Funds raised and acquisition made - by Bit9

Bit9, an endpoint security vendor has announced it has raised $38million in investment and also acquired 'Carbon Black'. The interesting thing about Bit9 is its claim to have stopped some of the most advanced attacks seen in recent years such as Flame, Gauss and the malware responsible for the RSA breach. I also like the sound of 'Carbon Black', not a company I have heard of before, but their website says they "prepare your digital enterprise for the inevitable compromise by collecting, and retaining, precisely the data that incident responders need to answer the critical questions of any investigation" - which is a key part of enterprise forensic readiness.

Password-free online authentication a step closer?

This could be interesting but given the failure of 'standards' in IT generally I guess we will have to wait and see - Password-free online authentication a step closer - a report in Computer Weekly looks at the Fido (Fast IDentity Online ) Alliance protocol, aimed at helping companies eliminate passwords in favour of multi-factor identity checks using a variety of alternatives.

World's First Insurance Backed Bitcoin Vault

A fascinating story - a UK start-up offering a secure bitcoin vault backed up by Lloyds of London insurance.