabilities, a new threat that looks remarkably like a legitimate security e-mail from Microsoft is using a two-year-old vulnerability to infect thousands of computers. Known as "Swen" or "Gibe," the mass-mailing worm has hit thousands of Windo...

Widely used DB2 database software from IBM -- which often stores critical data, such as credit card information -- has flaws that would be "trivial" for attackers to exploit The holes, uncovered by Core Security, a network security firm, involve simple stack-based buffer overflows and are triggered by sending a long command-line argument to two vul...

The Internet community is failing to see the value of domain giant VeriSign's SiteFinder service, which redirects users to a VeriSign site with a search tool instead of producing the traditional error message for mistyped or nonexistent Internet addresses The service, known as "wildcard" functionality, is fouling efforts to block unwanted e-mail, o...

Following the same pattern of predictions as the one that led to last month's devastating Blaster worm, security analysts have begun to focus on the new crop of Microsoft Windows vulnerabilities and the attack tools created to take advantage of them -- all of which could indicate that a potential new family of computer worms is in the works One wee...

Hoping to synchronize better with IT security's private sector, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has enlisted Symantec vice president for managed services Amit Yoran as director of its cyber security division and has forged a partnership with the CERT Coordination Center to speed warning and response time Security industry leaders praised b...

Verizon's U.S. District Court appeal over the subpoena powers granted to the Recording Industry Association of America, to be considered Tuesday, calls into question the music industry group's tactics and highlights privacy concerns The RIAA has pushed forward with its strategy of pursuing individual Internet subscribers who allegedly trade copyrig...

Hoping to hook manufacturers and shippers beholden to modest radio frequency identification (RFID) implementation requirements from companies like Wal-Mart, IBM has announced new service and software offerings to help roll out the wireless tag-tracking technology Wal-Mart is putting manufacturers under the gun to implement RFID for cases and pallet...

An Internet-connected grid of potentially millions of personal computers is being launched by a group of UK-based universities, weather services and software companies in an effort to predict global climate As a collaboration of Oxford, the Open University, Met Office, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and other institutions, the project that bega...

Coming to a notebook near you -- it's 3D display technology from Sharp. But industry observers say it is likely to be a slow start for the Mebius PC-RD3D notebook, which the electronics giant is planning to release in Japan next month and in the United States by the end of the year Sharp said its 15-inch, three-dimensional LCD display, which allows...

A day before the two-year anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, a series of phone calls threatening the presence of a bomb at San Francisco's Moscone Center forced the evacuation of thousands from the Oracle and Seybold trade shows Authorities, on guard with the approach of September 11, reported a series of calls at about 1:30 PM Wedn...

A 22-year-old computer hacker credited with breaking into more than a dozen networks owned by some of the largest companies in the world is facing federal charges of computer intrusion and unlawful use of passwords Known as the "homeless hacker" for his laptop-only wanderings and as the "helpful hacker" for breaking into major corporate networks an...

Leveraging new wireless network technology that will more than double data rates in mobile phones, Intel has developed a single-chip processor for the next generation of mobile networks, called Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE). The chip, the Intel PXA800EF, is the industry's first single-chip EDGE processor. It combines handheld-comput...

In a letter posted today on its company Web site and some open-source sites, SCO Group chief executive Darl McBride aimed the Unix-code-in-Linux claims at Silicon Graphics, which SCO says it is in discussions with over the matter In the letter, McBride decries recent denial-of-service (DoS) attacks against the SCO Web site. He blames the attacks on...

Timing technology updates with the start of school, Apple announced it has sped up its iMac desktop computers with faster processors and beefed up the storage in new iPod digital music players, which are now offered in 20- and 40-GB models Against a backdrop of lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America against more than 260 in...

By decreasing space requirements and boosting power efficiency, Broadcom said its new, single-chip wireless solution marks a revolutionary breakthrough for the wireless industry and will make wireless local area networks (WLANs) less expensive and easier to build Touting as much as 87 percent space savings and extended battery life, Broadcom said t...

Intel is aiming new energy-efficient Itanium 2 processors at mainstream, high-density servers and high-performance applications with two lower-cost Itanium designs The Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker, which spurred optimism with its updated third-quarter revenue predictions last week, said the new chips, formally announced today, have alrea...

Looking to land its first major handset maker as a Windows Mobile software customer, Microsoft is reportedly involved in a deal with Motorola, the company that will build the new smart phone to be offered by French operator Orange The companies would not comment on the deal, but a briefing is scheduled for next week, and industry insiders told Tech...

Lifted by higher sales of more powerful and less expensive notebook computers, the worldwide and U.S. PC markets are delivering better results than expected, according to industry research firm IDC In its upcoming quarterly forecast, IDC ups its numbers two points, raising the global market growth forecast to nearly 8.5 percent and the U.S. market ...