By Martyn Williams

TOKYO, JAPAN, 1998 MAR 4 (NB)

Women In American History

March is Women's History Month and Encyclopedia Britannica has launched an area to chronicle the more than 400 years of American women's achievements and struggles. The site draws on Britannica Online's vast store of knowledge and offers more than a thousand in-depth profiles, articles, and facts about the women who helped shape American society and culture. In addition to text, there is multimedia components and interactive forums. World Wide Web: http:// women.eb.com

Best Of The Web For Lawyers Announced

Legal Online, an online newsletter for lawyers, has announced its "Best of the Web" awards for legal professionals. The awards choose the best sites in several categories that ranged from firm size, legal research tools, law-related companies, search tools, government associations, bar associations and legal news. World Wide Web: http://www.legalonline.com

Fighting Ignorance Online

Straight Dope is the authorized Internet home of Cecil Adams and his syndicated column - The Straight Dope. You can access the full text of the latest, and recent, columns, the chance to submit a question, a listing of topics covered, other places you can find the column and more. World Wide Web: http://www.straightdope.com

Your Ultimate Factfinder

Billed as such, Info Please is a large online almanac that has information and facts about lots of subjects. You can browse through the site, drilling down level-by-level, or search the entire database. Even if you don't have anything to search for, you could spend lots of time here just reading the information presented as you browse through the site. World Wide Web: http://www.infoplease.com

Pregnancy Calendar

The Interactive Pregnancy Calendar will build a day- by-day customized calendar detailing the development of a baby from before conception to birth. Part of the Parent's Place site, you can also find lots of information and advice on pregnancy and what to expect, fertility information and even a section on naming your child. World Wide Web: http:// www.pregnancycalendar.com

Chemistry Related News

The Alchemist is a round up of current news stories related to chemistry. It comes from the ChemWeb service, which also offers access to research news, links to selected web sites, current topics being discussed on chemistry lists and newsgroups, and a conference diary. The current top news surrounds the threat posed by chemical terrorist attacks. World Wide Web: http://chemweb.com/alchem/home.html

Retro Magazine

Retro is an online magazine that celebrates classic popular culture of the first three-quarters of the 20th century. Written for people who are vintage period enthusiasts, the magazine contains articles on vintage personalities, politics, music, media & entertainment, fashion, design, decorating and more. This month, you can find a guide to 20th century women's swimwear, cover artist Salvatore Ventura, American country blueswoman Jessie Mae Hemphill, among other articles. World Wide Web: http://www.retroactive.com

This is a roundup of new and updated resources and services on the global Internet.

By Martyn Williams

TOKYO, JAPAN, 1998 MAR 4 (NB)

The Apache Web server continued its climb towards a 50 percent share of the open Internet Web server market during February with a one percent jump to just under 47 percent. On the back of Apache's rise, both Microsoft Corp. [NASDAQ:MSFT] and Netscape Communications Corp. [NASDAQ:NSCP] lost market share.

The latest survey from British network security consultants Netcraft automatically polled all known Web servers accessible from the Internet and received responses from 2,084,473 sites, the first time responses passed the two million mark.

Following Apache, which rose 1.07 percent to 46.79 percent, was Microsoft, down 0.17 percent to 21.63 percent. Third placed in the developer ranking was Netscape, down 0.22 percent on the month to 9.76 percent, followed by NCSA, down 0.24 percent to 3.32 percent.

In the top server table, which ranks the individual Web server software rather than makers, Apache, with a single version of its product, was in first place with 46.79 percent. Following in second was Microsoft's IIS server, down 0.09 percent to 21.1 percent. The Netscape Enterprise server was third, down 0.01 percent to 5.29 percent, followed by the NCSA server, at 3.32 percent, and the RapidSite server, up 0.04 percent to 2.35 percent. The RapidSite server is exclusively by Hiway Technologies and used on its large Web hosting service.

In addition to the main ranking, produced from the entire survey, Netcraft also broke out numbers for Web servers running under the ".com," ".edu," ".uk" domains and national domains for The main ".com" domain closely mirrored the main survey but the ".edu" ranking of American educational sites showed some differences. The NCSA server still remains popular at many sites, with a third place 14.50 percent share. It came in behind Apache, at 26.49 percent, and Microsoft IIS, at 17.64 percent.

