Security Awareness approaching 9/11 Anniversary

[p4l3h0rs3]

I am wondering what others are doing to prepare for 9/11 anniversary. Although I have not seen any alerts yet, I do expect to see a heightened state of alert for the 9/11 anniversary. Just as holidays seem to be an attraction for virus writers, I am treating the 9/11 anniversary the same way. Maybe I am being too paranoid, but my paranoia has saved my rear a few times.

So... Here's what I plan on doing:

1.) Ensure Antivirus definitions are indeed up to date.
2.) Update all security patches and service packs where necessary.
3.) Check and confirm good backups prior to 9/11.
4.) Force mandatory password change.
5.) Send reminder to users not to open suspicious attachments.
6.) Inform users who to contact if they witness suspicious activity.
7.) Monitor IRC, news groups, etc. for security and virus alerts.
8.) Monitor firewall, router, and web server logs for suspicious activity.
9.) Disable any un-necessary services.

Note: Most of the above mentioned should already be part of a good admin's daily list. I mention them to reinforce the need to be aware of security issues before they become security incidents.

[gghornet]

I do think there's a small risk of a few dumba55e5 throwing around a virus or two to get the government's panties in a bunch with the whole cyber-terrorism thing going around,other then that,I don't really see any more danger than any other day of the year.The real terrorists aren't out there hacking peoples computers.They draw attention to themselves by killing innocent people,not by sending booby trapped Email.I would never discourage upping the security level of your networks though.If you can make it more secure by all means do it,but it shouldn't be for 1 day it should be every day.

[p4l3h0rs3]

Good comments. I agree that the greatest threats would be from viruses and worms. If we are doing our job day to day, we should be just fine. Thanks for the comments! Good thread!

[TomCruise]

Yeah, as the 9/11 anniversary appoaches, the world is anxious about any other attacks . As the govt is on full alert, there are less chances of a physical attack and may be the attack may be on networks. But as you all know, the people are awre of the threat and they will not simply let the things go by. There will be a general awareness and everyone is careful.

Nice thing that ou reminded everybody about the seriousness of the coming day