A new survey evidences all too well where the power can fall in enterprise IT relationships: into the not always well-intentioned hands of disgruntled employees.

Or in this case, into the hands of disgruntled exiting employees. The survey, put out by Cyber-Ark Software, a Newton, Mass. based provider of enterprise account security solutions, found that 88 percent of IT administrators, if laid off tomorrow, said they would take valuable and sensitive company information with them. They’d especially target CEO passwords, customer databases, research and development plans, financial reports, merger and acquisition plans and even the company’s list of privileged passwords. Only 12 percent said they’d take the high road on their way out, leaving the "office supplies," so to speak, intact.

Investigations are powerful tools for improving compliance. They should strengthen security controls and help nurture employee perception that the security team is a partner instead of the company’s secret police. So investigators must avoid three common mistakes.

A little-known company called 7Search.com has become the latest outfit to legally contest its classification as spyware by a major anti-malware company. In a court filing from 25 August, Chicago-based 7Search.com complains that that "McAfee continues to incorrectly and falsely advise the public that 7Search.com contains downloads that are adware, spyware, or other potentially unwanted programs, when it is aware that there is no software on that site at all."

Currently, McAfee’s SiteAdvisor site analysis system gives it an "X"rating, stating that "feedback from credible users suggests that downloads on this site may contain what some people would consider adware, spyware, or other potentially unwanted programs." 7Search.com demands that McAfee change its rating from red to green, and delete any references made in SiteAdvisor that the site is connected to adware, spyware or viruses.

Anyone who has worked in IT for more than five minutes knows that the field has been in a dramatic transformation for the past 10 years, invading and conquering other organizational domains such as communications and security, while also wrestling with the new issues that technology has wrought such as employee mobility. In most organizations, IT has had to transform itself from a bunch of techies installing and troubleshooting equipment to a key enabler of business strategy and competitiveness.

Throughout, outsourcing and offshoring have shaken the foundations of IT, making some wonder at times if they have a role in their organization at all. And those who work in outsourcing companies also have to figure out what their role is when they are supporting a variety of clients.

What do all these changes mean for the typical IT employee today? What skills should an IT staffer be nurturing to enhance his or her career in a changing market? From InfoWorld’s research, it’s clear that IT staff need to bolster their skills and certifications in three key categories: technology, process, and business skills.

IBM announced a new twist in its Information on Demand strategy with the introduction of a number of tools for data discovery modeling and data analytics as well as services to provide deeper insight into data. The announcement represents a maturation of IBM’s Information on Demand strategy, and focuses on getting enterprises to accelerate enterprise access to data and the governance of information as a strategic business asset.

Business travelers are losing more than 12,000 laptops per week at U.S. airports. Only one-third of those are reclaimed, according to a study by the Ponemon Institute, sponsored by Dell. At the same time, more than 53 percent of polled business travelers say their laptops contain confidential or sensitive information, and 65 percent of these travelers admit they do not take steps to protect or secure the information contained on their laptop.

Companies are dependent on a mobile workforce with access to information no matter where they travel. This mobility, however, is putting companies at risk of having a data breach if a laptop containing sensitive information is lost or stolen. To gather more information about this concern, the Ponemon Institute conducted field research at 106 major airports in 46 states and surveyed 864 business travelers in an airport environment.

A British man accused by the United States of "the biggest military hack of all time" lost an appeal on Thursday and could be extradited to the United States within weeks.

Gary McKinnon, 42, had asked the European Court of Human Rights to block his extradition, complaining that he could face inhumane prison conditions if convicted there. He took his case to the court after losing an appeal to the British House of Lords last month.

By rejecting the appeal, the human rights court paved the way for McKinnon to come to the United States, where he faces up to 70 years if convicted. He is accused of hacking his way into computers at the Pentagon, NASA and the U.S. Army and Navy in 2001 and 2002, causing a reported $700,000 worth of damage.

GFI Software, an international IT security and messaging software developer, announces new independent research into the status, progress and perception of email archiving uptake within UK small to medium sized enterprises. Of the 408 IT managers, directors and consultants surveyed, 49% have fully implemented email archiving in their organizations and the majority of those respondents (31%) are regularly taking less than one hour to find business-critical email correspondence on request.

Starting October 1 customers of Comcast’s residential data services will have an invisible barrier on their monthly data usage. Under the new guidelines of Comcast’s Acceptable Use Policy announced Thursday, that cap will be set at 250 gigabytes per month, per account.

Users who go over the limit will get a courtesy call from Comcast’s customer service for the first instance. However, under the new policy a second-time offense means the service is immediately suspended for an entire calendar year.

Defects management often requires multiple software products. In this article, learn how to use the IBM Mashup Center, where data can be easily integrated from distinct data sources. Analysis of integrated data provides deeper insight on defect and project status than otherwise possible.

In this article, get a high-level view of how such an application can be constructed. Details of implementing such application, including step-by-step instruction to create and configure each mashup in IBM Mashup Center is included in Part 2 of this series.