It has been a traumatic week for me. Our corporate IT department has decided to relieve us of our Mac computers, trusted friends of editors for almost two decades. Our poor G3s have worn out their welcome here and have been replaced by, yes, PCs!
Now I'm one of those people who freezes up at the very mention of a C drive. Yet as we enter week two I am slowly adjusting to my new PC world. And it really is not as bad as I expected. I guess I faced a similar sort of trepidation during the early days of the Internet. Back in the mid-1990s the Web was a strange and different place filled with on-line bulletin boards, pay sites and unfamiliar URLs. Initial public consumption of the Web in those early days was an endless maze of disconnects, outrageous download times and unsophisticated sites and users.
Still, there was something there that told us all this was the beginning of something big. So why not climb aboard? In 1996, ST&D began work on its first Web site. We called it the Security Information Management Online Network, SIMON for short. It debuted at ASIS in 1997, and through the years has been an Internet leader for the security industry and set the standard for others to follow. Now we are setting the bar even higher.
The Cygnus Security Group is putting the finishing touches on a new Web portal for the security industry, which will go live for its debut at ASIS in Dallas on September 27. Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to introduce you to SecurityInfoWatch.com. The site's publisher, Paul Caplan, is a security veteran, having been the publisher of Access Control magazine for several years before heading up a regional technology publication called Techlinks.
SecurityInfoWatch.com is being developed to provide the security community with a comprehensive clearinghouse of industry news, data and analysis, said Caplan from his Atlanta office. The portal will include sections specifically tailored to meet the needs of security professionals, dealers and distributors, systems integrators and manufacturers. Additionally, the site will feature more than 20 sections covering the latest updates on specific industry verticals and product categories. SecurityInfoWatch.com will also begin publishing several e-newsletters serving the various security constituencies this fall.
What makes SIW different and exciting is its dedicated news team. With world events dictating many security decisions, it is crucial for us to have knowledgeable journalists and security veterans manning this site. We are the only security industry Web site out there making that commitment, said SIW managing editor Geoffrey Kohl. I think that is proof positive that we are dedicated to creating the best and most authoritative web portal for the security sector.
In its first days, SecurityInfoWatch.com will provide daily coverage of the ASIS conference, with updates on new product launches, interviews with security leaders and summaries of seminar events. Later in the year SIW will launch an online buyers' guide.
We anticipate that SecurityInfoWatch.com will fulfill a vital role in serving as an information conduit for all who work in the security industry, said Caplan.
If you have any questions or comments for Steve Lasky regarding this issue or any other, please e-mail him at [email protected].
