My presentation.

The mandate introduces a new metric for the department: “Speed to Impact.” This replaces the legacy metric of “Total Cost of Ownership,” which refers to the total expenses associated with acquiring and operating a product over its entire lifespan. Under the 2026 guidelines, a capability that is 80% effective today is prioritized over a 100% effective capability that arrives in 18 months.

In 1983, we once again planned to deploy my ship, USS Portland (LSD-37), to the Mediterranean, where we would visit many wonderful spots in Spain, Italy, and Greece. Instead, because of an embassy bombing in Beirut that April, we spent 7 long months off the coast of Lebanon, providing support to the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force. We ended up having one week in Antalya, Turkey, and a week in Athens, Greece, but my second deployment would be very different. It took me many years to understand how people would view this period of history. I feel a bit of naivety now, or perhaps I’ve realized that age allows you to better understand history.

I was listening to a recent podcast with Joe Rogan and Chamath Palihapitiya, discussing the impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning on our society. What impact will AI/ML have on our children’s education and the future of work?

Chamath said, “Don’t tell me what happened in the War of 1812.” You can find the answer by using a search engine or ChatGPT. But why did it happen? What were the motivations? What were the effects of the individuals involved?

Why did the bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, happen?

I am a big Jack Carr fan and love his series of fictional stories involving James Reece. I learn more about the defense industry with his timely and relevant words.

His first non-fiction book clarifies the events that occurred less than 2 miles ashore in 1983, which I struggled to understand as a young man.

In the summer and fall of 1983, the situation for US Marines in Beirut, Lebanon, was precarious and volatile. The Marines had deployed to Lebanon in August 1982 as part of a multinational peacekeeping force, which included troops from France, Italy, and Great Britain. Their mission was to oversee the withdrawal of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from Beirut and help stabilize the country after years of civil conflict.

By early 1983, the situation appeared to have stabilized somewhat, but this proved to be a false sense of security. On April 18, 1983, a car bomb destroyed the US embassy in West Beirut, killing dozens of American and Lebanese civilians. This attack signaled a shift in tactics by militant groups in the region and foreshadowed the tragedy to come.

Throughout the summer and fall, US Marines faced constant threats from sniper fire, unexploded ordnance, and terrorist attacks. Despite its intended stability, the peacekeeping mission had become dangerous. Between May and October 1983, the Marines received over 100 intelligence reports warning of potential terrorist attacks, though these lacked specifics on timing and methods.

The situation culminated in the devastating bombing of the Marine barracks on October 23, 1983. On that early Sunday morning, a truck carrying explosives crashed through the gates of the US Marine compound at Beirut International Airport, causing the detonation and death of 241 American service members. This attack, along with the simultaneous bombing of a French paratrooper barracks, marked the deadliest day for the US Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.

Early Evolution of Hezbollah and Factions in Lebanon

The early 1980s saw the emergence of Hezbollah as a significant force in Lebanon. Although not yet established, the organization that would become Hezbollah was developing at this time under the influence of Iran’s Islamic Revolution and with the support of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. A group calling itself Islamic Jihad, later associated with Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Marine barracks.

The conflict in Lebanon during this period was complex, involving many factions: the Lebanese government forces, various Christian militias such as the Phalangists and Druze militias, Shia Muslim groups such as the nascent Hezbollah, Palestinian factions, the PLO, Syrian forces, and Israeli forces. These groups engaged in a multi-sided civil war, characterized by shifting alliances and objectives. Existing foreign forces, including the US Marines, added another layer of complexity to an already volatile situation. Regional powers like Syria, Israel, and Iran, each supporting different factions and pursuing their own strategic interests in Lebanon, further complicated the conflict.

As a junior officer in my early years, I recall the following distant memories:

I had the pleasure of getting to know Lt. John Hudson, a brilliant doctor and amazing human being. He was from Georgia and had a wonderful personality. I remember his wife visiting him in Athens during our short liberty period.

