This was a crazy week. Here’s a quick rundown:

Wal-Mart eavesdropping situation
On Tuesday, I submitted a feature to Computerworld providing speculation related to the recent Wal-Mart eavesdropping situation. For those following the situation, I refer you to 4 significant articles:

• The initial story
• My take on what may have happened (human nature run amuck)
• Fired employee speaks out
• LA Times analysis (which sites my initial speculation)

As I stated in my Computerworld article:

The world is in a security and privacy renaissance. Ethical questions related to government and employer surveillance are being raised and reraised. Security and privacy advocates exist on both sides of the debate — such is our post-9/11 society. My prediction is that the Wal-Mart eavesdropping story will be in 2007 what the HP ‘pretexting’ story was in 2006. The ensuing investigation will likely play out on a grand stage involving governmental agencies, privacy rights advocates, and legislative action.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be providing my views on what this means for the security community. This is bigger than Wal-Mart — the security industry will be put in the position of having to explain the nature of and need for penetration testing, forensic investigation, and surveillance.

CSO Online

I now also have a blog at CSOonline. My new blog, Security Smack-down will primarily focus on delivering unfiltered opinion related to the security industry and trends. Security Renaissance and Computerworld will remain forums primarily aimed at education and awareness.

Security Catalyst Community

Lastly, I’d like to thank Michael Santarcangelo (the Security Catalyst) and others for welcoming me into the Trusted Catalyst Community. This is a group of passionate, security-minded individuals who are out to take the industry by storm. They all truly want to help folks understand and improve the security postures of their companies, communities, and households — realizing that the first layer needed in a defense-in-depth strategy is people.

If you are a security professional, or are interested in learning more about security, I encourage you to get involved in some of the Catalyst Community discussions.