Following in fourth place was Netscape Enterprise, at 9.28 percent, WebSTAR, 8.83 percent, Netscape Communications, 2.87 percent, CERN, 2.01 percent, Netscape FastTrack, 1.69 percent, Netscape Commerce, 1.69 percent, and OSU, 1.45 percent.

In South America, Apache maintains a comfortable lead in Brazil's ".br" domain, the survey found, with a 47.93 percent share. It's nearest rival was Microsoft-IIS, with 21.83 percent. The Peru market was reversed, with Microsoft enjoying a leading 45.64 percent share, well ahead of Apache's 15.99 percent.

Full details of the survey, plus detailed listings and a form for users to query what software a server is running now, can be found on the Internet at http://www.netcraft.com.

Reported By Newsbytes News Network: http://www.newsbytes.com.

The Apache Web server continued its climb towards a 50 percent share of the open Internet Web server market during February with a one percent jump to just under 47 percent. On the back of Apache's rise, both Microsoft Corp. [NASDAQ:MSFT] and Netscape Communications Corp. [NASDAQ:NSCP] lost market share.

By Sylvia Dennis

LONDON, ENGLAND, 1998 MAR 4 (NB)

A report just out from Cable & Wireless (C&W) claims that many businesses around the world are finding that a significant number of their IT (information technology) projects are failing.

According to the report, the cost to companies because of these problems is estimated to be around the US$240 billion mark, out of a total IT project spend of more than US$ 600 billion.

According to C&W, as many as 90 percent of companies are now claiming that their IT projects do not live up to expectations. But, officials claim, instead of finding the causes in the IT department, the report points the finger of blame firmly at the top decision makers who are frequently failing significantly to adopt recognized best practices -- forcing their businesses to pay a heavy price.

The report, entitled "IT Hard At Work -- Putting People On The IT Agenda," was commissioned by C&W to try to get to the bottom of this expensive problem and to provide some answers about how their global customers can break out of this destructive pattern and start to get the best return on their technology dollar.

The study was carried out by Smythe Dorward Lambert, the international communication consultancy, which claims to have talked in detail to senior managers in some of the UK's largest organizations to build a picture of what is really going on among the decision makers.

David Sexton, chief executive of Cable & Wireless Business Networks, said that the telecoms giant invests in a "significant, ongoing research process to benchmark best practice in technology implementation."

According to Sexton, the report has thrown new light on the huge financial benefits large organizations can enjoy from putting more thought and emphasis into the impact IT has on employees.

"The study highlights many areas where we and our customers must both take decisive action to make the most of the immense opportunities effectively implemented technology can deliver," he said, adding that he is convinced that, if "we do not listen, acknowledge and act, we will become the victims of technology, instead of being its beneficiaries."

According to the report, typically, executing a series of tried and tested processes is used as the guiding principle for IT projects. The report, however, suggests this is the wrong starting point.

Instead, the report notes that success is determined at a much earlier stage and depends on the creation of the right environment to maximize the impact of new technology -- with the emphasis on the environment rather than the technology itself.

According to John Purvis, C&W's business marketing director, the report brings some interesting new thinking to bear on the ways in which large organizations can take the right steps to ensure that they get the very best commercial advantage from their IT decisions.

"From our experience, particularly in the area of outsourcing which demands that we apply best practice consistently, we know that there are certain key criteria for success," he said, adding that the telco has a responsibility to ensure that its customers obtain the competitive benefits of the new technology.

"Its successful implementation, means we must be prepared to be an effective part of a change program at both a strategic and tactical level," he said.

According to Purvis, when implementing IT projects, managers must consider a number of points, including:

-- Being brutal at the beginning. What must this project achieve for the business vision? What are the measurement criteria? Frequently the urgency driving the IT need overrides careful thought which could save a fortune further down the line.

-- Being honest about the reality of the project. If in doubt, assume more change rather than less and treat projects as a change program for the business, rather than as a technology system change. This approach will help to ensure that the technology is placed in a wider business context.

-- Agreeing accountability. Make it clear to everyone who is responsible for delivering the project against the overall vision. Appoint all the participants in working parties early on and be explicit about what they are expected to contribute and how they will be measured. Make sure they are supported with effective, visible, plugged-in role models.

