The Information Technology Association of America, an I.T. trade association, issued its 17th annual federal CIO survey this week, and IT security ranked No. 1 as the CIOs top achievement. “In some ways, this is a never ending story,” says Paul Wohlleben, a partner with Grant Thorton’s Global Public Sector, which conducted the survey for the ITAA. “Even as CIOs make progress in addressing fundamental challenges like management and information security, those challenges evolve.”
But federal information chiefs aren’t alone in making corporate defenses stronger. Many corporations have found ways to better protect their information assets. Here are just five examples:
- Casino operator Mohegan Sun treats data and physical as one and the same.
- Siemens Business Services turns to software as a service to help secure customers’ data.
- Commerce Bank retains a hired gun to hunt for phishers.
- Unilever builds mobile security from scratch as it gives 1,000 executives handheld devices.
- Insurer UnumProvident shows how comprehensive computer security can be cost effective.