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Technology Stocks : The *NEW* Frank Coluccio Technology Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elsewhere who wrote (14423)	3/28/2006 7:02:50 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Respond to of 46821

Thanks. On first reading those claims, I thought maybe Mozilla had a little-known arrangement with Symantec, or something. I was a bit surprising to me to see them going over the top.

To: Elsewhere who wrote (14423)	3/28/2006 11:57:44 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Respond to of 46821

Here's another interesting boast about security that appears on the surface to be counter-intuitive, but this one may hold more water than the Mozilla one, depending on where the code is mounted: ---- Security in VoIP Networks Stronger than TDM! by Haim Melamed Director, Channel Marketing AudioCodes The move from TDM networks to VoIP has created a new challenge for network operators end enterprises' security. Unlike in TDM networks, where the telephony network was almost completely isolated from the data network and the internet - most VoIP networks have many interface points with the data network, along with the dangers in the internet world. A poorly designed VoIP network can easily be exposed to security threats such as denial of service attacks, computer viruses and data theft. On the other hand, the technologies available today, in addition to a well designed network, can offer even better security than we had in the TDM world. Security is not a new concept for telephony managers. Telephony networks were always exposed to security threats like eavesdropping, impersonation, fraud and denial of service - similar to that of data networks. Moving away from a separated, dedicated TDM network to the well known, widely used IP network has exposed the telephony networks to a growing number of hackers, originating from the data world. While hacking in the TDM telephony world was limited to a small group who required physical access and dedicated equipment, the VoIP world is more accessible to a large community of internet hackers who are using readily available software tools. Full vendor-written "tutorial" at: convergedigest.com ------ FAC

To: Elsewhere who wrote (14423)	3/29/2006 9:32:58 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Respond to of 46821

[Hong Kong] Free movie downloads, but with a twist By MyADSL, 29 March 2006 [ ... sprinkling some sugar and honey on the rate cap ... ] mybroadband.co.za Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN), the guys that first launched a 1Gbps broadband service in Hong Kong, have recently stepped out and introduced a free movie download platform for all the city’s inhabitants. This service allows the users of any Hong Kong ISP to download 5 movies free of charge. The catch? There is a timeout of 18 minutes on downloads. This is no problem for HKBN subscribers who have a 100 Mbps symmetrical service which makes it possible to download a full 4GB DVD format movie in less than 7 minutes. Customers with other ISP’s offering slower ADSL services however will not have the same problem-free experience. With speeds of around 6 Mbps from competing Hong Kong ISP’s, it will take many times longer than the allotted 18 minutes to download these movies, rendering the service useless unless you have a much faster connection. On the uplink side it is even worse. Most legacy DSL offerings are asymmetrical, resulting in movie upload times of more than 15 hours. HKBN’s 100 Mbps service is however symmetrical which alleviates this problem. This is an innovative example of value added services in a competitive environment. This will either encourage other ISP’s to improve their services or force users to migrate to the superior offering from HKBN. This kind of competition is sorely lacking in South Africa’s fixed line broadband arena, inhibiting innovative DSL offerings and making price the main distinction between services. ------ FAC

To: Elsewhere who wrote (14423)	3/29/2006 10:27:46 AM
From: fred g	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 46821

I think the Firefox claims are basically reasonable. IE is a horrible virus vector. ActiveX allows web sites to basically 0wNz04 your computer. Not everybody leaves it wide open, but enough do, and it's hard to allow it at all and remain safe. The signature mechanism is a joke. It's generally open to popups (though it might have tightened up lately, I'm not sure). And it's sloppy. Because it's "integrated into the OS", it has too damned much access to stuff no application should go near. Firefox and the Mozilla family of browsers are much safer. It's very, very difficult to plant spyware via a web page and Firefox, at least if set up right. Besides, the malware authors rarely waste their time trying. Over 75% of consumer-level users still use IE, which is about as secure as a pup tent on the beach, so why waste time trying to pick the deadbolts of the Firefox fortress nearby? And when a hole in a Mozilla browser shows up, they patch it rather quickly.