We retrieved a deceased body from the ocean, which had been drifting for several days. We also saw a dead cow floating in the waters off Beirut.

My special warfare friends caught a person swimming out to our ship with a floatation bag. This resulted in us dropping percussion grenades every hour.

I served as the flight deck officer on the LSD, facilitating hundreds of H46 and H53 takeoffs and landings to assist the marines ashore.

As we stocked our well deck with ammunition, we realized we were no longer impartial in this endeavor.

The nightly fighting in the hills above Beirut was visible from the sea. During the day, people would drive their cars to work as usual, but as soon as the sunset, a few flares would appear in the sky, signaling the start of the bombardment.

The day of the bombing changed my life. Our crew did not sleep for 2-3 days straight as we helped recover the dead bodies trapped under the ruins of what was the Battalion Landing Team’s HQ.

We left Beirut in late November with an empty marine berthing, aware that those marines were now deceased.

Later that year, I discovered that Don Woollett, one of my US Naval Academy classmates, was among the Marines who lost their lives. He is the only USNA 80 classmate to die in a military conflict.

Reading Jack Carr’s book made me realize many things about Beirut that I was not aware of, despite my naivete.

There are several crucial considerations to contemplate when determining whether young men should experience guilt for their lack of knowledge about history or wars. Feeling some sense of responsibility to learn about the past can be constructive, but excessive guilt is often not helpful. Understanding history is more important than feeling guilty about not knowing it already. Many young people today did not participate in or cause past wars and atrocities. We should encourage young people to think and question official narratives about war and history.

The key is to encourage historical awareness, critical thinking, and social responsibility in young people without imposing a sense of undue personal guilt for past events they did not cause. Learning about history and working to create a more peaceful future is more important than feeling guilty about prior ignorance or naivety.

Read “Targeted Beirut.”

History is important. October 23rd is a day to remember.

We recently added a wonderful original painting by a local San Diego artist, Paul Strahm. It is of the statue in San Diego (next to the USS Midway), representing the famous Alfred Eisenstaedt photo taken in 1945.

Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) is famous because it marks the end of World War II, following Japan's surrender to the Allied forces. This event is significant for several reasons:

1. End of World War II: VJ Day marked the conclusion of World War II, which was one of the most destructive conflicts in human history.

2. Impact of the Atomic Bombs: The surrender of Japan came shortly after the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. These bombings resulted in massive casualties and demonstrated the devastating power of nuclear weapons, which played a crucial role in Japan's decision to surrender (suggest reading Annie Jacobson’s new book, Nuclear War).

3. Global Celebrations: The announcement of Japan's surrender led to widespread celebrations across Allied nations. In the United States, spontaneous celebrations erupted on August 14, 1945, when President Harry S. Truman announced the surrender. In the United Kingdom, VJ Day was celebrated on August 15, 1945, with national holidays and public festivities.

4. Iconic Photograph: VJ Day is also remembered for this iconic photograph, "V-J Day in Times Square," showing a sailor kissing a nurse, which became a symbol of the end of the war and the joy it brought.

   

Overall, VJ Day is a pivotal moment in history, marking the end of a global conflict and the beginning of a new era in international relations.

The platform covers a wide range of topics, including politics, economics, sports, entertainment, and current events. By enabling users to put real money behind their predictions, Polymarket incentivizes careful research and thoughtful analysis. This mechanism often results in more accurate forecasts than traditional polling or expert opinions, as it harnesses the wisdom of the crowd and provides a financial incentive for accuracy.

One of Polymarket's key features is its use of blockchain technology and smart contracts to ensure transparency and automate the settlement of markets. When an event concludes, the smart contract automatically distributes winnings to those who correctly predicted the outcome. This decentralized approach eliminates the need for a centralized authority to manage funds or determine results, potentially reducing the risk of manipulation or bias. However, it's worth noting that, as with any prediction market or financial platform, there are regulatory considerations and potential risks that users should be aware of.

