Frank Hayes

Let's start with what every IT leader knows already: There's no money. There is no money. There is no money.

It's that time of year again. Time to join the busy shoppers elbowing their way through the crowds at a local mall. Time to watch hundreds or thousands of people moving in all directions, each one taking a different path through the chaos. It's noisy, messy and about as far as you can get from the logical, orderly way we like to think about IT.

How much do bugs cost us? We were recently given an estimate. The U.S. government's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a study that says software errors cost U.S. users US$59.5 billion each year. That's more than Bill Gates is worth these days (US$52.8 billion, according to Forbes), but it's still only about US$200 per American.

It's Labor Day, so let's talk about the future of IT work. Maybe that doesn't sound like something with much of a future. These days, unemployment among IT people in the U.S. is right up there with the overall unemployment rate. There's lots of talk that corporate IT staffs will remain gutted even after the economy recovers. And as IT is squeezed until it's unable to do anything but the most basic janitorial functions

Warchalking? I'm for it. I think it almost qualifies as a public service. No, I don't trust the hackers who ride around with antennas made from coffee or snack-food cans, mapping out wireless access points to corporate networks. They're looking for ways to connect to our networks without authorization, so by definition they're not to be trusted.

There are bad ideas, and then there are really awful ideas. Example of a bad idea: the proposed uniform state law called the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA), with its "self-help" provision that lets vendors remotely sabotage software you've bought if they believe you're not conforming to their licence terms.

Are you afraid? You probably are. When times are good, many IT people have no fears at all.

The IT people at Georgia Institute of Technology weren't exactly prepared last month when they discovered that a server in their business office had been hacked.