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The Obama administration is laying the groundwork for potential military action in Syria in the coming days, with intelligence agencies readying additional evidence about last week's alleged chemical weapons attack and high-ranking U.S. officials declaring there was "no doubt" that Bashar Assad's government was to blame.
Administration officials also said Assad's actions posed a direct threat to U.S. national security, providing President Barack Obama with a potential legal justification for launching a strike without authorization from the United Nations or Congress. However, officials did not detail how the U.S. was directly threatened by an attack contained within Syria's borders. Nor did they present concrete proof that Assad was responsible.
"Allowing the use of chemical weapons on a significant scale to take place without a response would present a significant challenge to, threat to the United States' national security," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday.
The U.S. and international partners were unlikely to undertake military action before Thursday. That's when British Prime Minister David Cameron will convene an emergency meeting of Parliament, where lawmakers were expected to vote on a motion clearing the way for a British response.
The prime minister's office said Wednesday that it will put forward a resolution to the U.N. Security Council condemning the Syrian government for the alleged chemical attack.
Obama and Cameron spoke Tuesday, their second known conversation since the weekend. A Cameron spokesman said the two leaders agreed that a chemical attack had taken place, and that the Assad regime was responsible. Cameron "confirmed that the government had not yet taken a decision on the specific nature of our response, but that it would be legal and specific to the chemical weapons attack," the spokesman said.
Also Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden became the highest-ranking U.S. official to charge that Assad's government fired chemical weapons last week near Damascus. Assad has denied using chemical weapons, calling the allegations "preposterous."
"There's no doubt who is responsible for this heinous use of chemical weapons in Syria: the Syrian regime," Biden said.
Obama is weighing a response focused narrowly on punishing Assad for violating international agreements that ban the use of chemical weapons, an act the president repeatedly has said would cross a "red line." Officials said the goal was not to drive the Syrian leader from power nor affect the broader trajectory of Syria's bloody civil war, which is now in its third year.
"The options we are considering are not about regime change," Carney told reporters.
According to U.S. officials, the most likely military operation would be largely sea-based, with the strikes coming primarily from Navy warships in the Mediterranean Sea. Fighter jets often are deployed to monitor the area and protect the ships, but Syria's robust air defense system makes airstrikes more difficult and risky.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said military forces stood ready to strike Syria immediately if the commander in chief gave the order. The Navy has four destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean within range of targets inside Syria and also has warplanes in the region.
"We are ready to go," Hagel said in a BBC television interview Tuesday while traveling in Asia.
Ahead of any strike, the U.S. also planned to release additional intelligence it said would directly link Assad to the Aug. 21 attack in the Damascus suburbs. Syrian activists said hundreds of people were killed in the attack. A U.S. official said the intelligence report was expected to include "signals intelligence" — information gathered from intercepted communications.
All of the officials insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the internal deliberations.
Even before releasing that information, U.S. officials said they had very little doubt that Assad was culpable in the attack, based on witness reports, information on the number of victims and the symptoms of those killed or injured, and intelligence showing the Syrian government has not lost control of its chemical weapons stockpiles.
Other administration officials echoed Biden's comments, which marked a subtle shift in the administration's rhetoric on who bears responsibility for the attack. Earlier in the week officials would say only that there was "very little doubt" Assad was responsible.
Follow Julie Pace on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jpaceDC
Copyright © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2013 Capitol Hill Blue
8 Responses to "Laying groundwork for Syria strike"
This is all yet another example of poking our collective noses where it doesn't belong.
I find it fascinating that when hundreds of thousands of people in places like Rawanda are murdered by their governments (who are just as dead as if they were killed by chemical weapons) and the United States consistently turns a blind eye.
But let something happen that MIGHT threaten the Government of Israel in any way and we must "do something".
Of course, that "something" remains a mystery…like what are we going to do AFTER we bomb their country back into the stone age in yet another attempt (a la Lybia) to "protect civilians".
And, oh, by the way… what about our OWN (secret) stockpile of chemical weaponry? Are we about to give all of them up in our righteous indignation about some OTHER country's stockpiling and use of same?
I'm not holding my breath.
Unfortunately, this is yet one MORE (sorry) example of how the United States has become a country that projects everything that it is not, while condemning everything that it is.
As for our, The USs', stockpile of chemical weapons, try a little research – Closing U.S. Chemical Warfare Agent Disposal Facilities,/a>
ARGH, malformed url….
Here is the link that should have been in the above post http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/demil/closing_facilities.htm
As for our, The USs', stockpile of chemical weapons, try a little research…"Closing U.S. Chemical Warfare Agent Disposal Facilities"
I have.
And if you REALLY believe that the US has now destroyed its ENTIRE stockpile of chemical weapons, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you.
You may recall that our friends in the US Air Force also told us back in the early 1990s that crews were no longer sitting alert in missile silos, either.
Yet, now we learn that a bunch of them recently flunked their Nuclear Surety Inspections while sitting alert in those same silos.
And with all of the NSA's (up to now) "secret" snooping that's been coming to light as of late, if you TRULY believe what the US Government now tells you in public that they have completely destroyed their stockpiles of chemical weaponry, then you have FAR more faith in what our US Government publicly reports about its activities than I do.
I know, from being an integral part of that big bureaucracy for the better part of my working life, that what our US Government says in public and what's REALLY going on behind the scenes are usually two VERY different things!
Seemingly if the MSM proclaims something to be true then it must be…no? / : |
There is the possibility that CIA and Mossad operatives incited resistance/terrorist groups within Syria to detonate chemical weapons in order to create another 'false flag' styled op as an excuse to attack Syria. U.N. inspectors were/are in country when this happened. It doesn't seem too plausible that the Syrian government would be foolish enough to incriminate themselves with such a heinous attack, but very plausible for those interested in public destabilization of a regime for military, financial and political gain.
What's stunning is the U.S. not being interested in acquiring either U.N. or at least a coalition approving such a strike. The administration now blustering "we're going it alone if necessary". Obviously our Congress has been sidelined permanently concerning the waging of war anywhere everywhere planet earth. The U.S. miitary has been degenerated into simply a SWAT op.
We attacked Libya utilizing our NATO surrogate as a front for doing so.
We've destabilized Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt and now seemingly Syria too with our militant beligerancy.
If our military 'planners' think this is a form of nation building then they are sorely mistaken.
Their destabiliztion allows Islamic fundamentalists to seize hold of these weakened nations, Egypt being a prime example. When peoples are unemployed and starving or feel threatened then their religion provides them with comfort regardless of it simply being an illusion, thus they support that which is closest to their traditional roots; I.E., Islamic fundamentalism which is surely bad for Western interests.
To put it simply I don't trust our government in these 'interesting times' and haven't since Oklahoma City, 911, the Iraq invasion to present. A gaggle of evil men and women have seized hold of the U.S. government.
As long as there's peace in the shopping malls of AmeriKa everything is aok…no?
They have a plan for "We the People" and it's a dark one indeed. Believe it…!
Carl Nemo **==
Obviously our Congress has been sidelined permanently concerning the waging of war anywhere everywhere planet earth. The U.S. military has been degenerated into simply a SWAT op.
You may recall that back during the regime of George W. Bush, US Military Doctrine was fundamentally changed from one of weathering a "first strike" and then retaliating to one of waging so-called "Wars of Pre-emption".
I also know that, at the time, a whole bunch of very senior military leaders (three and four star Generals) retired rather than implement such totally illegal (under international law), war-mongering policies.
Sadly, as a direct result of such internationally criminal activity we've (as you rightly say) simply destabilized Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Egypt and now seemingly Syria with our militant belligerency, all in the name of "spreading democracy".