An example:

Presidential Election 2024

Federal Rate Cut

Mark Twain is frequently credited with the aphorism: “History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Which means, while details change, circumstances change, settings change, and names change, similar events will essentially recycle.

Prime Minister Netanyahu gave a powerful speech yesterday. Regardless of your political party affiliation or the news source from which you obtain your information, everyone should listen and get rid of their prejudice. Despite almost eight decades since Israel's founding, most Americans remain ignorant of its history. It was also hard to see the paradox of the protest events happening in our nation’s capital.

What were the discussions between Truman and Marshall about Israel's establishment in 1948? During this period, what were the principal actors in Israeli history?

One of the most significant turning points in the process of making decisions leading to the State of Israel's recognition was the 1948 meeting between Truman and Marshall to discuss the founding of Israel. The meeting took place on May 12, 1948. Among the important participants in the conversation were Secretary of State George C. Marshall, President Harry Truman, and Truman's advisor, Clark Clifford.

While George Marshall opposed Israel's recognition, Clark Clifford was a fervent supporter of it. The undermining of a United Nations trusteeship proposal that the United States had supported, doubts about the Jewish state's capacity to repel Arab attacks, and the possible effects on U.S. relations with the Arab world—particularly with regard to oil supplies—were some of the reasons behind Marshall's opposition.

During this period, Chaim Weizmann, a well-known Zionist leader and the country's first president, and David Ben-Gurion, who would go on to become Israel's first prime minister, were also important figures in the country's founding. These individuals greatly aided in the founding and early administration of the new state.

This is a great book to read.

George Marshall: Defender of the Republic, by David Roll

Another great two day session led by the undersea warfare community. Springtime in San Diego is much better than New London (best for the fall session). The session discussed the use of AI/ML to accelerate the kill chain, efforts to develop an long range network fires application and overall data architecture. We are all seeing the dramatic effects of AI/ML. Announced in 2014, this AI/ML part of the strategy aims to maintain U.S. military superiority in the face of advancing near-peer competitors. It focuses on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous systems, big data analytics, miniaturization, and advanced manufacturing like 3D printing.

Henry Kissinger- Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy

Great read of the period when I was young and never really understood world events that happened. It is a must-read for our children who spend too much time on their iPhones. Respect his view of future leaders and the current world order.

Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

The modern Ben Franklin. A must read for those wondering about the future of AI.

The Coming Wave- Mustafa Suleyman.

The 2nd read to gain a better understanding of AI and Machine Learning.

Napolean: A Life by Andrew Roberts.

Read it for the November movie that had some great scenes (Austerlitz), but the character development was below average. Glad I read the book. A great military leader (maybe the best).

• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Goodwin

  
  This is a great book that traces Lincoln and his competition at the Republican Convention. The book shows the humility, strengths, and weaknesses of Lincoln’s character.

  

  These are all great books to help you better understand history and the future. I left out my list of Bitcoin-related reads (save for another post).

  Happy New Year!

The below abstract is related to my presentation at the 2022 USW Conference on 28 September 2022. It was focused on Abstract Paper: Asynchronous Communication A culture change to decrease the time variable in the development of JADC2/Overmatch applications and systems:

Purpose - What is the aim of the research to be presented in a panel session?

Introducing DEVSECOPS and commercial processes and tools to the DOD/Navy USW environment is critical to reducing the timeline to develop and field relevant applications and systems to the fleet. The current DOD process based on the Planning, Programming, Budget, and Execution (PPBE) system requires modification. PPBE is the scheme by which DoD sets its plans and priorities and also how it asks Congress to approve its spending and provide oversight (often by verifying actual execution against predicted schedule and performance). The history of the PPBE dates to 1961 and is based on period industrial planning concepts. The PPBE’s inflexibility increases the difficulty of rapidly shifting funding to emergent innovations that appear promising, as new programs must typically wait more than two years to be included in the budget. In addition, the PPBE encodes divisions between research, production, and operations activities that stymy iterative or feedback-based development.

