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Latest Intel Chips Land in Lenovo Laptops
By Jack M. Germain
TechNewsWorld
05/09/07 5:00 AM PT
Lenovo has unveiled its new line of ThinkPad laptop computers. The announcement came on the same day Intel revealed its latest processor and chipset, which are featured in the new Lenovo offerings. The laptop models feature the Top Cover Roll Cage, an elastic polycarbonate honeycombed shield that surrounds the LCD screen to reduce the stress on the display and antenna.
Waiting for IEEE 802.11n? It’s not waiting for you. Company-issued notebooks are arriving with 802.11n Wi-Fi built-in. Don’t wait for the final standard to plan your WLAN access point and switch strategy. Plan today. Click here to learn about the latest 802.11n-ready enterprise WLAN architecture.
Lenovo unveiled on Wednesday three new notebooks built around a new processor and chip set announced the same day by Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) .
Lenovo engineered both the ThinkPad T61 and the ThinkPad R61 with its new Top Cover Roll Cage for enhanced durability, an improved thermal management cooling and efficiency system, enhanced wireless connectivity with Ultra Connect II and longer battery life through its Battery Stretch control option.
Both new ThinkPad laptops feature the latest Intel Centrino Pro mobile technology and Intel Centrino Duo technology.
The N200 15.4-inch widescreen notebook combines Intel's latest chipset technology with increased wireless, graphics and storage capabilities.
"We coordinated our release of these products with Intel's announcements. The new technology makes our notebooks easier to use with lower cost of ownership," Tom Ribble, director of Lenovo's ThinkPad and relationship business model for the notebook business unit, told TechNewsWorld.
The T61 and R61 are thinner and lighter than previous ThinkPad models, he said, noting that the new Intel platform will have a faster front line bus and processor than Lenovo's existing notebook lineup.
New Features
Lenovo extended its reinforced bottom cover into a new lid design using its proprietary Top Cover Roll Cage. This is an elastic polycarbonate honeycombed shield that surrounds the LCD screen to reduce the stress on the display and antenna. Combined with the bottom magnesium-alloy frame that protects critical internal parts, the two roll cages make the ThinkPad 20 percent stronger, according to Lenovo.
The new ThinkPads include a new cooling system that reduces noise levels by three decibels, and a Battery Stretch tool to help users extend battery life by powering down features not readily needed.
The new honeycomb-designed roll cage cushions the notebook's LCD, reinforces the screen and helps reduce stress on the display structure and antenna. The new roll cage design combines with Lenovo's Active Protection System, an air bag-like sensor and shock-mounted hard drive.
Enhanced WiFi
Lenovo's new Ultra Connect II connectivity design utilizes the new Top Cover Roll Cage to help eliminate the effect of conductive material and LCD noise. This boosts WWAN (wireless wide area network) and WLAN (wireless local area network) performance and eliminates the need for external antennas, according to Lenovo.
"We optimized the wireless performance and in addition improved the data throughput," said Ribble.
The new notebooks offer several different connectivity options, such as WWAN (on select T61 models) and WLAN with 802.11n technology, 2 GB Ethernet LAN, Bluetooth and a modem.
"Improvements in durability, reliability and wireless connectivity will help to make our customer's PC experience more enjoyable and productive," said Peter Hortensius, senior vice president for notebooks at Lenovo.
Other Features
Lenovo's new notebooks run cooler than previous units as a result of a new thermal management cooling and efficiency system, according to Lenovo. The system design lowers temperature 10 percent and reduces the noise level by three decibels over previous ThinkPad notebooks.
Users can squeeze more battery life from the new computer line by selecting options that minimize the refresh rates and disable radios and Bluetooth options in the Power Manager module.
Lenovo's new notebooks offer optional full-disk encryption hard drives, an integrated biometric fingerprint reader and a smart card reader. Users can also opt for Intel Turbo Memory and gain new IT management capabilities with Intel Active Management Technology in the ThinkPad T61 14-inch widescreen.
The new notebooks offer enhanced multimedia choices such as Intel integrated or Nvidia graphics, a four-in-one media card reader with the R61 14-inch widescreen and an additional integrated camera and Blu-Ray DVD options.
The ThinkPad T61 and R61 14-inch notebooks start at approximately US$1,399 and $1,249, respectively, and will be available in mid-May.
The N200 15-inch widescreen notebook starts at approximately $1,099 and will be available at the end of May.
Awesome! I love it when a noble grassroots movement gets vindicated for the benefit of all involved.
Pickle
Jellybean, much better desription than mine. It is carried by the female and expressed in boys. My wife was not a carrier, however, it mutated in the her eggs.
The $2 million loan extension - Why May 31?
With the conversion option available, why would the May 31st termination date be important.
Maybe it allows them to purchase the stock BEFORE FDA approval at a much cheaper price than they would have to pay otherwise. That way they get instead equity once FDA approval is obtained that would far exceed any interest they could charge.
Thoughts?
Pickle
Oops. Duplicate TSA loses hard drive with personal info
By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer
9 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Transportation Security Administration has lost a computer hard drive containing Social Security numbers, bank data and payroll information for about 100,000 employees.
Authorities realized Thursday the hard drive was missing from a controlled area at TSA headquarters. TSA Administrator Kip Hawley sent a letter to employees Friday apologizing for the lost data and promising to pay for one year of credit monitoring services.
"TSA has no evidence that an unauthorized individual is using your personal information, but we bring this incident to your attention so that you can be alert to signs of any possible misuse of your identity," Hawley wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press. "We profoundly apologize for any inconvenience and concern that this incident has caused you."
The agency said it did not know whether the device is still within headquarters or was stolen.
TSA said it has asked the FBI and Secret Service to investigate and said it would fire anyone discovered to have violated the agency's data-protection policies.
In a statement released Friday night, the agency said the external — or portable — hard drive contained information on employees who worked for the Homeland Security agency from January 2002 until August 2005.
TSA, a division of the Homeland Security Department, employs about 50,000 people and is responsible for security of the nation's transportation systems, including airports and train stations.
"It's seems like there's a problem with security inside Homeland Security and that makes no sense," said James Slade, a TSA screener and the executive vice president of the National Treasury Employees Union chapter at John F. Kennedy International Airport. "That's scary. That's my identity. And now who has a hold of it? So many things go on in your mind."
The agency added a section to its Web site Friday night addressing the data security breach and directing people to information about identity theft.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (news, bio, voting record), D-Texas, whose Homeland Security subcommittee oversees the TSA, promised to hold hearings on the security breach. She said Homeland Security buildings are part of the critical infrastructure the agency is charged with protecting.
"We should expect it to be secure," she said.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., called the security breach "a terrible and unfortunate blow" for an agency he said already suffered from low morale.
It's the latest mishap for the government involving computer data. Last year, a laptop with information for more than 26.5 million military personnel, was stolen from a Veterans Affairs Department employee's home. Law enforcement officials recovered the laptop, and the FBI said Social Security numbers and other personal data had not been copied.
___
Matched siblings increase success to about 85%. WAS is a immune disorder that results from having too few platlets and the ones that are there are smaller than normal. Clotting of blood and ability to fight infection is compromised. I read for hours before I invested and it looks like FDA approval sure be obtained although I hope my emotions did not get the best of me on thsi one. I believe the Panel will have a hard time finding a reason to not recommend approval. It seems the pluses far outweigh the minuses.
