Gerald Lazar

Even the healthiest people sometimes get sick. And even the best-protected companies can catch a virus. As with human health, the true test of a network’s well-being comes in how quickly it fights off or recovers from an illness. To keep computer viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, and other nasties that fall under the umbrella title […]

Customer service report: Network infrastructure There are many levels of customer support When it comes to voice and data infrastructure problems, network administrators expect quick solutions, whether they use online documentation, paper-based manuals, or telephone support. By Gerald Lazar June 1999 Keeping a network infrastructure intact can be more challenging than any other high-tech area […]

Most users are delighted when database vendors are involved in a price war. They’re the beneficiaries of falling licensing fees as the database providers vie for market share. But there’s a price to be paid: As the vendors feel the squeeze, they’re trying to save money where they can. Since technical support and maintenance have […]

Customer service report: Security Customers want hand-holding You don’t want to give a security vendor the keys to all your data. That makes it tricky to get good support. By Gerald Lazar June 1999 It’s like a spy novel. When it comes to providing support, the computer security industry seems to have engendered users with […]

It’s one of the best paradoxes of 1998: the Security Product of the Year is not a product. Readers voted overwhelmingly for the OpenPGP standard proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) because the standard may herald a new era in electronic commerce. OpenPGP (the PGP stands for “Pretty Good Privacy”) is a method […]

With all of the Internet’s vulnerability, the best defense is a good offense when it comes to network security. “I have a little bit of a hacking kind of background,” says Phil Reed, network administrator at Libbey Inc., a glass manufacturer and china and tableware distributor based in Toledo, Ohio. “So when we had our […]