The topic of the false positive has always been an issue for the security profession and the topic has been in the news again recently; last week, following the announcement of Michael Jackson’s death, Google News found its website so inundated with page requests that its security systems and analysts mistook the legitimate traffic for a denial of service attack.

The threat of a global pandemic from swine flu (okay, okay, Influenza A) has been very real in the minds of the global media, with the World Health Organization playing its part as did ordinary citizens flocking to stock up on everything from food to surgical masks to disinfectants etc. But could the Internet itself be a victim of swine flu?

As we approach the first anniversary of an Economist survey of chief executives, which exuded rather positive responses, it's worth reflecting on what risks organizations face and what – if any – changes have occurred in the risk landscape today. This then begs the question – having got it wrong so badly over the past 12 months, what can we learn going forward?

The news story last week relating to an alleged hack on Premier Wen Jiabao's PC is yet more evidence that no one is safe …. But what this really represents is further verification that from Washington to London to Beijing, no one is safe, and yet the internet is a big enough place in which to hide.

The mobile phone industry is surely one of the truly great technological leaps made by mankind. Today, it's just one of those things we can’t lead our lives without, and a technology that few would question has changed our society. Let me illustrate this point with a rather abstract question: How do you ring a doorbell – with your index finger or your thumb?

Hard times mean hard choices. Right now organizations have to make some somber decisions about how and where they invest their budgets this year; and with that in mind the question is being asked “what will happen to IT security spending in 2009?” – well, depending upon which report you read, we will either see an increase in IT security spending, or a decrease, or indeed it may even remain flat in comparison to last year. Confusing?

Yet another major security breach compromising users’ personal data occurred last month, in this case the second such attack on the same company in less than 18 months, gushing millions of users’ data onto the black market. The implications for users whose data is compromised are significant, but what can be done to remedy the situation?

So here we go again, Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is following up on a possible case of confidential data leakage involving a USB device lost on the public transport system

Security professionals often focus on the “C” in the CIA Triad of Security but yet another major break on the sub sea cable systems emphasizes the need for a balanced approach and an appropriate emphasis on the “A” in the availability of business services!

The tragic events in Mumbai demonstrated the shocking reality of terrorism designed to kill, maim, and shake the foundations of civilization to its core. And the November attacks coincided with a spate of news articles and reports on the subject of cyber-terrorism. But as the events in Mumbai illustrate, there is a quiet a difference between real-world terrorism and the virtual kind but how long that remains the case has an awful lot to do with the information security industry!