SecureAgent technology is patented - exclusive to its products. Here is a partial listing of offerings:

SuperVision - A single-point tool to manage multi-platform systems, to securely monitor and respond to every aspect of an operation.

IDG 9480 SecureTape Solution - A method of providing tape-level backup, off-site, without the physical problems of loading and transporting tapes.

IDG 9074 Secure Communications Controller and Secure TN3270 - A combination product to replace up to 64 3174 controllers with a single device, with data encryption and compression and secure remote operation plus instant replay for troubleshooting problems.

SecureAgent DataSafe - A system to provide secure, automatic, off-site backup of data for desktop computers and servers, with total retrieval capability.

SecureNotes - A program to guarantee secure document delivery, with any e-mail program.

For more information on SecureAgent Software visit our web site at www.secureagent.com.

An Israeli security company, Finjan, said it found unprotected on a Malaysian server a huge cache of data stolen from more than 40 major financial companies around the world. Information included medical and financial records and business e-mail messages. It included insurance details, keystroke records of online shopping events, Social Security numbers and other key material.

Another security firm, ScanSafe, says thousands of Web sites host malicious programs -- all it takes for your computer to be infected is to visit one of those sites. Most times, downloads of malicious information-stealing programs is invisible to the user.

"Professional criminals and organized crime have ongoing, sustained campaigns to rob consumers blind," said Paul Ferguson, a researcher for another security vendor, Trend Micro.

Infected sites recently have included USA Today, MSNBC and the popular MySpace. Wal-Mart, Target, Sears and other retailers also have been targeted.

Criminals openly trade malicious tool on the Internet, all designed to exploit flaws in various programs; in most cases, developers have offered patches for the flaws, but many users may not have installed them before they get invaded.

The numbers are rising at an alarming rate -- in one month, Yahoo noted 7.8 billion links to compromised sites and Finjan last year tracked an attack that infected 500,000 computers.

Web site developers and operators also often don't take proper precautions -- one researcher noted a lot of small operators may hire designers who take the money to build a site but disregard security.

Large sites tend to be more protected but are attractive to crooks because of user volume.

And the scope is international -- the San Francisco Chronicle reported on one attack which began from some unknown place focusing on Web sites based in Italy but also found a vulnerable server in San Diego.

"It's a domino effect," an expert told the Chronicle. "If they can compromise one site and get to the site owner's system, sometimes they can gain complete access of the hosting server, and all other sites that sit on it are impacted. It's pretty amazing to watch."

Wrong schedule -- they were done by lunch.

"The assembly was finished much faster than we expected, and by noon we were doing science," said Gerry McCartney, Purdue's vice president for information technology.

Plans were to assemble 812 Dell servers into a supercomputer. Workers started unpacking boxes at 6 a.m., aided by workers from rival Indiana University. By 1 p.m. they had 500 of the server nodes running and were running 1,400 jobs for various researchers.

It was funded by faculty members from various research funds and is the largest supercomputer in the Big Ten that isn't part of a national research center. It also ranks in the top 40 of the world's supercomputers.

Using standard computer servers, there was no need to hire engineers or special technicians and the university could do the work with its own staff.

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory has given a $38 million contract to BAE Systems of Nashua, N.H., to design and build tiny robots, the size of birds or insects, that can be used in military situations. They would be sent in swarms to gather information on enemy operations, including videos, possibly audio recordings of conversations and other information to be sent back to a command center.

"We're not just trying to make a little gadget," said Aaron Penkacik, BAE's chief technology officer. "We're trying to make a system that performs a useful military surveillance and reconnaissance function. It's not about the individual robots. It's about the system."

It's a challenge. Sizes will vary, as will functions, but the idea is for all to work as a team, sharing information and informing a central command unit.

New Scientist reports that data centers can make major energy savings with relatively simple changes, such as turning off equipment when it is dormant. Research by Intel and the University of California at Berkeley found that network hardware could use up to 80 percent less energy if allowed to sleep when inactive or if set up to transmit data in clusters rather than in an even flow. Changing data flow by milliseconds -- too small for Web surfers to notice -- could cut energy use in half.

Microsoft cut energy use by a third by clustering active network connections on its Live Messenger chats.

