Good Cybersleuths are Hard to Find One year ago, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the establishment of the office of Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security and Telecommunications.Now the Business Software Alliance, whose members include Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Apple, Dell and Microsoft, has asked Chertoff to go ahead and appoint someone to fill the position.The office, as described by the Department of Homeland Security, seems to be designed to be a key player in security matters, responsbible for”identifying and assessing the vulnerability of critical telecommunications infrastructure and assets; providing timely, actionable and valuable threat information; and leading the national response to cyber and telecommunications attacks.”Robert Holleyman, President & CEO of the Business Software Alliance, said the group is ready to assist the office.”We are hopeful that you and the Administration will soon be able to nominate a qualified individual for the Assistant Secretary position,” Holleyman wrote to Chertoff.”Our industry remains fully committed to assisting the talented staff assembled at the National Cyber Security Division and look forward to furthering the public-private partnerships established to better protect our nation in both the cyber and physical worlds.” Jarrod Agen, a Homeland Security spokesman, said the department is “close to the final stages of the hiring process,” CNET reported.

An InfoWorld podcast on NAC Appliance 4.0InfoWorld security expert Victor Garza interviewed Cisco’s Rohit Khetrapal in a podcast and includes a PowerPoint to explain the launch today of Cisco’s NAC Appliance 4.0, which pushes ahead policy-compliant network security for distributed enterprises.Khetrapal sets out an overview of the NAC product and talks about how the security strategy goes”beyond the worms and virus battle.”

Study Says Households Ready to Get ConnectedMarket research company Parks Associates says home networking adoption is about to take off as broadband adoption grows and easier-to-manage interfaces are made available. The number of U.S. households with a connected entertainment network will reach 30 million by 2010, up from four million currently, according to study by the company.”Broadband proliferation is a fundamental driver of connected entertainment opportunities inside the home,” Harry Wang, research analyst at Parks Associates, said in a statement.”But more importantly, better network configuration tools and easy-to-navigate user interfaces will assuage consumers’ concerns about setup difficulties or application glitches.”CNET, in a story about the survey, cites Cisco as a company anticipating the trend.”œSince 2003, the networking giant has acquired home networking gear provider Linksys, cable set-top box manufacturer Scientific-Atlanta, and Kiss technology, a maker of network-based DVD and DVR players,” the CNET story, by Catherine McCarthy, (no relation), with a contribution by Marguerite Reardon, said.”œCisco said its home-networking vision is to offer devices that can be connected to the Internet, as well as to other entertainment gadgets in the home,” McCarthy wrote.”And it plans to offer the networking equipment, such as wireless routers, used to shuttle IP packets of music, video or interactive games throughout the home.”

Kudos at the City Club of San Francisco

As far as award dinners go, the Public Relations Society of America’s 2006 Northern California event more than held its own. Convened at the City Club of San Francisco, the Silver & Bronze Anvil Awards competition included scores of entrants from pr firms and corporations from around the region.

And guess what? Cisco scored twice.

A Silver Anvil Award for an Integrated Communications Program for business to business went to the company for “œCisco Systems: Celebrating 20 Years of Innovation.” Above, Abby Smith (left), and Heather Goodwin, both of Cisco Corporate Communications, accepted the award on behalf of the multiple groups that worked on the project.

Cisco also won a Merit Award, for the Cisco IPICS Press Launch. Pamela Rupert and Robert Barlow, below, also of Corporate Communications, show off the award for the launch which was spearheaded by colleague Linda Horiuchi.

Cisco Networkers’ buying preferences vary If given a checkbook to buy their dream technology, network professionals have a long wish list. In a survey of more than 1,100 attendees of the Cisco Networkers 2006 user conference, dream buying preferences varied wildly.Among the survey’s questions, respondents were asked:”If you were handed your organization’s IT check book, what are the dream technology/applications that you would purchase?”Some wanted mainstays.”I would purchase Catalyst 6500 for a campus network,” said one conference goer. “Deploying CRS1 in our core,” another answered as his dream buy.Many others said would seek out IP-based technologies.”œThe network and telecom infrastructure is currently undergoing a major facelift, but I would like to see internal multimedia provisions for training and video conferencing,” said one conference attendee.Another listed his picks as follows:”Given a choice and freedom, WiMax, WiFi, mesh technology and almost anything-over-IP shall be my priorities as I believe that these will be the prime movers in wireless technologies for the times to come and they will have tremendous business impact.”One respondent listed technologies to fit his geographically dispersed organization:”Multipoint video conferencing; MeetingPlace Enterprise, and wireless LAN controllers and access points throughout our company’s 30 locations,” the respondent said.Others shared issues that very often concern network administrators.”If we had the money, we would replace all network equipment older than 5 years,” one respondent said.Another conference goer dared to dream big and imagined great results from new technologies.”I would invest more in the tools to connect the minds of science and technology to further build the collaboration fields offerings to meet their requirements for distance learning, experiment controls, knowledge storage and retrieval,” the attendee said.