Thanks for your great DD. This helped me tremendously since I am not medically gifted.
Pickle
Jellybean,
Both my boys had Wiskott-Aldrich and their big sister was the bone marrow donor. God has healed them completely, but GVHD is a foregone conclusion. It is just a matter of to what degree. That is why I am invested here. I believe this is a big step in the right direction.
Pickle
Caterpillar Says Computers, Data Stolen
Friday April 27, 7:09 pm ET
Caterpillar Inc. Says Computers With Employees' Personal Information Stolen
PEORIA, Ill. (AP) -- Construction and mining equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. said on Friday that computer equipment containing personal information on current and former employees has been stolen from a third-party pension benefits plan consultant.
The company said it does not believe the personal data has been accessed or misused yet.
Caterpillar said it is in the process of installing measures to enhance the security of personal company information, and implementing safeguards for the handling of information by vendors.
Shares rose 76 cents to $73.76 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares rose 24 cents in after-hours trading to $74.
OT: FRANKFURT, April 24 (Reuters) - Shares in German chipmaker Infineon (IFXGn.DE: Quote, Profile , Research) rose more than 2 percent on Tuesday on market talk that U.S. firm Seagate Technology (STX.N: Quote, Profile , Research) was interested in Infineon's Qimonda (QI.N: Quote, Profile , Research) unit, traders said.
"There are rumours in the market that Seagate is interested in Qimonda and that is pushing up Infineon's shares," a Frankfurt-based trader said.
Qimonda and Infineon declined to comment. California-based Seagate -- which makes computer hard drives -- was not immediately available.
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Qimonda, the world's third-biggest maker of memory chips, has a market value of about $5 billion.
Infineon shares were up 1.3 percent to 11.48 euros at 1352 GMT, one of the top gainers in Germany's blue-chip DAX index <.GDAXI>, which was down 0.8 percent.
Qimonda shares traded up 1 percent at $14.50 in New York.
Infineon spun off its memory chip unit and listed it separately last year. It still owns 86 percent of Qimonda.
Jay,
When intializing the TCG Security Password, it asks for my windows password. Does ETS wizard allow me to create my windows login password at that point or do I need to go through the Control Panel? Do I create through each user account?
Pickle
Just read Getting Started with Embassy Trust Suite and I am good to go. I am so excited! If anybody else is looking for a desktop, I just got a refurbished Optiplex 745 with Intel Duo Core 2 2.13 processor, 1.2 tpm, 250 GB Hard Drive, 2MB RAM, XP Home, and three year next day onsite warranty for $669. New on Dell, this machine is a tad over $1,000.
Pickle
Just turned on my new Optiplex 745 and seeing this just tickled the Pickle. It looks like a wizrd when i go to all programs. Does this mean I do not have to go through the BIOS?
It says Install Embassy Trust Suite
and Getting Started with Embassy Trust Suite
RWK, I agree. That is what I was alluding to in my earlier post. Top talent does not come cheap.
I always like when insiders have a vested interest, but we must also remember that in order to attract top talent to a growing (rapidly I might add) business, stock options are very key.
Pickle
Thanks, got it saved.
Thanks, Ramsey.
Thanks, Doma! It is a refurbished machine but I am hoping no one ever turned it on.
Pickle
OT: Go-Kite,
The Dell person in the Outlet Group seemed catiously optimistic. I wanted to double check. I should have it in a few days. I have never gone into the BIOS, and thanks for the prior user info on the TPM. I have not idea how to reset. I would value your help in setting up my system when it gets here if you wouldn't mind?? Next time in Fort Worth, I will buy you lunch/dinner. Please email me your contact information at dillsforchrist@yahoo.com and I will give you a shout later in the week.
Thanks
Pickle
Ot: Doma,
I just purchased a Optiplex 745 through Dell Outlet. It has Intel Dual Core processer, etc. The salesman said it had a 1.2 TPM, but I am looking to you for confirmation. Also, will this have ETS Lite? I bought this for home use and want to take full advatange of the TPM.
Thanks
Pickle
OT: Sallie Mae Agrees to $25B Takeover
Monday April 16, 11:17 am ET
By Stephen Manning, AP Business Writer
Sallie Mae Says It Will Be Bought by Group of Private Investors for About $25 Billion
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The nation's largest student lender, Sallie Mae, said Monday that it will be bought by a group of private investors for roughly $25 billion, a deal that comes as the $85 billion college loan industry faces increased scrutiny from regulators.
The group, led by private-equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co., will pay $60 per share for the Reston, Va.-based SLM Corp., commonly referred to as Sallie Mae. The sale price represents a nearly 50 percent premium for Sallie Mae's previously sagging stock before takeover rumors emerged late last week.
SLM shares jumped nearly 18 percent in early trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange on the buyout news.
J.C. Flowers and private-equity firm Friedman Fleischer & Lowe will invest $4.4 billion and own 50.2 percent of the company, and Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase each will invest $2.2 billion and each will own 24.9 percent. The buyers will also provide Sallie Mae with $200 billion in backup financing.
Sallie Mae is by far the largest school lender, originating $23.4 billion in student loans last year, many of them federally subsidized. The company has recently expanded into other areas of lending, such as debt collection and 529 college savings plans.
But it has also been subject to greater attention from lawmakers and regulators currently probing ties between lenders and college officials who guide students toward specific lenders for their loans.
Last week, Sallie Mae settled with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo over the company's business practices, agreeing to pay $2 million to a student loan education fund. It will also no longer pay travel and entertainment expenses for university officials or send its employees to work for free in campus financial aid offices.
Some Democratic lawmakers and even President Bush have threatened to cut federal subsidies to student lenders. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said last week that the buyout raised concerns about transparency at Sallie Mae.
But company spokesman Tom Joyce said Monday that even though the company will be private, it will still be subject to federal and state lending laws, and will continue to make filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission because it operates in the public debt market.
"We will have ample and sufficient transparency," Joyce said.
There will also be little change in Sallie Mae's corporate structure. Chief Executive Tim Fitzpatrick will continue in his post, as will the company's top management. The company will remain in its Reston, Va., headquarters, and no job cuts are expected, Joyce said.
Student borrowers and institutions will also see no change in the way loans are handled or processed, Joyce said.
Sallie Mae's lending business will also be kept separate from Bank of America and Chase, which will continue to operate their own, competing student loan arms.
Sallie Mae's board unanimously approved the deal, which was signed Sunday night. The transaction requires the approval of Sallie Mae's stockholders and is subject to required regulatory approvals. If approved, it is expected to close in late 2007.
Shares of Sallie Mae shot up $8.19 to $54.95 in early trading Monday on the NYSE. The company's stock has ranged between $40.30 and $55.21 during the past 52 weeks
NTT DoCoMo and Intel Team Up On Enterprise Dual-OS Handsets
Posted on Apr 11th, 2007 with stocks: DCM, INTC
Dean Bubley submits: This was announced a few months ago, but I've only just had a chance to read through the details. NTT DoCoMo (DCM) and Intel (INTC) are working on an architecture for dual-OS handsets for corporate users.
The full spec gives more details, suggesting that it could allow phones which use Symbian or Linux as the "Operator OS," with a separate and switchable domain for an "Enterprise OS" for Windows Mobile, using virtualization technology in the hardware.