Clearly, (and as you have also correctly noted) this "waging wars of pre-emption" approach has now totally backfired. The United States of America is no longer perceived in the world as a peace-loving nation.
Rather, all we are now doing is creating oceans of odium against us, not to mention further inciting terrorist and other attacks against our nation (both at home and abroad) that we are (supposedly) trying to prevent.
I thought I'd supply readers with an extremely well written article as to why we're headed in the wrong direction as a nation concerning intervention in the Syrian civil war.
Situations can escalate quickly. Syria is extremely well armed courtesy of the former Soviet Union now the Russian Federation. They aren't sporting 'junk armaments but state of the art anti-ship missiles in their arsenal.
It's my concern that they are going to send some of our destroyers to the bottom more quickly than our 'planners' or lack thereof realize. Secondly there's a high probability if this confrontation escalates the Syrian's might throw a 'hail mary' pass predicated on a failing defense of their nation and launch a massive volley of IRBM (intermediate range ballistic missiles)on key Israeli cities regardless of Israel's ability to counter attack. We would like to assume that the Syrian's do not have tactical nukes, but one never knows for sure and they just might surprise Western tacticians with such. If this should happen then this regional conflict could escalate into WWIII with Russia and China finally euthanizing a now seemingly 'mad dog', rogue nation; I.E., the USA.
I'm surely not one for standing down in the face of battle, but launching pre-emptive strikes on any nation without Congressional or U.N. support is tantamount to national aggression plain and simple.
The upside is empty-headed Americans can watch WWIII unfold on their HDTV's up to the last seconds of their consumeristic based existence on this plane.
following linked article:
"Twenty two reasons why starting WWIII in the Middle East is a bad idea" by Michael Snyder
Carl Nemo **==
Finally…FINALLY!…the "chinks in the armor" of the "Terrorist Industrial Complex" are starting to show.
Indeed, the stunning defeat of Prime Minister David Cameron's war mongering resolution against a mlitary attack on Syria in the British Parliament and the subsequent "wait just a minute" calls from our own US Congress, it would now appear that the public in both countries (as expressed through their elected representatives) are beginning to reject George W. Bush's inspired "Wars of Pre-emption" foreign policy.
All I can say is that it's about bloody time!
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As we are approaching the end of this Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Thirteen, we would be remiss were we not to remind all of our fellow kinsmen who rightfully claim descent from John Ladd that this year marks the three hundred and sixtieth anniversary of his arrival on the shores of America, in the colony of Virginia, a short time prior to the 7th day of October, 1653.
I cringe every year at depictions of the first Thanksgiving, with Pilgrims and "the Indians" harmoniously sitting down to break bread together.
It's a nice thought, it really is, but it has little to do with truth.
In 1621, a small group of Pilgrims were celebrating a successful harvest, but the fact that 90 warriors were on hand was not a result of invitation.
The Wampanoag tribe that is often generically referred to as "the Indians" in the Thanksgiving story has much more interesting — and believable — version.
There are times when a person, or group, or nation has the strength, or the authority to do something, but which they shouldn't do, despite that strength or authority.
As a result of proceeding when they shouldn't, the person, group, or nation loses that strength or authority.
Last week saw this very thing happen in one case, and the wheels begin to turn that may well result in its happening again in another case.
Gentle reader, today we have more topics roiling around in the old cranium than Carmen Miranda had Cavendish bananas in her headdress.
(Younger readers can ask their parents to identify the effervescent Latin Bombshell, Carmen Miranda and her fabulous fruit adorned turbans, and can seek guidance on the Cavendish bananas in some botanical tome, or in the more likely source, the internet.)
We wish Ivory Dowdell a speedy recovery from having knee surgery.
She has been in lots of pain, but at the time of this writing she is feeling much better, and we want you to know you are missed.
Get-well wishes to the Rev. Clyde Jones, who recently had surgery. Also, to his wife Jessie Bell, who hasn't felt the best but is doing better.
To my niece, Courtney Harris, who observed her birthday last Monday, Feb. 10. Hope you had a great day and many more to come. Happy birthday Courtney.
By GENE POLICINSKI
First Amendment Center
Few topics in modern life have produced as much rancorous and visible public debate as abortion.
One hot point of contention today is simply how close that debate may take place to the clinics that perform them.
Gentle reader, there comes a time when repeating oneself is no longer repetition but a tradition.
Thus it is with our annual holiday column about our beloved Tennessee Apple Stack Cake, also known in this area as "Fruit Cake." As we have said many times before, what is being offered in some grocery stores as apple stack cake is not our Tennessee Apple Stack Cake.
It has taken decades to realize how much a series of bullets — fired half a century ago by a lone gunman, or maybe not — has impacted the life of one preschooler.
I was a 5-year-old in hand-me-down dungarees. The knees, judging by most of the pictures from the era, were worn bare.
I don't remember ever seeing my mother cry before that day; perhaps that's why my memory of President John F. Kennedy's murder is so vivid.
Marvin and Anna Anderson of Knoxville observed their 49th wedding anniversary on Nov. 16.
They were married in Harriman at St. Mary's Baptist Church among family and friends.
The couple have three sons, 12 grandchildren and one great-grandson.
Both retired from X-10 Plant in Oak Ridge. They are faithful members of New Covenant Baptist Church in Knoxville.
They are former residents of Harriman.
May they continue to be blessed by the Lord.
Gentle Reader, as you will recall, in last month's column for Friday, the 25th, we raised the issue of the supposed over-population problem in the new jail.
In that column we posed certain questions, the answers to which we think it is critical that everyone, (especially the people who are going to have to foot the bill for any "corrective measures" that might be proposed, i.e. the Roane County taxpayers,) should have answered.
These are the general questions we posed:
Copyright © 2014
The Roane County News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Roane County and Kingston, Tennessee, and the surrounding area.

subset: commoncrawl


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Green Power Partnership
Partner Profile
|Habitat Suites Hotel
|Austin, TX
|Organization Type
|Hotels & Lodging
|Percentage Green Power
|Purchasing Third-Party Certified Green Power Product?
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|Partner Profile
Habitat Suites is Austin's only award-winning, "Green" hotel. The hotel is committed to ecological sustainability and makes all its decision with environmental stewardship in mind. Habitat Suites purchases 100-percent green power and has recently purchased 108 solar modules that supplement its green power purchase by producing 25,000 kWh annually. Through its commitment to ecological sustainability and green power the hotel has won new clients who admire its dedication to environmentally right action.


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Get a $750 grant, so you're not left out. #FOMO
A great mix of events and announcements
For the 2nd Year Students Rate CEA Aix-en-Provenceas the Place to Go
Let us be your guide.
Earn up to $3,000 in CEAScholarships when youapply through October 1st
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Obamacare is no mere paper law. No indeed. For the GOP's ideological Captain Ahabs, it has become a public-policy white whale, a leviathan that must be harpooned at any cost. So it is that the Tea Party types are now demanding that Republican officeholders resort to shut-down-the-government brinksmanship to slay the cetaceous statute.
For those with long memories, the spectacle can be amusing. A key piece of the Affordable Care Act is the requirement that those who don't have health care coverage purchase a policy. That was once a credentialed conservative idea, an exemplar of personal responsibility popularized by the Heritage Foundation. From there, it became a Republican congressional alternative to Hillarycare and then the centerpiece of Romneycare, whose elaborate signing ceremony included a speaker from the conservative think tank.


