DC08 – 210 June 11th, 2008
BT announces winners of 2008 UK information security journalism awards
The winners of the 2008 BT Information Security Journalism Awards were announced today by Ray Stanton, global head of BT’s business continuity, security and governance practice, and fellow members of a prestigious judging panel.
This year, the top award – Information Security Journalist of the Year – went to Davey Winder, who impressed the judges with the originality, topicality and relevance of his writing. Paul Marks, last year’s winner, Michelle Price and Peter Warren were runners-up in this category. Davey also picked up the award for Best Information security News Story for his article on virus threats to SatNav devices.
In the specialist feature categories, Michelle Price walked away with the Business Continuity Feature of the Year award for her Information Age article on last summer’s flooding. Danny Bradbury was the winner in the ID Management category for a piece on online identity theft which was published in the Independent on Sunday. Best Privacy Feature of the Year went to Jon Thompson, writing about “cybersnoops” in Personal Computer World. Jon was also named the writer of the Best Overall Feature.
Eleanor Dallaway picked up the award for Best Generic Security Feature for her Infosecurity Magazine cover story on the Israeli IT security industry. Runner-up Duncan Graham-Rowe received special recognition from the judges in this category for his article “My name is Bob and I make e-shopping a cinch”, which was published in New Scientist.
Ray Stanton also presented the discretionary Enigma award to freelance journalist Peter Warren for his continued contribution to security journalism. This specially-commissioned limited edition Fabergé Enigma Egg commemorates Colossus, the Second World War Enigma code breaking machine, and highlights BT’s heritage and historical connections with both security and Bletchley Park. The egg will go on display at the BT Showcase together with a plaque which will list Peter’s name alongside last year’s winner, Bill Goodwin of Computer Weekly.
Ray Stanton, global head of BT’s business continuity, security and governance practice and head of this year’s judging panel, said: “The diversity of entries this year was very impressive with articles covering an ever broader range of topics. Yet again the quality was excellent, underlining just how strong UK journalism is in the security space.
“The judges had their work cut out and our congratulations go to the winners and shortlisted journalists, all of whom demonstrated great insight and writing ability in tackling complex and often controversial topics.”
Joining Ray Stanton on the judging panel and in presenting the awards were (in alphabetical order): Ron Condon, former editor-in-chief, SC Magazine; Graham Edwards, Head of Group Information and IT Risk, HBOS plc; Malcolm Marshall, UK lead partner for security and continuity services at KPMG; and Professor Fred Piper, director of the information security group at Royal Holloway University of London.
The full shortlists for each category were as follows:
Information security journalist of the year: Davey Winder (winner); Paul Marks; Michelle Price; Peter Warren.
Best information security news story: Davey Winder (winner); Bill Goodwin; Paul Marks; Peter Warren.
Best business continuity feature of the year: Michelle Price (winner); Danny Bradbury; Jon Thompson; Rebecca Thomson.
Best identity management feature of the year: Danny Bradbury (winner); Davey Winder.
Best privacy feature of the year: Jon Thompson (winner); Simon Edwards; Davey Winder; Tom Young.
Best generic security feature of the year: Eleanor Dallaway (winner); Celeste Biever; Bill Goodwin; Duncan Graham-Rowe; Gary Marshall; Michelle Price; Davey Winder.
Best overall security feature of the year: Jon Thompson (winner); Danny Bradbury; Eleanor Dallaway; Michelle Price.
Enigma award: Peter Warren (winner); Ian Grant; Bill Magee; Michelle Price.
Now in its third year, the annual BT awards event recognises the quality of security journalism in the UK whilst acknowledging the importance of information security to British businesses. Over 100 entries were submitted across the categories. The winners were presented with their awards at a ceremony at The Haymarket Hotel, Suffolk Place in London.
