TheWorldJournal.com

BEST ARTICLE 2001
The Changing Face of IT Following the Sept. 11th Aftermath
By Dan Calloway, TheWorldJournal.com

It's difficult to put into words the devastation that the United States and its people, including all Americans, suffered on September 11th of 2001. Prior to this time, we as a nation were aware that terrorism existed in the world, and, indeed, we had suffered some of the horrors of terrorism such as the previous attacks on the World Trade Center and the recent attacks on the U.S.S. Cole. What we didn't realize was that terrorism was not just something that existed outside our own world-something that happened to some other country or to some other group of individuals. No, the recent destruction in New York City to the World Trade Center, and the damage to the Pentagon were vivid reminders to all of us that terrorism is everywhere, even in America. Many changes have and are occurring as a result of the September 11th attack on the U.S., and Information Technology is no exception.

Lawmakers are reportedly reviewing drafts of the Antiterrorism Act of 2001, a legislative package containing measures for increased electronic surveillance that have triggered resistance from privacy groups and others.

The Department of Justice assembled the proposal -- now posted on several Web sites -- in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Specifics of the package include changes in areas such as seizure of voice mail messages, interception of "computer trespasser" communications, along with changes to wiretap laws.

In his briefings on the legislation, Ashcroft chose to highlight a measure that would let law enforcement obtain "wiretap authority for an individual" instead of a phone number. You understand that assigning the authority only to the hardware means that when a person changes hardware, we lose our capacity to surveil," Ashcroft said.

But also included in the proposed package is a change to existing laws around a service provider's disclosure of customers' electronic communications to law enforcement.

Under the antiterrorism package, the provider would make such disclosures "if the provider reasonably believes that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure of the information without delay," reads the draft legislation.

This is only one change that is coming as a result of the recent terrorist attacks. Another is a recent House committee debate on the subject of National ID Cards for all Americans. But there is much controversy over this idea.

National identification cards that hook into one large government database would cause more harm than good, according to most of the panelists who testified at a recent U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing.

Oracle Senior Vice President of Technology, Tim Hoechst, offered a toned-down version of the proposal for a national ID card and database system that company chief Larry Ellison made shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when he offered to donate licenses to Oracle databases to support the cause. Faced with criticism, Ellison has since backed off that stance.

Many of the witnesses said at the hearing that instituting a new identification system with one central database is not the answer. Instead, the U.S. government should improve the usefulness and security of existing forms of identification -- namely Social Security numbers and driver's licenses -- to also serve the function of verifying that people are who they say they are.

Having one uniform ID card backed by a national database "is an insult to our system of government," said former congressman Bill McCollum, referring to the civil liberties violations that such a system would create, or at least appear to create. "But we do need to make some of the identifiers we have today work."

Although he's against a national ID card plan, panel witness and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said he does favor a system for identifying non-U.S. citizens that issues biometrics-enabled cards and relies on a shared, central database. Such a system would allow government authorities to monitor who is coming into the country, but would also offer some protection to foreign visitors.

Certainly, one of the major fallouts of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon has been our reluctance to travel. Exactly what impact has this had on IT? Many trade shows have either been postponed or canceled for the rest of the year.

"This is the worst we've ever seen," said Michael Hughes, research director at Tradeshow Week, a Los Angeles-based trade show publication. "About 45 percent of major trade shows in all industries, including IT, are being canceled or postponed."

While many shows have been postponed or canceled, other high-profile shows, such as Comdex, went on. Planners of Comdex said this was a decision that was reached to reinforce the desire to get back to work in the aftermath of the attacks. But even these shows will have tighter security.

The Washington-based International Telework Association & Council (ITAC) canceled its 2001 Telework Conference, which was to be held in Kansas City the week following the terrorist attacks, and will replace it with a series of Webcasts.

IT professionals are still planning to attend trade shows and conferences based on the idea that it's more important than ever for them to meet and share information, according to Ann Marie Horcher, a senior specialist in electronic workplace services at Dow Corning in Midland, Mich. But, the terrorist attacks have had a profound effect on much of the information gathering and disseminating that would have taken place if the attacks hadn't occurred in the first place.