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East Cooper University Family Medicine
Every member of your family can come to East Cooper University Family Medicine for health care. We can provide you and your family with continuing, comprehensive care during all the phases of your lives - from infant/childhood, through adolescence, to adult life and the changes it brings, such as acute injuries, illness or pregnancy.
East Cooper University Family Medicine health care team of professionals include nurses and physicians. Our physicians, Dr. Joseph Benich, III and Dr. Dipinpreet Kaur, are specialists in Family Medicine as well as Resident Physicians who are qualified doctors specializing in Family Medicine.
1145 Six Mile Road, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
New patients please call 843-792-7000
Office hours:
Monday - Friday
8:30 am - noon, 1 pm - 5 pm
Meet Our Doctors
Watch interviews with our doctors


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Canonical Releases Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Canonical has launched Ubuntu 12.04 LTS for the desktop, marking the fourth long-term support (LTS) release with maintenance updates guaranteed for five years.
According to Canonical, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS includes support for desktop virtualization from Citrix and VMware, as well as Microsoft RDP 7.1. Thus, enterprise users have a choice for office productivity: remote delivery of desktop applications, browser-based cloud solutions like Google Docs, or the native, Microsoft-compatible LibreOffice suite that comes pre-installed.
New to those upgrading from the last LTS release will be Unity, Ubuntu's user interface, which, according to the company, has undergone many hours of user testing and has been refined to improve day-to-day productivity.
"For large enterprise deployments with long-term planning processes, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is our best desktop yet," said Jane Silber, CEO of Canonical. "Thanks to our expanded hardware partnerships, we'll make regular updates to support new PCs from certified partners like Dell, HP and Lenovo. And we'll support even more companies that make the switch to Ubuntu on their desktops."
Canonical provides optional commercial support for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS in the form of Ubuntu Advantage. According to the company, the program offers a choice of two levels of support, along with access to the Landscape administration tool, which includes audit, compliance, and ongoing management features for large desktop deployments. Ubuntu customers can include their entire deployment in the support agreement or just a subset that they select. Click here for more information.
Issue 168/2014
Buy this issue as a PDF
Tag Cloud
Mozilla Labs Shuts Down
Mozilla's product think tank sinks silently into history.
Internet Giants Launch Collaboration to Improve Open Source
TODO group will focus on open source tools in large-scale environments.
Fedora Announces New Partition Manager App
New tool will look like GParted but support a wider range of storage technologies.
Mozilla Releases a New Firefox
New public key pinning feature will help prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
Tool Predicts Which Websites Will be Compromised
Carnegie Mellon researchers say 3 million pages could fall down the phishing hole in the next year.
SSH Key Management Guidelines
The US government rolls new best-practice rules for protecting SSH.
Knoppix 7.4 Released
Klaus Knopper announces the latest version of his iconic Live Linux system.
PHP Attack Puts WordPress and Drupal at Risk
All websites that use these popular CMS tools could be vulnerable to denial of service attacks if users don't install the updates.
Heartbleed Bleeds On
According to a report, many potential victims of the Heartbleed attack have patched their systems, but few have cleaned up the crime scene to protect themselves from the effects of a previous intrusion.
Drone Brain Goes Open Source
DARPA and NICTA release the code for the ultra-secure microkernel system used in aerial drones.


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Dear Friends:
We are planning a working meeting to develop alternatives for predator management and control on the Dixie National Forest. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 7, 1990 at 1:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 1575 W. 200 N. in Cedar City, Utah. The purpose of this meeting is to review the current situation, finalize our list of issues and management options, and develop alternatives for analysis.
Participants will have an opportunity to suggest additional issues, management options and alternatives for consideration. The alternatives developed at the meeting will them be analyzed in detail to determine the results and environmental consequences of implementation of each one.
The meeting will last about 3 to 3 1/2 hours and everyone is invited to attend.
If you are unable to attend, please let us know your thoughts on issues, management options, or alternatives in writing, by phone, or in person prior to the meeting.
Forest Supervisor
Caring for the Land and Serving People
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Australia's Wetlands and Waterbirds Taskforce debates Ramsar issues, November 2004
Australian National Wetlands and Waterbirds Taskforce meeting, 26 November 2004
Australia's Wetlands and Waterbirds Taskforce met in Sydney for three days 24 -26 November 2004, and the Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention, Peter Bridgewater, amid his travels in the region, was able to join an informal dinner on the evening of 25 November and the Taskforce discussions the following morning. Members from most state governments, the Australian Government, and the New Zealand government were present. The meeting was also attended by Eric Fisher, a private Ramsar site manager for the Wilgara Wetlands section of the Macquarie Marshes Ramsar site, and Vainuupo Jungblut, the Assistant Ramsar Officer based in the SPREP Office, Apia, Samoa, participated as well.
Mr Bridgewater presented the scenarios for the future development of the Convention and foreshadowed some of the key issues for the 9th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties, set for Uganda in November 2005. Representatives of the States made presentations on recent events within their jurisdictions, which show an impressive level and diversity of activities. There was lively discussion of the difficulties associated with the Convention's national reporting framework for COP9, surely a topic most Contracting Parties will note with empathy! And there was also an exchange of views on the perceived need to simplify the Ramsar Information Sheet documentation in order to streamline the presentation of data associated with Ramsar site nomination.


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Securing Business Workflows and Networks for Partners
Technical White Paper
Published: March 2009
Technical White Paper, 1.2 MB, Microsoft Word file
Products & Technologies
Microsoft relies on partners to help provide services for many parts of its business, including software and hardware development, marketing, sales, and operations. As the number of partner user accounts increases, so do requirements for tight security, integrated collaboration, and streamlined workflow. Microsoft IT wanted to give partners and employees a secure way to access internal resources.
Microsoft IT designed and implemented the extranet environment based on Microsoft technologies, which give partners real-time access to selected resources in real time, yet maintain security and access controls to data.
Executive Summary
Outsourcing and using third-party resources to deliver solutions has been a mainstay of IT organizations for years and continues to increase. In fact, according to Gartner, outsourcing will continue to grow in 2009 despite the economic slowdown. Microsoft, like other corporations, uses vendor resources to help carry out many parts of its business functions. For example, Microsoft uses vendors to fulfill hardware manufacturing, retail software production, and code creation for products. To support the business needs for vendor involvement with Microsoft business units, Microsoft Information Technology (Microsoft IT) designed and implemented an extranet environment that was flexible enough to accommodate many usage scenarios, yet followed best practices for security, operability, and scalability.
In designing the environment, Microsoft IT overcame many challenges related to balancing the need to provide features and usability with security and scalability. These challenges included vendor account provisioning and maintenance, exposure of specific internal services and line-of-business (LOB) applications, and handling exceptions to overall constraints. By analyzing each use scenario and designing an infrastructure that scaled according to demand, using security best practices such as the principle of least privilege, and performing security audits, Microsoft IT created an environment that met business needs, yet did not compromise security requirements.
Currently, the extranet supports more than 120,000 user accounts. The environment offers users many features, including the following:
- Security-enhanced virtual private network (VPN) and terminal server access
- Source code management and development
- Document collaboration and version control
- Workflow and project management
- Outsourced call-center telephony and manufacturing support
By first developing a solid foundation that took into account network controls, firewall restrictions, server hardening, and application hardening, Microsoft IT not only provided business units with the features requires to support vendor engagement, but also paved the way for future services.
This white paper is intended for business and technical decision makers. It assumes that the reader has a working knowledge of the Windows Server® 2008 operating system, Active Directory® Domain Services (AD DS), Microsoft® Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server, Internet Information Services (IIS), and general security design principles.
