According to Allen Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, 95% of all attacks on enterprise networks are the result of successful spear phishing. In other words, somebody received an email and either clicked on a link or opened a file that they weren't supposed to.

One of the biggest technology trends this year has been the continuing influx of consumer-oriented into the workplace. From iPads and iPhones to Android phones and tablets, 2011 will go down as the year the consumerization of IT reached a critical mass. It's no longer a question of whether IT departments will support and embrace consumer-first devices, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs and the expanded sphere of mobile platforms -- now, the issue is more about when and how.

At the end of my Cloud Expo West presentation last week, I was asked, "How can we verify that a Cloud provider actually has all of these infrastructure and security mechanisms in place?" It's a great question, one that deserves a fuller answer than I was able to give in the time available.

If you're ready for a technical deep dive in a book, the Cisco Networking Technology Series provides that in its collection of volumes on topics that include Cisco firewalls, Cisco Unity Connection voice-messaging platform, Cisco Contact Center, IPv6 and more. Here's a quick review of the books published in this series by Cisco Press this year.

Linda Goodspeed, vice president of IT at Nissan North America, was attending a global IT meeting at her company's head office in Japan on March 11 and was caught in the magnitude 9.0 earthquake. The quake was among the top seven most powerful ever recorded and the strongest ever to hit the country. "People were diving under desks. Women were crying. We could see fire outside," she says. "Window blinds were moving three feet to the left and to the right. I thought the building would fall apart."