Directive will help shore up security, experts say
The directive will guide agencies in securing against cyberattacks, CIAO's Paul Rodgers says. Defense Information Systems Agency networks that failed a well-publicized 1996 security test would not pass it today either, DISA personnel acknowledged at a General Services Administration seminar in Washington last month. Sixty-five percent of the 1996 intrusions were successful, and only 4 percent of networks detected the attacks. Defense Department managers reported 1 percent of the attacks to DISA.
450-MHz Pentium II appears in PCs, servers for a price premium
The newly released 450-MHz Intel Pentium II processor arrived in leading PC and server makers' lines last month, priced at a premium above the fastest Pentium II systems from a year ago. Near the end of last year's buying season, a 266-MHz Pentium II Vectra system from Hewlett-Packard Co. went for slightly less than $2,000, without monitor, on a General Services Administration Information Technology Schedule contract. It had 32M RAM, 4G hard drive, 24X CD-ROM drive
Postal Service sets a new systems course with first CIO at the helm
With its first chief information officer at the helm, the Postal Service is embarking on a program to blend the systems and automated equipment it uses to process mail. "We have applications; what we need is overarching information," said Norman E. Lorentz, the service's vice president for quality, who last week became the CIO and head of the modernization effort. "An integration capability will have to be created."
Micron bests Dell on PC sales through Air Force BPAs
MONTGOMERY, Ala.—Micron Electronics Inc. has taken the lead over Dell Computer Corp. in sales through recent blanket purchasing agreements with the Air Force. Micron is outselling Dell more than 2-to-1, according to Col. Delbert Atkinson, commander of the Standard Systems Group at Gunter Annex, Ala. The Nampa, Idaho, company has racked up $7.6 million in business from its BPA, and Dell has secured just $3.1 million in sales, Atkinson said.
VBA puts class on CD-ROMs
The program has the potential to save tens of millions of dollars, systems specialist Griffin said. The Veterans Benefits Administration delivered three training programs on CD-ROM to its 58 regional offices this year, the first in an ambitious five-year computer-based training effort. The training has the potential to save tens of millions of dollars and improve nonmedical programs for veterans, said Steve Griffin, instructional systems specialist on VBA's employee development and training staff in
Travelers can tap the Web while away
The Web can be a big help to a government traveler, not just for planning trips but literally on the fly. If your office is like most, only a few people are out traveling at a time, so the entire office can share access on one of the Internet services that have local phone numbers around the world. Some, such as CompuServe, offer reasonably priced toll-free numbers for connecting from truly out-of-the-way locations.
Application service assurance suites have a multitude of tools for various networks
BMC Software Inc. of Houston coined the phrase "application service assurance" to position more than 160 utilities and other tools it now markets for mainframe and client-server networks. The products extend umbrella protection for availability, performance and recovery services at the network, hardware, operating system, database, middleware and application layers, company officials said.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
I believe that your coverage is accurate and balanced; you point out weak and strong points of Microsoft Corp. as well as the alternatives, such as Linux. It is time for the Microsoft bandwagon propaganda to be countered with an independent view, and I find it fascinating that GCN is in the forefront of spreading the knowledge.
Defense rethinks Y2K strategy
The Defense Department admits it isn't fixing date code quickly enough, according to its latest quarterly report to the Office of Management and Budget. DOD systems aren't being repaired fast enough to meet the department's own deadlines, deputy Defense secretary John Hamre told OMB Director Jacob Lew in a letter Aug. 17.
Air Force installs servers for top-secret DMS mail
MONTGOMERY, Ala.—The Standard Systems Group here at Gunter Annex will host two high-performance servers to provide Defense Message System top-secret-level services to about 1,000 Air Force users servicewide. Air Force officials have decided there is not sufficient demand among the service's DMS users to warrant the installation of top-secret servers at each base, SSG officials said.
FlowCharter 7's templates ease chart-building
Pros and cons: + Easy run-through chart checking + Lots of templates + All chart text together in data window – Needs more computer equipment icons Real-life requirements: Win95 or NT, 16M RAM, CD-ROM drive, 75-MHz or faster processor Flowcharting programs have been around as long as computer graphics. Most are just advanced drawing programs with few intuitive links between elements, so that each new chart has to be designed pretty much
DOD COMPUTINGBRIEFING BOOK
DISA Y2K. Defense Information Systems Agency systems could fail if DISA doesn't fix date code, a Defense Department inspector general report said. "Without a greater effort by DISA to revise its Y2K program to better comply with federal and DOD requirements, DISA faces increased risks that its information and technology systems may not operate properly in the year 2000 and beyond," said the report, Management of the Defense Information Systems Agency Year 2000 Program.
Get systems secure
Remember the TV sitcom "Get Smart," about a bumbling spy? For security, Agent 86 and his boss would enter a cone of silence—but they couldn't hear each other. In one scene, the boss offered to write a note. Agent 86 cautioned that a note could be stolen. The boss offered to swallow the note afterwards, but Agent 86 said his stomach could be pumped by enemy spies. All right, I'll burn it, said the exasperated boss.
GSA targets small businesses
GSA has adopted a tough-love approach toward small businesses, agency administrator David J. Barram says. GSA wants to usher disadvantaged and small businesses into the mainstream, FTS commissioner Dennis J. Fischer says. The General Services Administration wants small businesses to take part in its Seat Management Program.
Using electronic agents as eyes and ears keeps the furry one keyed up
The Rat has detected a distinct thickening in the atmosphere of paranoia inside the Beltway. He is acutely aware that feeling paranoid doesn't necessarily mean somebody isn't out to get him. Just ask the hordes of angry agency users looking to get a hold of a piece of his furry hide. To cover his tail, the Rat has been forced to deploy an elite platoon of allegedly intelligent electronic agents that act as his eyes.
American Mobile adds security to federal satellite telephone service
American Mobile Satellite Corp. of Reston, Va., in June began selling Secure Telephone Unit III service with its satellite communications. The service can secure links over wireless and public switched telephone networks. The STU III dedicated telephone is the federal standard for secure telephone communications by military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies. It encrypts analog voice signals for transmission over ordinary telephone lines.
New NOAA system will act as backup satellite data server
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last month awarded a two-year, $3.2 million contract to Integral Systems Inc. to build a backup system for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Program. The Lanham, Md., company will build the backup system at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. It will process weather data and images from the satellite if weather or other problems threaten or bring down systems at the primary operations center in Virginia.
Ethernet switch and router competition intensifies
Hewlett-Packard Co. and Bay Networks Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., have introduced dueling Ethernet desktop switches that will compete on a dollar basis. And for the backbone, Cabletron Systems Inc. of Rochester, N.H., has begun an aggressive promotion for its SmartSwitch Router. Hardware, software and power supply all sell for $12,995.
Dodd, FTC team win honors from peers for superior IT achievements
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.—Army Maj. David E. Dodd and members of the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Information System Project Team last week received the honor of their peers at the Interagency Resources Management Conference. Dodd won the IRMCO Chief Information Officer Council's Individual Achievement Award for developing the Joint Network Management Program for the Defense Department.
Marines put big plans online
Maj. Mark Cantrell of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command says intranet documents can replace the 8-foot charts that are cumbersome in the field. The Marine Corps' Architecture Branch, charged with fitting together all the Corps' command, control, communications, computer and intelligence structures, had to find a way to keep reams of documentation from becoming shelfware.
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