Shammi Gill

Living in the heart of silicon valley, I have seen the rise and fall of the dot-coms firsthand. In their heyday, the job market was an employees fantasy come true—opportunities included positions with everything from startups to companies that were long-standing icons of the computer industry. People were taking the best offers, and stock options […]

The much-anticipated gold code of Microsoft Corp.s Small Business Server 2000 comprises a solid suite of products for small- to midsize businesses at an affordable price. eWeek Labs tests showed that SBS 2000 gold, released last month for $1,499, is a good choice for startups and those installing a computer environment for the first time […]

Businesses expanding their networks to add VPNs using WatchGuard Technologies Inc.s firewall appliances, including those for the SOHO (small office/home office) market, will find that the latest version of WatchGuard VPN Manager eases the process of making and managing virtual private network connections. This does not bode well for widespread use of the software, however, […]

Companies that believe their networks can be completely protected by a phalanx of add-on security products may be in for a rude awakening. Underlying vulnerabilities, embedded and unseen many layers down in network infrastructures, may be unwitting invitations to even moderately skilled attackers. Security auditing companies can give a company expert analysis of obscure but […]

The three security auditing companies that signed on for this eValuation—Guardent Inc., PricewaterhouseCoopers and SystemExperts Corp.—faced a tough challenge: to lock down the network of a Corporate Partner at a federal agency (who asked not to be named). This network, which is not described in great detail because of the Corporate Partners security concerns, included […]

If nothing else, the emergence of the Anna Kournikova virus that wreaked havoc on so many computers earlier this month may make small to midsize companies consider buying an anti-virus appliance to provide extra security at the perimeter of their networks. One hardware/software combo worth considering is the McAfee WebShield e50. Released by Network Associates […]

In the future, only ignorant companies will keep their IT security teams completely in-house. And those ignorant companies will become the first to collapse under a variety of malicious computer attacks. I cant blame them, though. The alternative is to go with consultants, and they bring their own problems to the table. Heres whats wrong […]

Web-based collaboration tools that address the specific needs of far-flung project teams are starting to hit the market. eWeek Labs tests of three showed that these products can streamline setup, ease communications and shorten the life cycle of projects in an online workplace—as long as organizations get the right tools for their jobs. We tested […]

Telemate.net Software Inc.s NetSpective 4.7 allows companies to extract data from an array of network sources, enabling them to monitor, analyze and manage both employee Internet use and overall network security. Its wide support for security appliances makes it a good monitoring choice for heterogeneous environments. NetSpective 4.7 is on the expensive side; the WorkGroup […]

With the holiday shopping season in full swing, e-tailers hope to reach record numbers in sales. The question is, are e-businesses prepared? E-commerce businesses of the past primarily consisted of dot-coms that were created from an idea without a clear business plan, backed by venture capital and strong stock market revenue. Many in this new […]