Linda Musthaler

About fifteen years ago, my husband and his colleague had their laptop computers stolen out of a car. They were fearful of reporting the incident to their boss, largely because the laptops had cost the company about $7000 each. A $14,000 hit to the departmental budget was a serious blow. And back in those days, no one gave much thought to exposure of the data on the stolen devices.

My, how times have changed!

I live on the outskirts of Houston, the nation’s fourth largest city. Covering an area of 640 square miles, Houston is home to more than 2 million people -- almost 4 million if you count the full metropolitan area. The center of Houston is only about 50 miles from the Gulf Coast. Normally we Houstonians like our proximity to the sea; Galveston Island and other nearby beach towns are our playground throughout the year.

Just four days ago, however, Hurricane Ike changed all that. Making landfall on the eastern end of Galveston, Ike raced across the narrow island and into Galveston Bay, then up the Houston Ship Channel and straight into the annals of history. On his way to becoming one of this country’s most costly natural disasters, Ike struck a terrible blow to Houston and many surrounding communities.

For the first time ever, companies that develop and administer IT certification exams are working together to combat a problem that has largely been swept under the rug for years: certification fraud.

A group of IT hardware and software vendors, independent certifying agencies, test centers and others have formed the IT Certification Council (ITCC). The goal is to share knowledge and resources to combat and prevent fraud, which is threatening to undermine the value of IT certification. (See Musthaler's opinion on how cert cheating can ruin your career.)