The unique whitelisting technology by leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions Kaspersky Lab has passed its first, independent testing by a third party research institution, affirming its capabilities in improving security.

The successful test of Kaspersky Lab’s whitelisting technology also earned it the West Coast Labs Platinum Product Award after receiving an overall result of 94% for corporate software and 93% for consumer software.

Parameters in the testing process included 1) coverage of clean software (the number of legitimate programs Kaspersky Lab knows about); 2) the completeness of the database (the quantity and quality of data on all files); 3) the speed of a response to an inquiry; 4) the correctness of information supplied from the database; 5) database update speed; 6) data processing speed; and 7) the number of false positives/negatives.

Other functions and services that come as part of the whole whitelisting package were also tested. These include adequacy of the information contained in the database to enable a full-fledged “default deny” regime was also analyzed. “Default deny” scenario is when the software security is preventing any program from being run that is not clearly legitimate or appropriate and is thus allowed. It is more secure form of protection than the more widely-used “default allow” scenario when all programs are allowed apart from known malicious and inappropriate.

Kaspersky Lab’s whitelisting technology utilizes an online community of Kaspersky users who can provide appropriate information regarding the legitimacy of installed software. Kaspersky’s online ecosystem builds the list of all these legitimate applications and spreads them to other users who would know if their installed software is secure.

Whitelisting also minimizes “false positives” where legitimate software are banned because of some strange behavior, such as software updates. The goal is to give legitimate software clean bill of health to lessen the need for them to be scanned thoroughly.

Corporate entities, in particular, would benefit from having a whitelisting technology to minimize system requirements needed to secure their IT infrastructure.

After the results came out, Vladimir Zapolyansky, Head of Independent Software Vendor Relationships at Kaspersky Lab, says that the West Coast Labs’ seal of approval validated the company’s goals of creating the best security software in the market. Kaspersky Lab’s whitelisting technology also creates a new model of protection against ever-increasing threats.

“We are confident in our approach to whitelisting, and were not afraid to have our technology tested, unlike some of our competitors. Now, both existing and potential users of our solutions who may be curious about the true worth of whitelisting and Application Control technologies have access to this detailed analysis of the operation of Kaspersky Lab’s database of legitimate software – analysis that objectively proves its effectiveness,” according to Zapolyansky.

For further information about the company, visit http://www.kaspersky.com

January 24, 2012

Designed to set a new standard in IT friendliness, the Intermec PF8 provides a compact, easy-to-use bar code printing solution that dramatically simplifies deployment and support. Its quiet, reliable operation and intuitive design makes the PF8 the right fit for light duty labeling applications in transportation/courier, healthcare, in-store retail and office environments.

Available in thermal transfer (PF8t) and direct thermal (PF8d) print technology models, the PF8 is packed with features that simplify deployment and reduce the need for IT support. In particular, the PF8 now includes Intermec PrintSet, a robust configuration tool that has long proven its value across the Intermec industrial printer line. PrintSet provides an easy tool for configuring printer and network settings, downloading fonts and graphics, and upgrading firmware, saving time for both set-up and ongoing maintenance.

The PF8 printers include flexible, industry standard connectivity – including parallel, serial, USB and optional internal Ethernet – enabling easy, drop-in installation in networked environments. With their compact size, common media specifications, and ESIM printer language, the PF8 printers provide an easy migration path from legacy Intermec printers such as the PC4, as well as from other desktop printers using the EPL printer language.

The PF8 printer series features Connect to Print, an all-inclusive package of software, drivers and cables for printer set-up, and a unique design for one-step, drop-in supply loading and tool-free replacement of print heads. The PF8t has the largest ribbon capacity in its class, meaning less time spent replacing ribbons. Both printers benefit from a 32-bit RISC processor enabling the printers to quickly handle graphic-intensive label formats.

PF8 printers come complete with LabelShop® START, Intermec’s label design software, and InterDriver™ Windows™ Driver, enabling users to easily print bar code labels from Windows applications, including Microsoft® Office™ and other prevalent programs. In addition, Intermec Media now offers up to
fifteen take-from-stock label types pre-qualified for use on the PF8 printers.

Both the PF8d and the PF8t versions support a wide variety of 1D and 2D symbologies, including DataMatrix and QR codes. The PF8t is available with either 203 or 300 dots-per-inch resolution print heads.

PF8 is ideal for customers who are new to label printing or who are making the switch from laser or inkjet printers, the easy-to-use PF8 reduces training needs and trouble tickets. Its double-wall clamshell construction is durable and makes media loading (and reloading) intuitive and virtually trouble-free. Users can depend on the PF8 to consistently deliver reliable, high quality bar code output.

