One of about the things I enjoy most in my role is the opportunity to engage with our customers about the challenges they're facing on a daily basis.  Over the past few months they have raised a number of issues that mirror what we are seeing on a macro level.  While trends like cloud, virtualization and mobility offer great promise, companies around the world are struggling with the new challenges they present. 

And all too often, companies are afraid to take advantage of opportunities in front of them.  The same innovations that offer such promise also create risk and complexity.  

That's why protection is such a powerful thing.  It gives you the confidence to be bold and take calculated risks.  And that confidence is important in a world that is radically changing for companies today.  

To enable our customers to take advantages of the opportunities brought on by things like big data and...

One hot topic in IT and information security today is the Advanced Persistent Threat, usually abbreviated to APT. However, the P in APT might as well stand for People. And therein lies a clue as to how APTs differ from other targeted attacks, something about which there has been a some confusion.

A standard targeted attack, while often requiring a significant investment of time, does not have dedicated personnel over a long period. If the assets that they are targeting are harder to reach than expected, or pwned asset is removed or patched, then that will often end the attack and another victim selected. Some targeted attacks are even highly automated. In an APT, however, there is someone continually guiding the attack, making adjustments to counter when the victim tries to stop it. It’s very much a person-to-...

Any knowledgeable entrepreneur would cite innovation as a key to business success in today’s world. And yet innovation means more than simply inventing the next great iPhone app. It can be as simple as implementing an existing idea into the way you do business. The core of innovation is change – being unafraid to look critically at how you do things and see if maybe there’s a better way. Just as evolutionary change keeps organisms one step ahead of the competing species, searching for ways to improve your business can give you an edge over your competitors.

Innovation for your organization might be as simple as identifying and eliminating redundant tasks, or updating elements of your IT infrastructure. In particular, finding a way to do more with less is crucial in today’s sluggish economy. One significant opportunity for innovation...

In 2011, corporate information emerged as the most coveted asset in the cybercrime war, the vast amount of digital information in the world grew even more rapidly and the surge in mobile devices in the workplace added another layer of complexity for IT executives.

So what's next?  I sat down with Francis deSouza, Symantec's Group President of Enterprise Products and Services, to get a sense of the challenges CIOs will face in their quest to keep their information secure and accessible in 2012.  Following is a recap of our discussion including a few key predictions to consider as you plan for the year ahead: 

Question 1:Francis, you spend a lot of time with our customers.  What challenges do they face in the year ahead?

Francis deSouza: As...