This could enable DoCoMo to provide corporates with phones that do a full range of enterprise apps including VoWLAN, for example with a WiFi access available solely to the enterprise OS and with the specific demand that the underlying platform "not impose any restrictions on its use."
It seems to me that DoCoMo has come up with a clever way of ensuring that:
• Enterprises can do what they want with their handsets
• DoCoMo retains control of the overall handset value chain and architecture
• Consumers may not be able to buy fully-open phones even if businesses can
Now obviously there are going to be issues with the "switching" process, especially if the operator part of the phone can pre-empt the enterprise OS while it's in the middle of something important like a phone call. But I suspect that for many users, a hybrid "two personality" device should go a long way to creating an acceptable blend of IT/Internet openness and operator-optimisation on the same platform.
UPside,
Yes, I like the dialogue amongst so many varied interests all agreeing that change is necessary.
Pickle
Researchers explore scrapping Internet
By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer Fri Apr 13, 11:04 PM ET
NEW YORK - Although it has already taken nearly four decades to get this far in building the Internet, some university researchers with the federal government's blessing want to scrap all that and start over.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070414/ap_on_hi_te/rebuilding_the_internet_8
The idea may seem unthinkable, even absurd, but many believe a "clean slate" approach is the only way to truly address security, mobility and other challenges that have cropped up since UCLA professor Leonard Kleinrock helped supervise the first exchange of meaningless test data between two machines on Sept. 2, 1969.
The Internet "works well in many situations but was designed for completely different assumptions," said Dipankar Raychaudhuri, a Rutgers University professor overseeing three clean-slate projects. "It's sort of a miracle that it continues to work well today."
No longer constrained by slow connections and computer processors and high costs for storage, researchers say the time has come to rethink the Internet's underlying architecture, a move that could mean replacing networking equipment and rewriting software on computers to better channel future traffic over the existing pipes.
Even Vinton Cerf, one of the Internet's founding fathers as co-developer of the key communications techniques, said the exercise was "generally healthy" because the current technology "does not satisfy all needs."
One challenge in any reconstruction, though, will be balancing the interests of various constituencies. The first time around, researchers were able to toil away in their labs quietly. Industry is playing a bigger role this time, and law enforcement is bound to make its needs for wiretapping known.
There's no evidence they are meddling yet, but once any research looks promising, "a number of people (will) want to be in the drawing room," said Jonathan Zittrain, a law professor affiliated with Oxford and Harvard universities. "They'll be wearing coats and ties and spilling out of the venue."
The
National Science Foundation wants to build an experimental research network known as the Global Environment for Network Innovations, or GENI, and is funding several projects at universities and elsewhere through Future Internet Network Design, or FIND.
Rutgers, Stanford, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are among the universities pursuing individual projects. Other government agencies, including the Defense Department, have also been exploring the concept.
The
European Union has also backed research on such initiatives, through a program known as Future Internet Research and Experimentation, or FIRE. Government officials and researchers met last month in Zurich to discuss early findings and goals.
A new network could run parallel with the current Internet and eventually replace it, or perhaps aspects of the research could go into a major overhaul of the existing architecture.
These clean-slate efforts are still in their early stages, though, and aren't expected to bear fruit for another 10 or 15 years — assuming Congress comes through with funding.
Guru Parulkar, who will become executive director of Stanford's initiative after heading NSF's clean-slate programs, estimated that GENI alone could cost $350 million, while government, university and industry spending on the individual projects could collectively reach $300 million. Spending so far has been in the tens of millions of dollars.
And it could take billions of dollars to replace all the software and hardware deep in the legacy systems.
Clean-slate advocates say the cozy world of researchers in the 1970s and 1980s doesn't necessarily mesh with the realities and needs of the commercial Internet.
"The network is now mission critical for too many people, when in the (early days) it was just experimental," Zittrain said.
The Internet's early architects built the system on the principle of trust. Researchers largely knew one another, so they kept the shared network open and flexible — qualities that proved key to its rapid growth.
But spammers and hackers arrived as the network expanded and could roam freely because the Internet doesn't have built-in mechanisms for knowing with certainty who sent what.
The network's designers also assumed that computers are in fixed locations and always connected. That's no longer the case with the proliferation of laptops, personal digital assistants and other mobile devices, all hopping from one wireless access point to another, losing their signals here and there.
Engineers tacked on improvements to support mobility and improved security, but researchers say all that adds complexity, reduces performance and, in the case of security, amounts at most to bandages in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse.
Workarounds for mobile devices "can work quite well if a small fraction of the traffic is of that type," but could overwhelm computer processors and create security holes when 90 percent or more of the traffic is mobile, said Nick McKeown, co-director of Stanford's clean-slate program.
The Internet will continue to face new challenges as applications require guaranteed transmissions — not the "best effort" approach that works better for e-mail and other tasks with less time sensitivity.
Think of a doctor using teleconferencing to perform a surgery remotely, or a customer of an Internet-based phone service needing to make an emergency call. In such cases, even small delays in relaying data can be deadly.
And one day, sensors of all sorts will likely be Internet capable.
Rather than create workarounds each time, clean-slate researchers want to redesign the system to easily accommodate any future technologies, said Larry Peterson, chairman of computer science at Princeton and head of the planning group for the NSF's GENI.
Even if the original designers had the benefit of hindsight, they might not have been able to incorporate these features from the get-go. Computers, for instance, were much slower then, possibly too weak for the computations needed for robust authentication.
"We made decisions based on a very different technical landscape," said Bruce Davie, a fellow with network-equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc., which stands to gain from selling new products and incorporating research findings into its existing line.
"Now, we have the ability to do all sorts of things at very high speeds," he said. "Why don't we start thinking about how we take advantage of those things and not be constrained by the current legacy we have?"
Of course, a key question is how to make any transition — and researchers are largely punting for now.
"Let's try to define where we think we should end up, what we think the Internet should look like in 15 years' time, and only then would we decide the path," McKeown said. "We acknowledge it's going to be really hard but I think it will be a mistake to be deterred by that."
Kleinrock, the Internet pioneer at UCLA, questioned the need for a transition at all, but said such efforts are useful for their out-of-the-box thinking.
"A thing called GENI will almost surely not become the Internet, but pieces of it might fold into the Internet as it advances," he said.
Think evolution, not revolution.
Princeton already runs a smaller experimental network called PlanetLab, while Carnegie Mellon has a clean-slate project called 100 x 100.
These days, Carnegie Mellon professor Hui Zhang said he no longer feels like "the outcast of the community" as a champion of clean-slate designs.
Construction on GENI could start by 2010 and take about five years to complete. Once operational, it should have a decade-long lifespan.
FIND, meanwhile, funded about two dozen projects last year and is evaluating a second round of grants for research that could ultimately be tested on GENI.
These go beyond projects like Internet2 and National LambdaRail, both of which focus on next-generation needs for speed.
Any redesign may incorporate mechanisms, known as virtualization, for multiple networks to operate over the same pipes, making further transitions much easier. Also possible are new structures for data packets and a replacement of Cerf's TCP/IP communications protocols.
"Almost every assumption going into the current design of the Internet is open to reconsideration and challenge," said Parulkar, the NSF official heading to Stanford. "Researchers may come up with wild ideas and very innovative ideas that may not have a lot to do with the current Internet."
