Notes from the field: When reader D.S. installed an Automatic Update from Microsoft his PC started inexplicably calling an IP address on Verizon’s Business Network. “What’s clear is that D.S. got off easy,” Cringe writes in When critical updates kill. Other folks inflicted by the same, it seems, had printer drivers, or even their entire PCs, slaughtered. The fact that this barely qualifies as an optional update, let alone a critical one, is “yet another reason why Microsoft deserves all the bashing it gets, in this space and elsewhere,” Cringe maintains. Special report: For many a startup, the dream is to build a business that another larger company will ultimately acquire. How to get bought by Google. Hint: To gauge what the next hot enterprise technology could be, scan the consumer space. It’s not only Google, either. Stalwarts such as IBM, Microsoft and Oracle are in an even better position to nab fledgling tech companies. Tomorrow, by the by, kicks off our Month of Startups series. Security: The description makes them sound like something of a superhero: Capable of cloaking malware, rootkits expose sensitive data without detection. Only these are not fighting for justice. Instead, the question they pose: Are rootkits the next big enterprise threat? Most IT shops “may not realize the growing threat of malicious software intended to keep its presence hidden from administrators and traditional anti-virus software,” writes Steve Hultquist. Sure, the vendors are battling back but “the rootkit front is fast transforming into an arms race, with each side innovating in response to developments the other camp pushes forward.” The news beat: The Spring Java framework gets a Java 6 infusion with a concentration on annotations, scripting and, of course, Java itself. Verizon reports growth in its wireless and broadband divisions that boosted revenue. China’s Alibaba plans an IPO. And the U.S. Supreme Court rules 7-1 in favor of Microsoft in the case AT&T waged; a decision that some say changes how the software industry looks at patent rights. Security