9 Horror Stories from Halloweens Past Rise Again

In honor of one of our favorite holidays, the InformationWeek Crypt Keeper has unlocked the creaky door to the InformationWeek archives and dusted off some of our favorite tales from Halloweens of yesteryear. So grab your Kit Kats, don your devil horns, and read on ... if you dare.

9 Scary Examples of Malicious Insider Attacks

Just last year, Pam Baker sent chills down the spines of many a cybersecurity professional, with nine hair-raising true-life tales of malicious insider attacks. She also sent a warning: "Do not assume, dear reader, that insider threats are one and done. Often they are the scare that keeps screaming, and screaming, and screaming -- and never dies."

Is US Tech Policy Ready for a Zombie Apocalypse?

During Halloween 2014, Daniel Castro posed a number of very relevant zombie-related questions on everything from HIPAA to end-user licensing agreements. Despite the countless Walking Dead spinoffs that have arisen since then, these questions still remain unanswered.

Best Cities for the Zombie Apocalypse

As you may recall, zombies were very much on everyone's mind in 2014. So that same year, David Wagner discussed the best cities to hunker down in during the zombie apocalypse. (No doubt this list needs an update since new trends in remote work have taken hold.)

Related:9 Scary Examples of Malicious Insider Attacks

14 Creepy Ways To Use Big Data

On Halloween 2015, Lisa Morgan wrote that the amount of data being collected about people, companies, and governments is unprecedented and that the ways to use that data were downright frightening. That was nigh on eight years ago now...and the picture she painted then of "the future" is eerily familiar today.

Is 2023 an AI Hallucination Odyssey?

If you prefer listening to your scary stories, then you have a wide selection of Joao-Pierre Ruth's podcasts to select from. But why not start with this classic sci-fi mind-bender with a modern twist that gets the nerves prickling?

Hurricane Sandy: Disaster Recovery Improv Tales

The Halloween of 2012 was an actual real-world nightmare for those who experienced the super-storm Hurricane Sandy that struck New York and New Jersey during a full moon the week of Halloween. The deadly storm caused historic damages and forced disaster recovery experts to be creative. In this Halloween story, Charles Babcock interviewed the inventive IT hosting providers who kept services running with a diesel fuel bucket brigade.

Blue Coat Identifies Halloween Trick

In Halloween 2009, unsuspecting victims looking for costumes and spooky music for their Halloween parties fell prey to an attack that stuck them with a malicious downloader instead -- just like the candy-borne needles we once heard tell of.

Related:2023 Cyber Risk and Resiliency Report: How CIOs Are Dueling Disaster in 2023

Halloween Jokes Behind Web Traffic Spike

Back in Halloween 2005, "viral marketing" was still a new term. Companies selling everything from greeting cards to Coors beer netted their web traffic simply by creating Halloween games, gags, tricks, and treats.

Hershey's Biggest Treat: No Tricks

Hershey celebrated Halloween 2002 with a new ERP system. Their CIO told InformationWeek about how Hershey could finally track daily sales and shipments of trick-or-treaters favorites like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey bars, Mounds candy bars, Twizzlers, and Milk Duds using SAP business-warehouse apps. Yes, dear reader ... someone really might know just how many of those Fun Sizes you gobble in the dark. What a horrifying notion.

You can be the Crypt Keeper too by searching the archives now. Interested in the history of IT and want to help us spruce up our archives? Contact us at [email protected] today.