eWEEK Labs: Peter Coffees Top Five Security Developments of the Year

With Vistas User Account Control, Microsoft has finally gotten serious about securing the Windows operating system by limiting a users rights during day-to-day computer usage.

In the wake of Veterans Administration laptop losses, the Office of Management and Budget gave Executive Branch agencies 45 days to encrypt data stored on laptop computers and to introduce key data access controls.

Before this Halloween, federal agencies faced a deadline to distribute interoperable smart-card identification to all employees, with likely ripple effects into the private sector.

In September, the HP pretexting controversy landed the company’s ex-chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, in a congressional hearing room. Now, embarrassed by revelations of nefarious-but technically lawful-conduct by contract investigators, one state after another

A passport with a failed e-chip remains a valid travel document, making claims of added security moot if a miscreant has the wit to disable the RFID device. Designers of security systems must not assume that attackers will play by the rules.