Intel Within Weeks Of Major Upgrade To Its Centrino Line
Thursday April 12, 7:00 pm ET
James Detar
Advanced Micro Devices has gained momentum in the key market for chips used to run portable PCs, but archrival Intel says it has a stopper -- the first major upgrade to its successful Centrino chip platform.
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Intel (NasdaqGS:INTC - News) has said it plans to roll out the line, code-named Santa Rosa, this quarter. Analysts including Nollenberger's Hans Mosesmann are saying early May.
With Santa Rosa, Intel likely will start to take back share in the notebook chip sector in the second half of the year, Mosesmann says.
"They're improving on the platform," he said. "They're putting distance between them and what AMD may be offering."
Mercury Research says AMD (NYSE:AMD - News) boosted its share of notebook processor sales in the fourth quarter by 2.6 percentage points vs. the third quarter, to 19.4%, while Intel's share fell by the same amount, to 80.6%.
AMD gained when it took a technology lead that some analysts say will end with this new update to Centrino, which made a big splash when released by Intel in 2003. The No. 1 chipmaker unleashed one of its largest marketing efforts ever with Centrino. So far it's been relatively quiet about Santa Rosa, which analysts consider a major product rollout.
Santa Rosa could extend the Centrino brand for years, says Roger Kay, an analyst with research firm Endpoint.
"Intel established a brand with Centrino, and they're anxious to get as much out of it as possible," Kay said.
But No. 2 computer processor maker AMD has its own upgrade coming out for the portable PC market, setting the stage for yet another battle royal between the longtime rivals.
Will Overtake Desktops
Laptop, notebook and other portable computers are the sweet spot of the PC market, just like the fine wines that come from Santa Rosa's namesake Northern California town. Market tracker Gartner says portable PC unit sales will likely surpass desktop PC sales by 2011.
Intel calls Centrino a "platform" because it includes nearly all the chips in a portable PC -- the main processor and the group of chips, or chip set, that assists the processor.
Santa Rosa will improve on Centrino in a couple of ways. It will use Intel's new, higher-performance Core 2 Duo chips. And it will offer the option of a much faster wireless chip.
In addition, Santa Rosa will mark Intel's first use of flash memory in its notebook platform. Flash helps machines boot up and run programs faster.
This combination of features will boost performance -- transaction speed, graphics quality and more -- by about 20% over today's Centrino notebooks, analysts say.
Mosesmann expects Santa Rosa to give a lift to portable PC sales in general.
"Santa Rosa could lead to notebook sales being a little stronger in the second and third quarters," he said. "Nothing as exciting (as the Santa Rosa rollout) is happening with desktop PCs. It's going to catch people's interest."
AMD's new platform will add to that interest. Matt Mazzantini, AMD's mobile marketing manager, says AMD's new line also will use a dual-core chip, part of AMD's Turion line. AMD has code-named the new chip line Hawk.
Mazzantini says AMD plans to let Hawk fly near quarter's end.
"We're moving very rapidly to begin shipping," he said. "When we look at our broad portfolio, and those of our partners, we feel like we provide a great solution for Windows Vista compared to Centrino." Vista is Microsoft's (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News) new computer operating system.
On April 4, Intel revealed that there will be two models in the Santa Rosa line. One model, Centrino Pro, targets notebooks for business users. Centrino Pro will include a version of Intel's vPro technology. That's a set of circuits that provides security and helps users manage files.
Intel also plans to introduce a version of Santa Rosa for consumers, but it hasn't revealed the product's name yet.
Stressing Security
In an interview this week, Intel Mobile Marketing Manager Brian Tucker lauded the security features of Centrino Pro.
"One security feature we call system defense," Tucker said. "In the chip set we have a network filter looking at all the traffic coming through the notebook. It's looking for viruses and anything out of the ordinary."
Besides the Core 2 Duo processor, Santa Rosa will include the mobile Intel 965 Express chip set.
Core 2 Duo is Intel's latest dual-core microprocessor. Dual-core chips have two compute engines on a single piece of silicon. That kicks performance up without a corresponding jump in power usage and heat. Too much heat can slow, or ruin, a computer.
Intel users will have the option of getting Santa Rosa with today's 802.11 a/g Wi-Fi wireless chips. Or for more money, they can get the new 802.11n version Wi-Fi chip, code-named Kedron.
Today's a/g Wi-Fi chips let notebook PC users and cell phone users hook up to the Internet if they're within 150 feet indoors and 300 feet outdoors.
Intel says Kedron will let them connect from double that distance, and at eight times the speed.
OT: HP to Use Via Processor for PCs in China
Friday April 13, 4:00 am ET
By Jordan Robertson, AP Technology Writer
Hewlett-Packard Co. to Use Low-Power Via Processor for Desktop Business Computer in China
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Via Technologies Inc., the often-overlooked third player in the microprocessor arena, said Friday that Hewlett-Packard Co. has decided to use its low-cost, low-power chips in new energy-efficient business PCs in the booming China market.
HP's decision to use Via processors in a new Compaq desktop computer marks a substantial win for Via's processor business, which trails much-larger rivals Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. by a wide margin.
Taiwan-based Via occupies just a sliver of the worldwide processor market, usually only commanding about 1 percent to 2 percent, with Intel and AMD essentially controlling the rest, according to Mercury Research.
Microprocessors are the core calculating engines inside computers, and Intel and AMD are waging a fierce battle for market share essentially without other competition. The bulk of Via's business comes from chipsets, which are computer chips that connect the microprocessor to other system components.
Palo Alto-based HP is already using Via products in lower-profile "thin client" PCs -- stripped-down computers that rely on a server to handle the bulk of the processing duties. In selecting the Via processors, HP becomes the first major computer maker to adopt the Via product for a mass-market item.
Via said each 1.5-gigahertz processor consumes just 20 watts of power, lowering the amount of electricity needed to operate each computer. The company said the new computers will help businesses in developing areas build advanced systems without incurring burdensome power costs.
"It is vital that companies across China, not just in the largest cities, gain access to the vast productivity, efficiency and online resource benefits of IT and the Internet," Wenchi Chen, Via's president and chief executive, said in a statement.
Dean McCarron, president and principal analyst at Mercury Research in Cave Creek, Ariz., said emerging markets can often pose a problem for chipmakers because of lower pricing and power constraints. However, he said the HP win provides important validation of Via's strategy.
"It's very positive news for Via," he said. "For a long time they were fighting a credibility gap with their processors. Via comes at its processor design from a completely different way than Intel and AMD. This is symbolic of the fact they've overcome that."
Wave's technology is licensed by ARM and is "embedded" in the architecture. If it isays Trustzone, it is Wave. There are those much better suited than I to explain this relationship correctly.
Wave Systems Joins ARM Connected Community
Lee, MA – July 22, 2004 – Wave Systems Corp. (NASDAQ:WAVX), a leading supplier of trusted computing products and solutions, today announced it has joined the ARM® Connected Community. As part of the ARM Connected Community, Wave will gain access to a full range of resources to help it market innovative solutions associated with the new ARM TrustZone™ technology that will enable developers to get their ARM Powered® products to market faster.
“As evidenced with the creation of the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), hardware-based security is becoming increasingly important in devices ranging from personal computers to cell phones to PDAs,” said Lark Allen, executive vice president, Wave Systems. “ARM TrustZone technology, including the recently announced software support from Trusted Logic, provides a robust trusted environment which will enable both current and new trusted computing applications to execute on a single processor. Wave's EMBASSY® technologies, including support for the open specifications of the TCG, provide the opportunity to work with ARM and its Partners to develop advanced trusted computing applications and services for these new trusted platforms.”
