But only for system builders.

SP2c Features and Requirements
There are no other features or fixes included in this service pack; it will only allow for the inclusion of additional product keys. When using SP2c product keys, system builders must:

• Use the product keys with SP2c media.
• Create new images from SP2c to accommodate the new product keys. A hotfix will not be provided.

Source: http://blogs.technet.com/backroom/archive/2007/08/09/microsoft-windows-xp-professional-service-pack-2c-release.aspx

msblog fingerprint tag

Today Microsoft is announcing the final product name for what was previously known as Windows Live Folders. Windows Live SkyDrive gets not only its final product name but also a few new features and enhanced UI reflecting changes coming across many of Read More……(read more)

Today Microsoft is announcing the final product name for what was previously known as Windows Live Folders. Windows Live SkyDrive gets not only its final product name but also a few new features and enhanced UI reflecting changes coming across many of the Windows Live services including Windows Live Spaces.

So what’s Windows Live SkyDrive? Windows Live SkyDrive is a brand new Windows Live service that gives users 500MB of web space for the storing and sharing of files. Think of it as a personal “harddrive” on the internet - or “the cloud”. By default, you get several protected directories which you can store your files in. These directories are completed protected from the public. Only you can view them. However, Windows Live SkyDrive allows you create or choose specific folders to share with everyone (Public folders) or specific people on your Windows Live Contacts list. You can set specific permissions for those viewing your folders as well - such as someone who can contribute (add and remove files) or someone who is simply just a reader. Your Public folder allows ONLY reader permissions for the public in viewing files within the folder. No need to worry about people maxing out your account with files.

I put together a small demo outlining Windows Live SkyDrive and several of today’s beta improvements with a few new features. Check it out:

Video: Demo: Windows Live SkyDrive

For those who’ve been using the beta of Windows Live SkyDrive, today’s changes and updates include the new Windows Live UI (header), improved file upload, thumbnails in folder views, and a section for visited SkyDrive folders from other people.

Nick and I use Windows Live SkyDrive quite a bit in sharing files. With me being outside Portland and him of course in Redmond - Windows Live SkyDrive has enabled us to quickly access and share files while working on projects. It has been a tremendous help overcoming the distance.

Give Windows Live SkyDrive a spin and let me know what you think. I’ll be setting up a Public folder for you all to check out with some photos while visiting Redmond.  

Screenshots:
   

Converged VoIP and data networks are costing enterprises a lot of money, but still they’re left with one question: “Is it secure?”

For Alphonse Edouard, IT vice president for Dune Capital Management, an investment firm, VoIP has become a cornerstone of business. So ensuring its security is imperative.

“For a great deal of what we do, voice is very important,” Edouard said.

Dune Capital Management started by deploying VoIP. “Then the ‘work anywhere’ concept came into play,” he said.

Dune needed a way to ensure call quality and to monitor the network to guarantee that it’s secure.

“We all know VoIP is very susceptible to hackers,” Edouard said. In the past, he has used QRadar from Q1 Labs to monitor flow data and network traffic. Eventually, he started to monitor VoIP quality of service (QoS). But as Dune Capital became more and more dependent on VoIP, the company needed to ensure that enough bandwidth was allotted and also had to find a way to monitor VoIP traffic separately from data traffic, though the two share a network.

A new QRadar module specifically designed for monitoring VoIP networks fit the bill, Edouard said. The VoIP module combines network behavior analysis and security event correlation to monitor across the network protocol, application and security services layer of a VoIP network.

According to Q1 Labs vice president of marketing Tom Turner, companies are struggling to monitor VoIP traffic together with the security devices that protect it. Turner said that without effective monitoring, VoIP is subject to bandwidth contention and traffic jitter while also opening itself up to potential security threats such as toll fraud, man-in-the-middle attacks, and denial of service (DoS) or other IP PBX attacks.

QRadar’s VoIP module gives users a set of security event correlation rules, application signatures and specific VoIP security reports. These are designed to help users better monitor their VoIP application traffic and correlate events from security devices protecting the network, while detecting and reporting on threats specific to VoIP applications and servers.

“Voice is an increasingly critical component of customer networks,” Turner said. “In order to correctly monitor and secure VoIP applications, customers need to be able to unify their view of the network, the applications on that network and the security products that defend those applications.”

The module offers:

* VoIP correlation rules, which correlate events taken from multiple VoIP source devices such as call managers, IP PBXs and voice gateways. The rules detect toll fraud attempts and DoS conditions against PBXs and other voice control services.
* Daily, weekly and monthly VoIP-event summary reports, which detail the number of VoIP-associated security and policy events that are being created on a network, an indicator of overall VoIP network health.
* Executive VoIP reports, which offer a high-level look at VoIP network activity, VoIP security event data and network behavior data in a combined overall view.

Edouard said he can monitor traffic at the port to compare charges against the phone bill. The module also leverages not having 10 different products monitoring the VoIP and data network, detecting anomalies, sounding alerts and generating reports.

“I can ensure that all calls are crystal clear and everything works fine,” he said. “I can also ensure that VoIP traffic is secure.”