CSO

I recently visited Africa for the first time, and I was impressed. The South African government invited me to give a keynote speech at GovTech 2009 in Durban on hot cyber security trends within governments around the world. Not only was the conference impressive, I met people of different nationalities before, during and after the conference who convinced me that we have cyber allies in every corner of the globe.

Cyber experts: we need to think globally and act locally.

Why do disruptive cyber attacks seem to rise every August? I've been asking myself that question for several years now. Could it be the timing of the annual Black Hat convention? Students going back to college? Are the hackers taking July off and coming back refreshed in August? Or am I imagining things? I need your help.

My first exposure to "back doors" on computers came from watching the movie "War Games." It was 1983, and I was a computer science major at Valparaiso University. I still remember two of the taglines: "The only winning move is not to play." Or, "Is it a game, or is it real?" Get ready for new movies highlighting smart teenagers hacking into your local power grid.

Bottom line, with all of the ID Theft, fraud and hacker stories, why are they cutting my security budget?
Gaining executive support for cybersecurity requires us to use the same words that our leaders use.

What are the top ten business risks around the world? Aon Corporation worked with leading organizations in more than 40 countries across 31 industries late last year to answer that question. I think the results will surprise most CSOs and CISOs. More than that, your career plans may be impacted.

It's now official. I have changed technology roles and permanently moved offices within Michigan Government. I am now the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Director of Infrastructure Services. After almost seven years as Michigan's first CISO, I took an acting role as CTO in January, when Pat Hale left government and became CTO for Sparrow Health System. After successfully navigating the interview process, the "acting" has been removed. Looking back, here are a few memories and perspectives from across the hall.

What happened in Washington DC (city) government under Yusuf Acar as CSO over the past few years? Almost everyone involved in government technology in the nation, along with a few others in the FBI, want to find out the answer to that question. What we do know is that Vivek Kundra, President's Obama's brand-new, first ever, federal CIO has taken a leave of absence.

Could this very talented leader be in serious trouble? This blogger hopes not. But one lesson is already clear - Web 2.0, Government 2.0, Cloud Computing, or any other techno-savvy change must be built on a foundation of rock solid professional cyber ethics.

Excuses for plagiarism don't surprise people anymore. If a high school junior proclaimed, "I did it because my hard drive crashed," most would shrug it off as a young mistake and tell them to not let it happen again. But what about plagiarism from well-known scientists?

Harold Garner, an expert on scientific plagiarism, said, "It's just too easy to cut and paste these days." What's going on here?

The new OMB director starts a blog while news organizations world-wide announce layoffs. What's going on? Is this the new normal?

As the world recession deepens, the traditional role played by reporters continues to change. News organizations around the world are in financial trouble, and there are far fewer reporters. Oftentimes, remaining staff are asked to stay home for weeks without pay. Meanwhile, the number of bloggers continue to grow, as content moves online.

Whether this is a good or bad development depends on your viewpoint. What is not in doubt - this trend is impacting government information flow, security and risk. Here's why.