AP – It will take several more years for the government to fully install high-tech systems to block computer intrusions, a drawn-out timeline that enables criminals to become more adept at stealing sensitive data, experts say.

Investor’s Business Daily – Fortinet (NMS:FTNT), which focuses on network security, was downgraded by Morgan Stanley to equal weight. Fortinet jumped 6% Mon. after Bloomberg said IBM approached it about a buyout. Fortinet immediately denied the report. Fortinet ended the week up 4% at 31.29.

AP – The government is reviewing an Australian program that will allow Internet service providers to alert customers if their computers are taken over by hackers and could limit online access if people don’t fix the problem.

Investor’s Business Daily – The phone giant will market Apple’s (NMS:AAPL) iPad directly to businesses with a discounted wireless data pricing plan to tap into the growing corporate demand for tablet computers and their applications. AT&T will begin offering it to businesses Oct. 28. The announcement comes a day after Verizon Wireless, a Verizon and Vodafone (NMS:VOD) venture, said it will sell the iPad at its stores. Apple climbed 4.1% to 314.74. AT&T dipped 0.6% to 28.33.

Reuters – A new mainframe computer and a recovery in global tech spending likely buoyed International Business Machines Corp’s third quarter, giving its shares room to rise.

Investor’s Business Daily – The string of computer code called the “Stuxnet worm” doesn’t sound ominous. But the virus represents a new class of cyberweapon designed to attack and reprogram industrial-scale computer systems.

AP – The United Arab Emirates on Friday backed off a threat to cut key BlackBerry services, just days before a planned ban that could have harmed the country’s business-friendly reputation.

AP – Cuba’s communist leaders mapped out a brave new world of free enterprise on Friday, approving a laundry list of small-time businesses, allowing islanders to take on employees and even promising credit to burgeoning entrepreneurs.

AP – Shares of SciQuest are soaring on the business software maker’s first day of trading after its initial public offering.

AP – IBM has struck an agreement to overhaul the back-office technological infrastructure of a major telecommunications operator in Africa.