National Command Center announced by what's his name

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

There's an interesting article by the Washington Post at this address:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-07/30/086l-073099-idx.html

Unfortunately, every time I try to copy it to post it, it locks up my netscape program. Can someone with a newer computer try it, please?

The article is about Koskinen setting up a command center to monitor what comes down starting first of December, then beefing up the number of personel for the last week before the BIG DAY.

JOJ

-- jumpoffjoe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), August 02, 1999

Answers

Year 2000 Watch Is Planned

White House to Coordinate Round-the-Clock Monitoring

By Stephen Barr

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, July 30, 1999; Page A27

The Y2K watch in the federal government will start on New Year's Eve, at 7 a.m. EST, when New Zealand moves from 1999 to 2000.

On that holiday Friday, a special White House coordination center will start round-the-clock operations to gather massive amounts of information about the Year 2000 computer problem here and abroad.

The center will not act as a command bunker but will send assessments to top-level government officials responsible for responding to Y2K problems in their areas of responsibility, officials said. Also, the center will alert the "help desks" run by major industries and the public about any worrisome electronic disruptions.

In cooperation with other federal technology centers, officials also will watch for what they called "malicious activity around Y2K," ranging from outside cyber attacks on systems to internal malfunctions created through "trap doors" secretly installed by Y2K programmers who had repaired software that might have interpreted "00" in date fields as 1900, not 2000.

"Y2K-related difficulties, however minor, may be happening more or less simultaneously and in multiple locations," said John A. Koskinen, the president's top Y2K troubleshooter. "Much like the computer problem itself, gathering information about systems operations during the date rollover presents the federal government, and the nation, with yet another unprecedented challenge."

Koskinen and other administration officials testified yesterday at a hearing held by the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, chaired by Sens. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah) and Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.). Neither senator objected to the creation of the White House Y2K center, expected to cost at least $40 million, but they urged the officials to use the one-time event to help others learn how to combat future high-tech threats to public and private computer systems.

Koskinen said the Y2K center, called the Information Coordination Center, will initially operate with a core staff of about 40 employees. In the last week of December, as the center gears up for 24-hour monitoring, it will draw on the expertise of about 200 staffers, on loan from several federal agencies, to analyze the data pouring in over the New Year's holiday and the following two weeks. Koskinen said the center will collect information over the holiday period in five major areas:

* Federal agencies. The agencies will report on the status of 40 safety and health programs considered vital to many Americans. States, meanwhile, have asked for status updates on federal computer systems involving aviation, satellites, the weather and criminal record checks, as well as the U.S. Postal Service and navigable waterways.

* States and localities. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will relay reports from the states, including data on power, telecommunications and health care.

* Private sector. Industry groups will send reports to their appropriate federal emergency operations center, which will analyze, summarize and forward them to the White House center. The electric power industry, for example, will provide data to the Energy Department.

* International. The departments of Defense, State and Transportation will provide information collected from U.S. embassies and other posts overseas.

* Cyber incidents. The National Infrastructure Protection Center at the FBI, the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office--an interagency group housed at the Commerce Department--and other agencies will be on alert for attacks aimed at compromising systems.

) Copyright 1999

-- Mr. Helpful (tb@y2k.com), August 02, 1999.


some 3-day storm!

-- oo (chi@wa.wa), August 02, 1999.

Gee, do ya suppose they'll let any of us -- the great unwashed masses -- in on any of that information soon enough to do us any good ?

-- Yan (no@no.no), August 03, 1999.

By their fruits ye shall know them

Actions speak louder than words

You really do not need to know what they know, just watch what they do and make the obvious connections.

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), August 03, 1999.


Now that is where I want to be on New Years Eve. Front row center.

Deborah

BTW Chuck,

Excellent point.

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), August 03, 1999.



By their fruits ye shall know them

Actions speak louder than words

You really do not need to know what they know, just watch what they do and make the obvious connections.

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), August 03, 1999.

This is worth repeating. Good call Chuck, this should be more of the focus of the forum eh?

-- Brian (imager@home.com), August 03, 1999.


Anyone else get the definate impression this is all going to be blamed on "cyber terrorism" and "Rogue Y2K programmers"?

-- John Beck (eurisko111@aol.com), August 03, 1999.

Now why would they be spending 40 Million on a Command Post to watch A Bump in the Road?? Yes, reading between the lines is more important then what they are actually saying. And why won't they share this info with the public, we are paying for it?? Don't we have a right to know? I am amazed at the DGI, when this is so obvious. Why spend so much if they aren't affraid... I GI a long time a go.. Thanks for all your comments... hang in there..we are in this together...

-- Cassandra Bello (american_storm@usa.net), August 03, 1999.

Don't forget command centers (bunkers) at the state level too, New York, California, ... Columbus (OH) just spent $13 mill for their new one. BITR my ass.

-- Dan G (thepcguru@mailcity.com), August 03, 1999.

This was posted yesterday.

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001B0E

Sorry, can't hot link.

It seems to me that this is part of a Y2K contingency plan. We have similar "command centers" set up for my company. We are doing all we can to make sure problems get resolved on d-day and the doomers find fault in that. I surely don't get it.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), August 03, 1999.



Sure it's a Bump In The Road. You know, like that one that started in Mexico in a corn farmer's field, and in two days was a HUGE ERUPTING VOLCANO which still erupts and threatens about 30 million people.

They're not telling what kind of bump that really is: POPOCATEPETL !

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), August 03, 1999.


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