Theme - How does the research relate to the technical session of the conference?

The research will investigate how the implementation of DEVSECOPS to critical programs of records can enhance the program’s overall capability, reduced timelines, inspire talent acquisition in our community, and ensure our Navy stays ahead of the threat. Additionally, additional awareness of the importance of software development, open source-based technologies, and tighter connection to the operational fleet will be discussed.

Design/Methodology/Approach - How were the research objectives achieved?

The discussion will include an overview of the current DEVSECOPS and software factory efforts and look at past real examples of closely connecting an effective program's development operations and security components. The discussion will support the overall awareness of new commercial processes and technologies and how they are being introduced to the Navy and USW community. Topics on a post-covid hybrid way of life within our community will be discussed, thus introducing technologies and processes to allow cross-domain and multi-security level 1 development, changes in data architectures, communication enhancements, and, most importantly, a refocus on the revitalization of C4ISR. There will be a convergence of battle management aids, command and control, and combat systems.

Findings - What are the overall research findings?

The top findings included:

●The introduction of DEVSECOPS and introducing the fleet operator in real time was vital in decreasing the time to fielding solutions

●The introduction of asynchronous communications created a strong community of interest and strong relationship and interaction between the development of requirements and implementation of solutions and functionality.

●The use of asynchronous communication will also support our need to rapidly shift our understanding of the IndoPACOM threat and renewal of C4ISR in the South China Sea. The Navy could extend its doctrine of local decision-making in wartime military operations and in its bureaucratic activities like weapons development and acquisition. A push toward more initiative and autonomy fosters adaptability and imposes surprise on adversaries. To gain an advantage in military competition with China, the Navy will likely need to revise its resource allocation processes to permit faster decisions. And more adaptability in selecting how to pursue its operational objectives best; revisiting the budgeting and appropriations process is becoming a strategic and even tactical input to decision-making.

●Adopting a more commercial culture increased the ability to recruit and retain top talent in the software development community.

●The discussion and analysis focus on the timely development and delivery of capability in tangible weapons systems: cyber-physical systems that can be used for operational navy purposes. Software and information systems have become increasingly crucial in weapon systems. The very essence of modern software-defined systems is that all system functions involve software. The historical analysis herein captures the trends and effects of inserting information technology into advanced techniques.

●Discussion on the use of OTAs to make an immediate impact on DOD systems. Practical Applications - What are the practical applications of the research? What have changes to existing practices been caused due to this research? For example, there will be changes in business and cultural processes and mindsets due to post-COVD, the difference in the threat, and the realization of the rapid pace of commercial technology’s impact on war (as seen by the Ukraine-Russia events). A practical example of this effort will be the migration of email to Microsoft Teams and Slack, the use of GitLab for DEVSECOPS and Project Management, and kanban boards for issue tracking and value of the Navy’s Operational Flank Speed. There will also be a discussion on the future of Zero Trust, AI/ML to support C4ISR, and unmanned/manned relationships in warfare (i.e., Task Force 59).

Original Value - What unique findings will be conveyed through the research?

The research will focus on the required cultural and business mindset changes and that these shifts will increase our defensive posture. In addition, the Navy has already been thru similar situations, and that historical reference is key to any new research or shifts in the way we operate and develop.

Must Reads: (My list of relevant books, podcast, articles)

Freedom Forge by Arthur Hermann

The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim

The Innovators by Walter Isaacson

Jack Carr Books (Terminal List, True Believer, Savage Son, The Devils Hand, In the Blood)

Looking for Another Rickover- 25 years ago and still looking

Focsle Podcat with Dr. Marv Langston (Smart-Futures.org)

1. True Believer by Jack Carr

2. The Terminal List by Jack Carr (the book is way better than the Prime Video Series)

3. The Psychology of Money by Morgan House (must read for your children)

4. The Innovators by Walter Isaacson

5. Tuesday’s with Morrie by Mitch Albom.

6. Freedom’s Forge by Arthur Herman. Great book on WWII industrial base. I did not realize Frank Kaiser was from my hometown of Whitesboro, NY!

