Corrections or additions?
These articles by Michele Alperin, Scott Carpenter, and Tony Faber
were prepared for the January 17, 2001 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper.
All rights reserved.
Security Issues For Cable & DSL
Would you buy a new sports car that had no door locks
or car alarm? Of course not. Unfortunately, Internet users everywhere
are buying and installing cable modems and DSL (Digital Subscriber
Line) connections that are as fast, sleek and vulnerable as that
lockless,
alarm-less sports car, and the average user does not know how to
protect
their digital lives from a computer hack.
Stephen F. Heffner will discuss how to implement these high
speed Internet connections and protect yourself from nefarious hacking
at the Princeton ACM /IEEE Computer Society meeting at the Sarnoff
Corporation auditorium on Thursday, January 18, at 8 p.m. The meeting
is free. A pre-meeting dinner with Heffner will be at 6 p.m. at the
Rusty Scupper. For more information or to RSVP for the dinner, call
609-924-8704, or E-mail: princetonacm@acm.org.
Heffner, president of Pennington Systems Incorporated,
a software development company on Independence Way, points out that
home and small business PC users access the Internet one of two ways.
The first is through a dial-up modem connection, using a 56k (or
slower)
modem to connect through a phone line. Increasingly, the second way
is through a broadband connection, typically cable modem or DSL, which
provides an Internet connection utilizing cable television wiring
or a direct Internet wire. Broadband connections are all the rage
for users who crave the speed of a sports car from the Internet.
“Dial up connections provide a dynamically allocated Internet
address, where you are assigned a different Internet address every
time you connect up. With the high speed broadband connections, your
Internet address is static, it always stays the same,” says
Heffner.
Therein lies the risk, as practically speaking, dynamic Internet
addresses
are at little risk to a computer hacker. “It serves a hacker no
purpose, their access is limited to the length of time you maintain
that particular connection,” he adds. On the other hand, due to
the direct, constant nature of a static Internet addresses, “the
risk of a hack or virus attack is tremendous.”
Compounding the security issue is that the attack risk is
bi-directional.
That is, your static Internet address is susceptible to attack from
both incoming problems, as when someone hacks your PC’s hard drive
and erases files, or outgoing, as in case of a Trojan Horse attack
where the marauding virus renames key executable files on your PC
that in turn send requests from your PC out through your Internet
connection.
Heffner has grappled with security issues for years. The University
of Chicago graduate has been in the computer industry since 1963,
holding positions with IBM, Applied Data Research and Dun & Bradstreet
before becoming an independent systems consultant in 1972. In 1977
he founded Pennington Systems, where he created XTRAN, a proprietary
expert system for symbolic translation of computer languages. He also
was an adjunct professor of decision sciences for 13 years at the
University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
As a long-time computer scientist with a passion for Internet
security,
Heffner has found several rather inexpensive yet highly effective
means of securing a broadband connection, easing the fears of attack
for even the most intrepid Internet speed junkies.
The biggest differences in setting up a broadband connection revolve
around whether you are installing a connection for a single PC (the
home user) or for a network (small businesses or the home office).
Setting up a single user connection isn’t too difficult. But, Heffner
says, setting up a network is complicated by the need to share that
one static Internet address among several PCs or other devices (such
as a printer, fax, or someday your refrigerator).
This problem is solved by the use of the Network Address Translation
(NAT) protocol. NAT allows multiple devices to share a single Internet
address. This protocol can be part of a hardware package (such as
a router that acts as a “front end” to your network,
translating
everything coming into and going out from your network) or a piece
of software installed in the PC with the Internet connection. Once
it is in place, you can fly across the Internet from anywhere on your
network. Your work is done, right? Wrong, says Heffner.
At this point, you need to secure this connection. For a single PC,
protection from intruders is mostly accomplished by turning off disk
and printer sharing (for example, in Windows98, go to the Control
Panel, click Network, then the File and Print Sharing button and
uncheck
all options). Since these services must be enabled in a network
environment,
Heffner suggests password protection, using non-obvious passwords
that aren’t in the dictionary. This hinders reverse engineering
attacks
in which the hacker uses a program designed to systematically crack
the password.
