computer system

Computers snarl U.S. air traffic

Judi Hasson — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:19:16 -0400

In a software nightmare this week, a breakdown in the Federal Aviation Administration's system for processing flight plans caused massive airline delays. The FAA said a software problem caused the system to go down at about 1 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. A backup system in Salt Lake City took over flight-plan processing, but a backlog in the handover caused the flight delays.

Central to the problem was the FAA's computer system known as the National Data Interchange Network, which processes the flight plans that airlines file every day. "This was a failure mode we've not seen before," said Hank Krakowski, chief operating officer of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization. "It looks like an internal software processing error. We think we know what it is, but we have to do forensics on it to figure it out."

For more on the FAA:
- see this cnet.com article

Spam is everywhere--even on your cell phone

Mon, 12 May 2008 07:00:00 -0400

Spam is everywhere--even on your cell phone

You thought you had wrestled spam to the ground, and maybe you have on your computer system. But now comes a new trend reported by the New York Times that spam is increasing greatly on cell phones, too.

It's just a little headache, you think. But now that many cell phones are used for email and integrated into office systems, they could provide a backdoor for new viruses. And while it's not part of your job description, it may soon be part of your problem. Spam in the form of text messages also could increase costs for your company because these messages are charged to the receiving cell.

So it's important to stay at attention. Perhaps CIOs need to survey company departments and check with accounting to see if there has been a rise text charges that may be related to spam. If so, it may be time to contact your telecommunications carrier and take necessary precautions. - Judi

Employers looking for the ROI

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 08:00:00 -0400

It may be hard to believe, but despite the virtual world that we live in, the CIO's job is not always protected. There is plenty of unemployment in the IT industry, despite the continued growth in the field and new firms are popping up all the time. The IT industry is still relatively young, and it is now facing the growing pains that many other industries have faced in the past. Nevertheless, only an uninformed company thinks that it can go it alone, without the experience of a hands-on player who can fix a computer system when it crashes and teach employees how to get the best and most efficient return on a piece of technology.

Still, it will take time before IT becomes a necessary part of every organization's map and the topsy-turvy state of the employment market may discourage employers from providing on-the-job training and retraining, according to Ron Hira, assistant professor of Public Policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology and author of a report just issued by the nonprofit Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology. "Companies are less willing to pay for training and professionals development," Hira said. "In the past, they expected that you'd be with the company for a long time, so they'd be willing to pay tuition reimbursement or for other training. Now, employers, rationally, don't think they'll be getting the return on that investment [ROI], so they're not offering it. They know that the worker may jump ship, or they might lay them off," he told CIO Insight. It might be about time to show your employer that you're worth the investment. -Judi

Data thieves hit universities

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 19:01:39 -0500

A university in Idaho and a college in Arizona are busy doing what they can to quell students' and staffers' fears about personal data gone missing. The University of Idaho reported that three workstations went missing, putting confidential data for over 300,000 users in potential jeopardy. The University of Tuscon in Arizona is investigating a computer system breach that shut down its procurement system and provided unauthorized access to building and payroll data. Officials at the Arizona campus say there is no evidence that the data has been used illegally yet. The PCs were password protected, but the data housed on them was not.

For more on the latest security breaches:
- read the news at Computerworld

Editor's Corner

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 19:01:40 -0500

Apple's still fighting for the enterprise market
The very first computer system I worked on was called a varityper and it was the epitome of clunkiness. My first 'true' PC was an Apple and I fell in love with the machine immediately. Ever since then I've often been the lone voice in the wilderness calling for more Macs in the workplace. But the thundering adoption of PC-based systems, software and tools has continually overwhelmed my pathetic cries for my PC of choice. That's why an article over at Newsfactor today caught my attention. The piece discusses how, despite the saturation of Microsoft in business, Apple hasn't given up on its quest to grab a piece of the enterprise pie. It seems that the dawn of Vista has more than a few companies reviewing their operating platforms and systems and that some businesses are considering the Apple option. It's music to my ears, but I'm not so sure about most cost-centric IT leaders. Let me know if you think its probable for Apple to move into the enterprise space anytime soon. -Judy

Nebraska system hacked, data status uncertain

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 20:01:35 -0400

The latest state municipality to suffer a data loss is Nebraska's child support computer system. Hackers broke in and may have taken Social Security numbers, as well as other personal data, of nearly 300,000 residents and 9,000 businesses. The hack involved the planting of a virus on a backup server. As the investigation is still progressing, officials aren't yet sure if the attackers got a hold of the data or not.

For more on the state data breach:
- read this article at CNN

Hacker's court case to set Web security precedent

Tue, 09 May 2006 20:01:37 -0400

A legal proceeding against a hacker who claims his intentions were only good could end up setting a Web security precedent in the arena of online criminal rulings. Experts say that the court decision regarding Eric McCarty, a San Diego resident who allegedly hacked into the University of Southern California's computer system, will greatly impact the current state of security research as the case crosses so many ethical, legal and technical issues.

For more on the legal issues in prosecuting "good" hackers:
- read this article at InformationWeek