NOUS29 KWBC 202035
ADWMSG 

NATIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE FOR NWWS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC 
340 PM EST FRI FEB 20 2004

TO:       NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS AND
          NWS EMPLOYEES

FROM:     BGEN DAVID L. JOHNSON
          ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR....NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

SUBJECT:  NWWS OUTAGE JANUARY 25 - 26 2004

THE NWWS C-BAND BROADCAST EXPERIENCED A 28 HOUR OUTAGE FROM 
1030 AM JANUARY 25 2004 UNTIL 230 PM JANUARY 26 2004.

THE OUTAGE WAS CAUSED BY THE NWWS PRIVATE NETWORK NOT BEING
PROPERLY ISOLATED FROM THE LOCAL AREA NETWORK /LAN/ OF THE HOST
FACILITY /COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION [CSC]/ BUILDING LAN.

NWS AND CSC HAVE TAKEN THE FOLLOWING STEPS TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM
AND ENSURE AN OUTAGE OF THIS NATURE WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN:

1. REMOVED THE OFFENDING TERMINAL FROM THE CSC INTERNAL LAN AND
BLOCKED ALL ACCESS FROM CSC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TO THE
NWWS PRIVATE LAN.

2. SEGMENTED OTHER NODES ON THE NWWS PRIVATE LAN.

3. CSC HAS COORDINATED ALL PROPOSED NWWS SPECIFIC CHANGES WITH
NWS IN THE PAST.  THIS WILL BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE ALL
CONFIGURATION CHANGES WHICH MAY IMPACT NWWS.

4. INSTALLED A WEB SERVER ON THE NWWS PRIVATE LAN TO MONITOR THE
NETWORK FROM WITHIN.

5. ENSURE THE CSC PROGRAM OFFICE...SPECIFICALLY A NWWS
ENGINEER...IS PRESENT DURING ANY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 
RE-CONFIGURATIONS OF THE CSC INTERNAL OR BUILDING LAN.

6. COORDINATE AND UPDATE POINTS OF CONTACT LISTS FOR CSC AND
COUNTERPARTS WITH NWS.

7.  REVIEW ALL CSC PROCESSES FOR DESKTOP MONITORING OF THE NWWS
NETWORK BY ENGINEERING AND THE NWWS NETWORK MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS CENTER. 

8. PROCURE A SINGLE POINT OF FAILURE MODEM CARD FOR SPARE
INVENTORY.

9. INSTALL A LAN SNIFFER ON THE NWWS PRIVATE LAN...TO IDENTIFY
FUTURE ATTEMPTS TO HOOK UP A NON-AUTHORIZED TERMINAL.

10. INVESTIGATE WITH APPROPRIATE HARDWARE VENDORS...POTENTIAL
SOFTWARE MODIFICATIONS TO NWS PRIVATE LAN SERVERS/ROUTERS TO
INDICATE OR ALERT WHEN RESOURCE THRESHOLDS ARE EXCEEDED.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS...YOU MAY CONTACT:

          MARTIN BARON
          NWWS PROGRAM LEADER
          NWS HEADQUARTERS
          1325 EAST WEST HIGHWAY
          SILVER SPRING, MD 20910
          PHONE: 301-713-0644 X 137

THIS NOTICE AND OTHER NOTIFICATION MESSAGES ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE
AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:

          http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/notif.htm

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