These measures cost nothing (except the NAT solution) and provide
basic protection from many computer hacks; however, more can be done.
And don’t forget, you still need to secure yourself against outgoing
attacks.
In any security solution, Heffner suggests utilizing hardware,
software,
or a combination of both to make your digital sports car safe:
Firewall hardware. Hardware for an Internet security firewall
requires a router. The same router that handles your network NAT
service
often includes a firewall service too. A firewall is a filter that
examines all Internet traffic and rejects or warns about anything
that is inappropriate. The process to set a firewall up can be
tedious,
but after that, it requires little attention.
Also, many routers now include an Internet protocol called Virtual
Private Network (VPN) that allows for secure links across the
Internet.
VPN is ideal for telecommuters as it allows them to work from home
as if they were connected to the company’s network. Routers range
in price from cheap to quite expensive, and usually the more money
you can spend, the better the router.
Firewall software. Software can provide an inexpensivefirewall. There are many software products to choose from, includingNorton’s Personal Firewall 2001 and McAfee’s Firewall. HeffnerrecommendsZone Labs’ freeware ZoneAlarm (available from www.zonelabs.com).ZoneAlarmdoes a superior job of monitoring incoming and outgoing activity alongyour Internet connection. The software checks several characteristicsof each activity request and compares the results with a storedprofilethat it compiles for all of your authorized Internet activities. Thechances of a hacked file duplicating all of the profilecharacteristicsare virtually impossible.Virus software. Absolute essential software, regardlessof your Internet connection, is good virus software. Such software(McAfee VirusScan and Norton Utilities are two leading packages) scansfiles on your PC and incoming E-mail attachments and cleans anyinfectedfiles. Virus software is not expensive and should be updated everymonth or so.In the end, with the proper security tools in place, that high-speedcable modem or DSL line of yours will be both fast and safe. Startyour engines.— Scott CarpenterTop Of PageMore BroadbandMichael Ettenberg, senior vice president at SarnoffCorporation, will give another view of broadband media, also onThursday,January 18. This presentation is part of a showcase, sponsored bythe New Jersey Technology Council, that features E-business andmultimedia.Ettenberg will discuss “The Internet’s 4th Wave — BroadbandMultimedia” at 4 p.m. at Aplion Networks, 2147 Route 27 South,Edison. Cost: $70. Call 856-787-9700 (or go to www.njtc.org).Ettenberg joins four other panelists set for 10-minute presentationson the general topic, “TV and the Internet — Coming to aScreenNear You,” telling how digital television, datacasting, and theInternet are bringing about the next generation of television.Kevin Lee, vice president of sales and marketing for InteractMultimedia Inc., will discuss “Convergence of Internet andTV.””Issues and Strategies for Digital Rights Management” is thetopic for Peter McKiernan, senior client representative of theStratis Group. Robert Petrie, senior vice president of Aptegrity,speaks on “Internet and Media Convergence,” using AE Networksas a case study.More than 20 companies that have developed and marketed E-businessand multimedia solutions and products will display their productsand services. The sponsors for this program include Arthur Andersen;Woodcock Washburn Kurtz Mackiewicz & Norris; Amper, Politziner &Mattia;and Synnestvedt & Lechner.Top Of PageLean ManufacturingThe principles of lean manufacturing may not appearto be a sexy conversation topic, but this area is often the key toa company’s long-term profitability and growth, says Drew Locker,principal of Change Management Associates. Locker leads a workshopon manufacturing principles on Wednesday, January 17, at 8:30 a.m.at the PSE&G Training Center on Route 1 in Edison. Cost: $250. ChangeManagement Associates (CMA) works with the New Jersey ManufacturingExtension Partnership, an affiliate of the federally funded NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology, to assist small to medium-sizebusinesses.The workshop is appropriate for operations workers, supervisors, VPs,and owners. Workshop participants get to do a live simulation in asimulated factory, based on a continuous flow model, to show how theirdecisions affect productivity. Cost: $250 including a workbook anda light breakfast and lunch. Call CMA at 856-235-8051 or NJMEP at800-MEP-4MFG. The same