Four big cyber stories in 2011 will continue to have a lasting impact in the years to come, said Dale Meyerrose, former CIO for the intelligence community and the current vice president and general manager of Cyber Integrated Solutions at the Harris Corporation.

1. Google hacked by China
   In January, Chinese officials ordered a cyber spies to hack into Google over concerns the company was not following Chinese censorship directives.

   The incident shows the globalization of cyber space, Meyerrose said. It also highlights that the future of the cyber markets may not be U.S.-driven and the possibility that the cyber talent will not be from the United States, he said.

   This was also a “monumental story” because Google disclosed information about its vulnerabilities, something that always causes “trepidation” among companies for fear of market share impact, Meyerrose said.

2. Apple iPad
   In April, Apple released the iPad, selling 300,000 devices on the first day of sales and 2 million within two months.

   The demand for the iPad demonstrates the mobility of the workforce, Meyerrose said.

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   As new legislation gives federal employees more telework opportunities, Meyerrose said, “We’ve got to figure out how to move our comfort zone outside of networks into cyberspace.”

3. Intel buys McAfee
   The $7.7 billion sale was the biggest in Intel’s history. The acquisition suggested Intel was trying to be a biggest security player, in addition to making computer chips, Federal News Radio reported.

   The acquisition “jolted the market into the thinking and idea of embedding hardware and security and reaching out to different markets than we previously thought,” Meyerrose said.

4. WikiLeaks
   Although the release of hundreds of thousands of classified documents is not directly a cyber story, Meyerrose said the impact of WikiLeaks will affect cyber professionals.

   “Guess who’s going to be given the responsibility to come up with some fixes?” he said.

   The Wall Street Journal reports on the potential fallout of WikiLeaks on companies’ use of the cloud.

   Meyerrose said cyber professionals will have to develop a “new language” in this new environment. He said “trusted platforms” — not simply secure platforms — must emerge in the cloud.

   In the age of austerity, organizations can turn to the cloud as a way to stay modern while cutting costs, he said.

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