-- Taking human factors on board early on. What will really happen on the ground? What can be done to generate maximum cooperation from the outset? Think about truly cross-functional project teams with equal responsibility for delivery of success. Run a clear and consistent communications program about the project right from the start.

-- Maintaining the momentum through the life of the program by establishing clear milestones and review points. All too often, Purvis claims, projects attract a high level of involvement initially which then fades out during implementation.

Reported by Newsbytes News Network, http://www.newsbytes.com.

A report just out from Cable & Wireless (C&W) claims that many businesses around the world are finding that a significant number of their IT (information technology) projects are failing.

By Bob Woods

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., 1998 MAR 4 (NB)

In his weekly editorial last Friday, Managing Editor Ian Stokell asked if society is in danger of creating a "video game generation" with "no more than a ten-second attention span." Among other things, Ian contended that the more kids are exposed to computer games, video games and multimedia programs, the more the danger that they will not be able to handle a non-computing environment.

"Kids are bombarded constantly with external images and options to immediately move on to something else if they are not sufficiently stimulated in the first few seconds of something new," Ian wrote. "Never mind the idea of developing a new task or project into something they like. Video and computer games and multimedia programs allow them to click a button and move onto something new immediately."

Dr. Stephen F. Brown In reply, Dr. Stephen F. Brown, president of Cognitive Systems Technologies, wrote, "I was a developer of interactive multimedia based instruction for children during the mid to late 1980's and asked the same questions. I now consult with school districts on their educational technology applications and have some perspectives on the questions you raise."

He continued: "The ten-second attention span worry dates back to not only video games but television. With the advent of digital editing systems, it became simple to make rapid edits. Producers found that the fast edits held viewers' -- especially the kids' -- attention longer. Thirteen years ago we had this same conversation, only we partially blamed music video television villains more so than video games. We produced the video portions of the computer-based instruction in such a way that we kept the talking head or single-focus narrative down to 20 seconds or less. We also knew that the more successful video advertising and music videos were editing a new video shot once every 3 seconds. We knew we had to match that or the same worries you have would be true."

But Dr. Brown disagreed with Ian on one point: "There are a lot of really good multimedia-based instructional programs. For every minute of student-computer interaction, there were somewhere between 4 and 30 hours of design and production effort behind that interaction. Instructional design specialists, with the best research available to them on how to teach a concept using multimedia, probably poured their hearts and souls into bringing an otherwise drab subject to life. The resulting instruction, if available in one-on-one fashion, could be much better than otherwise possible. Further, there are many examples of multimedia based instruction that is highly integrated with other topics, and which focuses on higher-order thinking skills -- something that one teacher with 30 kids in a class can't possibly do in a one on one fashion."

Dr. Brown had a lot to say, so we'll continue with his words: "I had many teachers tearfully thank us for providing something that helped them teach their subject better, and in fact they decided not to leave the teaching profession because of this new multimedia based instructional technology."

"OK, let's get on with agreeing with you now. Your point about the `entertain-me' generation is generally correct, although this has been happening slowly since nearly a generation ago. With 50 cable channels at home, and edits every 3 seconds for material they do watch, reading a book requires focusing skills that aren't acquired through watching TV."

"Back to disagreeing. You say `95 percent of jobs out there for all but the most gifted of students are going to involve pretty unexciting tasks. There is no button to click to move on to the next exciting thing to do.' I say that our information based economy will more so than ever require the ability to interact with information on a screen. In fact, I'll take the opposite view and bet you a multimedia CD-ROM that 95 percent of today's Kindergarteners will be required to manipulate information that is digitally represented on a computer screen when they enter the work force."

"You ask `Are we preparing this generation for life in the real world by giving them whiz-bang multimedia programs in a few of their educational courses?' Yes, we are. In fact, it hasn't been shown yet that even more wouldn't be better. Ten years ago we found that low verbal ability students learned science better by the addition of whiz-bang multimedia. The multimedia component provides an additional channel of information representation. You ask `Is our letting them play video and computer games constantly.....preparing them properly for the rest of their lives.'"

"Hold on to your 3-D glasses, but if my 95-5 ratio proves true, then the experience gained through paging, scrolling, and hyperlinking through multimedia systems will be the appropriate training. Playing video games too much is not appropriate of course."

