CRIME Daily Report for June 12, 2002

From: George Heuston (GeorgeH@private)
Date: Wed Jun 12 2002 - 07:18:36 PDT

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    DoD software acquisition strategy. In hopes of closing security holes in
    software acquisitions, beginning July 1, the Defense Department will
    require a broad group of commercial software suppliers to evaluate their
    products using a standard known as Common Criteria (CC). The CC not only
    focuses on information assurance products; such as firewalls or
    intrusion-detection systems, but "information assurance-enabled
    products" such as Web browsers, operating systems and databases as well.
    According to DOD, products that fail to pass CC muster, will not be
    purchased by the department. (Federal Computer Week, 10 Jun)
    
    Congress to Examine Domain Name Co. Congress is taking a look at the
    California company that administers Internet addresses after critics
    said it is too slow to address security holes and should be more closely
    regulated. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or
    ICANN, governs the system that translates common Web site addresses into
    strings of numbers understood by computers. Testimony prepared for a
    Senate committee hearing, and obtained by The Associated Press, says the
    Commerce Department has not taken a strong enough role in overseeing the
    company. ICANN gained control of the Internet's domain name system
    through a 1998 agreement with the Commerce Department. But the deal was
    only supposed to be a transition, and control was supposed to be ceded
    to another private company or organization in 2000. ICANN has been
    fraught with infighting and delays, and the deal was extended to
    September of this year. The company has governed the creation of new
    domain names, such as .info and .name, and created more competition in
    domain name sales.  (AP Technology, 12 Jun)
    
    Summit addresses threats to cyberspace. On 10 June, political, industry,
    and academic leaders stressed the need for cooperation in order to
    prevent domestic and international attacks on the nation's information
    networks at the third Networked Economy Summit, which was hosted by
    George Mason University.  Richard A. Clarke, special adviser to the
    president for cyberspace security said, "The threats to cyberspace, and
    there are many, cannot be handled only by the military or the
    government.  All of us own a piece of cyberspace, so all of us must act
    to secure cyberspace." Clarke said that by mid-September, his office,
    along with the Office of Homeland Security would be presenting the
    president with a National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, compiled from
    the advice of different sectors of society.  (Washington Post, 11 Jun)
    
    Colorado wildfires knock out high-voltage lines.  The wildfires blazing
    in Colorado have knocked out high-voltage power lines and forced utility
    Xcel Energy Inc. to shut down lines in fire areas to prevent more
    damage.  The fires so far have not cut power deliveries to Xcel's
    transmission customers because the utility has been able to re-route
    electricity around the blazes, said Mark Stutz, a spokesman for Xcel.
    Some customers who get their power from low-voltage distribution
    systems, however, have lost power.   Xcel provides power to about 75
    percent of Colorado's consumers.  The 77,000 acre (31,162-hectare) fire,
    located about 55 miles southwest of Denver, damaged a 230 kilovolt
    Tarryall-to-Daniels Park transmission line Sunday night and forced it
    off the grid. The blaze also knocked out a 115 kv Tarryall-to- Divide
    line west of Colorado Springs.   Another 69 kv transmission cable near
    Grand Junction in western Colorado was burned and a 69 kv line running
    from a hydroelectric power plant near Glenwood Springs was shut off for
    safety reasons. The Western Electricity Coordinating Council in Salt
    Lake City, Utah is keeping a close eye on the Colorado fires, but thus
    far the state's grid is not threatened.  (Reuters, 11 Jun)
    
    FHWA awards a tech services pact. The Federal Highway Administration has
    awarded a 10-year, $175 million contract to Indus Corp. to secure the
    agency's databases. Under the Federal Highway Administration Information
    Technology Support Services contract, Indus will also help the agency
    with its enterprise architecture, network infrastructure, help desk,
    document management and telecommunications services. (GCN.com, 11 Jun)
    
    ~dmh
    



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