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InfoExpress Adds Hyper-V Support to its CyberGatekeeper Family of Network Access Control Products

To optimize computing resources, many customers are turning to virtualized server environments,” said Stacey Lum, CEO of InfoExpress. “CyberGatekeeper has numerous out-of-band enforcement methods, making it the ideal choice for customers looking to add NAC by leveraging their virtual computing environments without major infrastructure expenditures.”

By offering support on Hyper-V and VMware in addition to physical appliances, InfoExpress lets customers choose the appropriate NAC implementation that best meets their needs. For example, an organization with more users in one region can host the virtual appliance on a larger server. At smaller regions, the CyberGatekeeper virtual appliance can share a smaller server with other virtual servers. If needs change, increasing or decreasing the capacity of a virtual appliance is easy and requires almost no down time.

CyberGatekeeper is ideal for virtual environments and centralized deployments in distributed networks. With many out-of-band enforcement methods, CyberGatekeeper servers can be placed in data centers or other central locations. In contrast, in-line NAC solutions need to be located closer to routers and switches to block traffic and generally require more servers.

About InfoExpress CyberGatekeeperFor LANs, VPNs, and wireless networks in organizations ranging from large enterprises to SMBs, the InfoExpress CyberGatekeeper family of products controls network access by auditing all devices before granting access. The CyberGatekeeper solution is fully scalable and interoperates smoothly with a wide range of other products. The CyberGatekeeper appliance, now available as a virtual or physical server, can easily be deployed in monitor mode giving organizations the option to remediate endpoints “on the fly” without having to restrict access to users.

About InfoExpressInfoExpress network security solutions protect enterprise networks and the endpoints connecting to them. The company has provided Network Access Control solutions since 2000. At the core of InfoExpress solution is the award winning CyberGatekeeper Family of Network Access Control products, which ensures endpoints are safe and compliant with security policies by performing real-time audits and quarantining of all network-attached endpoints. InfoExpress products have received numerous awards for innovation. The privately held company has been profitable for 12 consecutive years and is headquartered in Mountain View, California. For more information, please visit .

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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Andrew MillerInfoExpress707-386-1193Email Information

Crisis management puts huge strains on firms, CEOs

Crisis management expert Caroline Sapriel has plenty of experience of the colossal pressure on corporate chiefs such as Tokyo Electric's Masataka Shimizu, hospitalized as his firm battles nuclear catastrophe.

Firms such as airlines, oil majors and utilities may sometimes run scenario-based exercises, hold discussions and hire outside consultants such as her to brace for disaster. But when it strikes, she says corporate structures and personnel are often by their very nature still brutally unprepared.

As the stock price nosedives and media bays for blood, managers themselves are often simply in shock as they face the reality of potential deaths and difficult decisions. Part of her role is supporting them through those strains, she says.

"Executives aren't military commanders," Sapriel told Reuters from the Brussels headquarters of her crisis management consultancy CS&A. "They're not trained for crisis management. The whole style of management these days is often do things by consensus. That simply doesn't work in a crisis. It's much more about command and control. The strains are enormous."

Preparation is key, she says, but many companies are simply not willing to be honest in advance about what might go wrong.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T) -- known as TEPCO-- said on Wednesday that chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata would take over operations from president and CEO Shimizu, barely seen since the quake and tsunami that crippled its plant. It said Shimizu had been taken to hospital suffering from high blood pressure.

Crisis managers say TEPCO is facing one of the most challenging forms of corporate disaster -- potentially open- ended and endangering health and human life. As oil giant BP (BP.L) found in last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, that can be a very uncomfortable place to be.

Governments, policymakers, regulators and other officials may also be feeling the heat -- and taking in out on the firm. A "good crisis" might sometimes be the making of a politician, but in the corporate world managers know there is little upside to being the face of an industrial disaster.

"The first thing you often find is that... not a single senior member of a company is willing to talk directly to the media for fear of being the one to take the fall for the crisis," said U.S.-based crisis consultant Eric Dezenhall.

"In some companies, the key to becoming CEO is to avoid being blamed for any particular debacle and people know that."

DISASTER CLICHES

With BP in the Gulf of Mexico, Sapriel said too much pressure was put on CEO Tony Hayward who also became the media point man and something of a hate figure in the U.S. Ultimately, he resigned after a string of gaffes that included being photographed going sailing at the height of the crisis.

"You do need the man at the top to make some statements to show he's in charge and he cares -- he can't disappear altogether -- but if they are out front every day they are going to start to make mistakes," she said.

At the same time as having to handle relations with the media, and populations and politicians, firms themselves may still be struggling to get a handleon what has happened.

"Everyone in these crises conform to certain cliches -- the company tends to try and want to make things look better than they are, and the media... portray a massive conspiracy," Dezenhall said. "What is usually really happening is that the company itself doesn't know what the hell is going on."

Insiders admit that attempting a cover-up can sometimes look appealing -- but ultimately can do more harm than good. BP was also criticized for initially underestimating the volume of oil released into the Gulf, perhaps a sign of wishful thinking.

"OPENNESS ONLY WAY"

"The key thing is to be upfront and keep a good flow of information," said Mark Pursey, a former spokesman for UK mobile phone operator Vodafone and now head of PR firm BTP Advisers.

"There is a temptation to present the best case scenario but you can get caught out if things get worse. With BP, I think there was a pressure not just to soothe the worries of people in the Gulf of Mexico but also very anxious investors."

Fellow PR adviser and political lobbyist Kevin Craig, managing director of London-based PLMR, is even more emphatic.

"Openness is the only way," he said. "Anything else -- be it a denial or repetition of myths -- will only make the problem worse in the long-term."

