Mr. Bacon: Good afternoon.
Let me start with a brief announcement that is not directly related to Kosovo.
As you know, for the last year or two, the Pentagon has been working aggressively on ways to make its computer systems more secure. As part of that continuing effort, there will probably be a brief interruption to the Pentagon's connection to the Internet, probably today, while we install new Internet access that provides more firewalls, that is more barriers against intrusive entry by others who might want to come in and mess around with our systems.
As you have probably read, there have been a number of cases throughout the government over the last couple of weeks where people have come in and defaced Web pages, home pages, etc., and one of the things we want to do is make that much more difficult. So in line with that, we will have a brief interruption, probably this afternoon -- it could be after the close of business -- then we'll be up and running again.
Q: Are the firewalls a direct result of the hacks, or was this always intended to happen?
Mr. Bacon: This is part of a plan that's been going on for some time. We obviously have been watching what's been happening in other government agencies, and we are responding to that, but it's also part of something that we've been developing for some time. There's a comprehensive plan that will be going on, and this is just one aspect of it.
Q: ...DefenseLINK, is that what you're doing?
Mr. Bacon: It will be DefenseLINK; it will be all the Internet access from the Defense Department.
Q: How long will it be down?
Mr. Bacon: It will be very short. It will basically be changing from one entry point to another through the DISA, which is Defense Information Security Agency. It could all be done in an hour, as I understand it. Now, I'm not an expert on this, so I can only tell you what I've been told. I can't explain this firsthand.
Q: ...successful hacks have there been that have defaced DoD Web pages?
Mr. Bacon: I don't know the answer to that question, but we'll try to get it. It has not been a major problem. This is much more protective than reactive. It's looking to the future to prevent the types of problems as other agencies [have had].
Q: ...also had some, because of the problems in the Energy Department; it's also related to that, I would presume?
Mr. Bacon: Well, it's relating to the same problem that the Energy Department's been dealing with. It's been trying to protect our Web sites from having the same types of interference that other government Web sites have had.
Q: Is that it?
Mr. Bacon: Sure.