Recent news reports on copier security have brought to the forefront how information stored on a copier's hard drive may be accessible to would-be identity thieves and others. While this vulnerability is eye-opening to many, this concern has been important to manufacturers for quite some time. Just as you would install a virus scan on your laptop or PC, you need data safeguards for multifunction printers (MFPs).

More and more companies are recognizing that they're accumulating ever-increasing amounts of data but not necessarily gaining business insights from it. The missing link is the transformation of data into information that is comprehensive, consistent, correct and current. That isn't a problem technology can solve for you

The purpose for all of this online snooping is singular: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, Facebook and others are intent on delivering more relevant online ads to each and every one of us - and bagging that advertising money.

Worried about security, but unwilling to spend a bundle? No problem. With these 11 free programs, you'll keep your computer--and your wallet--safe.

According to Gartner Group report, there are 141.1 million mobile payment-ready devices in circulation and that the vast portion of the world's population (mostly in Asia) is actively using NFC and other techniques to pay for items via mobile. However, the US is lagging wildly in this regard, with nearly no activity in the space at present even though two-thirds of young people would be happy to wave their phones in front of a candy machine to grab a bite. Sadly, two-thirds of older folks would balk at the opportunity.

The federal U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines calculator was developed by an innovative lawyer who was looking to develop a tool to help lawyers do the calculation for their clients.

"Using Facebook and Facial Recognition to ID Random People : A professor at Carnegie Mellon conducted a study recently and found that about one third of people he took snapshots of on campus could be identified using Facebook and a facial-recognition technology recently bought by Google. Not only that, but 27% of those folks had information on their Facebook profiles - like birth date or birthplace - that enabled him to correctly predict the first five digits of their Social Security numbers (you know, the part of your Social Security number that's supposed to be totally secret)."

The Web safety and online identity protection experts at SafetyWeb.com and myID.com helped put together a list of ten different data and privacy breach scenarios, along with suggestions and best practices to avoid them.

But what do consumers think about behavioral advertising? Our research uncovered a variety of consumer privacy perspectives on behavioral advertising, some expected, some, surprising. Here are my five, high-level research takeaways: 1. In the absence of education, consumers assume the worst

Clayton Christensen first identified the concept of the disruptive innovation in the Innovator's Dilemma. The basic idea is this: a new technology slowly undermines an existing, dominant technology, by starting out cheaper and "worse," then slowly improving until it is a full replacement for the dominant one, but with newer, more flexible capabilities, and usually a lower cost basis. Classic examples of disruptive technologies include the PC (which disrupted mainframes and minicomputers) and desktop publishing (which disrupted the print industry).

In advanced markets, the firm believes the promise of mobile payments driven by NFC technology is at least four years away from reaching mass adoption. "The biggest hurdle is the need to change user behavior by convincing consumers to pay with mobile phones instead of cash and cards," said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner.

If done artfully and well, mobile media and technology is capable of reversing a century-old model of selling -- where salespeople went to people's homes or waited for interested consumers to come to them. In some ways, mobile replaces the traveling and in-store salesmen with the newer (albeit slightly creepy) model of the "following salesman."

An explosion in threats against the nation's cybernetworks has led the Pentagon to develop a cyberwar strategy and prompted states to open cybersecurity offices.

In an organization, it's human nature to resist change and to stick with the status quo that's often more comfortable and safe. Some of your teammates in your company may be devil's advocates who claim they want what's best for the business while they oppose initiatives for Innovation. As a leader and innovator-in-chief of your company, it is critical to drive the culture of Innovation throughout the organization even in the face of opposition.

In May, OLG began rolling out the new facial recognition system designed to keep tabs on the province's estimated 300,000 "problem gamblers." Cameras were mounted at casino entrances to digitally scan the faces of all visitors. Problem gamblers who voluntarily signed up for the selfexclusion list can be stopped by security staff from playing at the casino. But regular casino visitors will also be digitally scanned, although their facial photos are almost immediately discarded if their name is not on the list.

Recent hacking attacks on Sony Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. grabbed headlines. What happened at City Newsstand Inc. last year did not. Unbeknownst to owner Joe Angelastri, cyber thieves planted a software program on the cash registers at his two Chicago-area magazine shops that sent customer credit-card numbers to Russia. MasterCard Inc. demanded an investigation, at Mr. Angelastri's expense, and the whole ordeal left him out about $22,000.

Hospital CIOs, chief information security officers, and privacy officers are working diligently to keep their names off that wall. But they are dealing with a regulatory environment that is still in flux. A final rule that will strengthen HIPAA privacy and security safeguards is due out before the end of the year. HHS also has proposed a rule for the accounting of disclosures from electronic records. The biggest shift under way may be a new enforcement regime as the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) shifts gears from only reacting to data breach reports to begin random audits of the privacy and security safeguards of large and small providers and their business associates. Another new wrinkle under the HITECH Act is that state attorneys general can file civil lawsuits for HIPAA violations.

The rise and fall of PRBC is a case study of the growing market for our personal financial data, where the incentives for helping consumers and making profits don't always align.

Congress already has more than 40 committees and well over 100 subcommittees. Does it really need one more? How about another task force? Or a working group? Yes, says Sen. John McCain: A new panel is needed to cope with a relatively recent and unquestionably grave threat - hacking.

With increasing dependency on information systems and advances in cloud computing, the smart grid and mobile computing, maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of citizens' personally identifiable information is a growing challenge. A new draft document from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) addresses that challenge by adding privacy controls to the catalog of security controls used to protect federal information and information systems.