SAN MATEO (02/11/2000) - Clinton to hold meeting over DoS attacksPresident Clinton, Chief of Staff John Podesta, and other senior government officials plan to meet Tuesday with representatives from several Internet and e-commerce companies, network manufacturers, and ISPs to discuss last week's DoS (denial of service) attacks on leading Web sites. The White House hopes to gather information on security issues and threats facing e-commerce players, according to a White House spokeswoman. The U.S. National Security Council is organizing the meeting. Representatives from companies including eBay, Yahoo, IBM, Microsoft, and Cisco Systems have been invited, according to published reports. Separately last week, both Stanford University and the University of California at Santa Barbara confirmed that compromised university servers were used in some attacks. Stanford's Hopkins Marine station network was tricked into sending ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) packets to eBay, causing eBay's crash, said Stephen Hansen, a computer security officer at Stanford.
UCSB's unwitting attack targeted CNN, according to officials. Although the FBI is investigating the attacks, the U.S. Department of Justice dispelled the notion that subpoenas have been served to individuals at these universities.
IBM inks expansive CRM pact with Siebel
IBM signed a global deal with Siebel Systems last week to deploy its CRM (customer relationship management)-focused sales, marketing, and customer service software with Big Blue's more than 55,000 employees, 30,000 business partners, and millions of customers via the Web. The agreement specifies that IBM will use Siebel eBusiness Applications across a multichannel customer-facing infrastructure for field sales and service, marketing and call center staff, Web sites, and business partners -- all feeding into a comprehensive customer information system, IBM officials said. No figure was given for the value of the contract, but officials called it the company's largest ever.
Cabletron splits into four companies
Cabletron Systems last week announced plans to split into four independent operating companies, each focusing on a specific high-growth area of the communications market. The companies are Riverstone Networks, which will focus on the service provider market; Enterasys Networks, which will focus on enterprise solutions; Global Network Technology Services, which will provide networking, consulting, and professional services for enterprises and service providers; and Aprisma Management Technologies, which will develop network management software.
WRQ snaps up EAI vendor SuperNova
Setting its sights on a future in EAI (enterprise application integration), WRQ has acquired SuperNova, a supplier of prebuilt EAI connections and components.
The WRQ Apptrieve object-oriented offering for legacy host-to-Web application development will complement the SuperNova suite of Adapters and Connectors based on the Universal Integration Engine (UIE), WRQ officials said.
Sun to reveal microelectronics strategy
Sun Microsystems plans to relaunch its microelectronics division next week with a new strategy the company is calling "Build for the Dot.com age." Sun plans to announce a new OEM initiative involving telecom and service providers, as well as a product release related to the company's back-end Web server hardware.