McAfee improves network security

As the cat-and-mouse game between IT administrators and digital miscreants has intensified over the last decade, the market for protecting data networks has swelled to a $12 billion industry, according to tech analysis firm IDC, reports Forbes.

Now network security's growing money stream is giving rise to another sort of conflict: a turf war between companies that sell security and those that sell networks.

Security vendor McAfee plans to unveil a firewall appliance and revamped version of its Total Protection set of network security products, including a revamped data loss prevention system, Web security and e-mail security appliances.

HP ProCurve has rolled out converged wired and wireless networking solutions to facilitate delivery of multiple IP-based services combining centralised network operations with a discrete in-wall access device, says CRN.

The HP ProCurve MSM317 access device integrates an 802.11b/g wireless access point and a four-port wired Ethernet switch.

It is designed to be installed in a standard wall electrical outlet and can be centrally managed by any HP ProCurve MultiService mobility controller.

Vast quantities of data are transferred in real-time from telescopes around the world to a supercomputer in the Netherlands, where European researchers combine the information to create high-resolution images of distant objects in space, states ICT Results.

By pointing up to 16 radio telescopes from six continents at one source in space and combining the observation signals from the telescopes via a high-speed network, European astronomers have created a 'virtual telescope' that delivers better resolution than any single telescope on earth.

The high-speed network also makes it easier for astronomers to react to so-called 'targets of opportunity' - transient events such as supernova explosions and gamma-ray bursts in space.