Michael Gracie

You have to love wrapping up the year, for better or for worse.

Topping the spam list for 2005, in the world according to AOL, Donald Trump wants you on The Apprentice, and your significant other (female) thinks you need some help.

On a more depressing note, 2005 is shaping up to be the worst year yet for computer security breaches, and if you add all the unencrypted tapes that were stolen off the backs of delivery trucks, it is definitely the worst.

But there are good signs brewing for ‘06. Computer security experts made a list of top tech needs for the coming year. If only those types of jobs weren’t so thankless.

Choicepoint was the victim of a massive security breach earlier this year (or at least that is when we heard about it). Folks are still trying to figure out when we should hear about it - meanwhile Choicepoint keeps on rocking, picking up lucrative contracts as reward for their fine security.

The good news is at least someone is out busting some of the perpetrators.

I always take in the results of studies commissioned by security firms with a grain of salt, but even if McAfee’s recent one is off by a lot, it is still a doosie. According to the 2005 report, roughly half of all Canadians with computers have fallen victim to some sort of personal information breach, and many don’t even know it.

That’s half, or 50%, and that number is the downside estimate. It could be as much as 2/3rds.

James Lewis, the author of the study, suggests that having anti-virus, anti-spyware and personal firewall software installed on your computer can be a solid set of preventative measures. Sounds like the McAfee product suite to me, but nonetheless those are scary numbers.