The ECN No Name Newsletter is no longer being published. This is an archived issue.

Purdue Computer Emergency Response Team

In response to growing local and national concern about computer security, the Computer Science Department (CS), the Engineering Computer Network (ECN), and the Computing Center (PUCC) have formed a cooperative, non-binding advisory group, called the Purdue Computer Emergency Response Team (PCERT), to consult on computer security issues at Purdue.

PCERT is named for the national DARPA Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), that was formed after the November 1988 Internet "worm" incident, to deal with national computer security issues. PCERT has been established to follow CERT in function - to serve as the focus for organizing the Purdue response to computer security matters. The PCERT charter is:

• To support others at Purdue in enhancing the security of their computing systems;
• To develop a standardized set of responses to security problems, including protocols for inter-departmental communication during a computer security emergency;
• To provide defined points of contact for communication about computer security issues with the national CERT, with law enforcement agencies, other external organizations, and internal Purdue offices;
• To provide a central point of contact for information about security incidents at Purdue;
• To assist in collecting and disseminating information on issues related to computer security, including information on configuration, management and bug fixes for computing systems.

Although the founding members of PCERT come from CS, ECN and PUCC, membership in PCERT is open to any Purdue organization whose members are concerned with computer security issues. Any member of a Purdue organization who is interested in joining the PCERT cooperative effort, or anyone who has a security problem to report, may contact any of the following PCERT members:

• George Goble 494-3545
• Jeffrey Schwab 494-4326
• Jeffrey Smith 494-1787
• Dr. Eugene Spafford 494-7825
• Daniel Trinkle 494-7844

These PCERT members are available to assist in computer security matters for any Purdue organization. CS, ECN, and PUCC will attempt to coordinate all computer security activities through PCERT and they encourage other Purdue organizations to take advantage of PCERT's expertise and assistance.

HTML