7. The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim Must read if you like DEVSECOPS

8. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

9. Beyond Order: 12 rules of Life by Jordan Peterson

10. 1984 by George Orwell. Reread was a must considering the times and I found it in paperback for $5 dollars in an Annapolis bookstore.

11. Animal Farm by George Orwell. Reread for the same reason. as #10

12. Three days at Camp David by Jeffrey Garten. A bit of history is when Nixon got us off the Gold Standard. Relevant to today’s BitCoin discussions.

As more and more organizations use Microsoft Teams for not just web/internet calls/meetings, but realize the added features of channels, front end feature of documents and files (backend using Sharepoint), “to do” application, Microsoft List, Microsoft Planner, and many other applications, Reddit is a great community to learn about new features or “how to” information. Enjoy.

I have a playlist setup that includes the 5 sessions. I also added a few random interviews with Jason and other podcast hosts.
The first episode is a great overview of human history and, although a bit dry for my millenial kids offers some very interesting discussions. I will include some bullets below for teasers:

- The story of Power Projection thru the ages.
- Kinetic power projection is brutal (throughout the history of nature).
- An economist should never be the Officer of the Deck (OOD)!
- Can you claim to own anything to countervail the authority of others?
- Do you trust your neighbor?
- Proof of Work vs Proof of Stake- is the key theme!
- Why did Buck survive over the dinosaur? (rewatch Ice Age)
- An alternative to nuclear warfare.

The Jason Lowery Podcast Series

First, Carl Cochi was not my Uncle. He was my dad's first cousin. My dad's mom, Delia, and Carl's mom, Lena, came to America in the early 1900s from Maenza, Italy. I grew up in a small town in upstate New York. As a. young boy, I only knew Carl as "Uncle Carl ."My dad and his cousins were a group of older men I looked up to and helped shape my life. My father's side of the family was Italian. I have strong memories of Sunday afternoon road trips to St. Johnsville, NY (about 40 miles from my hometown) to visit my grandmother. She and the relatives lived in this beautiful small town where they settled after arriving from Italy. Sunday afternoon dinners were usually homemade Chicken Soup, Veal Cutlets, garlic and peppers, fresh warm Italian bread (from Barca's bakery). Dinner was typically followed by watching a basketball or football game, but the highlight came later in the afternoon. We would drive the 1 mile trip down Main Street to my grandmother's sister's home.

Aunt Lena's (everyone called her Aunt Lena) home was where my dad's cousins would gather (especially during the holidays). I would walk into the dark living room, and the older men would all be half-awake (post-dinner) watching a golf tournament. There was Uncle Dom. He was my dad's cousin Laura's husband. He was a great athlete, and my dad would always tell his friends that Dom not only scored a 300 in bowling, but shot a hole in one, and was an outstanding baseball player that could have been in the major leagues. Uncle Oscar was the football coach, and to this day, I think of him as the Vince Lombardi of the family. I have to admit, he scared me a bit as a young boy, only to realize later in life that he was a wonderful human being and had a heart of gold. Later in life, I realized that my dad's cousins were more like brothers and sisters, and growing up in an Italian family was something that I would look back and cherish.

Uncle Oscar, Uncle Dom, Aunt Laura, and my father passed away a few years ago, and today, Uncle Carl is the last of that legacy group to leave this earth and join up with his family in heaven. He lived a wonderful life and deeply impacted me during my high school days, four years at the Naval Academy, and keeping in touch all these years. I was eight years old when I attended his wedding (my first wedding). I watched his children grow up. He took me to Syracuse football games (I remember when they killed the Navy one year). I remember watching the UCLA-Houston game in the Astrodome on his color TV (Lew Alcindor vs. Elvin Hayes).