What impact has the attacks had on the stock market and specifically IT executive's wallets? While many companies can do nothing but guess what the total impact to business from the terrorist attacks of September 11th will be, the immediate impact on the wallets of America's richest people, many of them top technology companies executives, has been a loss of between 10 and 20 percent of their net worth.

Forbes magazine, which calculates an annual ranking of the 400 richest people in America, has recalculated its list based on closing stock prices on Sept. 24 -- six trading days after markets reopened in the wake of the attacks -- and compared the new numbers to the previous list, which was calculated on Aug. 27.

The new ranking shows that no one has lost more money than Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect. His net worth fell $7.2 billion over the period, although, as America's richest man, even a fall of that size accounts for just 13.3 percent of his net worth, which is now estimated at $46.8 billion.

Following Gates in the ranking of those posting the largest losses in the wake of the terrorist attacks is Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, who has seen $4 billion, or 14.2 percent, wiped off his net value, which now stands at $24.2 billion, according to Forbes. Larry Ellison, founder and chief executive officer of Oracle, is ranked as the third-largest loser in monetary terms, with $3.4 billion, or 15.5 percent, gone from his net worth, which is now estimated at $18.5 billion.

Three other tech execs lost more than a billion dollars between the two dates. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive officer, saw his net worth fall $2.5 billion, or 16.6 percent, to $12.6 billion; Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive officer of Dell Computer, had $1.6 billion, or 16.3 percent, shaved off his net worth to $8.2 billion; and Gordon Moore, the Intel engineer best known for "Moore's Law," lost $1.5 billion, or 28.3 percent, from his net worth, which now is $3.8 billion.

The theme of the recent "Silicon Alley Community Meeting" organized by the New York Software Industry Association (NYSIA). was "relief, rebuilding, and recovery," NYSIA President Bruce Bernstein said in his opening remarks, and many at the meeting said they were there for information about assistance programs available to affected businesses. Speakers estimated that 5,000 to 7,000 businesses operating in the blocks around the World Trade Center have suffered significant physical and economic damage stemming from the September 11th attacks; tens of thousands more businesses throughout New York face losses of clients, partners, and suppliers. Speakers from a variety of city and state agencies and private companies detailed corporate relief programs, including an assortment of low-interest loans as well as matchmaking services for connecting goods and services providers with companies in need of assistance.

Microsoft has engaged some 75 technicians since the attack to help affected companies repair damaged equipment and rebuild their businesses in other locations. "A lot of people have been cut off from their software," said Technical Specialist Manager Larry Clark. "They've got CDs in buildings that were destroyed or that they can't get to."

A U.S. Senate subcommittee recently heard how technology could be employed to help prevent future terrorist attacks. While cutting-edge devices such as facial recognition monitors and retinal scanners were discussed, pointed questions from committee members revealed that what's needed most is one of the fundamental advantages that IT offers: information sharing.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who is chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information, questioned officials with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of State about shortcomings in the country's visa and immigration systems that were exploited by at least some of the people behind the Sept. 11 attacks involving four hijacked airplanes.

Representatives from both agencies admitted that many federal IT systems lack information-sharing capabilities -- sometimes even within one organization -- and that, in part, enabled the hijackers to enter the country with valid visas. Some of them remained in the country after their visas expired. The Senate Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government Information can be found on the Web at judiciary.senate.gov/subcom107a.htm.

In conclusion, Information Technology and its infrastructure has suffered immensely since the attacks of September 11th. This in turn has had a profound effect on business and the stock market. Heightened security is of primary concern nationwide not only in the business world but in all aspects of Information Technology. The U.S. government is taking steps to ensure future attacks such as that which occurred at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon don't recur. However, it is vitally important that IT as a whole make the necessary changes that are required to shore up its security holes and prevent the devastation of September 11 from happening again.

© November 19, 2001