"You ask whether `we are taking short cuts in education, by letting computers teach the kids instead of the teachers, and short cuts in parenting, by letting the TV and computer act as surrogate baby- sitters?' I have a stack of 50 meta-analyses that would argue that a well-designed techno-baby-sitter is actually called individualized instruction, and is more effective than a one-on-thirty environment.

Finally, Dr. Brown added, "Setting aside time to just read is indeed a necessary component to a proper education."

Sherry Peruzzi Sherry Peruzzi wrote, "I found a great deal of irony in the fact that reading your editorial was made extremely effortful by beginning immediately below a rectangular advertising box with `Win great prizes! Click here to enter!' and simulated bright lights around all four sides that was flashing rapidly in Day-Glo red, green, purple and yellow on black. It wasn't until I got down far enough in your column to move the screen up so the ad box didn't show that I could actually take in what you were saying.

"I am not complaining about the presence of advertising," Peruzzi continued. "That's what allows the publishing of free content, as Newsbytes' Bob Woods observed (in a different editorial) this evening. I only wanted to let you know how ironic it seemed that while I was trying to read your editorial it happened to appear with one of the most egregiously offensive of `video-game' type advertisements I've ever seen on the Web. I guess it just proves you're right. But should you really be contributing to the situation? The IBM ad that was at the top when I came back later to check on something was much better."

We'd like to point out that we contract with an advertising banner network for our ads, and we do not have any control over specific ads on specific Web pages. But we hear ya, and thanks for writing.

NOTE: Any e-mail message regarding editorial matters submitted to Newsbytes will be considered for publication. The e- mail messages require the sender's name, home town, and e-mail address -- although e- mail addresses will not be published. Newsbytes reserves the right to edit letters for clarity, length, spelling, grammar, and other considerations. If you do NOT want your letter published, make sure it's marked PERSONAL or CONFIDENTIAL.

Reported By Newsbytes News Network: http://www.newsbytes.com.

This is the weekly email bag feature.

By Bob Woods

REDMOND, WASHINGTON, U.S.A., 1998 MAR 3 (NB)

Four high-tech companies, including the likes of Microsoft [NASDAQ:MSFT] and 3Com [NASDAQ:COMS], are starting commercial trials of a system that will let business travelers hook up to the Internet at high speeds from properly equipped hotel rooms and airport lounges.

During a news teleconference which Newsbytes attended, officials from those Microsoft, 3Com, ATCOM/INFO and CGX Communications' CAIS Internet said that trials of ATCOM/INFO's IPort high-speed Internet access product have begun in several hotels on the West and East coasts of the US.

IPort, which is based on Microsoft's BackOffice family, lets a user access e-mail, the World Wide Web, and corporate networks at speeds up to 50 times higher than normal modems from hotel guest rooms and meeting rooms, as well as airport lounges, officials said. All the traveler needs is an Ethernet card and a notebook with the required software.

Microsoft is concentrating on developing the software that will reside on the business traveler's notebook computer, while ATCOM/INFO Inc. is creating software that will reside on servers operating in hotels or airports, said Stan Julien, Microsoft hospitality industry marketing manager. 3Com is supplying the necessary networking hardware for the system. And CAIS Internet is contributing its OverVoice technology, which lets hotels and other facilities implement local area networks (LANs) at a very low cost, because the LAN uses existing telephone wiring.

IPort runs on a Microsoft Windows NT Server- and Microsoft SQL Server- based LAN, and links Ethernet data ports in guest rooms and meeting rooms to the Internet over a T1 or other high-speed line, bypassing the hotel's public branch exchange (PBX) phone system, officials said. A free thin-client application is used by hotel guests to automate the Net connection, payment and disconnection process from start to finish.

"IPort is one of a number of services that we believe that business travelers will require on the road as the demand for communications services increases, and more use of mobile technology is adopted," Julien said.

The IPort system will benefit all parties involved, Julien said. Business travelers will be able to access a very speedy service that does not require additional programming of dial-out software. Companies that employ the travelers will see savings in long distance costs, as well as increased productivity because their workers won't need to reconfigure their access software, a process Julien described as "not trivially easy." In addition, hotels will not have their phone systems clogged by travelers dialing out to Internet service providers (ISPs), a big problem in the hospitality industry, he said.