A paragraph in the bestselling book "Lincoln Highway" reads, " But for most people, it does not matter where they live. When they get up in the morning, they're not looking to change the world. They want to have a cup of coffee and a piece of toast, put in their eight hours, and wrap up the day with a bottle of beer in front of the TV set. More or less, it's what they would be doing if they lived in Atlanta, Georgia, or Nome, Alaska." I disagree a bit and comment that I was glad to grow up in upstate New York and have family in the small town of St. Johnsville. It was the epicenter of a family, summertime at the park, fireman field days, eating 5 cent popsicles and penny candy from Aunt Lena's gas station, and watching town team baseball. All are now distant memories while I live in an overgrown suburb on the California west coast.

The sad news today only makes me ensure to keep in touch with all the 2nd/3rd cousins of Uncle Carl and ensure we keep those memories alive and forever passed down to future generations.

RIP.

Since watching sports at the beginning of COVID-19 Pandemic was tough for me, I increased my time on other things. Baseball parks with no fans was a non-starter, but I did get back into rooting for the Padres (as a legacy Mets fan). The NBA bubble was too political. NFL is still fun to watch with all the parity (the Browns came close). What fun is it to watch the social distancing at SEC games (NOT!). So as side hobby, I tried to read more books and less online streaming of NetFlix. Here is my short list:

• Fly Boys (best book about the war in the Pacific). Written by author of Flags or our Fathers.

• Countdown 1945. First book by Mike Wallace’s son (who has annoyed me a bit trying to be his dad). Great account of the end of WW2.

• The Storm before the Calm by George Friedman (recommended by a good friend) and a great book to learn about history of the US and how countries ebb and flow.

• Hidden Valley. A wonderful true story about mental illness (with the Air Force Academy in the background)

• US Grant by Ron Chernow. I survived the long book that Chernow wrote on Alexander Hamilton (basis for the broadway success). This book is about one of the most underrated Presidents. The detail is outstanding and provides a great history of the civil war, the country after Lincoln, and the turmoil over the 1876 election.

2 glasses of a Red Blend, Pinot Noir, or Cabernet is highly recommended while reading.

First to Fight has a chapter that tells the story of the MCRD boathouse. It is a great lesson in “how to innovate”. I will keep the curiosity high so you can go out and buy the book.

A “must-read” for everyone, this book tells a great history of the greatest fighting force on earth and a funny story on how they used “innovation” to get a boathouse built.

There will be additional tidbits on this great read. More to follow.

September 2005

Katrina and Zotob have some things in common.

From Jim Pietrocini, CEO RL Phillips Inc.

I am writing this while flying a Delta flight back to the east coast. I have a hall pass from the wife to attend the Navy- University of Maryland football game during the Labor Day long weekend, then followed by Navy- Stanford (my reunion weekend). The excitement of tailgating and enjoying the college gridiron has been extremely leveled by the events this past week in New Orleans. I have friends and business associates from my days in the Navy that worked and lived in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi and many have lost their homes. The event hit home this week when we received an email of a young IT professional sending his resume and asking if we had any positions opened. He had just lost his home and possessions from Katrina and wanted to move to San Diego County.

RL Phillips federal group has supported the Navy Meteorological and Oceanographic program directorate for the past 15 years. RL Phillips team was involved in the development of a weather information system for the US Navy in the mid-’90s and gained a valuable appreciation for the collection of environmental information, disseminating that information and providing computer-based tools to help forecast the weather and interject how the weather affects mission-critical systems such as flying jets to targeting Tomahawk missiles. Bottom Line is that “Weather does MATTER”. Today, RL Phillips supports the Navy by managing an innovation laboratory at the Coronado Naval Base and provides systems engineering support at the Space and Naval Warfare Command in San Diego. While watching CNN on the morning of Hurricane Katrina hitting the Louisiana/Mississippi coastline, it seemed the region’s population had an attitude of “it will not be THAT BAD” or “If we survived Camille in 1969, what else can be worse.” Days later, we are now seeing the effects of poor preparation and a city that was not prepared for the worst.

