NEW YORK -- Computerworld was honored today with a first-place Jesse H. Neal business journalism award for its coverage last year of security gaps in wireless LANs. In a series of stories throughout the year, the publication detailed how wireless networks can be infiltrated by hackers, potentially exposing sensitive information.
The stories detailed how companies, including airlines and retail stores, sometimes fail to take basic security and encryption measures to protect data.
The anchor story package in the Jan. 14, 2002 issue, headlined "Wireless LANs: Trouble in the Air," (see story), was written by Bob Brewin, Dan Verton, Jennifer DiSabatino, Jaikumar Vijayan and Deborah Radliff; designed by Julie D'Errico and Mitchell Hayes; researched by Gussie Wilson and Allison Wright; and edited by Don Tennant.
"We're just delighted to receive this award, which highlights and honors all the hard work that goes into an important story like this one," said Maryfran Johnson, editor in chief of Computerworld. "But to us, the real heroes are the readers and the sources who helped us bring these stories to light."
Today's awards were handed out by the Association of Business Media Companies during a luncheon at the Waldorf Astoria. Nearly 1,100 entries in a wide range of categories were considered for the honors.
Computerworld's Web site and several editorials written by Johnson were finalists for awards in categories honoring publication Web sites and staff-written editorials.
Computerworld was chosen from among three finalists in the "Best News Coverage" category. The other finalists in that category were "Competition From Rogue Internet Pharmacies," in Drug Topics magazine, and "Web ad explosion," in PC World. PC World, like Computerworld, is an IDG publication.