The feature well: To truly understand how vulnerable your company’s network is requires thorough testing. And since people are the weakest link, employees are not to be overlooked. How to think like a con man demonstrates ways to use social engineering to test security defenses. “In our modern, security-centric world, this ancient craft poses an ever-present danger: Despite technological advances that present an illusion of security, we are as vulnerable as ever to the con,” Andrew Brandt writes. Naturally, start by doing your research. Related: Hackers want to hypnotize you. Careers: Finding himself in a culture riddled by “We can’t do that because …” employees, one reader consults Bob Lewis for advice. “You need to create buy-in regarding the big picture,” Lewis offers in this Advice Line post. “I strongly encourage a high-involvement process for this, for the simple reason that if it’s your vision, everyone else is simply processing work orders. If you want their hearts and minds engaged, it has to be everyone’s vision and strategy, not just yours.” Quoteworthy: If Microsoft was slow to grasp the importance of the Internet, they’d like to prove they aren’t asleep at the switch when it comes to SaaS and Web 2.0. Office Live Workspace may be a key piece of the puzzle here, but Microsoft is undoubtedly late to the party. Google has been making hay with its hosted suite, and other competitors are springing up all over the place. Don’t forget, though, that Microsoft has a built in advantage: a massive installed base of MS Office. A wholesale move to hosted services would undercut that still lucrative business. — Steve Fox, Microsoft’s services: More marketing than meat. Related news: Microsoft: We have services, too. Security