April 24 Event to Showcase Dell Notebooks, Projectors and Other Presentation Tools

Lab employees can learn about the latest Dell Notebook computers, portable projectors and related peripherals at a program offering displays and short presentations on Wednesday, April 24. The program, called "Dell Notebooks: Projecting the Future," will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Perseverance Hall and all interested employees are invited. Refreshments will be served. The event is sponsored by the Lab's Computing Infrastructure Support (CIS) Department.
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Cost of Backup Service for UNIX Systems to Be Reduced Further, UNIX and Mac Users Can Get Free One-Month Trial of New Backup Service

Earlier this year, the Computing Infrastructure Support (CIS) Department implemented a new computer backup service called Veritas for UNIX system users. As more computer users sign up for the service, the cost to users will be reduced to reflect the distributed cost. Based on the data collected in the first full month of the revised charging for Veritas-based backups, CIS will reduce the price further effective with April Recharges. The first gigabyte backed up will remain at $20, but the price for more data will be lowered again from $13 to $10 per gigabyte.
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Reminder: Microsoft's Jesper Johannson To Speak at LBNL on Monday, April 22

Jesper Johannson, a nationally renowned speaker and writer who works for Microsoft Corp., will be presenting a talk, "The anatomy of the Windows hack." Don't miss this fascinating presentation sponsored by the Lab's Computer Protection Program. The talk will be held at noon in the Bldg. 50 auditorium. All interested employees are invited.
"Dr. Johannson is exceptional speaker and a very sharp thinker," according to Dan Peterson of ESnet. "I would not let the name of his employer fool you, he is a take no prisoners guy when it comes to computer security. Don't miss this one!"

New Procurement Receiving Payables System Coming to Berkeley Lab

The July 1 "Go-Live" date is approaching for implementation of Berkeley Lab's new PeopleSoft Procurement Receiving Payables (PRP) system. PRP will replace the current Oracle Purchasing and legacy Accounts Payables systems in use since the mid 1990s. Requisition preparers, approvers, and buyers will be offered classes in June to prepare them for using this new PeopleSoft application. Further information is at the PRP Web site.
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Are Your Systems Ready for the 15-Character Project ID?

Last month the Financial Services Department (FSD) and Information Systems and Services (ISS) jointly announced a plan to expand the Laboratory's project identifiers from six to 15 characters, in order to take full advantage of the capacity provided by the PeopleSoft Financial Management System (FMS). However, as a result, some "home-grown" systems, developed and maintained locally within individual Laboratory divisions and departments, may also need to be modified to retain compatibility with the Laboratory's central systems.
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The Computer Protection Program Warns of Internet Scams

We've said it before, and we'll say it again. Be suspicious of email you receive from unknown people--scams abound. One of the latest informs the reader of a new mailing list at philsphans.com, allegedly for fans of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.
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May 7 Linux Users Group Meeting to Feature Linux Expert from SGI

The next meeting of the Lab's Linux Users Group will be held at noon Tuesday, May 7, in Bldg. 50A, room 5132. The meeting will feature John Hawkes from SGI. Hawkes is a Linux kernel hacker and developer. He is working on Massive SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessor Processing) Scaling, including NUMA technology on Linux. He has also has done work on performance testing of file systems (such as XFS, EXT3, RiserFS, etc...) which he will also be discussing. Visit the Linux User Group Web site (lug.lbl.gov) to RSVP or learn more.

New Patch for Microsoft IIS Addresses 10 Recently Identified Vulnerabilities

This notice is from the Lab's Computer Protection Program:
Attention anyone who runs a Web server using the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS): 10 new IIS vulnerabilities, most of them involving buffer overflow conditions, have recently been identified. They could allow a remote attacker to run unauthorized commands and programs, and could in some cases allow an attacker to gain superuser privileges on your Web server. It is extremely important that you obtain and install the patch as soon as possible. For more information and to obtain the patch visit http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS02-018.asp.

Monthly Virus Alert: Mylife Virus Proving to Be Deadly to Unprotected PCs

Last month the LBNL VirusWall caught the Klez worm the most, followed by Sircam, then PE_Magistr (all of which should be familiar names by now). So what is new? For one thing, numerous variants of the Mylife worm (W32.Mylife@mm) have surfaced during the last month. Recall from last month's Computing News that Mylife is a mail-based Windows worm that, if executed, sends itself to all addresses in the Microsoft Outlook address book in every computer it infects. But instead of trying to delete files with certain extensions, many new versions attempt to erase the entire C: drive of an infected PC.
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New Integrated Database Being Implemented to Support "Work for Others" Projects

The new Research Administration and Project Information Databse (RAPID) is being developed to support the Laboratory's "Work for Others" (non-DOE) funded research projects. RAPID is the implementation of the PeopleSoft Grants module and will be a part of the Laboratory's integrated Financial Management System (FMS). The August 6 "Go-Live" date will herald a system that replaces a number of paper-based processes and the SPPT (Sponsored Projects Proposals Tracking) system.
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Mac Office 10 and Microsoft Office 2001 Patches Are Available

Macintosh users -- Microsoft has recently released patches for a number of serious security vulnerabilities in several Macintosh products, including Microsoft Office v.X for Mac OS X, Office 2001, and Internet Explorer 5.1.4 and Outlook Express 5.0.4. One vulnerability could enable an attacker to run code on a user's system with the privilege level of the user. Another could enable a perpetrator to run any AppleScript found within a system.

• Download Updater for Office 10
• Download Updater for Office 2001