Return-Path: <sentto-279987-2314-1001362463-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Mon, 24 Sep 2001 13:16:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 2768 invoked by uid 510); 24 Sep 2001 20:15:34 -0000 Received: from n2.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.52) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 24 Sep 2001 20:15:34 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-2314-1001362463-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.1.224] by hi.egroups.com with NNFMP; 24 Sep 2001 20:15:13 -0000 X-Sender: fc@big.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_3_2_2); 24 Sep 2001 20:14:23 -0000 Received: (qmail 32933 invoked from network); 24 Sep 2001 20:11:47 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.27) by 10.1.1.224 with QMQP; 24 Sep 2001 20:11:47 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta2 with SMTP; 24 Sep 2001 20:12:36 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id NAA07292 for iwar@onelist.com; Mon, 24 Sep 2001 13:12:36 -0700 Message-Id: <200109242012.NAA07292@big.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 13:12:36 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:Rapidly.deployed.communication.networks.drove.emergency.relief.efforts] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Rapidly deployed communication networks drove emergency relief efforts By Dan Neel, Info World, 9/24/01 <a href="http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/09/21/010921hnemergserve.xml">http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/09/21/010921hnemergserve.xml> AS SEARCH AND rescue workers continue to toil at the World Trade Center site, emergency organizations supporting the effort with rapidly built communications networks are emerging as unsung heroes. Working side by side with police, firefighters, and rescue operations, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross set up communications and IT systems on the fly following the Sept. 11 disasters. Telecommunication companies played an essential role, replacing the destroyed communications infrastructure. Emergency communication networks of all types were set up and running within hours, far outpacing the restoration of public communication links. At New York's Pier 90, just north of ground zero, FEMA is operating a DFO (disaster field office) -- a makeshift command center that is acting as the central nervous system for state and local agencies involved in rescue and recovery efforts. Rex Whitacre, FEMA's IT coordinator, spent the days following the attacks pulling morning-to-midnight shifts in the sprawling technology installation and working as the point man for key decisions vital to the DFO's network uptime. Behind a military guard, Whitacre and his team of technology and communications specialists from FEMA offices nationwide worked with technicians from telecommunication companies such as AT&T and Verizon. Together they developed support for voice and data systems fed to a secure, closed network based at FEMA's Mount Weather Emergency Assistance Center in Bluemont, Va. Using a FEMA software package called NEMIS (National Emergency Management Information System), Whitacre and his crew support smaller FEMA DFOs in and around ground zero. The smaller DFOs assist agencies actively dealing with rescue and recovery such as fire and police departments and the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers, gathering information and staging additional support as situations arise. "All our outlying DFOs are connected to the FEMA network so they can get Internet access as well as get [access] to our servers," Whitacre said. "Everything is covered in [NEMIS], from requests for federal financial assistance to a part that goes to the president for his signature for an actual declaration of emergency." Key to the effort is supporting a gamut of federal agencies, said Patrick McCann, the telecommunications manager at the Pier 90 DFO, who traveled from his office in Maynard, Mass., the instant he got word of the attacks. "The Corps of Engineers has a huge presence here," McCann added. "We're working very closely with the New York public safety people, the fire department, the state police, and the New York police. And typically when we go into a regular disaster that involvement is not there." Also working feverishly are technicians from telecommunications companies, including Verizon and WorldCom. Verizon officials report that its facilities have been heavily staffed -- sometimes with employees from outside the New York area -- and that work has proceeded smoothly following the disasters. "The only issues we have had to fight day in and day out were access to the facilities," said Ivan Seidenber, co-CEO and president of Verizon. "FEMA, the New York control center on Pier 92, and the World Trade Center area are our No. 1 priorities right now," explained Michael Vega, a special service technician at Verizon. "It's kind of hectic. There are a lot of circuits that are involved, everyone is running wild, but we're going to get it done," Vega said. WorldCom has mobilized to provide temporary voice and data services for emergency personnel and victims anxious to reassure friends and relatives, many of them overseas. For instance, WorldCom sent "Big Blue," an 18-wheel truck outfitted with 24 phones, into disaster-ridden Manhattan. WorldCom has reported a high degree of cooperation among carriers working to restore service to stricken New York businesses. "In cases like this, be it a hurricane or earthquake, carriers tend to work well together. Often it is the case that the technicians already know each other since they have worked together in the same facility on a regular basis," said WorldCom spokeswoman Linda Laughlin. Support from the telcos has been critical for FEMA, which had Pier 90 DFO running within 48 hours using a single satellite link to Bluemont. Later a T1 voice and data line was established to carry information transmitted by the DFO's 