Channel Headlines 3/5/07: McAfee hires ex-EMC exec; WordPress has backdoor; Conn. AG stalks Best Buy; Channel disciplines AMD.

Hackers plant backdoor in blogging software Stop the WordPress. [TheReg]

Connecticut AG investigating Best Buy sales tactics  Blog: The attorney general for the state of
Connecticut has opened an investigation into sales tactics used by retailing giant Best Buy. [CNET]

McAfee names ex-EMC executive as new CEO  The security company, which has been without a permanent CEO since October, taps Dave DeWalt to be its new chief. [CNET]

Fickle AMD rocked as channel gets revenge AMD’s obsession with top server and PC makers has proved costly. The chip maker claims to have focused on so-called Tier 1 OEMs at the expense of its longtime channel partners and now blames declining channel sales for its expected first quarter revenue miss. [TheReg]

Hurd: HP’s cost structure still too high  Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd said today that his company’s cost structure is still too high, despite the strong profitability. [Computerworld]

Cisco takes communications software mobile The company now supports mobility in its latest upgrade of Cisco Unified Communications. [CNET]

Cisco launches ‘Subnetting Game’ Cisco today announced the availability of “The Subnetting Game,” a new educational game designed to help make the highly technical topic of subnetting easier for students to learn. The game was developed in response to a recent survey by Cisco in which a majority of students responded that network addressing, and particularly subnetting, remains one of the most difficult skills to learn. [Cisco]

Cisco double drops with second social network buy Burning cash festival. [TheReg]

DOT bans Vista, Office 2007, IE 7 upgrades — at least for now  The U.S. Department of Transportation has halted any upgrades to Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) “until further notice,” according to a memo from DOT CIO Daniel Mintz. [Computerworld]

Extreme Networks automates VOIP handset provisioning The company’s Handset Provision Module, to be launched at VoiceCon, allows the network to apply a default profile when it detects IP phones connecting to the network. [CNET]

NetApp pumps its midrange SAN/NAS hybrid is a rose, not a monster. [TheReg]

Microsoft attacks Google on copyright The Microsoft Corporation has prepared a blistering attack on rival Google, arguing that the Web search leader takes a cavalier approach to copyright protection. [NYT]

Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, and co-founders stick with $1 salary Google CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will receive a $1 annual salary for 2007, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday. [CNN/Money]