Briefs

FISD releases interruption guidance

– The Financial Information Services Division (FISD) of the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) has released two best-practice recommendations to standardise policies and procedures across the market data industry. The first, Market Data Service Levels, Response Times and Communication Procedures, sets out guidelines for vendors on handling scheduled interruptions and change management, unplanned interruptions to service, notification periods and system considerations and data recovery. The second, Business Issues Policy and Procedures Standards, addresses the interval after which delayed data should be provided for free; a standard unit of count for measuring pricing and reporting data usage; and data contracts for subscribers

Reuters IM service infected

– Reuters was forced to suspend its Reuters Messaging instant messaging service in mid-April after it became infected by a software virus spread through users’ IM contact lists. The RM system – used by both customers and staff – was shut down at 10:11am London time on Thursday, April 14, as a precautionary measure, officials say. They say Microsoft notified Reuters of the risk of infection at around 8:30am that day. Officials say Reuters and RM partner Microsoft added a filter to the system to block the worm, and service was restored at 7am London time the next day. They also advised clients to update their security software and block access to the worm’s website. Reuters officials say some clients became infected and passed the worm through the system to other users before it could be shut off. Reuters staff were also affected. "Reuters is very dependent on it. We use it to find out if someone is in the office," one source says. The worm, W32/Kelvir-Re worm, typically affects Windows Messenger or MSN Messenger, according to information from IT security software vendor McAfee. It spreads by sending messages to all contacts in an IM user’s contact list, enticing them to click on a link purporting to show an important news story or screensaver. Anyone who downloads from the website automatically infects their system – and risks passing it on to anyone in their contact list. A posting on McAfee’s website describes most Kelvir worms as low risk. According to the vendor, the origin of the worm is unknown.