On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 5:21 PM, Kurt Buff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> As a point of curiosity - I'm assuming that there is some sort of
> internal switching going on with the NISP.

  The NISP (National Industrial Security Program) is just the
jurisdiction most private industry contractors doing work for the US
government fall under.  It's not a single network or something like
that.  It's basically a set of standards you have to follow.  Same
general idea as HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, ITIL, etc.  Some of their
requirements are a bit strict by typical corporate standards, though.
The most notable thing would be that outside network connectivity
(Internet) is generally going to be forbidden on any such system.  The
so-called "air gap firewall" -- if the systems are phyiscally
segregated from outside networks, they can't be attacked via outside
networks.

  It really confounds tech support people who want to use WebEx,
Remote Desktop, etc., though.  :-)

> Why not hook up a GPS time source to an internal switch's serial port?
> It wouldn't be outside connectivity.

  Private networks with no outside connectivity are allowed.  If you
could find a GPS gadget and a network switch that could work together
to do that, sure.  Or, if there is such a product as a GPS gadget that
attaches directly to the network, that would work, too.

  I don't really know much about using GPS as a time source -- I just
know it's possible.  I've never needed reference time *that* accurate
for anything I've done.  :)

-- Ben

~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~
~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/>  ~

Reply via email to