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Have your
computer systems been infected by any of the recent viruses? Have you been
getting more junk mail, commonly called Spam, in your In-Box lately? Are
any of your computers connected to the Internet? Is your SCADA system
integrated with your computer network? If you answered yes to ANY of these
questions, one of your most valuable assets, your company’s computer network
may not be secure and could be vulnerable to attacks from unauthorized
users. According to government statistics, the number of attacks on
computer systems have increased tenfold over the last four years.
Many cooperatives don’t have adequate resources to address the on-going
problem of information technology (IT) security. The Cooperative Research
Network (CRN), the research arm of NRECA, saw the need to develop a handbook
to help electric cooperatives identify potential threats to their networks,
provide guidelines and recommend potential solutions for minimizing
those threats. CRN hired EnerVision to develop the recently released
handbook, appropriately titled “Information Technology Security Handbook
for Electric Cooperatives” (Project 03-04). The handbook is available
free to CRN members and covers topics such as virus protection, anti-spam
tools, protecting SCADA systems, and developing IT security policies. The
handbook has been well received by electric cooperatives and was featured in
a recent CRN webcast.
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