The ARM Connected Community is a global network of companies aligned to provide a complete solution, from design to manufacture and end use, for products based on the ARM architecture. ARM offers a variety of resources to community members, including promotional programs and peer-networking opportunities.
The ARM Connected Community also enables Wave Systems to use the ARM Connected Community logo, which is an easy way for customers to recognize that Wave has proven its commitment and expertise in support of the ARM architecture.
“By joining the ARM Connected Community, which now comprises more than 250 companies, Wave Systems increases the large portfolio of skills, products and services that are centered around the ARM architecture, and currently available to developers worldwide,” said Mary Inglis, director of Software & Alliance Marketing for ARM.
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Atmel Licenses ARM 1176JZF-S Processor
Assodigitale, Italy - Apr 10, 2007
(ASSODIGITALE.IT) Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today that Atmel has licensed the ARM1176JZF-S(TM) processor for implementation in high-performance system-on-chip (SoC) products.
http://www.assodigitale.it/NEWS_SITO/DTT/LINUX_PC_PROCESSOR_OVERCLOCKING_ARM_Atmel_Licenses_ARM_1176....
Atmel Licenses ARM1176JZF-S Processor
- Extends Atmel's Roadmap of Upwards-Compatible ARM Technology-Based on 32-bit Microcontrollers From the ARM7 Family Through to the ARM9 and ARM11 Families
Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today that Atmel has licensed the ARM1176JZF-S(TM) processor for implementation in high-performance system-on-chip (SoC) products.
"The licensing of the ARM1176JZF-S processor reinforces Atmel's long-term commitment to the ARM(R) architecture as one of the industry standards for 32-bit microcontrollers," said Alfredo Vadillo, Atmel's managing director for 32-bit MCUs. "We were one of the first licensees of the ARM7(TM) processor family and have extended our partnership with ARM through the ARM9(TM) processor family and now to the ARM11(TM) processor family. Together with our proprietary AVR(R)32 architecture, Atmel offers the industry's broadest range of 32-bit Flash microcontroller-based system solutions."
"Atmel is a leading microcontroller vendor with an extensive portfolio of ARM technology-based devices featuring the ARM7 and ARM9 family processors," said John Cornish, VP Marketing, Processor Division, ARM. "Atmel's decision to use the ARM1176JZF-S processor in future system-on-chip (SoC) products highlights the importance of the fast growing 32-bit market and the widespread adoption of the ARM architecture."
The ARM1176JZF-S core clocks at up to 620MHz in 90nm technology, while achieving a power consumption as low as 0.45 mW/MHz. It features ARM TrustZone(R) technology for enhanced security, ARM Jazelle(R) technology for efficient embedded Java execution, and ARM Intelligent Energy Manager (IEM(TM)) technology that can reduce processor energy consumption by 25% to 50%. ARM TrustZone technology provides support within the processor architecture for the trusted computing environments required to protect critical system functions from downloaded applications, copyright protection of downloaded media, and secure over-the-air system upgrades. The ARM1176JZF-S also features an integrated floating-point co-processor, which makes it particularly suitable for embedded 3D-graphics applications. The core runs the ARMv6 instruction set with media processing extensions and the Thumb(R) instruction set extensions for compact code. It is fully upward code-compatible with Atmel's existing licensed cores, the ARM7TDMI(R) and the ARM926EJ-S(TM) processors.
Atmel, a member of the ARM Connected Community, has also licensed the PrimeCell(R) high-performance AMBA(R) 3 AXI(TM) interconnect technology (PL301), along with the AMBA Designer tool, for a next generation on-chip bus development.
Availability
Atmel's first system-on-chip products based on the ARM1176JZF-S processor will be available 4Q 2007.
About Atmel
Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions. Focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets, Atmel ICs can be found Everywhere You Are(R).
NOTE: Atmel(R), logo and combinations thereof, AVR(R), Everywhere You Are(R) and others, are registered trademarks, or trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries.
ARM, Thumb, ARM7TDMI, TrustZone, AMBA, PrimeCell and Jazelle are registered trademarks of ARM Limited. ARM7, ARM9, ARM926EJ-S, ARM11, ARM1176JZF-S and IEM are trademarks of ARM Limited. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders. "ARM" is used to represent ARM Holdings plc; its operating company ARM Limited; and the regional subsidiaries ARM INC.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Ltd.; ARM Taiwan; ARM France SAS; ARM Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.; ARM Belgium N.V.; AXYS Design Automation Inc.; AXYS GmbH; ARM Embedded Solutions Pvt. Ltd.; ARM Physical IP, Inc.; and ARM Norway, AS.
Embedded Security: Trusted Platform Module Technology Comes of Age
April 04, 2007
Download this white paper compliments of Utimaco now!
Abstract:
(Source: Utimaco)Examine the benefits that TPM chips bring to security-conscious businesses, and the ways in which this technology can elevate trusted computing to higher levels, enhancing security while simplifying usability. It also traces the history of the Trusted Computing Group and explores the ways in which standards-based security mechanisms are becoming more deeply integrated into hardware, operating systems, and networking protocols.
OT: Cisco NAC hacks expose fundamental flaw, researchers say
The vulnerabilities allow unauthorized PCs access to a network
April 05, 2007 (Computerworld) -- A couple of flaws in Cisco Systems Inc.'s Network Admission Control (NAC) architecture allow unauthorized PCs to present themselves as legitimate devices on the network, according to security researchers in Germany.
A tool that takes advantage of the flaws was demonstrated at the recent Black Hat security conference in Germany by Dror-John Roecher and Michael Thumann, two researchers working for ERNW GmbH, a Heidelberg-based penetration testing firm.
Cisco's NAC technology is designed to let IT managers set rules that prevent a client device from accessing a network unless it complies with policies on antivirus software updates, firewall configurations, software patches and other issues. "Cisco Trust Agent" technology sits on each network client and gathers the information needed to determine whether the device is in compliance with policies or not. A policy management server then lets the device either log into the network or puts it into a quarantine zone, depending on the information relayed by the Trust Agent.
But a "fundamental design" failure by Cisco to ensure proper client authentication makes it possible for pretty much any device to interact with the policy server, Roecher said. "Basically, it allows anyone to come along and say, 'Here are my credentials, this is my service pack level, this is the list of installed patches, my antivirus software is current' " and asked to be logged in, he said.
The second flaw is that the policy server has no way of knowing whether the information it gets from the trust agent truly represents that machine's status -- making it possible to send spoofed information to the policy server, Roecher said.
"There's a way of persuading the installed Trust Agent to not report what's actually on the system but to report what we want it to," he said. For instance, the Trust Agent could be fooled into thinking that a system has all the required security patches and controls and allow it to log into a network. "We can spoof the credentials and gain access to the network" with a system that is completely out of policy, he said.
The attack only works with devices that have a Cisco Trust Agent installed on it. "We did that because it needed the least effort," Roecher said. But ERNW is already working on a hack that will allow even systems without a Trust Agent to log into a Cisco NAC environment, but the tool for doing that will not be ready until at least August. "An attacker wouldn't need to have the Trust Agent anymore. It's a complete replacement of the Trust Agent."
