The latest happenings in the boardrooms of the IT security world.

Clothing retailer Gap Inc. revealed that a laptop containing the Social Security numbers of 800,000 job applicants was stolen from a third-party vendor. The laptop contained info of job applicants who applied to the company's Old Navy, Banana Republic, Gap and Outlet stores. The vendor, not identified by Gap, contacted law enforcement authorities about the breach. The data was not encrypted.

A legion of data exposures have occurred over the past year, with many affected companies not only being forced to address customer and investor concerns, but also pay fines and adhere to prolonged sets of requirements administered by the Federal Trade Commission. So just how is news of such breaches, exposures and possible thefts affecting the way organizations -- large and small -- focus on information security plans?

Rhonda MacLean, global chief information security officer of Barclays, has joined the board of directors of PGP.

Managed security services firm Global Secure Systems (GSS) has merged with anti-virus vendor Peapod.

Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge has formed his own private security consulting firm.

(CISO). Some companies are further empowering this somewhat new role with expansive powers and responsibilities that range from incident response to IT compliance to customer data privacy. Meanwhile other companies are eliminating the role altogether.

The latest happenings in IT security's boardrooms.

In the data breach that seems to grow in severity by the day, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Sunday that nearly all state government bank account data was stored on a backup computer tape stolen in June from a college interns car in Ohio.

Sophos senior security analyst, Ron O’Brien, has been named to the Economic Crime Institute board of advisers.