Intermec products are distributed in the Philippines by MSI-ECS. For product information, pricing and availability, contact 688-3181 or email ezurbano@msi-ecs.com.ph.

SAN FRANCISCO – Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has announced that the crowd-sourced encyclopedia will be going dark on Wednesday in protest of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) legislation.

Wales has advised students to “do their homework now” to avoid the downtime, but that’s not your only option. If you really must do research tomorrow, here are five Wikipedia alternatives to keep you covered.

Encyclopedia Britannica Online
Remember regular encyclopedias? Britannica, formerly the most referenced encyclopedia on earth, offers up expert summaries of a wide range of topics online. Though it’s been overshadowed by Wikipedia’s crowd-sourced approach in recent years, Encyclopedia Britannica is still one of the most respected reference works in the world.

Scholarpedia
Scholarpedia uses the same software as Wikipedia, MediaWiki, but keeps the philosophy of a more traditional encyclopedia. Scholarpedia is written only by experts and as a result has less breadth but more depth than Wikipedia. Articles on Scholarpedia are better sourced and more stable than the average article on Wikipedia.

Infoplease
Infoplease started as a quiz show back in the 1930′s before evolving into a yearly almanac. Now it’s a huge online encyclopedia managed by educational publisher Pearson Education. Infoplease’s main advanatage over Wikipedia is that it has a much larger selection of multimedia entries and tools.

Citizendium
Citizendium aims for a comfortable middle ground between the “anything goes” world of Wikipedia editing and the more formal inclusion process of traditional encyclopedias. Citizendium does allow for contributions from the public at large, but contributors must use their real names and conform to the site’s rules and regulations or they will be banned from editing in the future.

The Free Dictionary Encyclopedia
If you’ve ever Googled for the definition of a word, you’ve probably run across Free Dictionary. In addition to dictionary functionality, the Website also offers an encyclopedia section with much longer explanations of over 100,000 people, places, and things.

If you can’t accept a substitute for the real Wikipedia–and you have some prep time–you might consider downloading Wikipedia’s offline archives. Wikipedia offers a 1.7GB archive of the entire Website that you can download and consult when the site is down.

FRAMINGHAM – Speculation is swirling that Facebook is getting ready to announce a way to combine information on what users do on, and off, the social network.

News reports began surfacing that Facebook planned a press conference for Wednesday evening in San Francisco. Last fall, the social network announced that it was working on what it called Open Graph applications, designed to enable people to share on http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9157638/Facebook_Complete_coverage what they are doing elsewhere online.

The applications began rolling out over the past few months to Web sites like the Washington Post and Hulu, according to a report Tuesday from All Things D.

The applications are expected to enable users to share what they’re doing on other Web sites – listening to music, reading an article or watching a video – with their Facebook friends. They also may be able to invite their friends to join them, according to All Things D.

Facebook declined to comment on what Wednesday’s news will entail.

“I think this falls under the ‘this is the kind of thing you will like if you like this kind of thing,’ ” said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research. “I believe, however, that part of Facebook’s user base will shut off all permissions in response to this reduction in privacy. Of course, all they’re doing is providing the enabling technology, but I don’t think it’s a net win for them.”

He added that he doesn’t think most of Facebook’s users will want to share this much information.

“It assumes that you want all your friends, close and distant, to know what you read, where you shop, what songs you listen to,” said Gottheil. “I think Facebook has expanded far beyond its 20-something core, and most older people will be put off … There has been resistance to Facebook’s other incursions on privacy. To me, it is one of the recurring reminders that with respect to my desire for control over what I share with others, Facebook either does not get it or does not care.”

Last November, Facebook took a very public privacy hit when it settled charges by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission the social network deceived users and shared information that it had promised would be kept private.

Industry watchers are waiting to see how Facebook handles the privacy issues that will surround the Open Graph applications.

AMA Education System (AMAES), Asia’s pioneer and largest network of universities and colleges, has announced that it has improved its student administration system and business operations with the successful deployment of Oracle’s PeopleSoft Campus Solutions.

With PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, AMAES improves higher education through enhanced access to information and more efficient management of the processes that facilitate teaching, learning and research. PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, the world’s leading student system and alumni development solution for higher education, manages AMAES’ full student administration processes – including prospect management, admissions, student records, enrollment, curriculum, advisement, transfer credit, student financials, financial aid, graduation and alumni relations.

The solutions provide a web-based, flexible and robust system which enables the institution to easily implement new rules, consolidate high volumes of real-time branch reports and streamline infrastructure and system maintenance.

