You know your organization's social media policy is a good one when it starts sounding less like a checklist and more like common sense, says Sherrie Madia, social media expert and author.

Since becoming Vermont's first CISO three years ago, Kris Rowley's been on a quest to create an IT security culture in state government. Rowley's latest initiative, bringing risk assessment in-house, is helping build that culture.

Eddie Schwartz didn't shy away from the offer to become RSA's first chief security officer after the security firm experienced a sophisticated advanced-persistent-threat breach. Instead, Schwartz embraced the hack as the reason to take the job. (See RSA to Get Its First Chief Security Officer.)

Recent high-profile data breaches and heightened threats add up to one thing: a bright future for information security professionals who want to start or re-start a career in risk management.

Minnesota has seen an increase in malicious traffic since the state government shut down a week ago, but state CISO Chris Buse says sophisticated intrusion-detection systems and an alert skeleton staff have prevented any harm from being done, at least to the part of state government IT controlled by the Office of Enterprise Technology.

RSA customers who feel victimized by last March's breach of the security vendor's computers have viable options that include continued use of the SecurID authentication tokens, those offered by competitors, or something entirely different: biometrics.

Today's top fraud threats recognize no global boundaries, says James Ratley, head of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. And they require a stronger global workforce than ever before.

Eddie Schwartz, the new - and first - chief security officer of RSA, says the IT security provider hit by a sophisticated advanced-persistent-threat attack in March is focusing internal security on efforts to reduce the time an intruder can go undetected.

A key factor in minimizing the risk of a breach when working with business associates is to provide these partners with the minimum amount of information they need to perform their services, says security expert Brian Lapidus.

Minnesota faces a government shutdown Friday, and state CISO Chris Buse confronts unexpected barriers in preparing for it. No one yet knows what services the IT security organization must support once the midnight deadline passes.