Brian Fonseca

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) released survey findings on Wednesday indicating that customers are receiving a variety of benefits by employing hosted applications and outsourced services.

Attempting to plug a critical hole exposed by the development of Web services, Sun Microsystems Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. have joined forces to create a management platform for Web services environments.

Heavyweight security vendors and niche players alike are choosing the RSA Conference 2002 to present products designed to provide some of the missing pieces of real-world security environments for Web services.

Antivirus officials are warning users to be on the lookout for the new "Myparty" virus that preys on the popularity of personalized photograph Web pages offered by companies such as Yahoo Inc. and America Online Inc.

Whereas 2001 will be remembered as a year marked by an exhausting string of virus attacks and cyberterrorism fears sparked by the events of Sept. 11, security experts predict that computer security in 2002 will shift away from perimeter defenses in favour of internal access control and authentication management.

Security experts predict computer security in 2002 will shift away from perimeter defences in favour of internal access control and authentication management.

Customer interest in security appliances is on the upswing because such devices can offer greater simplicity than do software solutions that need constant managing and monitoring in an enterprise.

A recession and a slump in infrastructure investments have compelled MSPs (managed service providers) large and small to re-evaluate their offerings and find new ways to provide customers with improved hosting efficiencies.