M.B.A. / Eskom, South Africa's electricity utility, is the electricity supplier for South Africa. It has 20 power stations with a nominal capacity of 39 154 megawatts. Eskom is among the top five electricity utilities in the world in terms of size and sales and strives to remain one of the lowest-cost producers of electricity in the world. Eskom supplies 98% of the country's electricity requirements, which amounts to more than half of the electricity generated on the African continent. Eskom supports the development of a Southern African transmission grod to encourage cooperation and accelerate economic growth in the region. Eskom support employment equity and encourages employees to develop to their full potential through training. Eskom sees itself as a respected corporate citizen and is working towards environmental sustainability and socio-economic improvement (Eskom report, 1997). The growth of Internet technologies (and within Eskom the Intranet) has been phenomenal. On 23 July 1998, after extensive consultation and compilation, an Eskom Internet / Intranet strategy was approved. The strategy defines the way in which Eskom will employ this technology to support their business, to ensure synergy in organisational efforts. This chapter gives an overview of the strategy (Eskom Report, 1997). The strategy positions Eskom to be able to derive significant business benefit. from the technology, and ensures we will not be "left behind" by our competitors and customers, but ensures that our use of the technology and the resulting costs can be properly managed. It accommodates the different cultures in the business groups, from progressive through conservative, in terms of the deployment of the technology ...

Bibliography: pages 77-80. / This is a study of the simulated performance of two local area networks, Ethernet and the MAP network, respectively based on the IEEE standards 802.3 and 802.4. The simulation language chosen is of the discrete event type rather than the more usual analytical model. This is done in order to observe the interaction between the various entities of a network in order to gain a better understanding of the method of operation of such a system. The performance demanded of a node entity by the networks is determined. The performance of some commercially available hardware is derived from manufacturer's specifications and compared with that required by the network. It is found that there is a significant disparity, with the network requirements far exceeding that of the hardware capabilities. The simulation models developed are used to determine the performance of the networks both with and without the limitations imposed by currently available hardware. While the inclusion of the hardware performance causes little ·loss in performance for the Ethernet network, it has a highly detrimental effect on that of the MAP network. A possible solution is found to this limitation which requires minimal change to the existing protocol. The conclusions reached are that with currently available hardware a group of nodes are able to fully utilise the performance of the Ethernet LAN although a single pair of nodes is unable to do so. With regard to the MAP network, the network performance is limited by that of the node performance although this can be offset to a certain extent by careful choice of one of the protocol parameters, or modification of the hardware design.

Utilization of World Wide Web style Web-Based Intranet Systems (W-BIS) is a rapidly expanding information delivery technique in many organizations. Published reports concerning these systems have cited return on investment values exceeding 1300% and direct payback time periods as low as six to twelve weeks. While these systems have been widely implemented, little theoretically grounded research has been conducted in relation to users' acceptance, utilization or the perceived quality of these systems. The study employed a two-site investigation of corporate Web-Based Intranet Systems, with surveys distributed via the traditional mail system. The complete survey instrument distributed to employees included the ServQual/ServPerf, User Information Satisfaction, Ease of Use/Usefulness, and Computer Playfulness instruments. In addition to these previously developed instruments, the survey instrument for this study included measures of Web-Based Intranet Systems utilization and usefulness along with respondent demographics and subordinate-reported managerial commitment. This study investigated the reliability and validity of the ServQual/ServPerf instrument in an information systems service environment. The same analysis was conducted of the more generally accepted User Information Satisfaction instrument.

The breakup of the Soviet Union into fifteen autonomous republics marked the end of an era of atomic superpowers born in the first half of the twentieth century. As the Communist Party relinquished its hold on the reigns of power, the Soviet Union changed in profound ways, economically, politically, and socially. Strongly isolationist policies which kept the U.S.S.R. separate from its neighbors in Western Europe and North America loosened significantly. Those isolationist policies encouraged a Soviet technological and industrial economy based almost entirely on locally developed materials and expertise--an economy which Western analysts found inferior in technological development, manufacturing capabilities, and absorption of information technologies in comparison to other industrialized nations. Networks can be a metric to measure technological capabilities and absorption. Networks cannot be a priority project of a single ministry: they depend on hardware, software, training, and telecommunications infrastructure throughout the country. Thus, they act as an indicator of the capability of the economy to develop, distribute, and absorb new technologies. The absorption of networks indicates the capability of an economy to absorb similar new and recently-developed technologies. Networks are valuable tools for inter-organizational and international information transfer. How the Soviets use networks both internally and in external communications can indicate the amount of change, both in attitude and implementation. This study examines the development, manufacture, dissemination, and absorption of computer network technologies in two environments: the pre-1990 Soviet Union and the post-1990 former Soviet republics. This study relies on detailed technical examination of the manufacturing technology, equipment choices and capabilities, and observed installation and use. In situ visits, reviews of open literature, interviews with Soviets, and, above all, networks themselves, are woven together to form a technological picture of how networks were, are, and can be used. Using a model for the use and absorption of computer networks, this study presents extensive evidence showing the status of the former Soviet republics. It is concluded that: (1) Changes in the post-U.S.S.R. economy have been to the detriment of Soviet network development and manufacturing capabilities; (2) Absorption of computer networks is largely restricted to a few cities and republics; and (3) Growth of computer networks has been explosive, although the total scale of absorption remains very small.

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Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Remote Network Administration allows network administrators to manage their networks while being physically separated from the network equipment. Having the capability to manage wired and wireless networks securely, from remote locations, can substantially reduce operating expenses across the entire Department of Defense A variety of methods for remotely managing networks is explored for both wired and wireless networks. Requirements for remote network administration are identified. Chief among them is security and the ability to remotely manage power. Several widely-used remote management utilities are examined. All fail to meet these two requirements. A new power control device is presented that can be managed securely and remotely. / Captain, United States Air Force

Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) 63 calls for improving the security of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and other control systems which operate the critical infrastructure of the United States. In the past, these industrial computer systems relied on security through obscurity. Recent economic and technical shifts within the controls industry have increased their vulnerability to cyber attack. Concurrently, their value as a target has been recognized by terrorist organizations and competing nation states. Network reconnaissance is a basic tool that allows computer security managers to understand their complex systems. However, existing reconnaissance tools incorporate little or no understanding of control systems. This thesis provides a conceptual analysis for the creation of a SCADA network exploration/reconnaissance tool. Several reconnaissance techniques were researched and reviewed in a laboratory environment to determine their utility for SCADA system discovery. Additionally, an application framework using common non-SCADA security tools was created to provide a proof of concept. Development of a viable tool for identifying SCADA systems remotely will help improve critical infrastructure security by improving situational awareness for network managers.

This research assesses the impact of synchronous (real-time), text-based chat on military command and control (C2) processes. Chat use among the services, particularly among joint forces, has evolved in ad hoc fashion to fill gaps in currently fielded C2 systems. This growth-by-improvisation inhibits clear definition of the underlying requirements: precisely what C2 deficiencies are being addressed by text-based chat tools? Or, from a bottom-up perspective: what capabilities do text-based chat tools bring to the war fighter? In this study we employ a broad set of use-cases to further refine why operators use chat based on how they apply chat to their specific combat problems. These use cases include ongoing combat operations in ENDURING FREEDOM, counterinsurgency operations in IRAQI FREEDOM, and disaster relief operations with Joint Task Force - Katrina. The focus of this study is on establishing operators' perceived requirements in light of the current capabilities delivered by the existing text-based chat tools. From these "reverse-engineered" requirements we propose future work to establish these communication capabilities in the next-generation C2 systems. / US Marine Corps (USMC) author.