As EMC choses McAfee over its own RSA Security division for Mozy security, EMC's head of RSA, Coviello, says McAfee is all wrong

"Anti-virus software is less effective every year" because of the
speed with which malicious hackers now generate new viruses to test
vulnerabilities, declares Arthur Coviello, president of RSA, the
security division of EMC Corp. "By the time a security company sees it and figures out an anti-virus [software fix], there are 30 more viruses."

Coviello is not giving up on winning. His point is that security must evolve beyond protecting a network's perimeters--hard points to determine as big data centers interconnect more frequently. And there are ever more types of devices for accessing a network. Security must be augmented with a means of organizing and protecting the most critical data in a system, he says, by putting that software into the management layer that controls the core of the system, and having it guard the most vital information. That way even if attackers penetrate the system the most important stuff is protected with security software that, among other features, looks for anomalies in the way the data are being used--such as, for example, if someone is seeking to transfer sensitive files to previously unknown computers in Latvia.

According to Coviello, ensuring that key data are protected by a close tie to the management layer of a data center is not something a security company can do on its own but only in conjunction with a larger provider of software and services for the network. In this world, he says, "there is no reason for an independent security industry to exist." (Forbes, ChannelWeb)

Interestingly, McAfee's CEO happens to be a former EMC exec.

Cutest funding move ever? Adopt a line of Miro code

The folks behind the open source video player Miro have launched a program that lets users adopt a line of code in order to support Miro's continued development. Aside from helping out a nonprofit, open source project, you'll also get a picture of your adopted code snippet and will be able to watch it "grow up" as the code matures. (ARS)

Brilliant Marketing Scheme is Evil and Coming Soon

Cellular operators could monitor and mine SMS traffic to find when users would likely be most receptive to marketing messages. Just sent a text to a friend asking where the meetup is for tonight's happy hour? Now's a great time to flash you an ad for John's Salon & Pub. Sent Mom some pics of the kids? Maybe you'd like Snapfish to print them for you...

The system could even be location-aware, so you get local ads. Ultimately, the system bends the line between the real and virtual worlds, and between marketing and being your personal advice column. If executed carefully, it could make your brand/service/product pretty sticky and beloved by consumers. Cross the line, and you're dead meat.

Inspiration by Brian Dolan @mobilehealth

The $300 Million Button

A couple of web designers increased sales at one ecommerce company by $300 million a year just by fixing the user interface with one little button.

Makes you think about what you're doing that's pushing away customers. (User Interface Engineering)

Remote Experts Help Rural Victims

A telemedicine facility set up at St. Joseph Hospital has been operating for about six years now, letting nationally recognized experts from the University of California at Davis sit in on local sexual assault exams. A study released in the medical journal “Pediatrics” last month found that telemedicine facilities, like Eureka's, greatly improve the quality of sexual assault examinations. Times-Standard (California)

Surgical Safety Checklist

NEJM study shows that when surgeons review a simple checklist before surgery, outcomes improve. In response, England has given surgeons until 2010 to begin using the checklist. Bravo. My only question is why it is going to take surgeon two years to learn to read a simple piece of paper. (NEJM)

Kodesh to head EMC's Cloud Infrastructure Business

EMC Corporation has announced the appointment of Harel Kodesh as President of EMC's Cloud Infrastructure Business. Kodesh will be responsible for the growth and development of EMC's global cloud infrastructure products and solutions and for the expansion of the business' partner eco-system.

Kodesh will also serve as the CEO of Decho, the recently-created EMC subsidiary focused on personal information management in the "cloud." Decho (short for "digital echo") helps individuals protect, manage and enrich the ever-growing quantity of personal digital information. As a member of EMC's executive management team, Kodesh will report to Joe Tucci, EMC Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

"We believe EMC is among the rare few to possess the foundational technologies, vision and fiscal strength required to succeed as a leading cloud infrastructure and services provider," said Tucci. "Harel's depth of industry and business management experience, combined with his extensive expertise designing and developing enterprise and consumer-class information management products will serve as tremendous asset to customers and shareholders as we embark into our next phase of technology innovation. We're very fortunate to have an executive of Harel's caliber join the EMC management team."