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Scaling Up a Quantum Computer

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, CO, have demonstrated multiple computing operations on quantum bits--a crucial step toward building a practical quantum computer. Quantum computers have the potential to perform calculations far faster than the classical computers used today. This superior computing power comes from the fact that these computers use quantum bits, or qubits, which can represent both a 1 and a 0 at the same time, in contrast to classical bits that can represent only a 1 or a 0. Scientists take a number of different approaches to creating qubits. At NIST, the researchers use beryllium ions stored within so-called ion traps. Lasers are used to control the ions’ electronic states, depending on the frequency to which the laser light is tuned. The electronic states of the ions and their interactions determine the quantum operations that the machine performs.

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first published week of:   08/17/2009

Scammers customize news to deliver you malware

Security experts warned on March 16 of a new insidious e-mail scam that features false information about a bomb explosion in the recipient’s hometown and leads to a malicious Web site. The subject lines include “Take Care!” and “Are you and your friends in good health?” The e-mail includes a link to what looks like a news article on a Reuters page about the bombing. But the Web page and the news are fake, according to e-mail security provider Marshal and antivirus firm Sophos. The scammers are using IP address geolocation techniques to figure out what city the recipient lives in and are localizing the fake bomb news to that location. Meanwhile, clicking on the fake Reuters video page leads to malicious Waledac code being downloaded on the computer, the security firms said.

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first published week of:   03/23/2009

Schwarzenegger's Chief of Staff Wins IT Award

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, won the IT Champion accolade at the CIO Academy Awards in Sacramento, Calif., Feb. 26. Kennedy joked about her ignorance of the technical details of IT, but she was instrumental in making state IT a major agenda item for Schwarzenegger, according to Teri Takai, CIO of California.

“You are all beneficiaries of what she did behind the scenes,” Takai told the audience of state IT employees.

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first published week of:   03/02/2009

Security Suites: PC Mag's Best for 2009

The list of available 2009-model security suites is now essentially complete. A running theme in this year’s suites is the promise that these new versions will do more for your security while tying up fewer system resources. It’s about time: Users have had it with suites that offer security but bog down the computer. Several vendors have introduced new “in the cloud” technologies to keep up with the accelerating growth of new malware. And many have redesigned their user interfaces to be more attractive and look lighter and faster. Some are new, innovative, and speedy. Others haven’t kept pace. Which are which? I put them all through grueling tests to find out.

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first published week of:   02/09/2009

Security worries continue to dog cloud vendors

Worries over security are severely hampering the adoption of cloud computing services, according a recent analyst report. Research firm Forrester said that a recent survey revealed that roughly half of all companies, from small businesses to large enterprises, cited security worries as the primary reason for not adopting cloud services. Security concerns have long been one of the biggest issues with cloud services. The enterprise and government sectors have both expressed concerns about putting corporate data in the hands of third parties and remotely accessed systems, while security experts have made cloud security a hot topic. The cloud security sector itself has also grown as vendors seek to offer services and best practice guidelines to help improve data security on cloud platforms. The Forrester study was performed as part of the firm’ s larger report on the state of emerging business hardware. Analysts noted that, while cloud adoption is being hampered, technologies such as virtualization and energy management are seeing healthy growth and giving hope for an economic rebound in the IT space as a whole in the coming year.

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first published week of:   12/14/2009

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Volume 31

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