It seems as though Wi-Fi security protocols aren’t showing the desired security most had hoped for. Although some hope it will have some use in some smaller networks, concerns are abound in the financial services industry.

The death knell chimes for WEP
New research leads to end of WEP
Darren Pauli

April 12, 2007 (Computerworld Australia) — SYDNEY - Australian IT security managers have vowed they would never rely on the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) protocol especially after the release of new research this week showing it can be cracked in as little as three seconds.

Security professionals said the bell has tolled for the WEP protocol which is used as a default intrusion prevention system for IEEE 802.11 WLAN Wi-Fi devices.

The troubled protocol suffered its first blow in 2001, when a flaw was revealed in the WEP protocol’s RC4 key scheduling algorithm which allowed radio sniffer programs to extract and inject wireless data packets from and into the network where statistical analyzers, known as WEP crackers, can recover the encryption key to unscramble the data. However, the WEP security key required about 4 million packets to be intercepted for it to be calculated. Now security experts in Germany have claimed they can outfox the beleaguered protocol in three seconds, down on the previous best of about five minutes which kept up with changing security keys.

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(PRWEB) April 4, 2007 — Information Support Concepts‘ (ISC, http://www.iscdfw.com) goal is to provide companies with quality products that offer solutions to a wide range of needs. Whether the company is a small business with a limited number of computers and space, or a large data center with multiple types of equipment, ISC can supply any size company with the necessary product solutions.

For example, ISC now offers four different series of low profile (LP) server rack cabinets. LP cabinets are perfect when companies need to house deep servers or computers, but do not have the space or the need for a full height cabinet. The LP cabinet is designed to slide under low surfaces, such as a desk, for easy server access and maintenance. With four LP cabinet series to choose from, companies can easily find the low profile server cabinet that best fits their storage needs.

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The BIG Kid on the Block has found a new neighborhood. This will undoubtedly create hundreds of new jobs and boost the local economies in South Carolina and North Carolina.

Google to build $600M data center in S.C.
It’s working on a similar facility in neighboring N.C., too
Martyn Williams

April 05, 2007 (IDG News Service) — Google Inc. plans to invest $600 million in a new data center in South Carolina, state government officials said yesterday.

The new data center will be built on a 518-acre site at the Mt. Holly Commerce Park in Berkeley County near Charleston. Land at the site was purchased by a Google subsidiary last year.

Google plans to use as many local vendors as possible to build the center to maximize the boost to the local economy, the state said. The center is expected to lead to the initial creation of 200 jobs and should see Google paying just under $2 million per year in property taxes to the county.

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This is REALLY an interesting read. For those who may have been under a rock for the past 2 years, there is a great alternative to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Last year, IE 7 actually copied most of the features that Mozilla Firefox brought to market several years ago. I doubt that Microsoft will be able to keep up with Mozilla’s latest plans.

Look What’s Cooking in Mozilla’s Lab
It’s experimenting with ways to incorporate popular features, like social networking applications, into the Firefox browser

by Aaron Ricadela
Technology

After breakneck growth during its first two years on the market, Firefox has become the Web browser of choice for about 15% of PC users. Not bad, but if the open-source software project hopes to expand its appeal beyond tech-industry insiders and programming geeks, it may need to innovate even faster.

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As with most technology advances, the techies dream it up before the demand presents itself. In this case, experts attest that both the technology AND the demand are lagging behind the idea to unify the Wired with the Wirless networks.

Wired, wireless networks still not unified
Phil Hochmuth

April 05, 2007 (Network World) –

Ethernet switch vendors who offer combined or unified LAN and WLAN gear say the ultimate goal is to get wired and wireless network technologies to appear as a single network access layer. However, switch vendors and industry experts say this is still a ways off — both in terms of the technology, and the demand for unified gear from users.

“We’re still in the early days of unified LAN/WLAN networks,” says Craig Mathias, principal of the Farpoint Group, a Massachusetts-based WLAN consultancy. “I wouldn’t say any offering is really complete at this point. It’s an enormous technological and marketing challenge to get everything integrated together” — where switches, access points, management software are all unified with a single security architecture.

“It’s going to take a while until we get to that point.”

Many analysts and industry observers said that corporate WLAN technology — particularly, WLAN switch technology — would be absorbed by LAN switch vendors in the long run. The thinking goes that business IT administrators would prefer wireless and management of the WLAN integrated into a wired infrastructure.

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Can’t say it any clearer than that. Don’t get too upset when you are driving. No telling if someone has the Trunk Monkey or not.

Your Success Story

Here is some interesting feedback from a client who recently purchased one of the LC-15 keyboard/monitor drawers we had on special. I guess you never know what clients are going to do with your products:

Jack

Not the kind of app you think. We pulled the monitor off, threw the cable arm out, pulled the cover, cut 14 inches off the back, screwed the cut piece upside down on the top, re-mounted the monitor on the cut piece so it would fold forward over the keyboard, cut, bent and drilled the slides in the back to form a rear set of rack ears, mounted it in an 18 inch deep SKB music case, hooked it to a computer in the case running a 16 channel Aardvark digital audio interface, stood back, admired our work, smiled and said, “Perfect!”.

We have a 16 track recording studio we can take anywhere. Love your gear!

Preston

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