Paul Roberts

A new fingerprint reader from Sony Electronics Inc. that can store, match and export fingerprint images is tailored to organizations trying to meet stringent IT security requirements in the areas of health care and homeland security, according to information published on Sony's Web site.

The distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against 13 of the Internet's core servers has been traced to computers in the U.S. and Korea, according to statements made by U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Robert Mueller.

Apple Computer Inc.'s Macintosh was among the computer operating systems least prone to attack and damage from malicious hackers, worms and viruses in 2002, while Microsoft Corp.'s Windows and the Linux operating systems were the most vulnerable, according to a report by technology risk management company mi2g Ltd.

Struggling telecommunications equipment company Lucent Technologies Inc. may soon be charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a civil lawsuit that alleges the company used improper accounting techniques to inflate its sales.

Borland Software Corp. continued its buying spree Wednesday with an announcement that it has signed an agreement to acquire TogetherSoft Corp. of Raleigh, N.C., a maker of software design and analysis technology. Borland will pay US$185 million in cash and stock for the privately held company.

ESsecurityOnline LLC, a security software company owned by Ernst & Young LLP, is wading into the security management market with a new vulnerability management appliance.

ESsecurityOnline LLC, a security software company owned by Ernst & Young LLP, is wading into the security management market with a new vulnerability management appliance. The product, called eSO Advisor, will use a database of information collected by Ernst & Young experts to help organizations track and manage security vulnerabilities on their networks and will sell for US$32,495, according to Ernst & Young.

Microsoft Corp. has responded to criticism from users and issued a software patch for a major security vulnerability in the Windows XP operating system, reversing an earlier decision to require users to upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 1 to remove the vulnerability.