Computer Networks

Micom Systems built its business by getting computers to talk. Now it wants to get them to understand each other better. The Simi Valley-based company, trying to become a leader in one of the data communications industry's growing areas, is stepping up development of components used both to link different brands of computers and computers scattered among remote locations into smooth electronic networks. The need for better data communications systems is clear.

This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details. It took one simple mistake for Hector Xavier Monsegur, a hacker who goes by the name Sabu, to get caught by the FBI. On Tuesday, the world found out that Monsegur's mistake is sending ripples through the hacking community and into high-profile groups such as LulzSec, AntiSec and Anonymous. Six alleged hackers from those three prominent collectives have been charged in New York for executing a series of online attacks against the likes of Sony, Fox, PBS, Bethesda Softworks, the Central Intelligence Agency and a number of financial institutions such as Visa, MasterCard and PayPal.

Computers are almost an obsession for Dorothy Wallace. Ever since the 77-year-old retired hospital administrator started taking computer classes three months ago, hardly a day goes by that she doesn't work to perfect her skills. "I haven't felt this good since I learned to bowl at age 63," she said while waiting for a desktop publishing class to begin at the Morningside of Fullerton retirement community.

After years of warnings that the U.S. is vulnerable to a cyber attack that could blow up city blocks, erase bank data and fry power grids, the White House said it would call on industry to set standards for securing computer networks that run the nation's critical infrastructure. The proposal also offers states and operators of power plants, electrical grids and other critical infrastructures help from the Department of Homeland Security in building better defenses and fixing damage from cyber attacks.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE 1. Register with the city and sign a form pledging to obey computer laws and releasing the city from any liability. 2. The city issues each participant a user identification number and a 15-page instruction manual. The resident chooses a password. 3. Residents can use any kind of home computer, or ones set up in public centers, to access the system and need no special software--merely a modem to connect the computer with the city system by telephone. 4.

Touting a new $16-million computer network as a vital tool to bring the Los Angeles Police Department into the information age, Mayor Richard Riordan and Chief Willie Williams visited a Northridge police station Monday to unveil the system. Standing in the Devonshire Division's roll call room beside a television screen displaying the LAPD's new local network, Riordan noted that the computers will dramatically reduce the amount of time officers spend filling out repetitive forms.

An educational technology plan for hooking up classroom computers to a districtwide network was approved by school trustees this week. The Fullerton School District plan tells schools how they may use $200,000 allocated for the network last year. Each classroom in every school will get a network-capable computer and eventually be connected so that students, teachers and administrators can communicate and share instructional materials.

International Business Machines on Tuesday unveiled a grand plan for computer communications with what it called "the largest communications software announcement in its history." The new products should help IBM against competitors such as Digital Equipment by strengthening the giant company where it is weakest, in the growing area of computer networking, analysts said.

For nearly a 24-hour period ending Wednesday night, the Defense Communications Agency severed the links between two nationwide computer networks that were disabled by a computer virus Nov. 3. There was no immediate explanation for the separation of the two networks, which are used by university, industry and military researchers for nonclassified communications.

Alarmed by the growing presence of hate groups in cyberspace, the Simon Wiesenthal Center Tuesday sent a letter to the Prodigy on-line computer service protesting the "continued use of Prodigy by bigots to promote their agendas of hate." The Los Angeles-based center said it has tracked increasing activity over the last few months by more than 50 hate groups using on-line services and the popular Internet global computer network.

As a child, Michael Hinkle loved tinkering with computers. On visits to the Midwest to see his mother and stepfather, the boy would promise to make their computers work faster. It was only after he left for home in Southern California that the couple would discover that nothing worked. "Everywhere he went, he left a trail of broken computers behind him," his stepfather Bob Jakowinicz said with a laugh. But as Hinkle grew, so did his talent with computers. After high school, he joined the Air Force and was assigned to his unit's Internet and computer networks, winning achievement medals for his work.

Over the last year, the technology world has been enamored of the possibilities of moving into the cloud. That's the latest trend in computing that enables consumers to forget about storing their software and data on local hard drives -- where it can be zapped by electrical surges and soft-drink spillage -- and let companies such as Amazon .com Inc., Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. worry about keeping it safe on a network of remote servers. The cloud computing concept is so appealing that the city of Los Angeles is considering scrapping its current e-mail system and replacing it with a cloud-based offering from Google, joining more than 2 million businesses already using that company's system.

When Jiang Dabao lost his right hand to a molding machine three years ago, his factory boss said he wasn't eligible for workers' compensation. Unemployable, Jiang whiled away his days in the Internet bars that thrive here in China's manufacturing heartland. Eventually he tapped into an online forum on QQ, a popular social networking service, where he found a workers advocacy group that helped him win a $30,000 settlement. "Before I got hurt, I had no idea how to use a computer or even the Internet," said Jiang, who identified himself by his childhood nickname for fear of official reprisal.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Tuesday ordered the creation of a military command to oversee cyberspace in order to better defend military computer networks as well as pool capabilities for attacking the networks of other countries. For now, the U.S. Cyber Command will remain a part of the military's Strategic Command, which also oversees the nation's nuclear arsenal. But experts said the move is likely to be a precursor to setting up an independent command.

Senior military leaders took the exceptional step of briefing President Bush this week on a severe and widespread electronic attack on Defense Department computers that may have originated in Russia -- an incursion that posed unusual concern among commanders and raised potential implications for national security. Defense officials would not describe the extent of damage inflicted on military networks. But they said that the attack struck hard at networks within U.S.

China in the last year has developed ways to infiltrate and manipulate computer networks around the world in what U.S. defense officials conclude is a new and potentially dangerous military capability, according to a Pentagon report issued Monday. Computer network intrusions at the Pentagon and other U.S. agencies, think tanks and government contractors last year "appeared to originate" in China, according to the report.

If you have more than one PC in your office, consider installing a local area network. Until recently that would have been an expensive and daunting task, but today it's quite affordable and reasonably simple. There are all sorts of advantages. You can easily move or share files between computers. Printers, modems and high-speed Internet connections can be shared, cutting down on costs.

The U.S. military is embarking on a new effort in Africa to help thwart the rise of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups and as a first step has launched a $500-million program to train African battalions in desert warfare. And when Uncle Sam commits to a project, contracts for U.S. technology firms are not far beyond. One of the first is a $300,000 deal with Sentek Consulting of San Diego to work with African governments on building an information-sharing system to connect far-flung nations.

REMEMBER the Borg? The ultimate villains -- or villain -- of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," they were a species that networked so prodigiously that they became as one and went on to assimilate every individual they encountered. Is this where human society is headed? And how bad is that? These are questions that may cross your mind while reading Alex Wright's "Glut," a penetrating and highly entertaining meditation on our information age and its historical roots.