As threats grow, so demand for the safety of the data-The Tennessean

The underlying connection was closed: A connection that was expected to be kept alive was closed by the server.

PHILADELPHIA Aaron Weaver works in the basement of his Pittsburgh Allegheny Co., Pa, home, making the Internet a little safer.

His skills as an information security specialist are in such demand that his employer, Pearson Education, years of him work from home after he told the education-publishing firm he wouldn't relocate it to Colorado when it recruited him.

With increasingly frequent reports of big companies such as Google, DuPont, GE, and Johnson and Johnson being targeted would be hackers, the "infosec" career field is growing "as fast as the online computing is expanding," said Weaver, 33.

As new technologies spread, sat in the security threats, said David Foote, CEO and co-founder of Foote Partners LLC in Vero Beach, Fla., which conducts independent research on information technology jobs.

"It's the blessing and curse of technology," he said, adding, "It's a slam dunk that work in security."

In 2007, spending on security as a percentage of operational IT spending by businesses was 7.2 percent, Foote said. The 2010, it had increased it to 13.5 percent.

Weaver, the married father of three, graduated from Bob Jones University in 2000 with a degree in graphic design, but he was later drawn that computer science.

"To be quite honest, there wasn't that much money in graphic design," said Weaver, who was born in Quakertown, PA., and grew up in Kenya.

As a security specialist for Pearson Education, and global publisher of print and online educational materials, the Weaver works, assure the security of Web applications related to online teaching and protect user data, such as student grades and teacher-student interactions.

He also ensures that the company complies with a wide array of privacy laws and regulations.

Weaver can rattle off numerous examples of where security needs to catch up to the galloping pace of new technologies.

Think about your smartphone and all those nifty mobile apps you trust with your personal data.

Think about "cloud computing" and how it has shifted much of what you once did on your physical computer's online services, such as photo storage.

Think about the regulations that govern information security that differ from the state's state and nation's nation. "Global companies need experts on all regions and what you can and can't do, '' Weaver said.

Information security is not limited to computers, networks and databases. Security needs are emerging with technological advances in the cars that will soon transmit status reports via email, or smart meters that communicate information about household electric usage, said Ed Schlesinger, head of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

"There's security, even in the recycling and disposal process," he said, referring to personal data left on devices that are discarded.

Just last week, New Jersey's state comptroller reported much warmer than a third of state computers ready to be sold at public auction still contained Social Security numbers, health records, and child-abuse documents.

View the original article here

Related Articles