BizzRoot

Hewlett-Packard swooped in with the better bid to overtake Dell and win 3Par, so now we can all sit back and wait for the next acquisition battle to roll around. Meanwhile, Apple debuted updated iPods and Apple TV to entertain us, among other IT news stories of the week.

The bidding duel between Hewlett-Packard and Dell over 3PAR took over IT news headlines this week with a dizzying back-and-forth flurry of increased bids. Meanwhile, DLL attacks are keeping IT security pros up at night and a top official said that the Pentagon got a security-related wake-up call when a low-level worm caused a serious systems breach.

In the year 2020, technical expertise will no longer be the sole province of the IT department. Employees throughout the organization will understand how to use technology to do their jobs.

Information security is a tough field to break into and a growing group of information security professionals are finding that it’s a whole lot easier if someone has their backs.

A week in the classrooms of SANS Boston 2010 has shown Bill Brenner how much more there is to learn about the art of information security.

Give the explanation, not just the answer.

Security managers are often concerned about employees who use Facebook at work and fall for the 419 “I’m trapped in London and need money” scam. Others might still have some in their organization who are convinced it is the Prince of Nigeria who wants to share his fortune. And with spear phishing, a targeted email attack in which messages are created to look like they come from an employer, bank or other trusted source, now a common criminal technique, the need for effective awareness programs for employees has become paramount. But those concerns, according to Jayson Street, a security consultant and CIO of Stratagem 1 Solutions, shouldn’t be the chief worry. That’s because the biggest social engineering threat is the top executives in a company — and they’re the ones who need to be educated the most.

Java development has supplanted IT security as the most difficult skill set for hiring managers to locate, a Dice.com survey finds.

Want to negotiate more effectively in professional and personal settings? Talk less and listen more.

Like good movies, a successful social engineering scam usually leaves both the perpetrator, and the victim, with an impression they’ll never forget. We spoke to security experts about memorable social engineering stories.