Note: For security reasons, the sample names of forests, domains, internal resources, organizations, and internally developed security file names used in this paper do not represent real resource names used within Microsoft and are for illustration purposes only.
Environment Landscape
Microsoft IT maintains more than 500 offices worldwide. These offices support more than 90,000 employees, 120,000 vendor and partner users, and thousands of line-of-business applications for services such as licensing, order management, product activation, and services and sales. The network includes more than 400,000 Ethernet ports, thousands of servers, and multiple high-speed wide area network (WAN) links. Figure 1 shows a summary of the data centers, extranet server distribution, and associated user loads of the network infrastructure.
Figure 1. Data-center topology and user distribution
Although Microsoft uses a centralized approach to monitor and manage the network infrastructure, local data-center leads are responsible for the specifics of issue response, resolution, and day-to-day management decisions. In addition to the data centers shown in Figure 1, Microsoft IT maintains a data center in Silicon Valley for business continuity, and other data centers for specific services, but they have minimal impact on extranet design considerations.
Extranet Usage Scenarios
Microsoft consists of three divisions that together provide a diversified portfolio of software products, hardware devices, and services. The product and service mix includes more than 320 trademarks in the United States alone. As one of its core businesses, Microsoft develops software, but even software creation is separated into various business units, each with an individual culture and unique processes. Among the many use cases and business requirements, the extranet environment had to support the following:
- Content collaboration Teams at Microsoft collaborate with vendors and partners to produce many types of content, ranging from image-laden marketing collateral to text-laden software development kit (SDK) documentation. The content includes Help files, white papers, sales documentation, art, books, Web text, and more. Despite having diverse processes, the teams require similar features for content collaboration, including version control, role-based permissions, check-in/check-out, and support for large file sizes.
- Financial workflows Financial workflows at Microsoft go beyond the typical point-of-sale, order management, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) scenarios common at many companies. Microsoft employees have, over time, developed dozens of custom applications to support the company's financial workflows. The applications include more typical ones to support credit card transactions over Payment Card Industry (PCI)–compliant, security-enhanced communication channels; order fulfillment and customer management; and enterprise resource management. The applications also support more customized workflows, such as vendor management of the enterprise resource system, Web-based interfaces to internal systems and databases for invoicing, and Microsoft BizTalk® solutions for data-exchange middleware.
- Software co-development Because software development is part of the core business of Microsoft, the usage scenarios present challenges in terms of the strict information security requirements and sheer size of development projects. Microsoft teams need the ability to not only share code in a secure way and use a version control system, but also perform project management, distributed testing and quality assurance, workflow tracking, and distribution of major milestone versions as betas and release candidates. Additionally, Microsoft performs internal governance and milestone tollgates as part of the software development life cycle (SDLC). These complexities require internal development teams, governance and quality assurance teams, and external vendors to access specific subsets of data for development projects, all tightly integrated through a common framework and interface.
- Call center working on behalf of Microsoft Microsoft outsources its call centers, yet those representatives need access to Microsoft-specific data such as customer information and case management information. Microsoft IT accommodates this need by using a third-party, thick-client tool via Terminal Server, as well as an internal tool. In addition, some representatives need to send e-mail that appears to originate from a Microsoft-owned domain.
- Manufacturing Part of the Microsoft product offering includes entertainment and media devices such as the Microsoft Xbox® video game system, input devices such as keyboards, and mobile devices. These come with a physical hardware component whose manufacturing Microsoft outsources to partners. Microsoft teams also use partners for other physical deliverables, such as retail software production (printing and CD/DVD replication) and book printing. Other manufacturing scenarios, such as license key distribution, require access to internal resources from outside locations.
- Telephony Microsoft uses vendor resources to help manage part of its legacy telecom infrastructure. This includes existing traditional private branch exchanges (PBXs), trunk lines, and other enterprise telephony components.
Security Goals
When designing, implementing, and operating the IT infrastructure, Microsoft IT considers industry-standard security best practices such as those from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO), in combination with regulatory requirements such as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the PCI Data Security Standard. Moreover, Microsoft IT is mindful of the very practical need to protect company intellectual property in any environment that gives vendors any access to code or financial details. Microsoft IT implements many layers of security by aligning people, processes, and technology to ensure that the environment meets the following goals:
- Network infrastructure "secure by design" Microsoft IT follows the Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) and Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) and applies security principles to all processes. By first analyzing possible risks during the planning phase, Microsoft IT can help ensure that the infrastructure design addresses those risks at the network level through firewall controls and encrypted communication, at the operating system level through sever hardening, and at the application level by working with the product group and third parties to help secure all used applications. Microsoft IT calls this the secure-by-design approach.
- Product-group involvement One unique aspect of Microsoft IT is to be the first and best customer of Microsoft, which in this case entails actively suggesting product improvements related to security based on its real-world findings. After a product group implements improvements, Microsoft IT deploys and verifies the latest software builds. In this way, both customers and Microsoft IT benefit from secure-by-design configurations and products.
- Audited access control Microsoft IT wanted to provide secure and confidential access to the appropriate internal data for vendor resources, which requires assurance that managers can grant access to specific accounts with the proper role-based permissions. Microsoft IT uses internal correlation systems that track access and granted permissions to ensure that system integrity is not compromised and that users do not access data to which permission has not been explicitly granted.
- Server and operating system security With fundamental security measures such as firewalls and security protocols in place, Microsoft IT continues the secure-by-design approach by auditing servers before putting them into production, and by patching the operating system against known vulnerabilities. By using the Microsoft System Center family of products, Microsoft IT helps ensure the update status of all servers. By designing a base, security-enhanced server design and replicating it across all servers, Microsoft IT helps ensure consistent system security across servers.
- Application security Because Microsoft is a software company, Microsoft IT can integrate the results from security audits and risk analyses with the SDLC, and in this way help ensure that internal applications are secure. Microsoft IT also uses a security certification review of third-party products by which external applications can be certified as appropriately secure for use on the Microsoft network.
- Flexibility and redundancy Microsoft IT must not only meet the requirements of confidentiality and data integrity, but also satisfy high-availability and scalability requirements. The extranet solution must scale to accommodate future need, and its services must be available with adequate service levels in place and redundancy built in to the environment.
- Administrative, logical, and physical controls By following best practices, Microsoft IT employs multiple levels of controls to embed security in its environment. Starting from administrative controls that define role-based permissions on specific objects, to logical design concepts such as least-privileged access, to physical control on servers in data centers, Microsoft IT works to ensure that these aspects can be centrally managed and monitored.
- Governance and accountability Microsoft IT uses best practices during operations by ensuring that audit and governance teams are in place to independently check for vulnerabilities and security issues. Microsoft IT uses an independent internal governance team that checks for compliance and recommends best practices and courses of action for internal teams.
Legal Requirements
The task of fulfilling regulatory compliance is complex for Microsoft because it conducts business worldwide, and countries have varying requirements for privacy, data security, and data retention. In addition to satisfying regulatory requirements, Microsoft IT must ensure that its infrastructure meets internal policies and enables the legal department to carry out discovery and policy enforcement. The legal requirements that Microsoft IT must satisfy include the following:
- Internal policy compliance Microsoft uses established systems and processes to help ensure that the IT environment complies with requirements for data security and risk mitigation. For example, Microsoft uses a contract tracking system for vendor and partner contracts, including nondisclosure agreements (NDAs). Depending on the required level of access for a vendor resource, a director, vice president, or similar authority must approve the permission. Microsoft IT engaged the legal team to ensure that the initial design and later changes complied with legal policy.