The IPort commercial trials are intended to test the service, help determine pricing levels, and demonstrate that the system can be easily implemented and managed, Julien said. Five hotels are currently operating the IPort system, with five additional trial sites scheduled for installation by the end of the month. Julien said the trials are expected to last about six months, depending on what happens during testing.

IPort is already being tested at Homestead Village, Bellevue, Wash.; Hotel Vintage Park, Seattle; Hillsboro Candlewood, Hillsboro, Ore.; Washington Marriott, Washington, DC; and the Woodmark Hotel, Kirkland, Wash. The Bellevue Courtyard, Bellevue, Wash.; Embassy Square Suites, Washington, DC; Hyatt San Jose Airport, San Jose, Calif.; La Jolla Marriott, La Jolla, Calif.; and the Marriott SeaTac Airport, Seattle will also have IPort in place for commercial testing by the end of March.

Convention centers and other public facilities are also potential markets for IPort, officials said.

ATCOM/INFO is now taking orders for IPORT implementations, officials said. The company expects to install the service in approximately 40,000 rooms between May and December 1998.

ATCOM/INFO's Web site is at http://www.atcominfo.com.

Reported By Newsbytes News Network: http://www.newsbytes.com.

Four high-tech companies, including the likes of Microsoft [NASDAQ:MSFT] and 3Com [NASDAQ:COMS], are starting commercial trials of a system that will let business travelers hook up to the Internet at high speeds from properly equipped hotel rooms and airport lounges.

By Jacqueline Emigh

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1998 MAR 4 (NB)

Within the new and emerging service management software market, Hewlett-Packard Co. [NYSE:HWP] is out to capture the number one positions on both the Windows NT and ISP (Internet service provider) sides, officials said at HP OpenView Universe '98 in Boston.

Some people still might think of HP as "a 98 or 99 percent hardware company," but actually, 13 percent of HP's revenues already come from "software driven by services," said HP Chief Executive Officer (CEO), President, and Chairman Lewis Platt, in a speech delivered at the HP conference in Boston.

The current breakout between software and services is about 50/50, meaning that software alone constitutes about 6 to 7 percent of HP's sales, HP execs said later, during a meeting with Newsbytes at the Universe conference.

But through its OpenView service management platform, HP plans to raise the share for software to around 10 percent by the year 2000, Platt told the crowd in Boston.

"We intend to manage software as a business," Platt added. "When we don't have the technology, we're ready to make acquisitions."

Billed as the largest conference ever to be dedicated to OpenView, the two-day event has drawn 1,260 attendees, said Stewart Cheifet of TV's "Computer Chronicles" fame, master of ceremonies for Universe '98.

Also at the show in Boston are 30 journalists from the US, 15 editors and reporters from other nations, and numerous industry analysts from around the world.

Service management has its roots in network management, a discipline that evolved, in turn, from systems management, said Olivier Helleboid, general manager of HP's OpenView Software Division, during another speech attended by Newsbytes.

In contrast to systems or network management, though, service management calls for close collaboration between business managers and IT (information technology), he pointed out.

By meeting "commitments" to mutually agreed upon "service levels," the IT department can provide strong support for a company's bottom-line business goals.

The new arena of service management also allows IT staffers to present performance results for their own departments in terms more easily comprehensible to business managers, according to the HP officials.

Platt described service management as "a tops-down, business-driven" approach that "establishes metrics around performance."

Early adopters of service management include Wells Fargo Bank, Boeing, and the Dutch Tax Office, for instance.

With ISPs and outsourcers at the vanguard, the IT industry is starting to "shift to the new role of service provider," Helleboid maintained.

Instead of presenting customers with a sweeping "across-the-board framework," HP is delivering service management in an "evolutionary, step-by-step" manner aimed at helping customers to quickly achieve concrete results, according to the GM.

HP views IBM's SystemsView and Computer Associates' CA-Unicenter as the chief competitors to OpenView, said Platt.

To provide customers with "a choice," HP will continue to honor a deal forged with CA last summer, calling for Unicenter to be bundled with the HP-9000, the HP chief noted at the end of his speech, under questioning by Cheifet.

"(But) CA will also be one of our main competitors. We'll go after them, head to head," Platt contended..

Unlike IBM, HP will not produce service or systems management tools for the mainframe platform, Platt added. HP will instead address customers' needs for mainframe management through partnerships with outside vendors.