workshop will also be held Friday, February16, at the Wyndham Mount Laurel Hotel in Mount Laurel and Friday,March 16, at the Holiday Inn in Parsippany.According to Locker, manufacturers today struggle to meetever-increasingcustomer demands: shorter lead times, lower costs, and better quality.The first part can present some of the biggest problems. Locker notesthat the biggest pitfall a business can fall into is to attempt touse the same system the manufacturer has always used to produceresultsthat it wasn’t designed for.For instance, Locker gives the example of a producer suddenly facedwith a customer who now requires one week lead time instead of thetwo weeks that the manufacturing process is designed for. Manymanufacturerstake an easy way out: they simply cheat. Instead of fundamentallychanging their own practices, they keep the same system, guess howmuch product the customer will want, and make everything a weekearlier.Although it temporarily solves the problem with a minimum of effort,this practice often depletes the bottom line in the long run.The cost of carrying extra inventory is often huge. There’s the costof warehouse space, the cost of managing, moving and tracking theextra product, etc. Moreover, says Locker, we live in an era wherethe life cycle of the average product is shorter and thepredictabilityof its sales are lower than ever before. The trend of business istowards customization, meaning that a product often has to be changedwith little or no warning. It’s harder and harder to predict whatwill be ordered, meaning there is a greater chance than ever of beingstuck with unused inventory, which dilutes profits.”It’s an inventory hot potato — no one wants to hold it,”says Locker. “That’s why the emphasis is now on velocity; speedthrough the system. Instead of holding extra inventory, we look atthe problem differently. We would actually reduce the time neededto get a product out to less than a week.”Locker helps businesses reduce lead times by striving to standardizeand simplify all aspects of a business, such as purchasing andscheduling,in addition to the manufacturing process itself.The manufacturing process can be improved in a multitude of ways,ranging from new equipment, new procedures, and a new layout of theproduction area. A simple example can be found in the storage ofmanufacturingparts. Most companies have a centralized stockroom from which partsare shipped when an order comes in. Locker notes that a good dealof time can be saved simply by storing the parts at the point-of-use.Locker categorizes possible improvements like this one into a leanmanufacturing “toolbox.” Tools in the toolbox include:Workplace Organization. As shown in the example above,this can dramatically reduce manufacturing times. It also includeshaving a place for everything and everything in its place.Total Productive Maintenance. This means buying andmaintainingreliable equipment.Quick changeovers/Batch Reduction. Flexibility inswitchingfrom one product to another is essential for meeting short lead times.Effective Manufacturing Area Layout.Visual Techniques/Mistake Proofing. An example would bea sample or photo of a finished product to compare with productscomingoff the line.Standardized Procedures.Locker says that using these simple principles can producedramaticresults. A 75 percent reduction in lead times is typical for companiesthat he works with.In fact, Locker helped two major American window companies producesuch results. Windows made in this country can have over 200 differentfeatures and options — grids, patterns and glass types —beforesize is even taken into account. With both companies, work in processinventories have been reduced as much as 90 percent, the manufacturingspace has been cut in half, and there have been significant qualityimprovements. In lead times, one company has gone from receipt todelivery in just three to five days. Manufacturing using continuousflow processes, which starts with cutting the glass and ends withwrapping the product, takes just four to eight hours. In fact, mostof that three to five days is just loading and shipping.Both companies have matched Locker’s typical result of a 75 percentreduction in lead time, and both have grown their businesses 300 to500 percent over the last six years, largely due to their abilityto win business from major retailers with these short lead times.Another positive side effect of lean manufacturing processes is thateffective use of them also can solve seemingly unrelated businessproblems. For instance, a common management lament is the difficultyof obtaining good help. Locker suggests that businesses are oftenasking for too much. Manufacturing processes are frequentlyundocumented,and it takes new employees a long time to figure out where everythingis located and exactly what procedures they should be following.By following the lean manufacturing principle of standardizing,simplifying,and documenting procedures, a company can have a new employee stepin and be successful from the get-go. It also can mean lower laborcosts since fewer people are required to do the same job.