Network Security Spotlight

March Patch Tuesday Points to Desirability of IE 11 Upgrade Microsoft has released five security bulletins for Patch Tuesday: two ranked critical and three important. The bulletins fix 23 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer and Silverlight.   Snowden Appears Virtually at SXSW, Talks Privacy In his first public (virtual) appearance since fleeing the U.S. with thousands of secret NSA documents, whistleblower Edward Snowden spoke about privacy during the South by Southwest festival.   Data Breach Disclosures: 'Nightmare Patchwork' The data breach at Target that exposed millions of credit card numbers has focused attention on the patchwork of state consumer notification laws and renewed a push for a single national standard.

Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

Cisco Rolls Out New Video Conferencing Products Cisco is beefing up its videoconferencing lineup. On Wednesday, the company released several new products and updates intended to increase its position in this growing corporate market.   Samsung Goes Big with Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 The rise of the tablet computer has come at the expense of PC sales. But is a tablet a viable stand-in or full-time replacement for a business laptop when you're about to take off on the road?   Will PCs Be Dead and Gone by 2018? Has the gloom finally turned into doom for the PC market? The forecast is getting worse. Now, IDC is predicting shipments will decline another six percent in 2014 and continue sliding through 2018.

Mobile Technology Spotlight

SoftBank CEO Takes His Case for T-Mobile Deal to the People The CEO of Japan's SoftBank, touting a Sprint acquisition of T-Mobile, is bringing his case to U.S. consumers and executives, saying it would allow a price war to bring wireless costs down.   Cisco Rolls Out New Video Conferencing Products Cisco is beefing up its videoconferencing lineup. On Wednesday, the company released several new products and updates intended to increase its position in this growing corporate market.   Apple Releases Its First Major iOS 7 Update Apple's version 7.1 of iOS is out, the first major update since iOS was released last year. New features include CarPlay integration, an enhanced Siri, and a boost for some older iPhone models.