HP, though, has built up considerable strength in Unix management over the years, and is now extending this expertise to Microsoft's BackOffice platform, according to the officials.

During a press conference attended by Newsbytes in Boston later, Helleboid noted that HP's recent acquisitions include: ManageX, a tool for Windows NT BackOffice management; as well as Norton Administrator for Desktop, a systems management environment previously produced by Symantec; and Prolin, a product formerly owned by Amsterdam.

HP now plans to pursue the number one spot in Windows NT service management, Helleboid told reporters and analysts at the press conference.

In "managing software as a business," HP will "focus where we can provide a unique differentiator," Helleboid added.

More information about HP OpenView is available at http:// www.hp.com/go/openview on the World Wide Web.

Reported by Newsbytes News Network: http://www.newsbytes.com.

Within the new and emerging service management software market, Hewlett-Packard Co. [NYSE:HWP] is out to capture the number one positions on both the Windows NT and ISP (Internet service provider) sides, officials said at HP OpenView Universe '98 in Boston.

By Craig Menefee

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1998 MAR 4 (NB)

The economy is not the only thing booming in the US these days. San Francisco's Computer Security Institute (CSI) says US computer crime is booming too, with outside breaches, rather than internal ones, growing the fastest.

CSI, a professional association for security personnel, described the "wired world" as becoming "increasingly dangerous" in 1997, with breaches up in all categories compared to previous years.

Patrice Rapalus, CSI's director, said technology won't fix the situation because it is not entirely a technological problem.

"I don't think there is any kind of technological silver bullet. I think a greater emphasis should be placed on educating and training computer users to safeguard the information they see," she explained. "Technology plays a vital role, but it's not the only component in computer security."

She said extra security education should go to technical staffers who configure systems so they can learn the latest threats and countermeasures. Also, end users should be made aware there really is a security risk and they do need to comply with security procedures and policies, Rapalus told Newsbytes.

The survey findings were released Wednesday in the third annual Computer Crime and Security Survey. CSI conducts the survey annually with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to scope out the extent of US computer crime make the public more aware of it.

The 520 surveyed "security practitioners," as CSI calls them, mostly work for US corporations, government agencies, financial institutions, and universities.

CSI says nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of the respondents said their organizations had suffered security breaches in 1997. That figure is up 16 percent over the previous year.

Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) said breaches had cost money, although only a minority (46 percent) could or would put a number to the losses. The losses for which they did report a value came to $136,822,000 -- an increase of 36 percent over the 1997 survey's reported $100,115,555 loss figure.

Newsbytes notes $136.8 million is not a huge number when compared with total US computer-related revenue streams, a number orders of magnitude higher. Still, it is not trivial and the FBI says it's only a fraction of the real loss. Many companies still do not report security breaches, fearing breaches would look bad to investors and the public, say FBI sources.

Robert Walsh, an FBI agent posted to San Francisco, says he understands the fear of negative publicity. However, he says, the FBI often investigates and solves cases "with either minimal or no public exposure."

Among breaches that did get reported, 44 percent of respondents said their companies' own employees made the attacks. Other serious breaches included denial of service attacks (25 percent), outside penetrations (24 percent), theft of proprietary information (18 percent), financial fraud (15 percent), and data or network sabotage (14 percent).

The most serious dollar losses still come from large-scale insider shenanigans. About $50.6 million or 40 percent of the total $136.8 million lost was reported by only 18 respondents and was due to insider thefts of various kinds.

Another 20 respondents reported $33.5 million lost to theft of proprietary information. Thirty-two respondents reported $17.3 million lost to telecommunications fraud, while 29 respondents reported $11.2 million in losses to computer-related financial fraud.

In the area of increased outside attacks, Internet connections were named as a source of serious attack by 54 percent of the respondents, up from 47 percent the year before and 37 percent in the baseline 1996 study.

CSI's Rapalus said the results show companies "may think that they are spending the requisite amount" on security but "the dramatic increase in quantified dollar losses indicates otherwise."

Details on the study can be found on the Internet at http://www.gocsi.com .

Reported by Newsbytes News Network: http://www.newsbytes.com.

The economy is not the only thing booming in the US these days. San Francisco's Computer Security Institute (CSI) says US computer crime is booming too, with outside breaches, rather than internal ones, growing the fastest.