— Tony FaberTop Of PageCoping with StressStress has become one of the accepted evils of modernlife, along with weight gain and traffic. You do what you can to avoidthem, but you know they will always be around. Stress is partly theresult of time-saving devices gone haywire. “Things like cellphones, pagers, and E-mail are wonderful conveniences,” sayspsychologistRuth B. Goldston, “but they bring with them pressure andstress to do more in a shorter period of time.” At the same time,changing role expectations and the impact of feminism have upped thestress in many families. Paralleling these higher expectations forachievement is a decrease in social support and community time.Goldston, based at 330 North Harrison Street, and her colleague, BrianG. McDonald, with an office at 20 Nassau Street, will offer atwo-hourseminar on “Stress Management for Busy People,” Tuesday,January23, at 7 p.m. The free workshop, sponsored by the community educationprogram at the Medical Center at Princeton, meets in the ground floorconference room at 253 Witherspoon. Call 609-497-4480 to register.Goldston and McDonald offer a process for diagnosing sources ofpersonalstress, developing priorities for stress reduction, and learningusefulstress management techniques tailored to personal priorities. Thediagnostic process includes:Listing the sources of stress in a person’s life, beingas specific as possible. Goldston advises that it is hard to dealeffectively with very generalized statements of stress like “Myjob is so stressful I can’t stand it.” But you can address”Whenmy boss gives me too many things to do, and I can’t get them done,I feel very stressed.” Because one source of stress is simplythe feeling of being overwhelmed, she says, it helps for people tofocus on discrete stressors.Rank the sources of stress . Because ties are not permittedin the ranking, explains Goldston, this process “gets peoplespeakingmore specifically and makes each stressor more discrete. It helpsa lot when a person can identify things more specifically.”List the top three stressors . This focuses people on themost significant stresses in their lives. “Now we have narrowedthe field,” says Goldston, “and are working on the threethingsthat probably need the most attention.”This definition process leads people to see patterns in personalstressors. “At first it is hard to see patterns, but once youstarting putting things down, you may notice them,” says Goldston.Often, identifying patterns may highlight certain self-defeatingaspectsof personal style, for example, difficulties dealing with otherpeople,not being assertive enough, thinking negatively about oneself, orholding oneself to too high a standard. “People start to see anemerging picture as they work through these exercises,” continuesGoldston.Goldston maintains that the stress management techniques that sheand McDonald present are quick and to the point. “We have zeroedin on what really seems to work for people.” Among theirtechniques:1. Relaxation strategies. “Busy people do not havetime to spend hours relaxing themselves, but there are ways ofrelaxingmore rapidly,” Goldston says. One simple technique is called”squarebreathing” — breathe in for four counts, hold for four, exhalefor four, and rest for four. The advantages of this strategy are thatit gets people to attend to and slow down their breathing, and itis simple to learn and do.2. Self-care. Self-care is simply taking care of oneself— sleeping enough, eating well, exercising, and taking time foroneself. Effective self-care may mean realizing, for example, thatsleeping is important. “Too often we think sleeping is the thingwe can cut back on or compromise about,” Goldston says. Makingchanges to improve self-care may involve different kind ofgoal-setting,but sometimes it may mean just doing the right thing, but in smallerchunks. For example, if a person takes 10 minutes of personal time,that is better than nothing at all.3. Assertiveness. “A big source of stress on the joband at home is that people have difficulty speaking up for themselvesin appropriate ways,” says Goldston. The two extreme versionsof people with assertiveness issues are the person who swallows downeverything