Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest Issue No. 459
02-04-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Storm gathers over 'open' cloud movement | Skype gets mobile | High-skilled jobs going a-begging | SMEs flock to mobile broadband | Conficker worm quiet, but for how long?
Storm gathers over 'open' cloud movement
The so-called Open Cloud Manifesto, which is being spearheaded by IBM, was unveiled this week. Cisco, EMC, Sun and Novell are among the members of the group. The Open Cloud Manifesto website features a six-page document, or proposal, providing guideless for how cloud computing services should be implemented and designed. "This document is intended to initiate a conversation that will bring together the emerging cloud computing community (both cloud users and cloud providers) around a core set of principles," the manifesto states. The launch of the 'open' cloud computing strategy has been marred somewhat by the withdrawal of three major IT behemoths – Microsoft, Amazon and Google, who have all expressed their concerns about the openness of the strategy. Interestingly, the Cloud Computing Interoperability Forum has also pulled its support from the strategy, saying it couldn't "in good faith" support it. For its part IBM appears unfazed by the setback. "We are pleased about the number of vendors who have signed up. As regards Microsoft, we are still hopeful about working together on giving customers the flexibility they have come to expect from technology that is open," Karla Norsworthy, IBM's vice president of Software Standards, told BBC news.
Skype gets mobile
Skype made aggressive moves into the mobile realm this week, launching a long-awaited application for download onto Apple's iPhone. Most of Skype's original functionality, such as voice calls and instant messaging, feature; however, VoIP calls can only be made via Wi-Fi. Early reviews of Skype's iPhone service have been good, with Om Malik of the GigaOm blog calling it "awesome". Mobile users seem to agree with Malik; according to Skype, its free download is topping the iPhone's App Store charts in nine countries worldwide, including the US and UK. The move, which was announced Tuesday at the CTIA wireless event in Las Vegas, puts Skype more directly in competition for wireless voice services with network operators such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless, and is part of the company's strategic push toward mobile phones. Skype has already released a version of its software for the Android G1 phone, and announced plans to introduce a version for BlackBerry devices in May. Skype also plans to enter the corporate market soon.
High-skilled jobs going a-begging
It's a strange world out there: on the one hand we have growing dole queues and stories of professionals applying for jobs at McDonalds and Burger King, and on the other we have the School of Computer Science and Informatics (CSI) at UCD, which says it's finding it difficult to fill 33 high-calibre research vacancies. The school has turned to the media to try and drum up some interest in the vacancies: 23 PhD positions, eight post-doctoral roles and two research assistant posts. The school is hoping to reach out to graduates working in ICT-related industries who are thinking about coming back to college to upskill. Elsewhere, there was good news in the development of Ireland as a knowledge economy. E-payments giant PayPal announced plans to open a European Centre for Operational Excellence in Dublin, and create 35 highly-skilled jobs. The firm, a subsidiary of eBay, is to invest EUR15 million in the centre, which will be based in Blanchardstown, where PayPal currently employs around 900 staff. The e-payments firm has also designated the facility as its first regional centre of excellence and a model for international operations. Let's hope they have better luck than CSI finding staff to fill those 35 positions.
SMEs flock to mobile broadband
Mobile broadband is proving increasingly popular with the small- and medium-sized business sector, according to a survey conducted by O2 this week, which showed that 34 percent of senior SME managers are using the technology. Last year, in a similar O2 report, just 12 percent of SME managers said they used mobile broadband. At that stage, 35 percent of respondents said they were planning on signing up for mobile broadband soon. O2, Vodafone, Three Ireland and Meteor all offer mobile broadband services, with O2 claiming its mobile broadband customer count hit the 100,000 milestone last week. Vodafone passed the 100,000 figure in December 2008, when it announced it had 102,000 mobile broadband customers. Neither Vodafone nor O2 separate their figures into consumer and business. The O2 survey follows on from ComReg's quarterly report, which revealed that mobile broadband subscriptions totalled approximately 309,000 at the end of December, representing year-on-year growth of 142 percent.
Conficker worm quiet, but for how long?
The past week the wires were rife with chat about a dangerous variant of the infamous Conficker worm, with security experts warning that on April Fools' Day the, er, worm, would hit the fan. The Conficker worm is believed to have infected millions of computers around the world, and was programmed to try to contact its authors through internet servers on 1 April. As with all great build-ups though, the actual event is never quite what's been predicted. April Fools' Day has come and gone and while security firms reported some level of activity, the worm has, so far, not unleashed the chaos that had been expected. That's not to say it won't, however; computers infected with Conficker can be used to create a powerful botnet, which could be used for any number of actions from sending spam or other malware to mining for credit-card information. Security experts believe the Conficker authors will almost certainly use the botnet for these nefarious activities. "It is hard to imagine that the worm's authors would not take advantage of such a meticulously constructed botnet," said Juraj Malcho, head of ESET Virus Laboratory. His view echoes that of David Harley, Director of Malware Intelligence of the US branch of ESET. "It would be bizarre to put this much effort into a project and then not try to make some profit out of it," Harley said. So, the message is not to relax just yet. The Conficker threat could well materialise in some form, although for now, just what form it will take is still a mystery. In the meantime, computer users are being urged to protect their PCs by downloading Microsoft's security patches and updates (the worm only targets Windows-based machines).
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