Cameron Sturdevant

While I agree in theory with the recent eWeek editorial, “Its Time to Abandon Insecure Languages,” I think IT managers will have to do something about insecure Web sites, applications and network infrastructure before ISVs and code jockeys finally decide to produce applications and devices that are designed with security in mind. My recommendation, based […]

Protocol analyzers are well-known—and, for the most part, well-understood—tools that are part of every network administrators virtual toolbox. Whats interesting about these tools today is the extent to which they are taking on new capabilities, both to distinguish themselves from one another and because playing around with packet-sniffing technology is just too tempting for developers. […]

Intel has drawn a line in the sand with the release of its Intel Pro 500 Wireless Access Point for 802.11b and 802.11a. This is the first product Ive seen that unites 802.11b 2.4GHz technology with 802.11as much higher bandwidth (theoretically, 54M bps vs. 11M bps for 802.11b) in the same device. Available now, the […]

IT managers who need accurate application performance tracking to search for possible problems quickly should consider using Compuware Corp.s newly revised and re-branded Vantage 8.0 suite. Made up of a variety of products formerly known as Interval Pro, EcoScope and EcoTools, among others, Vantage 8.0 aptly correlated network, system and application performance during tests at […]

Network and system administrators should go to the local bookstore and buy two copies of “Hacking Exposed: Network Security Secrets & Solutions,” one for themselves and one for their chief technology officer. This book, co-authored by Stuart McClure, Joel Scambray and George Kurtz, is a great practical guide for administrators and an eminently readable exposé […]

I can sum up my trip to the recent Distributed Management Task Force developers conference as a call: Kill all management agents. And the task force just might do that, if it can get some of the lead out of its pants. As I see it, the member organizations of the DMTF–always a pokey group […]

Vector Networks Ltd. has refreshed its PC management system by adding configuration-mending capabilities and calling the new offering PC-Duo Enterprise 1.2. This product is well worth consideration in environments that are LAN-connected but isnt that good a choice for managing machines that are connected via bandwidth-constrained, dial-up lines. For IT managers charged with maintaining end-user […]

Adivergence is coming in vendors approaches to desktop management, and IT managers should closely examine the maturing products that can significantly reduce support costs at the desktop. On one side are suites. On the other side are single-purpose tools. Straddling the middle is Vector Networks Ltd.s PC-Duo (see review, above). Not long ago, when a […]

Bardon Provides Full Control of Windows”> Full control internet 1.0 from Bardon Data Systems Inc. provides nearly all-encompassing control over PCs running the gamut of Windows systems, and this iteration of the product does it over IP. This means that IT managers who need ultimate control over Windows 9xs weak log-in and what applications can […]

IT managers can and should demand cleaner code, and technology vendors can and should meet that demand. Vendors should also pay much closer attention to the effects—especially over time—of patches they release to reduce the possibility of collateral damage. But thats not going to happen tomorrow. Meanwhile, IT administrators have at their disposal several tools—some […]