CAPITAL ROUNDUP

A Senate committee July 19 unanimously approved Hector Barreto's nomination to be the next head of the Small Business Administration. The nomination now moves to the Senate floor for confirmation.

"Small business has always been about relationships, and it's wonderful to know that the agency has so many strong and committed partners," Barreto said before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

Barreto is a securities broker and dealer from Los Angeles, and has strong ties to national Hispanic business organizations. He is vice chairman of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and was a co-chairman of President Bush's campaign in California. Just when you thought it was safe to surf the Net again: the Information Technology Association of America issued a warning July 20 regarding the Code Red Worm, which affects Internet-connected computer systems.

ITAA President Harris Miller cited the Code Red Worm as further evidence that information security should be a top-level priority for government and business.

According to Arlington, Va.-based ITAA, the Code Red Worm invades by taking advantage of a buffer overrun vulnerability, allowing the attacker to gain control over an affected server and deface Web sites, among other illegal acts. The group said the bug affects systems not equipped with the latest security software and appears to be spreading fast.

"The IT industry is working with the highest levels of government to respond to this problem as quickly as possible and minimize its impact," Miller said.