Network Security Spotlight

Win XP, Server 2003 Zero-Day Exploits Use Adobe Reader Microsoft is investigating reports of a zero-day vulnerability in a kernel component of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, accessed using older versions of Adobe Reader.   Akamai Wards Off DDoS Attacks with Prolexic Buy In a move to beef up its security, Akamai Technologies is betting $307 million on Prolexic, an acquisition that could help better protect its customers from distributed denial of service attacks.   Tech Giants Fight To Thwart Government Spying Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter are engaged in a costly tech arms race, with their businesses and cultures at stake. Not against one another, mind you, but a common foe: the NSA.

Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

IDC Forecasts Record 10% Decline in PC Market for Year More bad news for the PC industry. IDC is predicting worldwide shipments will fall 10 percent in 2013, marking the most severe yearly contraction on record. And declines are expected to continue next year.   Carnegie Mellon Computer Learning Common Sense Researchers are trying to plant a digital seed for artificial intelligence by letting a massive computer system called NEIL browse millions of pictures and decide for itself what they all mean.   HP Posts $1.4B Q4 Profit, Despite Sluggish PC Sales PC maker HP reported healthy profit for its fiscal fourth-quarter, under CEO Meg Whitman, as cost cuts from its ongoing restructuring more than offset the effects of sluggish computer demand.

Mobile Technology Spotlight

Apple Patents Face Recognition Control Tired of remembering and entering your passwords for your smartphone or other devices? Apple may have devised a solution that you won't ever be able to forget -- your face.   Mobile Apps Extend Value of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Microsoft has released mobile apps for its Dynamics CRM, bringing that suite of services up to speed with competitors like Salesforce. The apps offer added convenience for on-the-go personnel.   Japanese Jumped for iPhones in October After Launch It is not often that Apple controls the majority of smartphone sales within a country, especially those in Asia, but in October, more than 75 percent of smartphones sold in Japan were iPhones.