Briefs: July 11, 2005

CISCO TAPS GIANCARLO FOR CDO SLOT

"The evolution of Cisco's engineering leadership team builds on the organization's unequaled industry track record and proven ability to adjust to continuous change," Chambers said. "Under Mario's strong direction, Cisco has developed the foundation of a world-class engineering organization. I have tremendous confidence in Charlie's ability to build upon this foundation."

In addition, Jayshree Ullal, senior vice president, Security Technology Group, will take on an expanded role to include the Data Center, Switching and Security Technology Group, and Mike Volpi, senior vice president, Routing Technology Group, will expand his role with added emphasis on the service provider market, including optical and service provider voice technologies.

MICROSOFT TO PATCH CRITICAL HOLES IN WINDOWS OFFICE
Microsoft will post three security bulletins, two for Windows and one for Office, this week, the software giant announced last week. Two of the trio will be tagged as "critical," Microsoft's most dire threat label.

Microsoft doesn't disclose details of the specific vulnerabilities for which patches will be released, so it's unknown if one of the two Windows bulletins will include a fix for the recently disclosed Internet Explorer bug.

Microsoft characterized the bulletin for Office as a "non-security, high-priority update."

ADODE WARNS OF SECURITY FLAW IN READER SOFTWARE
A security flaw in Adobe Reader could be exploited to seize control of a computer system, according to the software's maker.

Adobe Systems issued a warning on its Web site last week saying that the flaw affects only the Adobe Reader versions 5.0.9 and 5.0.10, which were written for the Unix operating system.

A hacker could exploit the security breach by e-mailing maliciously written PDF files. Unsuspecting computer users who open the PDF files would expose their hard drives to attack, according to Adobe.

The company posted a fix for the vulnerability on its site, and a spokesman said he was unaware of any security breaches resulting from the software flaw, which was discovered by the security defense firm IDefense.

IBM UNVEILS NEW VERSION OF COMPLIANCE SOFTWARE
IBM took the wraps off version 2.5.1 of the IBM Workplace for Business Controls and Reporting regulatory compliance software, featuring deeper integration with IBM's WebSphere portal software and enhancements for federal agencies addressing government compliance standards.

To help federal agencies manage internal controls and compliance responsibilities, IBM decided to "federalize" the software by adding a dedicated deployment option with specific reports and attributes that address government regulations such as the U.S. Government's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-123. The OMB regulation requires controls similar to those in regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley for public companies, but the language used and the financial statements are different, according to Jennie Dymacek, IBM product manager for IBM Workplace for Business Controls and Reporting.

IBM Workplace for Business Controls and Reporting 2.5.1 sits atop the new version 5.1 of IBM's WebSphere portal software, and many of the new features are a result of that integration. For instance, organizations can now embed analytic reports into existing business processes and make information available to a wide spectrum of users and applications, since information can be aggregated into a common interface under WebSphere.

DISKEEPER MAKER CHANGES NAME TO REFLECT PRODUCT
Executive Software, which makes the Diskeeper brand of automatic defragmenter, has changed its name to Diskeeper.

This name change comes on the heels of the highest-ever fourth-quarter sales in its 19-year history and continued expansion and profits in 2005, according to the company.

"Even with Diskeeper's worldwide market leadership, which includes 95 percent of the sales in the U.S. corporate market and the majority of the Fortune 500 companies using our product, we know that we have more work to do," said Lisa Terrenzi, Diskeeper COO. "This is a bold move for an established leader in its field and a company with a 19-year history. We look at it as a further commitment and a statement of what we stand for."

MACROVISION NAMES SUCCESSOR TO PRESIDENT, CEO KREPICK
Macrovision has appointed Alfred J. (Fred) Amoroso as its president and CEO, succeeding William A. Krepick, who has held the position since October 2001. Krepick was appointed to the newly created position of vice chairman of the board of directors. Amoroso, who also was elected to the board of directors, will take over as president and CEO effective immediately.

In announcing the change, Macrovision's chairman and co-founder, John O. Ryan, said, "We are delighted to welcome Fred as our new president and CEO. Macrovision's products and services in the software area have been generating an increasingly larger percentage of our revenues, and our digital content protection and enablement solutions have become more software-based. As CEO of Meta Group and before that as CEO of Crossworlds Software and general manager of IBM's Global Services for the Asia-Pacific region, Fred amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience in the software and technology-licensing businesses that will help Macrovision continue its growth and transformation to become the leader in both software value management and content value management. Fred brings new expertise and a fresh perspective to guide the company in the next phase of its growth."

UNITRENDS GETS HOT WITH NEW BARE-METAL RESTORE SOFTWARE
Unitrends unveiled a new version of its bare-metal restore software that allows the creation of system images while the server is working.

Bare-metal restore software, offered by a number of vendors, enables a server's operating system and system settings to be backed up, which allows a crashed server to be recovered quickly without the need to dig out the operating system CDs or re-enter system settings.

But traditional bare-metal restore applications, including those sold by Unitrends, require a server to be brought down for the operating-system image to be backed up, said Mark Phillippi, director of product management at Unitrends.

Hot Bare Metal, on the other hand, allows the system image to be backed up without disrupting the server operation, Phillippi said. "Since you don't need to boot the unit to capture the image, you can capture the image anytime," he said.