By Patrick McKenna

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1998 MAR 4 (NB)

Network administrators got a tough lesson about the danger of not keeping an updated version of Windows NT on their servers. Monday night, in what appears to be an automated attack on government and university World Wide Web servers across the US, a hacker, or hackers, was able to crash servers, but not able to damage or access files.

Karan Khanna, product manager for Microsoft's Windows NT Server Team, told Newsbytes, "If you have a completely updated system this attack would not be possible. The problem is some network administrators are slow in getting the latest patches we post on our Web site."

Khanna said Microsoft received numerous calls from a number of users with NT-based Web servers "We worked around the clock to make sure the patches we have already issued were working to prevent this problem," added Khanna. Calls regarding the problem ended about 11am PST yesterday.

Servers affected by the malicious activity included Web operations at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, the University of Minnesota, Ames Research Center, Carnegie Mellon University, the US Navy (unclassified servers), and University of California campuses in Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Considered at this time as a malicious prank, the series of events was accomplished by instructing a server to devote excessive memory resources to solve a problem that can't be solved. The outcome is each server "freezes" or "hangs" and must be rebooted. There were no reports of data theft or damage to files.

According to Khanna, the attacks did not occur simultaneously, but rather as a chain or series of crashes. The pattern indicates the attack was automated.

Besides the Ames Research Center, other reported NASA sites included NASA Headquarters in Washington; Dryden Flight Research Center in California, Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland; Independent Validation and Verification Facility in West Virginia; Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California; Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Langley Research Center in Virginia; Lewis Research Center in Ohio; Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama; Moffett Federal Airfield in California; Stennis Space Center in Mississippi; Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia; and White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico.

At this time, there are no reports of successfully tracing the automated event. Typically, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) quickly pursues all security breaks, but the Bureau has not confirmed a response at this time.

Reported by Newsbytes News Network: http://www.newsbytes.com.

Network administrators got a tough lesson about the danger of not keeping an updated version of Windows NT on their servers. Monday night, in what appears to be an automated attack on government and university World Wide Web servers across the US, a hacker, or hackers, was able to crash servers, but not able to damage or access files.

By Jacqueline Emigh

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, U.S.A., 1998 MAR 4 (NB)

In a teleconference today, UPS unveiled UPS Document Exchange, a set of two upcoming Internet services aimed at "secure" delivery of any document that can be electronically sent, whether text-based or video, at pricing "significantly less" than conventional UPS services.

Document Exchange is the first offering from UPS that will not require a "transportation vehicle," quipped Mark Rhoney, VP of corporate marketing for UPS, during the teleconference, which was attended by Newsbytes.

The two service components of Document Exchange, both set for delivery near the end of the second quarter, include Online Courier, a delivery service with encryption capabilities, co- developed with Tumbleweed Software; and Online Dossier, a service with encryption as well as digital certificate authentication, jointly produced with NetDox Inc.

Applications will include delivery of legal documents, medical records, and materials needed for mergers and acquisitions, the reporters and analysts were told.

At the start of today's teleconference, Rhoney enumerated UPS's activities on the World Wide Web to date. Beyond UPS's main services for package delivery (at http://www.ups.com ), UPS also provides a set of embeddable tools, for integration of UPS services on other Web sites, according to the VP.

Companies already integrating these services include IBM, Open Market, and Harbinger, for example, as well as major search engines like Lycos, Yahoo, and Infoseek.

End users will require Web browsers only to send and receive encrypted documents over the new Online Courier service. Online Courier will support encryption up to the 128- bit "strong" encryption level, said Doug Ryan, VP of marketing for NetDox, also during the teleconference. NetDox is the first purveyor of Web-based software to be approved for export of strong encryption by the US Department of Commerce, Ryan asserted.

Online Dossier, on the other hand, will require installation of special software on both the server and the end user's computer, due to the inclusion of authentication, according to Tumbleweed CEO Jeff Smith.

The authentication technology, however, will allow users to track not only whether their documents have been delivered, but whether the documents have been opened yet on the other side. Deloitte & Touche will serve as "trusted authority" for digital authentication.

Tumbleweed will also provide Web hosting services to UPS for Online Dossier, said Smith. Despite the creation of the new Courier and Dossier services, Tumbleweed and NetDox will continue to market their respective tools on an independent basis, according to the officials.

