A General Accounting Office (GAO) report finds "significant continuing vulnerabilities" in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) computer systems for unclassified civilian research. The report, requested by House Science Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., (R-WI) and Ranking Minority Member Ralph M. Hall (D-TX), says, "In four recent cases, Internet-based attacks forced specific laboratories to disconnect their networks from the Internet, interrupting scientific research for as long as a week on at least two occasions."
See the GAO Report at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/ai00140.pdf
This article first appeared in the IEEE-USA Eye on Washington (6/29/00)