• Outsourcing Allows Utility to Refocus IT

  Consumers Energy has hired an outsourcer to take over some of its day-to-day IT operations, and it hopes the move will allow its own data center workers to focus on projects that directly impact its bottom line.

• Microsoft boots Chinese firm for leaking Windows exploit

  Microsoft on Thursday identified a Chinese security partner as the source of a leak last March in its highly restricted vulnerability information-sharing program.

• Nissan, Under Armor report breaches of employee information

  Nissan Motor Co. and performance apparel maker Under Armor have disclosed recent data breaches involving the potential compromise of employee information.

• Who's Got Your Mail?

  Trouble Ticket

• Workers did not exceed authorization when data stolen, says appeals court

  In a somewhat startling decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last week ruled that several employees at an executive recruitment firm did not exceed their authorized access to their company's database when they logged into the system and stole confidential data from it.

• Move data to a safer, separate partition in Windows 7

  Cedric Crawley wants to keep Windows 7 and his applications in one partition, and his data in another.

• Protect data with on-the-go drive encryption

  This past January, the health organisation Kaiser Permanente reported a theft of an external hard drive from an em­­ployee's car. The hard drive contained data on about 15,500 Northern California patients, including their full names, medical record numbers, and, in some cases, gender, dates of birth, and other info on treatment and care received at Kaiser (but not patients' social security numbers or financial data).

• Rio Tinto spying case a wake up call to CIOs?

  The arrest of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu in China on spying charges has brought home the need for CIOs to examine data security according to the CEO of security company PGP, Phil Dunkelberger.

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  Australia lagging in data security compliance: PCI Security Standards Council

  A lack of financial penalties and a mandate to publicly admit data breaches may be clouding the real state of credit card payment and security in Australia, according to a senior executive from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.

• Security Implications of the Humble Computer Clock

  If your company's computer clocks aren't in sync, forensics, backups, and much more can suffer. Simson Garfinkel on getting the time right.

• When A Company Folds, Who Guards Your Data's Privacy?

  IT and business both understand the need to protect regulated customer and business data -- so long as they're in business, analysts say. Here's a look at how some folding businesses are falling short protecting data and the possible liabilities for the IT group and CIO.

Whitepapers about data security

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  Build Archiving Systems to Meet Compliance Demands

  This paper reviews several of the most prominent Compliance regulations and where they stand today.

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  Delivering applications anywhere, anytime with maximum security and control over data

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  Data Protection 2.0: It’s Not Just Names and Numbers Anymore

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  Strategy Guide | How Not to Get Buried in Data