- Regulatory compliance As already mentioned, Microsoft IT considers regulatory requirements when planning for security needs in the environment. In addition to using role-based access, security protocols, multiple access controls, and security reviews for applications, Microsoft IT uses reporting and auditing systems to self-certify compliance.
Design Considerations
The three relevant environments at Microsoft for access scenarios that deal with Internet-published services are the internal corporate production environment, the extranet, and a separate perimeter network (also known as DMZ, demilitarized zone, and screened subnet). The environments represent security boundaries that enable Microsoft IT to assign appropriate permissions and expose only the systems and interfaces necessary to support the use scenarios.
The corporate production environment exists as the internal network for Microsoft employees and internal users, and it houses internal databases, LOB applications, and other business-critical data. The perimeter network environment exists to house any applications that must be accessed from the Internet and from the corporate production environment, such as Microsoft Office Live Meeting, whereas the extranet exists specifically for vendors, partners, and other third-party users. Microsoft IT checks the configuration and setup of existing and new services to help ensure that each is deployed in the most secure environment.
Prior to designing and implementing the extranet environment, Microsoft IT provided access for vendors through multiple access points that were managed by many teams in a decentralized way. This arrangement made performing security audits difficult, lacked scalability, and could not benefit from centralized monitoring, change management, and operations processes. Microsoft IT wanted to ensure that the extranet supported existing and future use cases by pursuing the following goals in its design:
- Manageability With use cases ranging from basic content collaboration to more complex manufacturing and code development, Microsoft IT wanted to design the extranet environment with low overhead in mind. From an operations point of view, the extranet had to use existing centralized team structures for front-line monitoring, change requests, and issue resolution. Microsoft IT also took into account reporting, auditing, and other operational needs based on MOF.
- Flexibility and expandability Although Microsoft IT surveyed teams to determine their use cases and needs, it is impossible to design for every nuance and anticipate all future needs. To accommodate current and future needs, Microsoft IT wanted to combine the physical and logical design elements, such as network devices, front-end connectivity, account database, and back-end servers, into building blocks. The goal was to have a standardized, audited baseline that could be expanded or changed as future needs emerge. The building blocks use underlying dependencies, such as a forest separate from the corporate production environment with selective authentication trusts, network connectivity, verified server configurations, and strict configuration control. Microsoft IT also wanted to standardize the design for each data center and used the same building blocks to create a consistent design.
- Consistent service and high availability The extranet houses the majority of services and servers at Microsoft. The Microsoft culture of using pre-release and beta software in the corporate production environment means that at times, services hosted in the corporate production environment may encounter planned downtime, version changes, and configuration changes. The extranet is used as an Internet-exposed production environment and requires much more stringent service level agreements (SLAs) for availability. For most extranet services, Microsoft IT meets a 99.99 percent availability target. High availability is crucial for the extranet environment because the services it provides are business critical. Therefore, Microsoft IT designed the extranet to incorporate multiple levels of redundancy by using approaches and technologies such as load balancing, redundant array of independent disks (RAID), server redundancy, application redundancy, and even data-center redundancy with business continuity failover.
- Auditing and reporting To simplify administration and lower overhead, Microsoft IT wanted to use Microsoft products and solutions where possible. The System Center family includes Microsoft System Center Operations Manager and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager. These products include the capability to monitor systems in real time, check for software update status, and report on system compliance based on predefined templates. Microsoft IT also uses custom tools that check for additional nonsecure configurations, such as granting "Unauthenticated Users" or "Everyone" access on shares. Some Microsoft IT operations team members specialize in auditing systems and reporting on status. In addition, teams outside Microsoft IT perform governance tasks by completing independent audits, security reviews, and compliance verification. Tools such as Audit Collection Services (ACS) for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 help Microsoft IT collect records generated by the audit policy and store them in a centralized database.
- Multiple authentication options With the variety of features and services that the extranet offers to meet business needs comes the need to offer multiple authentication options. By default, Microsoft IT does not allow anonymous authentication in the extranet and instead supports AD DS authentication, Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) authentication, and Windows Live™ ID authentication. The majority of extranet services require accounts in the extranet forest, yet the extranet includes some applications designed with Windows Live ID authentication. Windows Live ID accounts are restricted to the specific applications granted for each account in conjunction with client certificates that extranet applications issue. Microsoft IT prefers AD FS–based authentication because it offers finer granularity of control through security identifiers (SIDs), groups, Group Policy settings, and other AD DS features.
- Data privacy Microsoft keeps data privacy as a top priority by designing with security built in at every decision, and by doing proactive intrusion detection and penetration testing during and after deployment. In addition, the Microsoft legal department helped implement vendor policies to check with vendors on the types of data they access and retain. Depending on the access permissions, Microsoft requires vendors to implement internal safeguards for data protection, and perform audits to ensure that the safeguards work as designed.
Network Infrastructure
Microsoft IT designed building blocks for the extranet that include network segments, Active Directory forest and domain details, trusts, firewall access rules, load balancing, and more. These building blocks are arranged into zones, which correspond to data centers. The extranet includes two Active Directory forests (one for production and one for pre-production), firewalls that separate network segments, and servers with specific communication paths that are explicitly defined via least-privilege best practices. Figure 2 shows the network architecture with the extranet building blocks.
Figure 2. Extranet topology design
Each data center houses the standard architecture shown in Figure 2, but with differing numbers of servers to handle the region-specific user load. The building blocks for each data center include the following components:
- Security-enhanced load balancing with network address translation (NAT) Microsoft IT uses devices between the Internet and front-end servers that map a public Internet Protocol (IP) address to a private, non-routable (RFC 1918) IP address through NAT. These devices support various load-balancing schemes and session persistence. Some applications, such as shopping carts that use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), require load balancers to direct traffic to the same server after a host establishes a session. The devices that Microsoft IT uses support session persistence by tracking the source IP, by tracking the session ID, or by inserting Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) cookies. The extranet also uses Windows® Network Load Balancing (NLB) in some instances instead of the hardware devices, according to the requirements of specific applications. This building block also incorporates routers, firewall controls, and intrusion detection systems that exist to control access from Internet hosts to extranet servers, and vice versa. Microsoft IT restricts all outgoing traffic unless it is part of a session initiated from an external host to an internal NAT-published front-end server, and publishes only ports 80 and 443 by default. For thick-client applications that require ports 1801 (Message Queuing, also known as MSMQ) and 3389 (Terminal Services), Microsoft IT implemented a security review process to help ensure that only necessary access is granted.
- Global load balancing Microsoft IT uses Domain Name System (DNS), which can globally balance connections that initiate from Internet hosts to the data centers. The DNS-based load balancing directs clients to the most efficient location.
- Business partner segment For dedicated point-to-point connections and Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) connectivity, Microsoft IT maintains a separate network segment as an added layer of protection. This enables Microsoft IT to explicitly permit traffic from specified partner networks and control access from the partner segment to the front-end segment.
- Front-end segment Microsoft IT uses the front-end network segment to regulate incoming and outgoing traffic by placing servers in it that accept traffic from the Internet or business partner segment, and transmit that traffic to servers in the back-end segment, or vice versa. By default, servers in the front-end segment that are located in different data centers cannot communicate. The servers in this segment are dual homed, with one network card facing the back-end segment and one facing the front-end segment.
- Back-end segment The back-end segment houses servers that are responsible for data storage and that connect to the internal corporate production environment. One-way selective authenticated trusts between the forests enable Microsoft IT to securely permit and log access by using least-privilege principles. This segment includes domain controllers, ERP data silos, and servers running Microsoft SQL Server® database software, Microsoft BizTalk Server, and other middleware platform services. By default, all servers on the back-end segment can communicate to facilitate Active Directory replication and for management and monitoring via the corporate network.
