The danger of counterfeit and tampered IT products is well known, and to fight it, the Open Group has published a technical security standard aimed at supply-chain safety. It's anticipated that by year-end there will also be an official process under way for accreditation so technology suppliers can prove adherence to the standard, according to some involved, which include IBM and Cisco.

There's a need to rely and trust forces outside our direct control for security -- and that awareness spurred the United Kingdom's national infrastructure protection authority to push for a standard way to model the implications of relying on technology, services, people and more.

Members of the Open Group's Security for the Cloud and SOA Project have launched a new security architecture for the cloud, to help security organizations better understand the unique security aspects of cloud computing.