IBM

IBM is joining forces with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to protect the nation's civilian aviation system from the ever-growing threat of cyberattacks. They are working on building a prototype security system capable of protecting the vast amount of information flowing daily through the FAA's computer networks.

This project will introduce first-of-a-kind security analytics technology, said Josyula Rao, senior manager, secure software and services, at IBM's Watson Research Center. Rao is the research leader on the research and development project.

"This project could play an important role in addressing the growing cybersecurity threat -- threats that are constantly on the rise," Rao told TechNewsWorld.
New Approach to Protecting Data

The analytics technology is a new approach to protecting large digital infrastructures from hacking, botnets, malware and a whole host of other forms of cyberattacks. It is designed to protect both data at rest, that is, computer files that are not often updated, and data in motion -- files that move rapidly throughout the system, Rao explained.

There is not usually enough storage space available in such a large computer network to analyze the data in motion. "It's like drinking out of a fire hose," Rao said. "You need to have the ability to process it without storing it."

With data at rest, the goal is to learn from it, Rao said. Therefore, the system is designed to look back at event occurrences and system compromises. It will also be able to correlate historical traffic patterns with dynamic data from monitors, sensors and other devices capturing information about network traffic and user activity in real-time.

The FAA will also be able to store real-time results in a data warehouse, Rao said. This will allow for security experts to go back and analyze the data and learn from it.

Server Predictions for 2010

Although the enterprise Click to learn how AT&T Application Management can help you focus on the growth and profitability of your business. server market has been among the hardest hit by the suffering economy, there is reason to be hopeful as 2009 draws to a close. I'd like to take a moment to share eight predictions of what we can look forward to in 2010 -- trends that have the potential to dramatically change the enterprise in the years to come.

1. The Customer Really Is Always Right

As budgets tightened, C-level executives were forced to make hard decisions to survive, shifting their business models to meet what customers needed. In the year to come, they must remain open to this model. Great innovation is often spurred by client demand -- doing proof of concept prototypes and applying what we've learned, such as IBM's (NYSE: IBM) experience creating Blue Gene.

Working with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, IBM sought to create a complete solution, not simply a new chip or server, but an entirely new architecture designed to simulate physical phenomena of national interest -- such as aging of materials, fires and explosions -- that required computational capability much great than anything available.

These types of partnerships continue to push the envelope in terms of how much data can be stored and how quickly systems can scale, enabling the industry to bring supercomputing power to the masses by adapting these systems for commercial applications such as simulations and modeling, data mining or business intelligence.