and says nothing and the person who flies off the handleand explodes. Sometimes the same person exhibits both behaviors. Onemanagement technique for this form of stress is the “24-hourrule.”A person is advised to wait 24 hours before confronting someone orraising a difficult issue. This rule helps the explosive person byproviding time to calm down and think through a problem. But, becausethe rule also mandates not waiting more than 24 hours, it also helpsthe person who avoids speaking up at all costs.4. Identifying and restructuring maladaptive thoughtpatterns.”What trips up people the most is absolute black and whitethinking,”Goldston says. For example, people with perfectionist tendencies arealways grading themselves and scoring either 0 or 100, and they needto learn how to use the rest of scale — all of the numbers inbetween. People must learn to risk looking at more complicated, lesswell-defined answers.5. Using a support system more effectively. Stressedpeopleneed to figure out who is part of their support system and then comeup with strategies to expand that system and to use it moreeffectively.Often people are reluctant to ask for help, and they may need toexaminethe sources of their unwillingness and decide what would help themto tap into potential sources of support more easily. Research showsthat people who have social support and use it effectively fare betterwith illness and other major life stresses.Goldston graduated from Harvard University in 1973, receivedan M.A. in counseling from Hunter College, and earned a Ph.D. inclinicaland development psychology from Rutgers University. She worked forseven years as a counselor at Brookdale Community College, where shealso offered assertiveness training classes. At Rutgers the focusof her graduate work was on the emotions, and after graduation, sheworked at the Carrier Clinic as a post-doctoral fellow and set upa private practice.Talking about the genesis of the stress management seminar, Goldstonsays, “the challenge of working with people quickly andeffectivelyis something every clinician is facing. And a lot of what therapistsare doing is to help people cope with the stress in their lives.”Goldston and McDonald expect people to leave the seminar with apersonalplan about how to address stress in their own lives.A potential outcome of the process of developing a stress-managementplan, says Goldston, “could be that people re-evaluate theirprioritiesand modify their expectations of what it means to be happy, andproductive,and successful.” But in the meantime, given the demands of modernlife, people must find ways to reduce stress. Even little changescan make a difference.— Michele AlperinTop Of PageOSHA CoursesExplore a new career in environmental safety andindustrialhygiene with courses by Emilcott Associates given in Chatham. Alongthe way you might learn useful information about regulations fromthe EPA or OSHA. For instance, do you need to know the special healthand safety challenges that working in laboratories presents? Afour-hourcourse in Laboratory Safety and Health costs $95 and is scheduledfor Wednesday, January 24, at 8 a.m. The course covers the principlesof laboratory and chemical safety, such as physical and biologicalhazards; chemical hygiene plans; controlling hazards, and emergencypreparedness. You will get a lab safety check list.Presented later that day, starting at 1 p.m., is a course onlaboratoryfire and life safety issues.Other half-day courses are on Warehouse and Material Handling SafetyManagement (Wednesday, February 7, at 8 a.m.), Forklift Safety(Wednesday,February 7, at 1 p.m.), Fall Protection and Scaffold Safety(Wednesday,March 14, at 8 a.m.), and Excavation and Trenching Safety (Wednesday,March 4, at 1 p.m.).An all-day course in understanding the chemistry of hazardousmaterialsis Monday, February 5, at 8 a.m., and costs $200. Crew leaders andengineers can take eight-hour Hazardous Waste Operations sitesupervisortraining on Friday, February 23, also for $200. Call 800-886-3645.Top Of PageAMA CourseCertificates offered by the American ManagementAssociationare available as noncredit certificate programs at Mercer CountyCollege.One of two core courses for a certificate in human resources startsTuesday, January 30, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Called Fundamentals of HumanResources, it meets for five weeks and costs $225, includingtextbooks.The other core course, on safe hiring and firing practices, startsTuesday, March 13. Three electives are also required.”How to Develop the Strategic Plan” is the first core coursefor an AMA certificate in strategic leadership and starts