- Active Directory and Windows Server dependencies An extranet building block that is foundational to applications is the underlying Active Directory infrastructure and enabling Windows Server technologies such as AD FS. Microsoft IT developed a custom, centralized authentication and authorization framework solution named Relationship eXperience Platform Security (RXP Security). This solution facilitates application deployment by enabling Microsoft IT to authenticate and verify user identity, and authorize access to defined resources.
As already mentioned, several design decisions persist through the building blocks. For example, in each segment, Microsoft IT uses hardware load balancers that support round robin, ratio, and least-cost connection methods to provide scalability. In addition, Microsoft IT designs the buildings blocks with its security, availability, and monitoring goals in mind.
Extranet Features
After Microsoft IT surveyed teams for current and future use scenarios, and designed building blocks that would accommodate security-enhanced user access, LOB and middleware application connectivity, and business requirements, Microsoft IT ensured that the design supported the business requirements. Based on the goals and use cases, Microsoft IT supports the following services in the extranet:
- Workflows Multiple use scenarios involve each property owner using custom workflows to complete the tasks. The Microsoft culture gives each owner an opportunity to define individual workflows, yet the extranet had to support each one. The previous systems deployed to support many workflows proved challenging to integrate from an operations point of view. By using standardized building blocks, Microsoft IT can establish the foundation for supporting many disparate workflows. These workflows include executives gathering for summits and using a workspace to access common documents; or developers sharing very large files such as performance or anomaly logs for diagnostic purposes during software development projects.
- Project and program management Microsoft IT wanted to enable managers to use custom workflows and processes for any projects. Combined with the goal to use Microsoft products, Microsoft Office Project Server provided an ideal solution of an integrated tool for managing deliverables, resources, and timelines. By using Office Project Server, Microsoft IT gave internal and external users access to a shared workspace, resolved the technical challenge of content sharing, and gave people access to the same timelines and plans. For more information about how Microsoft IT configured and deployed Office Project Server in the extranet, refer to the case study "Enterprise Project Management at Microsoft" at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb735146.aspx.
- Document sharing and content version control Microsoft IT uses Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server and Windows SharePoint Services as the solution to provide content version control, and for customized and basic SharePoint sites. SharePoint technologies take advantage of Active Directory control mechanisms and reduce overhead by integrating with Microsoft-based operations tools, such as Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager and System Center Operations Manager. SharePoint technologies include built-in features such as version control, site templates, and integration with Rights Management Services that embed security in the data elements themselves. Document sharing encompasses many use scenarios, especially for marketing, sales, and product groups to produce training material, books, Web content, Help files, and other documentation.
- Application development and source code management Microsoft Visual Studio® Team System provides Microsoft developers with a platform that can integrate vendor resources and internal resources in a development project. Microsoft IT supports the many features of Visual Studio Team System in the extranet, including team portals, version control, work-item tracking, build management, process guidance, and business intelligence. Visual Studio Team System integrates with Microsoft Office Excel® spreadsheet software and Office Project Server for added project management functionality. Microsoft IT defines Helpdesk, site owner, sponsor, sponsorship manager, sponsorship delegate, and end-user roles with permission templates for each role. The permissions assigned to each role help ensure that governance and monitoring teams can perform auditing and compliance tasks. One example of how a Microsoft team uses Visual Studio Team System is the OEM Division, which uses it to develop and maintain custom solutions for the embedded device industry.
- Financial operations The secure-by-design philosophy that Microsoft IT used in designing the extranet environment helps ensure that financial applications can access back-end databases and that users can access them securely. Although many Microsoft applications deal with finances, several are especially important and widely used. The first is the order system that supports all orders placed at Microsoft, including repairs for hardware, subscriptions, software products, and printed content. It supports security-enhanced credit card transactions that are PCI compliant, communicates with the ERP system, and includes a management user interface, reporting capability, and localized version support. The second widely used system for financial operations is the ERP software, which users can access via Terminal Services, and the client graphical user interface (GUI). Microsoft IT provides dedicated VPN tunnels to the business-partner segment, from which users can access enterprise data. The extranet supports this scenario through remote procedure call (RPC) calls to the database. The third application element is a BizTalk middleware feature that translates data between other applications.
- Terminal Services Several use scenarios that involve sensitive data require Terminal Services access. Microsoft IT approves the use of Terminal Services on a case-by-case basis after reviewing the business use case. Software restriction policies are used to restrict user level activity on the servers to only the specific application permitted.
- Business-enabling application support With the building blocks in place, Microsoft IT can support existing applications and roll out new ones rapidly by deploying the required servers in the network segments, creating accounts, crafting structured onboarding processes, and publishing servers for access from the Internet.
- Telephony The extranet is convenient place to put telephony devices that require external support because it is the security-enhanced middle ground that has access to the internal production environment and supports access for vendors. Telecom vendors who need access can connect to telephony devices via VPN connections.
The extranet environment, as part of the overall Microsoft IT infrastructure, benefits from the centralized monitoring teams, processes, and systems in place. Microsoft IT follows a tiered approach to monitoring, in which the global Helpdesk includes front-line operators who monitor the environment by using System Center Operations Manager. If these tier 1 operators cannot resolve an issue, they escalate it to tier 2 and tier 3 specialists responsible for a specific service. For an example of the team structures responsible for a specific service, refer to the white paper "Operating a Global Messaging Environment by Using Exchange Server 2007" at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb897854.aspx.
The System Center family of products enables Microsoft IT to perform the necessary oversight and meet SLAs. Among other benefits, System Center products help Microsoft IT perform patch management and end-to-end monitoring of its systems. For more details about how Microsoft IT uses System Center in the extranet to monitor LOB applications, refer to the technical solution brief "Managing Line of Business Applications Using Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007" at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb735227.aspx, and the white paper "Event Monitoring and Response on the Microsoft Network" at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb735148.aspx.
Microsoft IT developed a custom tool to monitor computers on the network for compliance with security policies. This tool obtains target names from AD DS, IP addresses, or lists of hosts, and then connects to all domain-joined computers running Windows to help ensure policy compliance. Upon discovering non-compliance, the tool attempts to remediate the issue by notifying the user that action is required or by automatically installing necessary security updates or software updates. It can also remove a computer from the network by disabling the network port until the user has completed the necessary action. With the development of Network Access Protection (NAP) for Windows Server 2008, Microsoft IT plans to enforce compliance with required software updates by using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 with NAP. For more information about NAP, refer to the case study "Using Configuration Manager 2007 to Extend Software Update Compliance Across Networks" at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc678664.aspx, and the webcast "How Microsoft Does IT: Managing Network Access Protection" at http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032391120&Culture=en-US.
Auditing and Remediation
To satisfy internal policy, assist the legal department with compliance and discovery, report on server and account compliance, and perform other governance tasks, Microsoft uses a combination of systems, teams, and processes. The System Center family includes built-in auditing and reporting features, and add-ins such as ACS that Microsoft IT uses for patch management, configuration auditing, and compliance. Because the extranet has security built in to its design and incorporates classic network controls (firewall and filtering)—in addition to operating systems with unnecessary services disabled and application-level security—collecting logs, usage details, and other access control-related auditing data is a straightforward process. However, even with logs and data collected in a central compliance database, the Microsoft team responsible for governance must correlate the large volume of data to create reports about potential access breaches and configuration discrepancies. For more information about how Microsoft IT monitors network security, responds to intrusion attempts and policy violations, and conducts computer forensic investigations, refer to the webcast "Security Monitoring and Investigations on the Microsoft Corporate Network" at http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032403880&Culture=en-US.
