The 10 Most Wanted
Posted on September 14, 2007
Filed Under Enterprise Software |
- Instant messaging
- Web mail
- Portable storage devices (flash drives)
- PDAs and smartphones
- Camera phones
- Skype and other consumer VoIP services
- Downloadable widgets
- Virtual worlds
- Wifi hotspots
- Laptops (more on that in a later)
The post of the title is "10 most wanted" and just like the FBI’s list of their top 10, there are several meanings depending on your perspective. For law enforcement these are the top 10 most desireable capture opportunities, and for the public the meaning is more subtle in that they are the top 10 most dangerous criminals so approach with caution.
It would appear that in the IT world this is flipped around and, according to ITWorldCanada, the list above represents the most dangerous technologies they deal with from a security standpoint, while for enterprise users this list represents the most desireable technologies available to them, sanctioned or not.
It’s probably obvious where I come down in this debate… fire is pretty dangerous too but it turned out to be a valuable technology for mankind.
If you follow the link you will notice that ITWorld’s list is not 10 but rather 8… the additional two items came from Vinnie Mirchandani, who pointed me to this originally. Aside from the "top 8 list" totally blowing my post metaphor, the two items that Vinnie adds are noteworthy. In Vinnie’s list his #10 was "stolen laptops" which I truncated to simply "laptops". My point is that if the problem is laptop theft then the root problem is that laptops themselves are steal-able so why not ban laptops altogether? That is the modern IT approach to risk, mitigation not management… right?
Incidentally, being an avid motorcyclist, this is exactly the same problem I have with helmet laws. I wouldn’t ride without one but like a great many of my motorcycling peers I resent the government telling me I have to wear one. Aside from the debate over the statistical results of motorcycle fatalities in states with helmet laws, before and after, which is far from conclusive, if you go to the position that motorcyles are dangerous then why not ban motorcycles altogether?
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About
My name is Jeff Nolan and I write Venture Chronicles. I am the VP of Product Marketing for Get Satisfaction and I write about a range of topics that interest me, including public policy, technology, entrepreneurship, finance, and global issues.
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