Chris Conrath

Criminals are a notoriously crafty and unscrupulous lot, and the Internet has been a breeding ground for the underhanded techniques used by cyber criminals. But today the balance is shifting as police agencies beef up cyber crime response teams. Call them geeks with guns.

Microsoft, a company not known for its modesty, has certainly kept its bold tone with the launch of its newest operating platform, Windows XP.

"Is your business secure?" is a question most senior-level IT management get tossed their way ad nauseam....

It is a wonder Garry Kasparov ever stood a chance.

There must be a reason lawyers are the brunt of so many jokes, for even in this day of political correctness no one seems to get too offended by them.

Generally speaking, being an IT journalist is pretty stress free. Yet periodically we are confronted with a wall of silence. Many Canadian companies, and the government in particular, have a relationship with the media that is best described as adversarial.

After years moving through the American legal system at a particularly glacial pace, the American Department of Justice (DOJ) and Microsoft Corp. have finally reached a settlement which has left the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant essentially unscathed, according to some analysts.

It is a wonder Garry Kasparov ever stood a chance.