The governance team faces many challenges in ensuring that the extranet environment remains secure and compliant. For example, the reports pull data from a central database that contains data from various log files from servers, firewall logs, summary data from System Center programs, traffic data from intrusion detection systems, antivirus software, and other sources.
Microsoft IT spent months in the planning phase, gathering details, analyzing application needs, and generally making sure that everything was in place before starting deployment. The extranet environment provides the foundation for hosting and publishing applications. Therefore, Microsoft IT must deploy the proper buildings blocks in each data center. With the network and Active Directory environment in place, Microsoft IT fine-tunes settings, creates user accounts, and deploys applications.
In accordance with the typical phased-in approach that Microsoft uses in deployments, Microsoft IT deployed the extranet in three major phases. The first phase involved implementing the physical network in the data centers. This phase entailed requesting routers, switches, server cabinets, and related physical infrastructure. The goal of this phase was to set up a configured environment for implementing the rest of the building blocks. The next phase involved deploying and configuring the Active Directory environment and establishing RXP Security for authentication. The last step occurred over several years and even continues to this day because it involves application and user onboarding. Microsoft IT rolls out features via applications as they exit acceptance testing and become service ready.
Network Implementation
By the time that Microsoft IT needed to roll out the underlying network infrastructure, it had spent months planning for an environment that accommodated the necessary use cases. Microsoft IT developed checklists, organized implementation teams, and created architecture diagrams with specific details for what components to roll out and when. Microsoft IT includes a dedicated infrastructure team that takes requirements and implements them in data centers. Figure 3 shows an example implementation in a data center with servers and data flow for one use scenario.
Figure 3. Published service example
With published services, the traffic scenario pursues the following path:
- The user requests the URL of the application with the corresponding published front-end server.
- After being routed through border and security routers, firewall, and network intrusion detection system (NIDS) that block all traffic except ports 80 and 443, the hardware load balancers (HWLBs) with Secure NAT (SNAT) direct requests to the appropriate front-end server that resides on the front-end segment.
- The front-end servers communicate with the back-end servers; the result depends on the application or service used. Some services, such as Windows SharePoint Services, have an intact front-end/back-end architecture that does not require integration with or access to applications that reside on the corporate network.
- One solution that Microsoft IT uses for applications that need to access resources on the corporate network is Message Queuing. In these scenarios, front-end servers send requests to a Message Queuing server in the extranet back-end segment, which communicates with a Message Queuing server on the corporate network. The Message Queuing server on the corporate network can then communicate with internal LOB applications.
Microsoft IT implemented the firewalls, intrusion detection systems, monitoring systems, and building blocks defined in the design specifications to prepare for application deployment.
Component Configuration
Microsoft IT uses dedicated teams for each major application or service that it deploys in the extranet. These teams are responsible for administering and configuring their own servers. They design the server architecture, size for capacity, and verify functionality before production deployment. The IT Showcase Web site contains content for the design and deployment details for many services deployed in the extranet, such as the following:
- AD DS on Windows Server 2008 Although this is an underlying dependency in the environment, a dedicated Windows Server team administers servers and manages the environment. Among other tasks, the team configured ADFS to support authentication via RXP Security, configured trusts and Group Policy settings, and configured security features, such as NAP.
- Windows SharePoint Services and Office SharePoint Server technologies Before SharePoint technologies, Microsoft IT used IIS with Web folders and Server Message Block (SMB) shares available over PPTP VPN connections or Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV). SharePoint technologies enable Microsoft to provide customizable content management and collaboration in a centralized way. For more information about SharePoint technologies at Microsoft, refer to the white paper "Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Hosting" at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb735197.aspx.
- System Center family of products Microsoft uses System Center Operations Manager, System Center Configuration Manager, and System Center Data Protection Manager to lower its administrative overhead. System Center Data Protection Manager also helps with disaster recovery and backup. For more information about the design and deployment details of how Microsoft IT uses the System Center products, refer to the IT Showcase content about systems management at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb687799.aspx.
- Microsoft Exchange Although by default vendors and partners do not receive e-mail accounts, the extranet does host Exchange servers for system mailboxes and to support specific use cases, such as impersonation for customer service representatives. For more information about how Microsoft IT designed, implemented, and manages the Exchange organization, refer to the IT Showcase content about Microsoft Exchange Server at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb687782.aspx.
Best Practices
In the course of designing, implementing, and operating the extranet environment, Microsoft IT followed these best practices:
- Design and plan first The extranet environment works for Microsoft and its vendors and partners because Microsoft IT designed it with security, operations, and usability considerations from the start. The risks, dependencies, technical requirements, and trends must be analyzed for proper provisioning, hardware sizing, and workflow.
- Use proven frameworks Methodologies and approaches such as Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), MOF, MSF, SDLC, and others define frameworks that Microsoft IT uses to help guide its processes. Using frameworks enables consistency in approach and helps to meet obligations by sticking to best practices.
- Create scalable and flexible building blocks Microsoft IT faced the dilemma of having to support tens of thousands of applications on the extranet, and although they share similarities, it is impossible to account for all the requirements and design support for them. Instead, Microsoft IT created flexible building blocks that included physical network devices and logical security concepts to be able to rapidly scale the infrastructure in a secure way. New and custom applications can be granted exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
- Build security into every component Microsoft IT followed the secure-by-design approach, which entails performing risk analysis on every physical and logical component. Microsoft IT provided security for devices via router access control lists (ACLs), firewall filtering, and intrusion detection systems; communication via security protocols; authentication via policy and Windows Server technologies; segments via separate virtual local area networks (VLANs); and so on.
- Include business stakeholders in decision making The extranet environment represents a policy and administration challenge in addition to a technical challenge. Microsoft IT involved the legal department, managers, and other key stakeholders before settling on a final design.
- Think like a partner Considering partner needs and behaviors enables engineers to anticipate usability and security needs, as well as common ways in which partner users may try to circumvent controls, and design the environment to address these needs.
- Implement change control paths One of the internal tools at Microsoft is an application that tracks all other applications deployed in the extranet. It enables Microsoft IT to view status and plan for change management needs.
- Follow security best practices In addition to standard frameworks, Microsoft IT kept best practices such as the immutable laws of security and lest-privileged access in mind. For more information about common security best practices, refer to the article "Enterprise Security Best Practices" at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd277328.aspx.
- Balance business need with security In the extranet design, Microsoft IT had to follow security best practices, yet accommodate special needs. Sometimes, maintaining this balance entailed asking application owners to change the architecture; and sometimes, it entailed making exceptions for specific applications. Through a security review, Microsoft IT assessed the risks of each and determined the best response.
The extranet environment presented Microsoft IT with many challenges for how to give partners and vendors access, yet maintain security. Microsoft IT methodically examined the business needs of its users and created solutions by using Microsoft products and technologies such as ISA Server, Windows Server, SQL Server, and AD FS. The idea to use building blocks proved helpful because it enabled easier segmentation of responsibilities, deployment, and auditing. All the components underwent security auditing and verification in a pre-production environment before going live.
With the extranet in place, Microsoft IT faces new challenges for how to provide the best and most secure service. The extranet supports many use scenarios, but at its core, it provides an underlying infrastructure that can host applications and act as an intermediary between the Internet and internal hosts. The current extranet uses traditional network design principles such as segments, user access control, and explicit permissions. These network infrastructure components mean application developers depend upon them and design applications with the dependencies in mind.
