sql

Microsoft has cut the price of leasing software by as much as 25 percent.

Companies can sign up for discounts on SQL Server, SharePoint, and other Microsoft software, or two bundles of client-access licenses, according to notices posted on the Microsoft Incentives Web site.

One special promotion is "Simplify and Save," which offers savings of 15 percent for those who consolidate at least two existing license agreements into an Open Value agreement. Microsoft said the discount will run for the entire length of a three-year license deal.

Another offer is for between 15 percent and 25 percent off … Read more

There are lots of reasons to love MySQL, the leading open-source database that Sun bought in 2008: it's inexpensive, perfect for Web applications (among other things), and boasts high performance.

According to Brian Aker, a principal engineer at Sun Microsystems, however, the real secret to MySQL's success is ease of use:

The thing that MySQL brought to the table when it came out was the ease of use and the ease of installation. MySQL came out in an era where comparable products were really complex and required a lot of knowledge to be able to use and install. … Read more

An independent audit of a data breach at security firm Kaspersky's U.S. Web site has confirmed that no customer data was exposed, Kaspersky said on Friday.

A Romanian hacker site used a SQL injection and cross-site scripting attack to get access to a database on a Web site of the Moscow-based Kaspersky and publicized the attack on Saturday.

Kaspersky announced on Monday that it would hire database security expert David Litchfield to analyze the breach.

In the report, Litchfield concludes that an attacker based in Romania used Google to search for Web servers owned by Kaspersky running applications … Read more

Helsinki-based security firm F-Secure said on Thursday that a breach of its Web site earlier in the week by a Romanian hacker site was limited in scope and impact.

On Wednesday the HackersBlog site said it had used a SQL injection and cross-site scripting attack to get access to data on an F-Secure Web site. Earlier, the site had launched similar attacks on a site of security firm Kaspersky and one belonging to a partner of BitDefender.

F-Secure said the problem with its site was due to a bug in a Web application and not related to an unpatched system.… Read more

I don't have any scientific proof of this, but it strikes me that open-source CEOs are different. Not just because some sport ponytails (Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz), or some speak with a light Southern drawl (Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst), or even that some swear in Italian (Funambol CEO Fabrizio Capobianco).

No, what really makes them different, at least as compared to their enterprise software counterparts, is their cutting-edge adoption of technology.

In this they're no different (and probably a bit behind) the Web 2.0 crowd, but compared to an HP, IBM, or SAP CEO, the CEOs … Read more

A Romanian hacker site said on Wednesday it was able to breach the Web site of Helsinki-based security firm F-Secure just as it had gained access to the sites of two other security companies earlier in the week.

F-Secure is "vulnerable to SQL Injection plus Cross Site Scripting," an entry on the HackersBlog site said. "Fortunately, F-Secure doesn't leak sensitive data, just some statistics regarding past virus activity."

An F-Secure spokesman said the company had taken the affected server down and that it was a low-level server that was not critical to the company and … Read more

There was a time when Java was the darling of the technology industry. It had everything going for it--technically advanced, relatively easy to use, and it held the magical promise of "write-once, run-anywhere."

But, over the last two years or so (seemingly ever since Sun changed it's stock ticker to JAVA), the language has become boring and moribund. Not that programming languages are such a thrill ride, but Java had a level of panache well beyond the norm.

Somehow Java has become really boring. People don't even argue about it anymore. Once thriving sites like TheServerSide don't have the excitement or vitriol that they did in the past. Based on some quick interviews I did, Java guys are all over the map as to why the excitement is gone, running the gamut from JSR bureaucracy, to the focus on things like JavaFX, to the changes in Java EE 6 that most developers didn't ask for and do nothing to support new paradigms like Web apps or cloud computing.

Sun has effectively lost the battle for the cloud to virtualization, which boggles the mind considering the enormous arsenal of servers, storage, and software that Sun has at its disposal to create a differentiated cloud offering for all of the enterprise Java shops. I remain of the opinion that Java should be the dominant platform for the cloud. … Read more

Microsoft on Tuesday released security updates that fix four critical vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer and Exchange Server that could allow an attacker to take control of an affected computer remotely.

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-002 plugs two critical holes in IE that could allow remote code execution if an IE user views a Web page that has malicious code, according to Microsoft's notification.

"Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights," … Read more

Updated 3:10 p.m. PST with comment from BitDefender.

Moscow-based security firm Kaspersky has hired a security expert to investigate the weekend breach of its U.S. site, the company said Monday.

Meanwhile, the hacker site claiming credit for the breach said on Monday that it had done the same compromise on the Portuguese Web site of antivirus provider BitDefender.

In a statement, BitDefender said an unnamed partner site was compromised and that the company was investigating the incident to help the partner prevent it from happening again. "This was an unfortunate event and while we sympathize with … Read more