Australian hosted VoIP provider VoNEX will collaborate with VoIP phone manufacturer snom on a new software-as-a-service VoIP solution that will see the Australian company’s services delivered to North American customers. [ + ]

Optical networking revenues are down across the globe, according to Ovum, with Q1 2012 figures indicating a 9% drop from the same period in 2011. [ + ]

Revenue for IT outsourcing (ITO) rose 7.8% globally in 2011, to a total of US$246.6 billion, according to Gartner. In 2010, revenues reached just US$228.7 billion. IBM maintained its position in 2011 as the top earning ITO, with revenues of $26.9 billion, matching the global growth rates at 7.8%. [ + ]

Australian cloud-based service and business solution provider BitCloud has attained VMware Enterprise Partner status. [ + ]

Government funding of $233.6 million for personally controlled electronic health records (PCEHRs), announced yesterday in the 2012 Australian federal Budget, will boost both the health and ICT sectors in Australia, according to the Australian Information Industry of Australia (AIIA). [ + ]

Optus and Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) have signed a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will see the mobile carriers share existing mobile sites and the infrastructure costs, over the next four years, to build additional mobile sites in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Geelong, Central Coast, Gold Coast and Canberra. [ + ]

Cybercriminals are exploiting a vulnerability in Adobe Flash Player in a targeted attack on manufacturers of defence products. According to Symantec, the attackers will soon cast a broader net aimed at a wider variety of organisations. [ + ]

Australian businesses could substantially cut capital and labour costs through the use of public cloud services, leading to a yearly $3 billion boost to the economy after 10 years, according to a new report from KPMG. [ + ]

The Australian Red Cross has signed a three-year deal with Primus Telecom to provide a data network solution to its network of branch offices and other sites across Australia. [ + ]

snom technology has announced that its VoIP phones are interoperable with Schmooze Com’s PBXact phone system and PBXtended hosted PBX. snom VoIP phones can now be autoprovisioned via the Schmooze Com Endpoint Manager for quick and easy installation and no-hassle management, directly from the PBX GUI. The following six snom models are currently certified for the Schmooze solution: snom 300, snom 320, snom 370, snom 821 and snom 870 desktop phones and the snom M9 wireless handset. [ + ]

DDoS protection service provider Prolexic Technologies has, today, released a threat advisory on the use of booter shells, which allow hackers to launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks without the need for vast networks of infected zombie computers. [ + ]

Research by Context Information Security has identified potentially significant flaws in the implementation of cloud infrastructure services offered by some providers which could be putting their clients’ data at risk. By exploiting the vulnerability, which revolves around data separation, Context consultants were able to gain access to data left on other service users’ ‘dirty disks’, including fragments of customer databases and elements of system information that could, in combination with other data, allow an attacker to take control of other hosted servers. [ + ]

Network performance vendor Riverbed has appointed Avnet Technology Solutions as a distributor for the Australian market. Under the agreement, Avnet will distribute Riverbed products - including network optimisation and cloud data protection - in Australia. Avnet already distributes Riverbed products in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. [ + ]

Cybercriminals are creating fake versions of popular smartphone apps, such as Angry Birds and the popular photo-sharing app Instagram, as a way to distribute their malware and earn money from unsuspecting users, warns IT security and data protection company Sophos. [ + ]

Under a new initiative announced today, the federal government will provide up to $20.6 million worth of funding over the next two years to Australian health organisations for telehealth programs. [ + ]