Another study found that data centers emit global warming gases equal to the output from Argentina and the Netherlands combined.

The Windows vulnerability is in the Jet Database Engine 4.0 element and could allow an invader to seize control of a machine. Other repairs fixed one problem in Word and two in Publisher, which also could allow remote operation of a machine if a user opened a specially-crafted file.

Microsoft also patched less serious problems in its Malware Protection Engine.

Its Site Advisor program will provide Yahoo searches with warnings about potentially unsafe Web sites, those which harbor virus-infected downloads, spyware, adware, links to other sites with dangerous material or sites with a record of harvesting user information.

The service posts a red warning message with links to McAfee information about site dangers.

Oncor Electric Delivery Co., the distribution arm of the former TXU Corp., said it is taking control of the equipment from Current Group LLC of Germantown, Md. That firm had hoped to provide high-speed Internet access to two million electric customers through their wall outlets.

Instead, Oncor will use the equipment to monitor its electric grid.

"Our business is delivering electricity, not being an Internet provider or a television provider," said Oncor spokesman Chris Schein.

Other proposals to deliver Internet service via power lines have met similar fates. Power lines proved to be not very good conduits for data and some amateur radio operators complained it interfered with their signals.

At the end of 2006, the latest report available, the Federal Communications Commission counted only 4,776 subscribers nationwide to service via power lines.

EarthLink, which was the dominant player in the initial city wireless programs, said it has been unable to find a buyer for the system or even to get the city or some nonprofit organization to take it over. It said customers would have until June 12 to switch to another provider.

Greg Goldman, chief executive of Wireless Philadelphia, said, however, that officials "are still working actively together to identify alternatives for preserving this network and applying it to numerous civic, commercial and social purposes." He said Wireless Philadelphia, which has about 5,000 customers, remained determined " to extend internet access to all members of the community."

Four years ago EarthLink and Philadelphia announced the agreement to build the network, using city street lights for its equipment. Now EarthLink has filed suit to remove its equipment and limit its liability to $1 million.

EarthLink said the network was a $17 million project. But city officials said it would cost millions a year to operate the system.

EarthLink also is shutting down a New Orleans network and has reached agreement with two smaller cities, Corpus Christi, Tex., and Milpitas, Calif., to take ownership of city networks.

"It's been an unfortunate situation," Chief Executive Officer Rolla Huff told The Associated Press. "It was a great idea a few years ago, ... but it's an idea that simply didn't make it."

OSU said there is no evidence the invader was seeking personal or financial information, but got into the system while looking for a server to host movies, television shows, music and pornographic material. The intruder apparently was based in Germany.

The server held information on people who had purchased parking permits since 2002. OSU learned of the breach from another organization who said its systems were being probed by the OSU machine.

A Web site called Educational Security Incidents said the OSU breach was the eighth this month involving educational institutions and 86 have been reported since January. The OSU incident involves the most individuals, although Antioch College in Ohio reported in March a breach affecting about 60,000.

Users may think they are downloading an adult video, a movie or a musical piece, but in reality they are getting an executable file that displays ads. McAfee says it's found more than 500,000 instances of this malware on file-sharing services like Limewire and eDonkey.

If users download the executable file, they are asked to agree to a phony end user license. It gives the appearance of offering to block pop-up ads, but actually it instead provides more adware which displays pop-up and pop-under ads.

But there are things you can do to protect yourself. Here are some tips from the San Francisco Chronicle:

- Keep browsers up-to-date. Microsoft and Mozilla have added security features into the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox.

-- Download free Web plug-ins from such sites as ScanSafe (scandoo.com) or Finjan (securebrowsing.finjan.com) that help block malicious sites.

-- Regularly run Secunia's free Software Inspector tool, which can be found at secunia.com. It scans your computer for patches in several popular applications - Internet Explorer, Firefox, Java, Adobe Flash etc. - and if you don't have the latest ones, it tells you where to go to get them. -- Even if your security software doesn't detect any problems, if your computer is acting strange or running particularly slow, have it checked out by an expert.

Microsoft also offers its users a Malicious Software Removal Tool, which scans Windows systems for infections and removes them.