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With computer network defense calling for an integrated approach, one government organization is helping public and private enterprises improve their infrastructures by putting them to the test. Armed with research and insight about threats and vulnerabilities, its experts take aim at systems and attack the problem of information security. While playing the bad guy, their mission is to point out weaknesses with the objective of making organizations stronger.

A commercial management and visualization software tool now permits organizations to assess the effect new applications will have on their existing systems quickly. Planners also can record modifications to the architecture in a data repository so changes and their effects can be studied and referenced.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is taking direct action in the commercial remote sensing marketplace with a five-year funding commitment to ensure the next generation of orbiting imagers. Acknowledging the vital role played by commercial remote sensing satellites, the government agency seeks both to guarantee that these next-generation orbiters will be built and to influence their design to suit agency customers.

Diverse businesses from technology developers to hotels are capitalizing on the public's compulsion to stay in touch. Until recently, technology that allows laptop owners to access networks wirelessly was viewed as a nonessential add-on. But today, companies and consumers recognize the benefits of mobile computing, and technology providers are meeting the new demand with equipment that makes notebook computers ready for surfing right out of the box.

A new policy that directs government organizations to expand the use of U.S. commercial remote sensing technology is opening the eyes of government and industry to potential partnerships. Government entities that had not used remote sensing before are discovering applications that may become integral to their way of doing business in a few years. Concurrently, commercial satellite imagery providers are finding unexplored market possibilities. This growing synergy ultimately may lead to civil government input on the design and development of future remote sensing platforms.

A recently adopted international standard protects military radar and scientific satellite transmissions against potential interference from wireless local area networks. It provides a toolkit and guidelines for manufacturers to modify their products to switch automatically to alternate channels when these signals are detected.

An advanced wireless communications system soon will allow military and civilian users to access spectrum more efficiently than does current equipment. Radios using this spectrum allocation technology will sense their local electromagnetic environment and transmit messages through available areas of spectrum. Designed for global use, these intelligent devices will store nations' spectrum protocols on microchips for automatic, seamless operation without the need for lengthy frequency allocation negotiations.

A pair of large information technology firms are not satisfied with operating in more than 100 countries around the globe. They have now set their sights on Jupiter. Unisys Corporation, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, recently opened the Team Jupiter Lab to allow customers to test drive a new generation of e-business software developed by Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington. The companies are partners in the facility at a Unisys technology campus near Microsoft's headquarters.

The focus of long-term changes underway in China's military is on regional rather than global improvements. This approach includes deploying systems that have only a local reach as well as developing or acquiring advanced technologies for specific military units or elements.

Three important decisions reached at the recent World Radiocommunication Conference may hold substantial ramifications for the United States and the global telecommunications community as a whole. Many of the issues discussed at the conference are illustrative of the realities affecting both commercial and U.S. Defense Department spectrum usage today.