The execs pointed to security technology, as well as "trust" in the UPS name. as factors differentiating UPS's new services from other electronic document delivery services expected to arise on the Web.

Electronic document delivery is "a much more complex problem than most people think," according to Rhoney. "We think UPS has identified the best technologies," Ryan remarked. "You (also) need trust. The fact is, if a document doesn't get there, it can have a deleterious effect on your business," added the NetDox official.

Rhoney said that UPS has not yet determined precise pricing for Online Courier and Online Dossier. But, he noted, the electronic document services will be priced "significantly less" than conventional UPS delivery. Pricing will be based on criteria that include message size, the journalists were told.

Also during the teleconference, Benn Konsynski, an electronic commerce scholar from Emory University, projected a multi-billion market for electronic document delivery over the next several years.

The new market will be open to established players package delivery like UPS, as well as to producers of new technologies, according to the e-comm expert.

The officials predicted that users will turn to "secure" electronic document delivery not just as a substitute for traditional package delivery, but as an alternative to document faxing and ordinary e-mail.

UPS anticipates cannibalization of its package delivery services to the tune of 5 to 30 percent, according to Rhoney. The VP added, though, that he expects the new Document Exchange service to become profitable within a year.

UPS will obtain a big edge by being first to market, Rhoney maintained. The company is planning a full-fledged marketing campaign for Online Dossier and Online Courier, to include banner ads on the Web.

The new Document Exchange services will be accessible at http:// www.exch.ups.com on the Web.

Reported by Newsbytes News Network: ttp://www.newsbytes.com.

In a teleconference today, UPS unveiled UPS Document Exchange, a set of two upcoming Internet services aimed at "secure" delivery of any document that can be electronically sent, whether text-based or video, at pricing "significantly less" than conventional UPS services.

By Patrick McKenna

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A., 1998 MAR 4 (NB)

Newton Developers Association President Adam Tow is calling on people who want to protest Apple Computer's [NASDAQ:AAPL] decision to terminate the MessagePad line, the Newton operating system (OS) and Apple's eMate "notebook" for students, to show up at Apple's main headquarters at 12:00 Noon PST this Friday, March 6.

Tow wants MessagePad users, Newton applications and utility developers, eMate users, ex-Apple Newton team members and anyone else to show Apple their collective disappointment on their decision regarding the Newton. More than 200,000 people use the MessagePad.

"I don't want this to be a `Save the Newton' demonstration," began Tow. "That would be juvenile. We are a group of business people. We want to ask some questions, but we don't expect a response."

Tow is not sure if his group will be prevented from approaching Apple's campus, but he is more than willing to stand on the sidewalk outside Apple's main headquarters in Cupertino.

While his personal concerns center on the MessagePad and the Newton OS, he is also concerned about eMate users. "Apple aggressively and intensely marketed schools to purchase eMates. We are going to have kids coming back home crying, `Mommy, they've taken away my eMate!' How is Jobs going to deal with this? How can educators trust anything that Apple says or does in the future? I think Apple has burned a lot of bridges."

While computer companies and experts talk about cross-platform computing, Tow says Apple just dropped a "platform agnostic" device. "Most people don't realize that approximately 60 percent of Message Pad users are Windows users," added Tow.

"I know we are organizing this on very short notice, but we want to get the word out to as many people as possible," he said. "If you don't live in the Silicon Valley area then you can write to Jobs at sj@pixar.com or sjobs@apple.com and let him know your response."

Apple may have dropped the MessagePad and Newton, but Tow says some developers will continue to support what he calls a device and technology which is "under-estimated and under- appreciated." He hopes a company will step forward and buy the technology from Apple, but he suspects Apple will ask "too much for it and then say there were no buyers."

Asked if he was angry, Tow said, "No. It is sad and unfortunate that Newton has been dropped by Apple. I don't think they know what they want to do."

Reported by Newsbytes News Network: http://www.newsbytes.com.

Newton Developers Association President Adam Tow is calling on people who want to protest Apple Computer's [NASDAQ:AAPL] decision to terminate the MessagePad line, the Newton operating system (OS) and Apple's eMate "notebook" for students, to show up at Apple's main headquarters at 12:00 Noon PST this Friday, March 6.