Paul Roberts

Despite sluggishness elsewhere in the information technology sector, the market for security-related hardware, software, and services will continue to experience healthy growth, swelling to more than US$45 billion in revenue by 2006 from just US$17 billion in 2001, according to a study released Tuesday by International Data Corp. (IDC).

Executives and entrepreneurs from the worlds of business, finance and academia gathered on the campus of Harvard University's Business School last weekend for the eighth annual Cyberposium, exchanging ideas and mingling with aspiring MBAs from Harvard and other universities.

While lacking specifics, a poll of Liberty Alliance Project member organizations indicates that 2003 will see the emergence of new technology that applies identity management and user authentication standards developed by the industry consortium.

Network Associates Inc. (NAI) started 2003 by putting spam between the crosshairs. On Monday the company announced the acquisition of Deersoft Inc., a maker of antispam software, for an undisclosed sum.

A new study released in December found that while online shopping rated favourably with the majority of holiday shoppers this season, overall satisfaction is down when compared with a similar study last year.

After announcing a number of security enhancements to its IOS software, Cisco Systems Inc. issued an alert last month that said some of those features will not be available until well into 2003, contrary to the company's earlier claims.

A new plug-in released Monday will allow users of Alpha Software Inc.'s Alpha Five Version 5 application and database development tool to streamline the process of sending out PDF (Portable Document Format) documents in bulk e-mails, a company executive said.

Enterprise software company Sybase Inc. will buy AvantGo Inc., a maker of software for mobile devices, according to a statement released Friday by Sybase.