Thursday,February 1, at 6:30 p.m.The AMA is the world’s leading membership-based management developmentorganization. Call 609-586-9446.Top Of PageRoad AlertsWinter weather may make you curious about the conditionof roads you are planning to take to or from work. The Greater MercerTMA offers free E-mail alerts for any of two-dozen roads from Route1 south or north to Route 202. Go to www.gmtma.org or call609-452-8988.For current traffic conditions on the New Jersey Turnpike, call800-33-NJTPKor 800-336-5875. For the Garden State Parkway, 732-PARKWAY orwww.gspkwy.state.nj.us.In other “traffic news,” still cameras offer minute-by-minutevisual traffic reports on the Web(www.state.nj.us/transportation/traffic/cameras/rt1).On Route 1 in this area alone, the cameras are focused on a half-dozenintersections: Bakers Basin Road, I-295, Quakerbridge and AlexanderRoads, Scudders Mill Road, and Independence Way.Top Of PageCorporate AngelsThe Henry Luce Foundation gave $2 million to the Institutefor Advanced Studies for a professorship in East Asian Studies.Currentlyfive scholars in residence are focusing on East Asia as part of theSchool of Historical Studies. Established in 1936 by the latecofounderof Time Incorporated, who was born in China, the foundation aims toencourage American-Asian understanding.Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick willhost the CEO breakfast for March of Dimes Middlesex Walk America onThursday, January 18, at 8 a.m. “We know how important goodprenataland medical care are to healthy outcomes and fully support the missionof the March of Dimes,” says John Matuska, president and CEO ofthe hospital. John Sullivan, regional director of Canon USA Inc.,will speak at the 100-person breakfast. Walk America for Middlesexis set for Sunday, April 29, in Piscataway.Paul H. Chew , vice president of Bristol-Myers Squibbpresented a $10,000 check to Lawrenceville Main Street’s CenturyCampaign,a capital campaign for physical improvements to the Village ofLawrenceville.The money will be used to plant street trees in the historic district,says Tommie Culligan, president of the organization.Top Of PageNominate PleaseEntries for this year’s Astra Awards, sponsored by NewJersey CAMA, are due Wednesday, January 17, at 4:30 p.m., but foran additional fee, late entries may be submitted by Wednesday, January24. Call Charlie Waterfall of Princeton Insurance Companiesat 609-452-9404 or Miriam Stoolman of Princeton CommunicationsGroup at 609-924-7966. To the regular fee of $50 per entry ($75 fornon-members) a late fee of $10 is added. Among the 65 categories aresome called “Dashed Dreams,” great ideas that never made itpast the concept stage.February 14 is the deadline for the Society of ProfessionalJournalists awards, which offer eight categories includingnewslettersand online. Each entry costs $15. Call George Dawson at732-249-2670.Deadline for nominees for the annual Princeton YWCA TWIN awardsis Wednesday, February 28. Honorees will be feted at a dinner onThursday,May 10, at the Marriott, says Cindy Shapiro , the co-chair. Alsoon the committee are Michele Long, co-chair, Elaine Britt,Pamela Carter-Rowe, Pat Peach, Debra Lemeshow, and GeorgiaFrasier.The award honors women who represent the YW mission: attaining andbelieving in the vision of eliminating racism, empowering women,encouragingdiversity and supporting families. Nominees should meet high standardsof professional responsibility, demonstrated leadership, academicachievement, mentoring of others, special accomplishments, andcommunityservice. For a nomination form call Long at 609-951-8700, extension3041, or Lemeshow at 973-430-7475.Nominations are due by February 14 for the Russ BerrieFoundation”unsung heroes” awards. These prizes recognize New Jerseycitizens who have made what is termed “uncommon contributionsto the common good.” Russ Berrie , the soft toy mogul witha distribution center on Route 130, has provided $150,000 to bedividedinto three major prizes and 16 runner-up awards. For example, Richardand Maureen Kanka won one of the three top awards in 1997 forestablishingthe foundation to raise public awareness about the dangers of sexcrimes and to provide needed counseling and assistance. Others havewon for rescuing large numbers of people during Hurricane Floyd,foundingan after school outreach program, adopting 13 children with seriousmedical conditions, founding an organization that helps the homeless,and rescuing children from a burning building. For an applicationcontact the office of the president at Ramapo College of New Jersey,201-684-7607 or fax 201-684-7960.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