With the previous system, AMAES experienced complicated and slow consolidation of voluminous reports from different local or international departments and branches.  With PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, AMAES now manages data in an integrated system and thus simplifies the school’s processes while maximizing resources and reducing costs.

AMAES has deployed PeopleSoft Campus Solutions at the AMA Computer University and in the 11 trimestral campuses of AMA Computer College.  The organization will also implement the application suite across the rest of AMAES entities – more than 200 campuses worldwide – including AMA Computer Learning Center (ACLC), AMA International Institute of Technology (AIIT), ABE Colleges, AMA School of Medicine and AMA International Aviation Academy.

AMAES deployed these key modules: PeopleSoft Recruiting and Admissions, PeopleSoft Student Records, PeopleSoft Academic Advisement, PeopleSoft Gradebook, PeopleSoft Student Financials, PeopleSoft Student Financial Aid, PeopleSoft Contributor Relations, PeopleSoft Campus Self Service, and PeopleSoft Student Administration Integration Pack.

SAN FRANCISCO – Reader Steve Paulson finds that old and new iOS devices don’t always mix in pleasing ways. He writes:

I have a second-generation iPod touch. Several others in my home have 4G iPod touches. When apps are updated, my iPod is often obsolete–an app that once worked fine on my iPod is replaced by a version that now only works with the new iPods. Is there a way I can access the older files I know are still on my computer to add to my iPod and leave the newer ones for them?

I don’t know that I’ve ever read a more compelling case for creating another iTunes library. Your ointment is so fly-ridden because you’re trying to manage too many devices from a single library. As you’ve noticed, when you update your and others’ apps via iTunes, never versions that aren’t compatible with your iPod replace the older versions that are. And when someone else using the library with a newer iPod updates their apps on the iPod and then syncs it back to iTunes, iTunes transfers those newer versions from the updated iPod and the older versions are biffed into the trash.

So, clumsy though it may be, you need to create an iTunes library that is just yours. You can do this by quitting iTunes, launching it again while holding down the Option key, and then choosing to create a new library.

When you do this you’ll begin with an empty iTunes library. You’ll then need to add to that library any files that you want to sync with your iPod touch–this includes not only apps but also media files. You can do that by dragging the files into the media area of iTunes’ Source list. If you don’t want to create a second copy of these items, open iTunes’ preferences, click the Advanced tab, and disable the Copy Files to iTunes Media Folder When Adding to Library option.

As for updating your apps, I’d suggest doing it from the iPod touch as it won’t download incompatible updates. If you do choose to do it via iTunes, I’d suggest taking a long look at my Automator work-around for saving copies of old apps.
When others in your household need to use the original iTunes library, simply quit iTunes, relaunch it while holding down the Option key, click the Choose Library button, and navigate to the old library.

SAN FRANCISCO – If you’re looking for a simple, easy-to-use, archiving program that supports all the major formats (Zip, 7Zip, Rar, etc.) plus some you’ll likely never need, then Peazip is definitely a program you should be looking at. The interface is clean and the program works well, however, it’s a bit on the slow side.

Peazip has improved its performance a bit since the last time I gave it a whirl. Previously it lagged badly, this time not as badly, but my standby WinRAR remains much faster. PeaZip also underreported its progress on a multipart 1.5GB RAR file that I tested it with. If it had indeed taken the two minutes the progress bar indicated it might take, I would’ve ditched it again. It took only 45 seconds.

Other formats supported by PeaZip 4.2 are: ACE, ARC/WRC, ARJ, BZ2, CAB, CPIO, GZ, ISO, IDF, LHA, LZH PAQ, QUAD/BALZ, TAR, ZIPX, Z, various Linux packages, and Mac DMG and HFS. That’s hefty list indeed, and if you’d heard of all of them, you’re one up on me.

I do have two other minor nits with Peazip. The first is that when you right-click, Peazip operations are only available on a sub-menu. Archiving is one of my major right-click tasks and I’d prefer the ability to place Peazip options directly on the root menu. Also, the only way to browse the network seems to be with Open/Open Path–the network isn’t directly available in a browser window.

Installing Peazip is easy, but it is the first program I’ve seen that asked to install Internet Explorer 9–at least the first time. When I installed it on a second PC, it wanted to install the AOL toolbar. To avoid installing anything extra, choose the custom installation and deselect whatever it offers you. To set context menu entries and file associations, you run the same wizard that’s used during the install process. It’s found under System Integration in the tools menu.

Peazip has a nice interface and I love the wide file support. For a freebie, it’s great, though it would be greater if it were faster.

Note: In addition to the 32-bit and 64-bit editions, PeaZip is also available in a portable edition that requires no installation and can be run from a flash drive. Both editions are free, but the authors accept donations.