Stories by Cara Garretson

Cash-in on old IT equipment

Some organizations can earn a profit, or at least reduce the amount they have to pay to dispose of IT equipment, by allowing providers of IT disposal services to sell the assets they take away.

Recycling IT assets is serious business

Information technology departments that practice asset management are learning to master the art of retiring hardware at the right time. But making the decision to retire IT gear is just the beginning; tech managers must then figure out what to do with the systems that are past their prime.

Stupid data center tricks

A university network brought to its knees when someone inadvertently plugged two network cables into the wrong hub. An employee injured after an ill-timed entry into a data center. Overheated systems shut down after a worker changes a data center thermostat setting from Fahrenheit to Celsius.

How to fashion a 'security first' enterprise

These forward-thinking IT managers are working at dismantling the stereotype of the risk-averse security professional-cum-business foe. How? By showing business colleagues they understand company operations and appreciate corporate goals.

Q&A: Data leak prevention pros and cons

Anti-data leakage vendors make bold claims about how far their products can go to protect enterprises from unauthorized information sharing. This irks Nick Selby, head of enterprise security research at The 451 Group, who believes these tools are helpful with some tasks, but far from "the solution."

Data loss start-ups sell out

The rapid consolidation in the anti-data leakage market in the past year is enough to make an IT manager's head spin: This segment of the security sector ballooned to include dozens of start-ups, then even more quickly dwindled down to a few independent companies as larger vendors cherry-picked smaller ones to add data leakage to their own product portfolios.

12 spam research projects that might make a difference

Those who commit cybercrime know they need to stay on the cutting edge of technology to come up with new and different ways to swindle people. Luckily, the good guys are also spending time in research labs developing ways to thwart the latest tricks employed by spammers, phishers and other criminals.

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