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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 08, 2004 IBM Sells PC Unit to Chinese Company IT Leaders Urge Increased Cybersecurity IM, P2P Threat-Detection Network Launched Air Force Merges Three Tech Offices Intel Reveals Plans for 2005 Online University Sued in Pennsylvania IBM SELLS PC UNIT TO CHINESE COMPANY Following news reports (see Edupage, December 3) on the possibility, IBM has agreed to sell its personal computer unit to China's largest PC maker, Lenovo, for $1.75 billion in cash, stock, and debt. IBM will assume a 18.9 percent stake in Lenovo. The IBM PC business will continue to be run by its current management team and be based in the United States. Although based in Beijing, Lenovo plans to establish headquarters in New York. IBM will continue to handle technical support, financing, and warranty coverage for its former PC division. New York Times, 8 December 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/08/technology/08computer.html IT LEADERS URGE INCREASED CYBERSECURITY The Cyber Security Industry Alliance urged the Bush administration to increase efforts to protect U.S. computer and Internet infrastructure, proposing that the national cybersecurity director position be elevated to the assistant secretary level. The alliance is an industry advocacy group for companies that sell cybersecurity services, hardware, and software. The alliance's proposals reflect those in a report issued by the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, part of the Committee on Homeland Security. The most recent congressional move to raise the profile of cybersecurity within the Department of Homeland Security failed when language in support of that change was stripped from legislation designed to overhaul the nation's intelligence community. Washington Post, 8 December 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45622-2004Dec7.html IM, P2P THREAT-DETECTION NETWORK LAUNCHED IMlogic with McAfee Inc., Sybari Software, Yahoo, America Online, and Microsoft, among others, launched an instant messaging (IM) threat center clearinghouse to stop IM viruses, malicious software code, and spam before they occur, according to an announcement by IMlogic. The IMlogic Threat Center provides a central location for detecting and analyzing IM and peer-to-peer threats. It also plans to alert IM users of threats and help protect against them. The center will include a knowledge base of threats and use honeypots to detect IM and P2P threats. PCWorld, 7 December 2004 http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,118851,00.asp AIR FORCE MERGES THREE TECH OFFICES Air Force Secretary James Roche announced plans to merge three technology offices at Air Force headquarters and the Pentagon into one organization called Networks and Warfighting Integration. A lieutenant general will become director of the new organization and also serve as the Air Force CIO. A senior civilian executive will serve as deputy. The implementation plan for the merger is expected to go to Roche in January 2005. Federal Computer Week, 7 December 2004 http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/1206/web-airmerge-12-07-04.asp INTEL REVEALS PLANS FOR 2005 Intel executives discussing the company with financial analysts December 7 announced plans to focus on products for the digital home and digital office in 2005. Intel President and COO Paul Otellini assured the audience that Intel learned from problems in 2004 and plans to give CIOs and other customers what they want to see in Intel products, focusing on manageability and lower power consumption in addition to performance. Intel plans to design and market its desktop processor in platforms, similar to its handling of the Centrino platform, with Pentium 4 processors having 2 Mbytes of cache and 64-bit extensions to the x86 instruction set. InfoWorld, 7 December 2004 http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/12/07/HNintel2005desktop_1.html ONLINE UNIVERSITY SUED IN PENNSYLVANIA Kathryn Silcox, deputy attorney general in Pennsylvania, has brought a civil lawsuit against Trinity Southern University, an online university based in Plano, Texas, alleging consumer fraud and illegal e-mail marketing. Silcox brought the suit after her cat received an MBA from the online university. Silcox became involved after Microsoft contacted attorneys general in different states regarding spam messages. She filled out the university's requested self-evaluation and applied for a $299 bachelor's degree using the cat's name. The life experience noted on the form was sufficient not only for a bachelor's degree but also an MBA for an additional $100, according to the university. Silcox paid $99 for a copy of the transcript, which indicated that her cat had taken four semesters' worth of business classes. Chronicle of Higher Education, 8 December 2004 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2004/12/2004120805n.htm ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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