Manhattan Cyber Project Launched

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10 June 1997, Business Wire:

Manhattan Cyber Project Launched

Outreach Team to Answer the "Cyber Threat" Wake-Up Call

Baltimore

During last year's Security in Cyberspace hearings before the U.S. Senate, former Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick discussed the urgency to form a public/private partnership to address the "cyber threat" and likened the process to the historic Manhattan Project. Industry has responded to this challenge with a select group of organizations poised to improve on the availability and effectiveness of technology, people, and processes, that safeguard U.S. corporations and critical infrastructure areas from the pervasive cyber threat.

The Manhattan Cyber Project is an initiative of WarRoom Research, LLC., in coordination with a select group of organizations from industry, government, and academia. "This project represents an unprecedented collaboration designed to focus on how the cyber threat has a debilitating impact on an organization's information infrastructure as well as its ability to compete," said Mark Gembicki, executive vice president of WarRoom Research and project coordinator. The mission of the Manhattan Cyber Project is to develop and facilitate a coordinated outreach program that will:

-- gather quantitative and qualitative information enhancing the understanding and benchmarking of the cyber threat;

-- provide educational programs to enhance threat awareness and training on potential security safeguards;

-- furnish collected information to the legislative branch relating to critical infrastructure protection and corporate competitiveness; and

-- lay the foundation for the non-profit Cyberspace Research and Education Center (CYREC(TM)) to continue the work pioneered by the Manhattan Cyber Project.

This project is completely sponsored by U.S. corporations and will span the country with a variety of educational events over the next 6 months. Over 200 organizations are likely candidates to participate on the largest security-oriented outreach team ever assembled. It will conclude with a Security in Cyberspace Summit to review the data/information gathered from these events and release the findings to the public. Shortly thereafter, CYREC will be launched to foster technical and educational programs aimed at cyberspace issues, such as computer emergency response teams, technology transfer, and related legislation.

A Management Team was formed to address the cyber threat issues facing industry, government, and academia, and to maintain coordination of all project activities. This team will be expanded to represent a variety of industries and National Information Infrastructure areas, such as banking, power, and transportation. Current members of the Management Team include:

-- AXENT Technologies - www.axent.com - AXENT Technologies is a leading provider of enterprise-wide information security solutions for distributed computing environments.

-- Bell Atlantic Federal Systems - www.bell-atl.com\federal - Bell Atlantic Federal Systems is a total communications solutions provider for the federal government with a key focus on helping to secure information infrastructures through CommGuard.

-- Ernst & Young LLP - www.ey.com - Ernst & Young excels in the areas of assurance and advisory business services, tax services and management consulting solutions for both domestic and global clients.

-- Georgia Tech Research Institute - www.gtri.gatech.edu - The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is a nonprofit applied research organization that is an integral part of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

-- IBM - www.ibm.com - IBM provides a range of security services for companies expanding their Internet/intranet activities under IBM SecureWay, such as the IT Security Consulting Practice and Internet Emergency Response Services.

-- Security Dynamics - www.securitydynamics.com - Security Dynamics designs, develops, markets and supports a family of enterprise security products used to protect and manage access to computer-based information resources.

-- WheelGroup - www.wheelgroup.com - WheelGroup develops leading intrusion detection technology and offers innovative network security consulting services for business and government organizations worldwide.

Other U.S. corporations interested in participating in this project should contact either WarRoom Research or members of the Management Team for candidate information.

WarRoom Research, LLC. (WRR), of Baltimore, Maryland, was founded in 1995 to research and develop alternative technologies and techniques to assist organizations in gaining a competitive edge in todays global business environment. WRR offers a line of WarRoom(TM) products and consulting services that blend the distinct, yet interrelated areas of decision-support systems, information technologies, competitive intelligence, operations security, and information systems security. In collaboration with the U.S. Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, WRR conducted the 1996 Information Systems Security Survey that revealed serious security threats and vulnerabilities to Fortune 1000 businesses and elements of the National Information Infrastructure. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.warroomresearch.com or via email request at info@warroomresearch.com.

CONTACT: Schwartz Communications WarRoom Research, LLC. | Liz Marshall Steve Shaker | +1 617-684-0770 +1 410-437-1110 | lizm@schwartz-pr.com steves@warroomresearch.com