State buying cyberalert service

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2001/0312/web-state-03-12-01.asp

BY Bryant Jordan
03/12/2001

The State Department is buying an online service to provide its
workers with daily news and bulletins related to Internet threats and
security.

State intends to buy iAlert cybersecurity service on a sole-source
basis from iDefense Inc. of Fairfax, Va., according to an announcement
published on BidRadar, a Web service that alerts businesses to
government contract purchases and requests for proposals.

A contract amount was not included in the announcement, and State
offered no comment. A company spokesman said iDefense has yet to
conclude a deal and so declined to talk about it.

But company spokesman Jerry Irvine did describe what iAlert provides:

> From their desktops, customers log on to a secure Web site where they
find up-to-date reports on viruses, hacker tools or activities
"anything that would potentially emanate from an online or cyber or
electronic threat, or present a vulnerability to an organization,"
Irvine said.

Bulletins on cyberthreats, for example, would be followed up by
in-depth analysis of the activity, including methods and location, he
said.

According to the announcement, State will be able to subscribe to the
service for a year.

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