NEW TOOL FOR IDENTIFYING VULNERABILITIES UP AND RUNNING.Sometimes, computers just have too much software. Or at least that is the way it seems to many systems administrators who have to stay on top of viruses and other computer security "Achilles heels Achilles heel Noun a small but fatal weakness [Achilles in Greek mythology was killed by an arrow in his unprotected heel] Achilles heel n → talón m de Aquiles ." Keeping up with the 100 or so new vulnerabilities discovered each month can be an almost overwhelming task, especially since a single software flaw may be known by over 10 different names and no one source provides information on all of them. However, NIST (National Institute of Standards & Technology, Washington, DC, www.nist.gov) The standards-defining agency of the U.S. government, formerly the National Bureau of Standards. It is one of three agencies that fall under the Technology Administration (www.technology. has developed a way to make keeping up with vulnerabilities much easier. The new extensive ICAT ICAT Isotope-Coded Affinity Tagging ICAT Intelligent Computer-Assisted Training ICAT International Centre for Automotive Technology (Gurgaon, India) ICAT International Convention Against Torture ICAT International Cat Agility Tournament index--available on NIST's World Wide Web site at http://icat.nist.gov--allows people to search for information on vulnerabilities efficiently using a standard naming scheme A naming scheme is a plan for naming objects. In computing, naming schemes are often used for objects connected into computer networks. Naming schemes in computing Large networks often use a systematic naming scheme, such as using a location (e.g. developed commercially. Users can quickly zero in on the data they need by using pull-down menus Also called a "drop-down menu" or "pop-down menu," the common type of menu used with a graphical user interface (GUI). Clicking a menu title causes the menu items to appear to drop down from that position and be displayed. that specify product characteristics (such as vendor name and version number) and vulnerability characteristics (such as related exploit type, vulnerability consequence and exposed component type) for more than 2000 software vulnerabilities. ICAT provides users with summaries of the vulnerabilities and links to public vulnerability databases available on the Internet, which provide detailed information and "patches" to make software more secure. It should prove to be a valuable resource for systems administrators, computer security officers, law enforcement officials, computer security researchers and software developers. A way to get regular electronic mail updates from the ICAT index via an e-mail service See Internet e-mail service. named Cassandra, is available at https://cassandra.cerias.purdue.edu. For technical information, contact Peter Mell. Comments about ICAT may be sent to icat@nist.gov. |
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