As often, in Japan one of the criticisms of both government and company has been one of perceived mixed messages. Officials said Tokyo residents should avoid giving tap water to infants because of radiation levels, then reversed that the next day. There have also been conflicting messages on radiation levels.

"With Japan, they probably should have been more open earlier," said Sapriel. "One of the general patterns with crises is that they get worse before they get better -- but companies can often be in denial about that. It's hard to be forthcoming when there is little reassuring to say."

Amid all the attention, however, U.S.-based Dezenhall says firms and managers must not lose sight of the fact that their true priority is fixing the problem, not managing the media.

"Everyone talked of the BP oil spill as a PR crisis -- but it wasn't PR that was the root of it," he said. "Once they stopped the well leaking, the crisis turned...If the company sees the crisis as being fundamentally about PR, it's unlikely they've got the diagnosis correct."

AMD Releases Catalyst 11.3, 11.4 Preview Video Drivers

improved 3D Blu-ray playback, to prevent instances of random frame loss; better recognition of 8x anti-aliasing in some OpenGL applications; and more. The Linux version introduces support for openSUSE 11.4. A complete list of the changes in Catalyst 11.3 are on .

The preview version of the Catalyst 11.4 driver introduces a number of significant optimizations, ranging from 12 percent to 70 percent, in a number of popular games including , , , Aliens vs. Predator, and more. (For a complete list of improvements, see .) Many enhancements have also been made to the Catalyst Control Center, with new task-based Display Management controls, easier configuration of displays and display settings and a new Eyefinity setup group.

Also addressed are the usual slate of bug fixes. The Catalyst 11.4 preview driver is available only for Windows 7.

Catalyst 11.3 may be downloaded from the ; the Catalyst 11.4 preview driver may be downloaded from .

Iraq delays purchase of US fighter jets

BAGHDAD – Iraq is delaying the purchase of 18 American fighter jets over budget problems and has decided to funnel the money into food for the poor instead, said the Iraqi government spokesman Monday.

Iraq, like, many Middle Eastern countries in the wake of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, is under pressure to demonstrate its commitment to helping its own people. But delaying the purchase also leaves Iraq, which relies on departing American forces to protect its skies, vulnerable.

Ali al-Dabbagh told The Associated Press that the Iraqi government would postpone the expected purchase of the F-16 fighter jets and would instead use the money to beef up food rations. The Iraqi government gives food rations to many of its neediest citizens, who complain the rations have gotten smaller.

Al-Dabbagh said an initial partial payment of about $1 billion was to be spent this year on the fighter jets, but did not have an exact figure on the total cost of the deal.

"We need the money badly this year ... to finance other important items," he said. "We thought that we cannot afford to buy the F-16s."

Al-Dabbagh said that Iraq did not intend to purchase fighters from another country at a cheaper price, as some Iraqi newspaper reports had indicated in recent days. "We feel that it is one of the most efficient fighters in the world, and we definitely need them."

According to al-Dabbagh's Web site, the Iraqi Cabinet had been moving forward with the deal as early as Jan. 26 when it authorized Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is the acting minister of defense, to negotiate with the Americans about making the first payment on the planes.

Al-Dabbagh said the postponement would not affect the departure of American troops scheduled for the end of this year. Iraq relies on American planes and drones to patrol and protect its skies, and the country's head of armed forces has said Iraq will not be ready to protect its own airspace until 2020.

An American military spokesman said the U.S. realizes that Iraq has to make tough budget decisions.

"The purchase of F-16s is one of many budget decisions they must make," said Col. Barry Johnson. "Any impact a decision to postpone the purchase of F-16s may have is just one of many factors the Iraqi government will have to weigh in considering its future security agreements."

Iraq has been rattled by protests in Tunisia and Egypt that have toppled governments there. In small-scale protests across Iraq, demonstrators have vented their anger at the Iraqi government, which they say is corrupt and demanded improved government services and more jobs.

Hundreds of Iraqis rallied Monday in central Baghdad, protesting the rampant corruption and the lack of government services that have plagued the country for years.

Despite sitting on some of the world's largest oil reserves, Iraqis endure electricity shortages that make summer almost unbearable and leave them shivering in winter. There are also water shortages, and garbage is often left on the streets. At the same time, Iraqis are infuriated by the high salaries earned by their elected officials, compared with ordinary Iraqis.

"We want reforms to take place," said Hanaa Adwar, an activist from the nonprofit watchdog group, al-Amal. "We have witnessed the popular revolution carried by Tunisian and Egyptian people that led to the toppling of their regime."

Many of the demonstrators carried banners that bore the image of a broken red heart, alluding to the fact that the protest took place on Valentine's Day. They shouted slogans saying Iraq's oil wealth should go to the people but goes to thieves instead.

"Government, you should take lessons from Egypt and Tunisia," demonstrators shouted as they walked through downtown.

On Sunday, al-Maliki met with government officials to discuss problems facing Iraqis, specifically the electricity shortage and the food rations, and vowed to address the problems.

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Associated Press reporters Hamid Ahmed and Saad Abdul-Kadir contributed to this report.

Mississippi governor critizes EPA's coal oversight

LEXINGTON, Ky. – On a visit to coal country, potential Republican presidential candidate Haley Barbour says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is over-regulating coal.

The Mississippi governor spoke privately Thursday to a group of Kentucky coal executives. He told The Associated Press afterward that the EPA under the Obama administration is imposing impossibly strict environmental standards.

He called it a "deliberate way to try to halt coal mining, which would be catastrophic for Appalachian America."

Barbour was the first candidate pondering a run in next year's presidential race to reach out to Kentucky's coal operators.

Environmentalists say rather than bashing the agency, one remedy is to look at changing mine designs to prevent pollution.