Cisco officials were not immediately available for comment. But in a note posted on Cisco's Web site, the company noted that "the method of the attack is to simulate the communication between Cisco Trust Agent (CTA) and its interaction with network enforcement devices." It is possible to spoof the information pertaining to the device's status, or "posture," Cisco said.
But NAC "does not require posture information to authenticate incoming users as they access the network. In this regard, the [Trust Agent] is only a messenger to transport posture credentials," Cisco said.
Alan Shimel, chief security officer at StillSecure, a company that sells products that compete with Cisco NAC, said that Cisco's use of a proprietary authentication protocol may be causing some of the problems. "They don't have a mechanism for accepting certificates" to authenticate devices like the 802.1x network access control standard does, he said.
The Cisco Trust Agent spoofing issue highlighted by the researchers is a more generic problem, he said. Any agent software that lives on a machine, tests the machine and reports back to a server can be spoofed, whether it is Cisco's Trust Agent or some other software, he said. "This has always been an argument against use of client-side agents" for checking the security status of a PC, he said.
The security issues raised by the German researchers also highlight the importance of having "post-admission" network controls in addition to a "pre-admission" check such as Cisco NAC, said Jeff Prince, chief technology officer at ConSentry, a security vendor that sells such products.
"NAC is an important first line of defense, but it is not very useful" without ways of controlling what a user can do after gaining network access, he said.
Seagate ships hardware-encrypted notebook drives
By Clay Rider, Sageza Group
4 Apr 2007 19:30
Seagate Technology has announced that it is now shipping its Momentus 5400 FDE.2, an encrypting 2.5in hard drive for notebooks, to ASI Computer Technologies. The Momentus 5400 FDE.2 (Full Disc Encryption) hard drive offers up to 160GB of capacity, Serial ATA interface, and hardware-based AES encryption.
The encrypting hard drive is also positioned as a means by which organizations can easily repurpose or retire laptops without compromising sensitive information and comply with data privacy laws.
ASI Computer Technologies plans to offer the drive in its new ASI C8015 system, which will also feature a biometric fingerprint reader for stronger user authentication. The laptop will target healthcare, legal, finance, government, and other industries requiring strong protection of information stored on laptop PCs. The C8015 will feature Wave Systems Embassy Security Center's Trusted Drive Manager, software that simplifies setup and configuration of Momentus 5400 FDE.2 drives.
Trusted Drive Manager also makes it easy for administrators and users to create and backup passwords, and for administrators to control hard-drive policies and security settings. The software also leverages Seagate's DriveTrust Technology to allow administrators to instantly and easily erase all data cryptographically so the drive can be safely redeployed or discarded.
With all the fuss about security, data theft, compliance and whatnot, the market has seen many vendors ply their data security solutions with an increasing zeal. Software-based encryption for files or hard drives is not new; however, the interest in it has grown considerably in light of recent embarrassing, if not illegal, data leaks or losses reported by various organizations. One of the challenges with software encryption is that it is generally not well understood by the technical layperson, and implementations often tend to be limited or specific in nature, e.g., encrypting email or certain files associated with a given application. By incorporating encryption at the hardware level, its use can be largely invisible to the user, which can remove a large obstacle to an effective deployment.
While many may view encryption of mobile devices such as notebooks solely as a means to block access to sensitive data in case of loss or theft, it can also prove advantageous to IT professionals. Depending upon the practices of an organization, sometimes a notebook may be "reassigned" to a new user, without IT's knowledge. It probably will not have been recovered to its factory-shipped configuration and the drive may still contain sensitive information even if it was deleted.
With configuration software such as the Trusted Drive Manager, IT can intercept such a transfer at the preboot authentication phase by having the system not grant access if the user is not recognized as part of the preboot authentication, which is under the control of IT. The system would then flow back through IT, which can then take whatever preventative actions necessary to ensure the safety of sensitive information before repurposing the notebook to its new user.
Hardware-based encryption for notebook hard drive is new, and obviously it will be some time before it is commonplace. Nevertheless, we believe the security and best practices afforded by their use in highly regulated industries is a no-brainer and expect to see such deployments grow, especially as Seagate signs up more and larger notebook vendors to include the Momentus 5400 FDE.2 and similar solutions into their product offerings. ®
OT:Defense kicks off open-source encryption program
By Jana Cranmer, GCN Staff
The Defense Department has launched a new program to encourage the use of open- source encryption software within DOD systems.
The Open Source Software Institute of Hattiesburg, Miss., will support the OpenCrypto Management Program, which is part of DOD’s Open Technology Development road map initiative. The goal of that program is to provide DOD with greater system development and acquisition flexibility through collaborative software development.
The OpenCrypto Management Program is a continuation and expansion of an earlier OSSI effort to certify the OpenSSL open- source encryption module under Federal Information Processing Standards 140-2, said OSSI Executive Director executive director John Weathersby.
“Interests within the DOD were pleased with the results of the initial OpenSSL validation program and have identified extensions to that work for greater availability of FIPS 140-2 validated open- source software for use within DOD IT systems,” Weathersby said.
In OSSI's earlier work, the source code for OpenSSL was certified. Now the team will validate a binary model of the OpenSSL. The team will then update the version for additional validations every six to eight months to address vendor concerns with the initial open- source- based validation.
“Prospective end users can use the specific binaries that were validated, if they happen to be suitable as-is. If not, OSSI will — in collaboration with the OpenSSL team — build a binary for the desired platform, where technically possible,” said OSSI technical project manager Steve Marquess. “Under a CMVP process known as ‘vendor affirmation’ ['vendor affirmation' (known as CMVP Implementation Guidance, section G.5],) that binary as delivered to the end user will satisfy the requirements for a FIPS 140-2 validated module.”
For non-U.S. DOD end users, there will be a one-time charge calculated on a cost-recovery basis, Marquess said.
OT:EMI, Apple to sell music without antipiracy software
New tracks to be available at $1.29 each -- but not Beatles tunes
By Simon Kennedy & Dan Gallagher, MarketWatch
Last Update: 12:28 PM ET Apr 2, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- In a reversal of strategy, EMI Group announced Monday that it will offer all its digital music catalog without antipiracy software on Apple Inc's iTunes Store -- making it the first major music label to scrap such restrictions on digital music.
The London-based music company (UK:EMI: news, chart, profile) said songs without the software, known as digital rights management, or DRM, will also offer higher audio quality, though they will come at a higher price. All other online music retailers will also be free to offer the new tracks, EMI added.
Scrapping DRM will give customers more choice by allowing them to listen to music on any player. It also means that consumers who buy music from the iTunes store will no longer be restricted to using Apple's popular iPod music player.
"Most consumers think DRM is a huge mess, so this kind of simplicity should go over real well," said Neil Strother, an analyst at Jupiter Research.
Those downloaded songs can be used on players using Windows Media but not on iPods - which account for the vast majority of digital music players sold.
The DRM issue has come to a head after months of public and private debate, including an open letter to music executives from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, arguing that DRM had not been successful in curbing music piracy.
At a joint press conference, Jobs hailed the move from EMI as "the next big step in the digital music revolution."
Jobs forecast other publishers will follow suit, saying he expects half of the five million tracks on iTunes to be available without DRM by the end of the year.
"Starting today, Apple will reach out to all the other major and independent labels to give them the same opportunity," Jobs said. Labels to take wait-and-see approach
Other music publishers have been less keen to embrace DRM-free music, claiming it is needed to prevent copying. Among other publishers, Warner Music Group has been one of those opposed to the idea of removing the technology.
