Patrick Thibodeau

Sun Microsystems Inc. landed the largest Linux desktop deal in history with an agreement announced this week involving a consortium of technology providers in China.

Peter Nevitt, the IT director of international crime-fighting organization Interpol, called the antivirus reward program unveiled Wednesday by Microsoft Corp. a first step toward fighting the problem of computer viruses. But more needs to be done, Nevitt said -- especially in the many countries that lack basic skills and laws to pursue cybercriminals.

On Jan. 1, Norman Sanders, CIO of the United Nations Development Program, will take his global IT infrastructure from a once-a-month reporting system to a round-the-clock operation. It's a change that will affect 7,500 users, and Sanders knows exactly how many days remain until the switch takes place.

A group of Hewlett-Packard Co. users and independent consultants is trying to keep the HP e3000's aging MPE operating system alive after HP ends its support in 2006.

The U.S. IT industry is tapping into the technological prowess of the former Soviet Union, which is emerging as a research and development centre for software and telecommunications companies, a recent report by Aberdeen Group Inc. has found.

Steve Cooper, CIO at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, plans to move within the next 18 to 24 months to untangle a spaghetti-like mess of networks and differing data standards to create a single IT infrastructure for his agency, formed earlier this year by the merger of 22 federal agencies.By Patrick Thibodeau

IT security at federal agencies will get a boost this month from the first class of 46 students, mostly midcareer IT professionals, who have completed training under a federal scholarship-for-service program.

A Massachusetts legislative committee held a hearing this week on an anti-UCITA bill, and the state could become the fifth to enact a law whose sole purpose is to protect its residents and businesses from the controversial software licensing law.