600 wireless laptop computers and SpectraLink wireless phones. Although FEMA utilizes T1 communication lines from public companies such as AT&T and Verizon, the DFO network is locked down tight. All data is controlled from Bluemont, and only a single local Windows NT server at the DFO performs authentication of users, Whitacre said. A Novell server at the DFO converts voice communication from the T1 lines to a bank of SpectraLink wireless phones that, unlike standard cellular phones, jump from frequency to frequency to provide greater security. FEMA deploys a fleet of 802.11b wireless laptops using MAC (Media Access Control) addresses, instead of standard encryption, to prevent unauthorized access to the DFO's wireless data. FEMA has experimented with encryption for its wireless laptops, but Paul Scyoc, the NEMIS leader for the Pier 90 DFO, said current encryption technology is way below par. "The encryption technology that is available is more for a home user. It doesn't fit our requirement real well," said Scyoc. "[Vendors] are looking for the biggest area of coverage they can get with a small number of people, and as you can see we go the other direction. We have a boat load of people in this little area and I need to have small cells on my access point so I can put numerous access points in a small area." Motorola programmable radios are also utilized at the DFO, programmed on site to special government frequencies allocated for each individual disaster. "It's all done up front," said Whitacre. "As soon as this happened they knew we'd probably need handhelds so they got frequencies approved for this area." "We have other satellites that are down at ground zero, supporting the Corps of Engineers with dial tones," Whitacre said. "We have five satellite systems now, and MCI has volunteered another one." As does the rest of the FEMA IT infrastructure, all satellite systems transmit to Bluemont, he said. "Because of security issues, we would not up and turn it over to MCI," said Whitacre. "We manage all these systems. It has to be FEMA employees getting on our network." Even data from a GIS (geographical information system) that plots the disaster scene from orbiting satellite images is kept separate from a similar system in use by New York officials only two piers north of the Pier 90 DFO. Making every effort to avoid interconnecting outside networks, Whitacre said the GIS company was busy setting up the service over the Internet to allow both FEMA and New York officials to share GIS information. Backup plans stand behind every FEMA data and voice system, as well as a wide range of assistance from technology vendors offering to assist in the effort. For example, telephones circuits at the New York Federal Plaza building were down following the attack, but circuits were up in the building next to it. Whitacre said an outside vendor provided a laser transmission between the two buildings to immediately establish communications in the Federal Plaza. Before that could be done, Whitacre's team utilized older, portable satellite systems called Amsats to provide temporary communication to the Federal Plaza. When it was discovered that the window tinting on the Federal building was slowing the transmission of the Amsats, FEMA personnel simply tore off the tint. "We had 19 [Amsats] so we had 19 voice lines," he said. "[Amsats] are a little bit Donald Duckish, but it's communication. At least you can talk and receive incoming calls, all of them have 800 numbers, so that's what we used as an interim capability until we got the laser shot." "That's the biggest part of this job, making those fast decisions," said Whitacre. "What I usually do is get two or three of our best technicians and we sit down and I say here's the problem I have, how do we do it." Dealing with a crisis like the World Trade Center attack is a task of managing smaller crisis within the FEMA network. One week after the attack, almost to the minute, Whitacre's DFO lost its three main T-1 lines. Using the DFO's first satellite dish installation to immediately get communication back up and running, Whitacre ordered a second portable satellite dish to be installed on the roof. With terrestrial T-1 lines clearly unstable, Whitacre decided that not only would the original dish will be kept up, but that that rooftop dish would stay online as well. "Even if the data T-1s come up, we're still putting [the rooftop dish] up because the terrestrial networks are unstable now," Whitacre said. FEMA is also working closely to assist the American Red Cross with its computing and communication deployment at ground zero as the Red Cross works to provide shelter, food, and health and mental health services. Aiding the local New York chapters with the recent disaster, the American Red Cross headquarters immediately dispatched computer and telecommunications equipment as well as a team of IT workers to set up a makeshift operations headquarters in New York. According to Bob Bavis, director of administration for disaster services at the American Red Cross in Falls Church, Va., demand is such that the Red Cross will set up at least 10 or 12 sites of operation in New York. "We have a LAN set up for our staffing functions where we process volunteers and Red Cross staff on the operation and standalone computers for logistical functions," Bavis said. The networking and technology systems let the Red Cross more effectively provide assistance to clients because "we can better communicate our needs on the operation back to the headquarters where they can make sure the right people, right equipment, and right amounts are sent to the operations. It makes us much more efficient," Bavis said. With the goal of having response teams "totally networked," Bavis said the Red Cross is currently working on a project that will provide satellite links between the disaster site and the disaster operations headquarters in Falls Church, Va. ------------------------ Yahoo! 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