Evan Wilson of Pacific Crest Securities predicted that rival publishers will wait to see how EMI's sales turn out before making changes of their own.
"If they [EMI] see a revenue increase in the face of an overall decline in music sales, the other labels will have to look at it. They're shareholders will force them to look at it," Wilson said in an interview.
In a report to clients last week, Wilson noted that digital music has not yet been able to obtain the same level of interoperability as CDs - which can be played in home stereos, cars, PCs and portable devices.
Apple and Microsoft use different types of DRM technology -- one reason that music downloaded from iTunes can't be played directly on a player using Microsoft's Windows Player software.
"We think that people using peer-to-peer networks to illegally download music are already doing so, so DRM only puts restrictions on paying customers,' Wilson said.
Jobs also made the comparison to CDs, which still account for 90% of all music sold and do not have antipiracy software. EMI's move is simply bringing digital music into line with CDs and other formats, he said.
EMI chief executive Eric Nicoli said the demand for DRM-free music was widespread. In a recent trial, the higher quality, DRM-free tracks outsold the standard tracks by ten to one, he noted.
"This doesn't in any way diminish our commitment to fighting piracy in all its forms," Nicoli added.
Shares in EMI added 0.2% in afternoon London trading, while Apple shares added 0.8% in early Wall Street trading.
Beatles remain offline Apple's iTunes Store will make the new tracks available in May at a cost of $1.29 a song. It will also continue to sell the original tracks that include antipiracy software for 99 cents, at which they are currently priced.
Customers who have already bought tracks containing DRM software will be able to upgrade their music collection for 30 cents a track.
The deal applies to the entire existing digital music portfolio of EMI, including bands such as Coldplay, Gorillaz and the Beastie Boys.
But one group that will remain conspicuous by its absence from iTunes, and other online music stores, is The Beatles, whose music has never been available to download legally.
Ahead of the announcement, several press reports speculated EMI was set to announce The Beatles' catalogue would be made available online for the first time. But Nicoli would only say that the publisher is still working on a deal and hopes the songs will be available soon
OT: Why Encryption Didn't Save TJX
TJX: It's the target of the largest known customer record theft of all time, and it's a case in point that encryption is not a silver bullet.
This is the heart of the encryption problem , quoted from the 10-K filing The TJX Companies made to the Securities and Exchange Commission:
"Despite our masking and encryption practices on our Framingham system in 2006, the technology utilized in the Computer Intrusion during 2006 could have enabled the Intruder to steal payment card data from our Framingham system during the payment card issuer's approval process, in which data (including the track 2 data) is transmitted to payment card issuer's without encryption. Further, we believe that the Intruder had access to the decryption tool for the encryption software utilized by TJX."
Encryption has no value when data isn't encrypted, obviously, but credit cards can't be processed when their numbers are encrypted. Hence, a smart crook will seek a way to get the data during that window of time when it's in that state of being "in the clear" - that is, unencrypted.
TJX's intruder also had a backup plan if data in the clear wasn't attainable: namely, the decryption key.
There are several reasons why encryption didn't save TJX and won't save many companies, regardless of how much legislators have mandated or want to mandate its use. (One example of which is the June 2006 White House mandate requiring federal agencies to encrypt the hard drives of all their laptops and mobile devices.)
In an interview with eWEEK, McAfee Chief Security Officer Dr. Martin Carmichael said that after he had read TJX's take on the intrusion, he can say that it's plain that encryption was involved, but not what kind of encryption: shared key, in which the sender and receiver of encrypted data both have the same key, or asymmetric, which uses a public/private key pair.
Shared-key encryption is inherently risky, since humans think up convenient but absurdly insecure places to store their keys. "We have seen … some companies that chose to use shared-key - encryption - that stores the key with the data," Carmichael said. "Which is outside of most policy. Sometimes ease of development can be - counter to - good security process." In fact, Carmichael has seen keys in data files that are named "key to data."
Another encryption trap is the use of weak encryption. Original DES (Data Encryption Standard) encryption is now considered to be insecure for many applications, chiefly due to its 56-bit key size being too small. DES keys have been broken in less than 24 hours. Some analytical results point to theoretical weaknesses in the cipher, as well, although those have not been proven in practice. In May 2002, DES was superseded by AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) following a public competition, but DES remained in widespread use as late as 2004; Carmichael said it was "very common in a lot of applications."
Did TJX use DES? TJX has determined that its data was first accessed by an unauthorized intruder in July 2005, and DES was widely used in 2004, so it's imaginable that the company did.
Asymmetric cryptography gives part of a key to the data sender and part of the key to the data receiver. The receiver of data - for example, a bank that's receiving your bank account number or user name and PIN - can publish what's called the public part of the key to the whole world. The only thing that encrypts data, however, is the private part of the key. You as a bank customer can contact your bank using one part of the key, and the bank can match that up with its part of the key, thus having an encrypted session with two different keys.
This type of public/private key cryptography is used because key distribution is a major problem, Carmichael said. Shared keys have to be stored somewhere. They can be unsecure, no matter where they're kept.
Those who use public/private key cryptography have the private key stored in a "very special place," Carmichael said - a certificate server that's hardened and secured.
Did the TJX intruder stumble on a key stored with the encrypted data, a la shared-key cryptography, or did the intruder have access to a certificate server? The question is moot, given that the intruder figured out a way to take the data before it was encrypted, but the details of nabbing an encryption key will be instructive if we discover them as TJX's investigation continues.
And so that leaves us with asymmetric, aka public/private, key cryptography. Is it safe to consider that form of encryption a silver bullet? Definitely more so than shared-key encryption, but it's a bullet that can backfire.
Ted Julian, vice president of strategy for Application Security, said in an interview with eWEEK that the practical issue for customers contemplating encryption is that the technology always has performance overhead. This, in fact, is a common deal breaker, he said.
The reason for the performance hit is that so many applications use sensitive data as an index field. One example Julian offered was the formerly common practice of using a college student's Social Security number as a college ID number. To look up any information about a given student meant queries had to be run against that one index field, whether it was looking up grades or tuition payment records.
But given that that field contains a sensitive piece of data - a Social Security number - that index field is also the field an organization will eventually want to encrypt. Once that happens, Julian said, the system will be brought to its knees.
"I don't care if it's native encryption in an Oracle 10gR2 database or not," he said. "It will be untenable."
To change that scenario, you'd have to change all the applications so that they use a different index field. That's a lot of work. And there's no guarantee that that work won't break applications.
Another equally important issue with public/private key encryption has to do with architecture. The considerations range from how strong the keys are, to where they're stored, to who gets access. "Not that any of those require a roomful of rocket scientists to figure out, but it takes expertise, and you have to make sure you get it right," Julian said. "You have to test it in the lab, have to make sure it's working effectively, have to get involvement from multiple parts of the organization to make sure it's in line with security policy, - and so on - ."
Then again, there's the question of application impact. Applications that once handled data that only ran in the clear now have to handle ciphered data. That kind of load change can "quite possibly" break applications, Julian said. An application that wasn't expecting to get a large quantity of data back could easily suffer a buffer overflow.
"They'll slow down, but you don't know until you build a trial version and do tests in the lab," he said. "You use a simulated production environment, see how it's working and slowly roll out an application. It's a six- to 12-month process for sure."
