Short takes from this week's newsChinese computers used for automated
attacks
Infected computers in China are being used as "zombies" - unwitting
staging posts - for automated hacking attacks on corporate
networks. Worldwide, more than 150,000 computers are being infected
every day, with more than 20% of attacks originating in China,
research by CipherTrust has revealed.
Fidelity first with IFX messaging
standard
Fidelity National Financial has become the first major financial
services organisation to adopt the technical standard for messaging
in the financial services industry. Fidelity will use the
Interactive Financial Exchange (IFX) messaging standard as the
default web services language within its banking application suite
that supports mid-tier and large financial institutions. Fidelity
said it expects to develop services and products more quickly by
using the standard and also lower costs for its clients.
IT training programme wins Queen's
Award
The Institute of IT Training's trainer assessment programme,
created to assesses the skills of IT training professionals, has
been awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise. The programme has
been taken up by large employers including the NHS following its
introduction in 1998. More than 60% of the FTSE 100 companies
employ Tap-certified trainers.
Network Rail signs £4m telephone comms deal
Network Rail has awarded a £4m contract to communications provider
Damova to standardise its internal telephone communications across
the UK with an upgraded voice network. The five-year deal includes
ongoing maintenance and consultancy. The new infrastructure will
support fixed-to-mobile voice convergence for 32,000 Network Rail
employees, and will help to integrate 15,000 new staff from
engineering firms that joined Network Rail when the company brought
maintenance back in-house.
SAP takes on staff as sales increase by 11%
SAP has reported an 11% increase in sales for the quarter ended 31
March, and headcount at the ERP supplier has risen by more than
3,000. SAP said revenue was £1.18bn, compared to £840m for the same
period last year. SAP currently employs 33,200 staff - a 10%
increase on the first quarter last year.