Security: Risk and Reward:  Which IT security skills are most important?
I often hear from IT executives that it is hard to recruit and retain 'good security people.' Many lament the shortage of skills in this area and cannot reconcile the skills offered with the positions that need to be filled. Is there really a shortage of good security people? Or just a mismatch in the skills and the jobs?
Security: Risk and Reward archive

Dr. Internet:  Determining Microsoft Jet Database Engine vulnerability
Do we need to worry about the recently disclosed vulnerability in the Microsoft Jet Database Engine if we have Windows XP Service Pack 3 installed?
Dr. Internet archive

'Net Insider:  A surfeit of network neutrality legislation
Two proposed network neutrality bills are wending their way through Congress. They’re not bad but not perfect either, says columnist Scott Bradner.
'Net Insider archive

EMA on Management:  The CMDB System, the CMS, the 'CCS,' and the NOC
I've decided to go back to square one and discuss EMA's (and my own) evolving perception of what a CMDB System is or at least should be in a little more detail - and then look at how the meaning of 'CMDB' has itself changed, both within ITIL and within the industry.
EMA on Management archive

Insider Threat:  The case of the tampered USBs
They put 4Gb USB sticks (properly marked and in manufacturers' packaging) all over the parking lot. Employees picked up the sticks and some went straight to their computers and inserted them to see if they worked. Unknown to the employees, the USB had a boot program that installed a piece of software.
Insider Threat archive

Small Business Tech:  Collecting money regularly
Every business owner and accounting manager asks the same question: How can I bill and collect more money with less hassle?
Small Business Tech archive

Backspin:  The IT Curmudgeon cuts loose
The IT Curmudgeon has been quiet for too long. He’s been biding his time, waiting for the right moment to cut loose, but then he realized that in the world of enterprise IT there never will be a right time to vent his spleen and that there’s no time like the present.
Backspin archive

Gearhead:  Eye-Fi links digital cameras to Wi-Fi nets
The Eye-Fi storage card uses clever and sophisticated communications technology to wirelessly transfer images from digital cameras to computers and Internet photo services.
Gearhead archive

Eye on the Carriers:  A virtual workplace poses new IT challenges
One of the interesting things that's been happening over the past few years is that just as workforces have become less centralized, IT departments have gotten more so. The vast majority of companies I work with consider themselves virtual, meaning that employees work together on teams from widely distributed geographies. (Here's a hint: If you're in Detroit, your boss is in Dallas, and your colleagues are in Denver — you're in a virtual workplace.) Yet fewer IT teams are virtual in the same sense — in many cases IT teams are increasingly consolidated into a few central sites.
Eye on the Carriers archive

'Net Buzz:  'Bribe' or 'miswording'? You make the call
The Consumerist last week posted an item about an outfit called TheCellShop.net and its apparent attempt to buy itself a top-notch reputation on resellerratings.com. The practice is not uncommon on ratings sites, but isn't usually this bald-faced in that TheCellShop wasn't just asking for good grades but 100% perfect ones.
'Net Buzz archive

Cache Advance:  Is it time to abandon credit card payments and go back to cash?
About two years ago, I had a conversation with a family member about his Stone Age practice of using cash and checks for almost every purchase. He admitted to owning just one credit card and no ATM or debit card, and he didn’t even know about online banking.
Cache Advance archive

Nutter's Help Desk:  Wireless piggybacking
I'm currently in the country with no means of regular high-speed Internet access. I have found that I can connect to various unsecured wireless networks in a range of about 2 miles with where I currently am. My question is whether this is legal or not. Computers are not my strong point. I just want to be able to access the Internet.
Nutter's Help Desk archive

Cool Tools:  More GPS tracking adventures
Last month I wrote about the GPS Snitch, a portable device you can carry around or place in a vehicle then track through the Web via its GPS and cellular connectivity. Here are two more services and devices that do similar things.
Cool Tools archive

Enterprise Networks

Yankee Ingenuity Howard Anderson 'Net Insider Scott Bradner Industry Commentary Frank Dzubeck Backspin Mark Gibbs 'Net Buzz Paul McNamara Reality Check Thomas Nolle Cool Tools Keith Shaw User View Chuck Yoke

Security: Risk and Reward Andreas M. Antonopoulos Telecom Catalyst Daniel Briere Branch Office Best Practices Robin Gareiss Gearhead Mark Gibbs Cache Advance Linda Musthaler Nutter's Help Desk Ron Nutter Bottom Line Joel Snyder

Dr. Internet Steve Blass EMA on Management Dennis Drogseth Small Business Tech James E. Gaskin Eye on the Carriers Johna Till Johnson Guest Column Greg Ness Infrastructure Insights Mary Petrosky Tolly on Technology Kevin Tolly