And that time, Julian said, is only for one application. One that might break under the strain, to boot.
For those organizations trying to figure out whether to use encryption or how to avoid becoming another TJX - or both - there's hope. For a fraction of the time it would take to set up encryption, an organization could do far more for its security by doing a database vulnerability assessment and setting up active database monitoring, Julian said.
The assessment would include looking for default IDs and passwords that might still be present, for example, Julian said - a situation that's far from rare. It would also include looking for known vulnerabilities, patching them and hardening the databases against attack. Just there, Julian said, an organization can "make material improvements in a single day."
Monitoring database activity will alert an organization not only to people who are trying to attack a database but also to trusted individuals performing unwarranted actions. Even a DBA, for example, should never do a select-* on a credit card number column.
Those two steps - database assessing and monitoring - could "enormously improve the security posture of a database," Julian said, "and you haven't even started with crypto. You're still talking about it."
None of that apparently helped TJX. "Nothing's foolproof, to be clear, but in this case it sure appears that monitoring would work," Julian said. "You'd think 47.5 million credit cards would show up on your screen. If you were watching."
Yes, but timing ("near-term") is promising and the deal with Pfizer was consumated after the lawsuit was initiated.
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High-speed DNA fingerprinting
[March 5, 2007]
Criminals beware. A team of chemists from Cuba and Brazil has developed a novel automated method for producing DNA fingerprint profiles. This automated method is almost as accurate as a human DNA fingerprinting expert, but is a great deal faster.
DNA fingerprinting is a technique for identifying specific individuals from unique segments of their genome and is now so sensitive that it can work with tiny amounts of DNA extracted from bodily materials such as hair and saliva. As such, it is regularly used by police forces around the world, both in their current investigations and to provide new evidence in long unsolved or contentious cases.
Modern DNA fingerprinting techniques work by studying small segments of DNA known as short tandem repeats (STRs), which are non-coding DNA sequences (part of the so-called 'junk' DNA). As their name suggests, STRs consist of repeated sequences of between two and six DNA bases. These STRs appear at set points (known as loci) on the human genome, but the precise number of repeated sequences at each loci varies between different people and ranges from four to around 40.
While two people may have the same number of repeats at a single loci, the chances of them having the same number of repeats at numerous loci is astronomical. This pattern of repeated sequences can therefore act as a unique barcode (or fingerprint) for an individual.
In practice, DNA fingerprinting involves extracting the DNA from a bodily sample and amplifying the STRs at 13 loci using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). These amplified STRs are then separated by electrophoresis, with small STRs travelling faster than larger STRs, allowing the length of the STR at each loci to be ascertained.
Traditionally, gel electrophoresis has been used to separate the STRs, with each of the 13 STRs forming individual spots at different points across the gel. But this process is hugely time-consuming and requires a DNA fingerprinting expert to generate the profile, which involves detecting the 13 STR spots and assessing their length. It is therefore being superseded by capillary electrophoresis, which although more expensive is much faster and more automated. But now a team led by Isneri Talavera Bustamante from Cuba's Advanced Technology Application Center may have struck a blow for gel electrophoresis, by developing an automated method for detecting and assessing STR spots.
To do this, Bustamante and her team realised that they first had to discover the best way to characterise the spots for subsequent computer processing. Particularly as the gels used for DNA fingerprinting usually contain a variety of spots, only some of which represent STRs. So they came up with a list of 14 numerical descriptors, which included values for area, compactness and height-width ratio, and then applied these descriptors to sample gels containing a total of 638 spots.
They analysed the results from this study using both principal components analysis, which identifies those factors most responsible for the variation in a sample, and a decision tree, which can measure how well a specific attribute is able distinguish between different examples. Their aim was to find which of these 14 descriptors was best able to distinguish STR spots from non-STR spots.
Combining the findings from both analytical techniques, they identified six descriptors that proved most effective at distinguishing the STR spots. They then used these descriptors in conjunction with a classification algorithm known as support vector machine to develop a quick and easy method for identifying each of the 13 SPR dots on a gel. Finally, they developed a fairly simple process for automatically calculating the lengths of these STRs.
Comparing their automated system with a DNA fingerprinting expert, Bustamante and her team found that it was only slightly less accurate at generating profiles, achieving a success rate of 97%. But their automated system produced the profiles in a fraction of the time, taking 15 minutes rather than 20 days.
From the 10k:
The Company initiated licensing the technology underlying several of its patents and providing supporting services related to the application of such technology that is resulting in ongoing revenue. In addition, management has successfully negotiated agreements with its debt holders, which resulted in the deferral of cash payments on debt until September 2008. In late 2005, management instituted a cost reduction program whereby the salaries of company employees, including certain members of senior management, have been reduced or deferred. Based on these developments, management believes revenue generation will continue, additional licensing agreements will be obtained in the near-term, and non-revenue generating costs will be controlled.
OT: AMD moves to embrace PC management tools
by Cyril Kowaliski - 10:06 am, March 27, 2007
Following the expansion of its platform program to include offerings based on its new 690G chipset, AMD has moved to counter Intel's vPro business platform. AMD has released interoperability testing tools intended to speed up the adoption of the new Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware (DASH) open standard.
The DASH initiative was unveiled last Thursday by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), a Portland, Oregon-based standards group of which both Intel and AMD are members. According to the DMTF, DASH is based on its existing Web Services for Management spec and provides secure remote management for desktop and mobile client systems "independent of machine state, operating platform or vendor."
That sounds a lot like the Active Management Technology feature included in vPro systems, which allows administrators to manage systems regardless of their operating system or whether they're turned on or off. And that's no coincidence: in the DMTF's press release, Intel is quoted as saying, "Intel® vPro™ technology was originally designed to support a seamless transition to this new standard [DASH], and our 2007 product roadmap enables one of the industry's first DASH and WS-Management supported enterprise PCs through our next-generation Intel® vPro™ technology."
Nonetheless, AMD says it was a "major contributor" to the DASH specification and adds that it's releasing testing tools—code-named SIMFIRE—to vendors immediately in order to allow them to make compatible systems available more quickly. In fact, AMD says Broadcom is already showing off an AMD-based Dell OptiPlex 740 desktop system that can be managed via DASH at the ongoing Microsoft Management Summit.
Sorry if already posted. Renesas licenses ARM processor for low-cost mobile devices
21 March 2007
ARM announced at the 3GSM World Congress that Renesas Technology has licensed the ARM1176JZF-S processor for the development of advanced mobile/consumer electronics applications.
According to the company, ARM1176JZF-S will enable Renesas to deliver trusted technology to its customers for security, media acceleration and portability. In addition, it will improve the user experience for consumers using multimedia capabilities on devices including video streaming, music downloads and gaming. Renesas' new technology is said to answer OEM demand for technology that supports the next generation platform, which is poised to offer significantly higher bandwidth capabilities for dramatically faster downloads supported by a wide range of new services.
In addition, Renesas licensed the ARM PrimeCell Level-2 Cache Controller, with TrustZone technology, for a portable security solution compatible with different operating systems. Renesas will also be able to develop SoCs without encountering bus bottlenecks, as the ARM1176JZF-S processor and Level-2 Cache Controller are compliant with the ARM AMBA 3 AXI specification.
It is also a great lead-in to talk to sell them on Trusted Computing and government intitaives towards that end. This could be a pilot program in the works.
Pickle