Over the last year, what activities in the industry have caught you by surprise pleasanty or otherwise?

Over the next 12 months, as we run up to the next year's Techno Security, what changes in the industry do you hope to see?

Anything else you want to share?

Canadian analysts are divided on the value and impact of Google's recently announced privacy measures. While one observer says they are inadequate, another welcomes them, saying they will bolster user confidence in the search company. Mountain View, Calif-based Google Inc. announced, on Wednesday that the new privacy measures it's adopting would make it difficult to connect online search requests with the people making them. Google said it would provide its search engine users greater privacy by removing from its system – every 18 to 24 months – key elements that could lead to users' being identified. The schedule is designed to comply with an assortment of regulations around the world that stipulate how long search engines are supposed to retain user information...

Think hackers and viruses pose the biggest security threat to your corporate data? Think again. If sensitive information leaks out, chances are it'll be because someone in your office let it happen. While it's true that deliberate sabotage campaigns by disgruntled malcontents aren't as improbable as most executives would probably like to think, more often than not, security leaks result from simple staff carelessness and bad habits born of inexperience and indifference. Whether it's choosing easily hackable passwords or copying confidential information without authorization, employees ranging from front-line desk jockeys all the way up to top executives are guilty of contributing to corporate computer security breaches...