Zotob, a funky name for a malicious software worm, hit our internet and networks in mid-August. Our commercial small/medium business (SMB) IT services team spent 3 days upgrading and patching our client servers to ensure everyone was safe. Our SMB client base has grown to over 30 clients in a little over 18 months, evidence that information technology is definitely a core piece of a business’s daily operations and core infrastructure. Zotob hit over 175 companies including General Electric, Caterpillar, and UPS. The worm dug itself into the “plug and play” code in Windows 2000 and opened an internet relay chat channel back to servers which then downloaded more nasty code that could turn the machine into a zombie to allow it to spam other machines or create a denial of service to other servers/computers on the affected network. Fortunately, all our clients were not running the older Windows 2000 operating system and are kept current with XP Professional, but the event reminded business owners that attacks on the internet, like bad weather, will never go away. I even wonder if the event was more of a “cry wolf” and most business owners are becoming complacent.

Information Security has gained acceptance since September 11, 2001 (footnote- I am flying back to San Diego on the 9/12 vice Sunday 9/11). Large enterprises and small businesses are getting educated on firewalls, intrusion prevention, virtual private networks, spam filtering, ad-aware software, and spyware. How much to invest/spend on information technology in general or what information security mechanisms must a business deploy are questions that must be on every small/medium business plan. Similar to the city of New Orleans living below sea level with levees that could handle a Category 3 hurricane and pumps that would protect any flooding, the wrath of Katrina changed the rules of the game.

Some factoids and points related to information technology and information assurance for small/medium-size businesses to comprehend:

- The federal government recently received a report card of a D+ on how they handle information security for government networks.

- The GOOD. Businesses have spent the past few years learning the power of the internet. Email has become a core application. Accessing information via email from work, home, or at the hotel is becoming a critical piece of your business processes. Fax Servers, sending PDF files, accessing databases via websites are becoming day-to-day activities.

- The BAD. The internet is also a medium for corruption and the evil side of society. Five years ago, a hacker was a young pimple-faced teenager having fun hacking into computers. Today, organized crime and terrorist organizations are hiring software/network professionals across the globe to hack into businesses to make money. Hacking databases of credit cards, Fake websites (termed “Phishing”), and developing the next worm/Trojan is becoming common practice.

- The UGLY. The Department of Cybersecurity terms the internet as the “Perfect Storm” for the criminal world. Anonymity prevails on the internet. I received an email today from a former Navy Information Security professional now working at the information security officer for the Colorado Governer’s office.

• We updated yesterday’s diary with the information of fake emails and domains being used to get donations for the Katrina Hurricane and Brian Krebs just updated the Security fix blog, with new information about these fake domains. Some that we strongly suspect so far are katrinahelp.com, katrinarelief.com, and katrinacleanup.com.

- A recent survey of businesses shows over 51% will increase their IT budget and focus on better access control, secure remote access, and ensuring up-to-date patching of systems.

- The University of California at San Diego had several their databases of personnel information compromised.

There have been several headlines in 2005 related to computer security breaches. There is also a feeling that most businesses, especially the larger names, do not want to admit that they lack certain security infrastructure to deter the potential threat. RL Phillips also runs into small businesses not wanting to spend a dime extra on their firewalls, backing up their data and even having a discussion on disaster recovery plans (Where does your business operate in the event of a power failure or earthquake?). Unfortunately, like Katrina, it takes a major “event” to convince our personal and business mindset to change. There will be internet events in the future that will affect our businesses and cost money to fix. The events of Katrina and Zotob should continue to drive home the fact that all businesses should “BE PREPARED”.

I am a strong advocate that small businesses are what drive this country’s innovation and spawn the large enterprises of the future. Small businesses move faster and touch customers that several large companies do not care about. In the same light, I am rooting for the underdog Navy over the Terps and Cardinals.
Go Navy

* RL Phillips has set up a “care package” for the Katrina victims. We are collecting any small items (gum, canned food, toilet paper, etc) and will send them on behalf of RL Phillips and our clients.