Organizations must catch on to the growing risks of smartphones, PDAs and other mobile devices before it is too late, reports Dan Kaplan.

Here is an update from the IT security industrys boardrooms.

Harry hack A hacker named Gabriel claimed to have breached the networks of the UKs Bloomsbury Publishing, uncovering the ending of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows prior to its release. Experts contended that the claim, posted on hacker websites, was likely a sham, saying that if accurate more evidence would otherwise have been offered.

In this special section, we look at how the IT security industry works to protect banks and financial institutions and keeps up with the rise of online transactions.

Campus exploit Hackers exploited an unpatched flaw and a disabled firewall to infiltrate a server at the University of Colorado, Boulder, compromising the personal information of nearly 45,000 students. Attackers exploited a flaw in Symantecs Norton AntiVirus to launch a worm into the server of the College of Arts and Sciences Academic Advising Center, making off with student info.

Just a week after taking home the Rookie Security Company of the Year prize at the 2007 SC Magazine Awards Gala, The 41st Parameter landed an unexpected meeting with an industry heavyweight. Ori Eisen, founder and chief innovation officer at the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based anti-fraud firm, says executives from Oracle who attended the annual awards ceremony were impressed with The 41st Parameter and wanted to learn more about the company after seeing it win.

Once considered a peripheral communication tool used primarily by only some workers, instant messaging (IM) is now feared by many as a security hazard. For many enterprises, the simple solution was to block IM and force employees to use existing email, phone and fax resources. But the evolution of communication channels is leaving that model in the dust.

Years ago, a friend's e-commerce company took a major hit when customer credit card information was stolen from the company database. Everyone initially assumed it was a network security breach — someone had hacked into the database and stolen the numbers. In fact, when the dust settled it was a far simpler heist — a former employee had walked into the server room and lifted the server.

Is endpoint security a more complete solution for corporations than NAC?

Can Google guarantee safe, secure online word processing and spreadsheet collaboration applications to enterprises? While only time will tell, the short answer appears to be yes. Google's new Google Apps Premier Edition — which offers enterprise-focused versions of Gmail, Google Talk instant messenger, Google Calendar, Docs & Spreadsheets, Page Creator, and Start Page via the Web — is really nothing more than software as a service (SaaS), or on-demand offering, popularized by Salesforce.com and others.