Gary Min, the former DuPont scientist who admitted stealing more than $400 million in trade secrets, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

The screaming headlines have been running for years. Whether they're in press releases about cybercrime exceeding international drug profits or the billions of dollars lost to breach disclosures or videos highlighting the meltdown of power generators due to a myriad of vulnerabilities, the anti-malware industry has long relied on fear to move their products.

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?

Researchers at SecureWorks have reported a 90 percent increase in attackers caught targeting utilities during the past five months.

Access control is the order of the day for this issue. All of our reviews focus on aspects of access control and management. This, of course, is a key aspect of enforcing the security of the enterprise. We address the topic with two First Looks and two Group Test reviews.

Nominations are now open for the 2008 SC Magazine Awards, so cast your ballot in any of 20 Reader Trust categories.

AJAX is hot, and many companies are developing new or porting legacy applications to AJAX to deliver a richer, more vibrant web experience. The risk: AJAX is complex, and security pros need to be aware how the development technique can increase the attack surface of their websites.

A Florida man, the ringleader of a group that used financial information stolen from TJX customers for fraudulent purchases, was sentenced this week to five years in prison and ordered to pay $600,000 in restitution.