Microsoft IT recognizes that application developers can benefit from an extranet environment that is not restricted by boundary-dependent workflows. Currently, developers need to navigate through a maze of processes and technical dependencies when deploying applications. There is also a lack of single sign-on (SSO) for cross-enterprise resource access. In other words, Microsoft IT can look forward to future improvement opportunities for next-generation extranet designs that result in better usability and performance tradeoffs with security and operability.
For future enhancements to the partner environment, Microsoft IT plans to reduce focus on network segmentation and instead focus on the emerging hosted service model to deliver extranet services. This change would empower application developers to concentrate on improving business logic, performance, and ease of use by freeing them from topology-dependant solution development. In addition to traditional security controls, Microsoft IT plans to use host communication boundaries for security-enhanced and direct host-to-host communication, identity boundaries for authentication and authorization, application boundaries for more granular access control, and data boundaries to help with data-in-use safeguards to complete the data life-cycle protection, auditing, and compliance.
For More Information
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Chesapeake: The Odd Man Out
Chris is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network -- entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.
With QE3 in full force, investors have flourished by pouring money into energy companies - at least most of them. The best-performing firms have been those that have kept their noses clean, and have invested cash wisely.
ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), for example, is trading in the mid- $91 range, near its 52-week high of $92.57 - and with a price to earnings of just 9.65. And even with the run-up, the company's dividend remains strong at 2.5%. Exxon has done an incredible job managing its cash, which has enabled it to open up its coffers to scoop up rich land in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota. The Bakken shale play produces 600,000 barrels of oil per day, a 100-fold increase from its old production level of 6,000 barrels per day.
Chevron (NYSE: CVX) is also faring well. The firm boasts a 3.1% dividend and trades just above $117, just under its 52-week high of $118.53. Also, the company's price to earnings ratio is still low, at just 8.7. Chevron has done well as a result of its strong asset base, and the company continues to ink new deals. Chevron just signed a deal with Indian state-run Bharate Petroleum Corp., agreeing to provide the Indian company with 10,000 barrels of Nigerian oil each day.
The path hasn't been as good with BP (NYSE: BP), who has seen its stock price fall to $42 from its $48.34 high. BP has been selling assets to save up for a potentially large fine from its 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident. A recent agreement saw BP selling $5.6 billion of assets in the Gulf of Mexico, though it still plans to invest $4 billion there annually. No matter, investors can scoop up the stock – with its price to earnings of just 7.9 and its 4.5% dividend – at a reduced price.
These firms have invested their cash wisely, and have used earnings to spur additional investment.
The Odd Man Out
Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK) is the odd man out. As of October 3, the company has fallen 36% from its 52-week high of $29.87, and the company is beaten down to a 6.35 price to earnings ratio. The main reason for this decline in price (and ratio) is that Chesapeake's earnings are being propped up by asset sales.
According to Chesapeake, CEO Aubrey McClendon has been selling assets feverishly, and plans to sell between $13 and $14 billion this year, much of which will go to pay back the $4 billion term loan the company took out in August, and to accomplish the firm's goal of reducing its debt by 25% in two years.
Also, two of the firm's shareholders, Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management, have forced shake-ups. In June, four members of the board were replaced, and an independent chairman, Archie Dunham, was chosen.
Chesapeake faced rough patches when it boosted its drilling for oil when natural gas prices plummeted. Also, the company is forecast to have a major deficit between spending and cash flow from operations. Finally, Chesapeake, which is the second-largest producer of gas besides ExxonMobil, left most of its natural gas plays unhedged, it says.
But the company has taken steps to improve its dire cash situation. Chesapeake is stepping away from natural gas for the time being and is focusing on oil and NGL drilling. NGL (natural gas liquids) is a byproduct of natural gas. NGLs are separated from natural gas, and they include gases like propane, ethane, and butane. Also, Chesapeake has decided that it will begin hedging its natural gas positions beginning in late 2012.
Overall, the company is making progress. The firm has begun selling its land in Michigan, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, and Ohio, and the company sold a flurry of assets, including about 1.5 million acres in its oil field in West Texas, known as the Permian Basin.
These sales help shareholders in two ways. First, they give Chesapeake the necessary cash to continue operations. Second, they permit Chesapeake to continue investing in the highest-yielding businesses. The cash going to investment is largely being spent on oil drilling, which right now yields far greater premiums than natural gas.
No doubt these moves will help shareholders – and Icahn – to sleep more peacefully at night, knowing that Chesapeake won't go bust in the morning, and that it is investing in profitable ventures. However, Chesapeake is still severely lagging the market. Companies like BP and Chevron have been able to keep sturdy dividends and to continue expanding drilling and market share. Chesapeake, on the other hand, is fighting to see another day.
ChrisMarasco has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool owns shares of ExxonMobil and has the following options: long JAN 2013 $16.00 calls on Chesapeake Energy, long JAN 2013 $25.00 calls on Chesapeake Energy, long JAN 2014 $20.00 calls on Chesapeake Energy, and long JAN 2014 $30.00 calls on Chesapeake Energy. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Chevron. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.If you have questions about this post or the Fool's blog network, click here for information.


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The following is a listing of the Park Forest Local History Files that can be found in the Adult Services Department of the Park Forest Public Library.
SPECIAL NOTE: The Park Forest Local History File Cabinets have been brought back to the main floor of the library as of October 1, 2010. We thank the library staff for all the hard work they did to make this happen.
Check with the Park Forest Historical Society to see what material is at the Museum or at the Archive Office, in St. Mary's Catholic Church, 227 Monee Road, or for people we may be able to connect you to The Archive Office is open to the public Friday 10 a.m. to 12 noon, or by appointment. Contact PFHS.
400 Lakewood Blvd
Park Forest, IL 60466
708-748-3731, ask for Adult Services staff
We recommend that researchers call ahead to make an appointment with appropriate staff. Some questions will require the help of the Park Forest Historical Society researchers. For searches over 30 minutes, the Park Forest Historical Society reserves the right to charge research fees. For additional information on what is available on a subject, the Park Forest Historical Society welcomes your questions contact us, or by leaving a message with our Secretary at 708-747-3571.
All files start with PARK FOREST, then alphabetically by subjects, i.e. PARK FOREST--AIRPORTS:
Also included in the metal card file on top of the Local History File Cabinets:
Oversize Mounted Photographs of Park Forest--A card file indexing oversize mounted photographs which were used in the Sears Tower Exhibit ca. 1979 or 1980. The mounted photographs in remote storage, but the society has several as negatives.
Oral History Transcripts Index-A card file index of the Oral History Transcripts listed under Narrators' names. This card file was created in 1980-81 when the transcripts were done.
April 20, 2006: rev. JN January 12, 2008
The mission of the Park Forest Historical Society is to preserve, interpret and celebrate the unique history, diversity and achievements of the Village of Park Forest, Illinois through exhibits, publications and special programs;To educate residents, students and visitors in all aspects of village history;To encourage donations and enlist volunteers for the Park Forest Local History Collection and Archive and the 1950s Park Forest House Museum;To honor those who have, over a long period of time, contributed to the Village of Park Forest.
Your membership preserves history.
Join Us!


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It's taken a month and 40 names, plus a lot of quotes and stats and there's still plenty of disagreement about the final numbers. That's the fun of it! Here's the winter top 40, Oilers edition.
- D Darnell Nurse: The long road of development continues in Ontario. The young man has a lot of skills.
- D Oscar Klefbom: His arrival in North America gave rise to hope he was actually NHL ready. Klefbom missed most of last season and of course is going through a period of adjustment, but he remains a highly regarded member of the prospect base.
- L Marco Roy has struggled with injuries, but when healthy is delivering a strong post-draft season. Quality offensive prospect with some secondary skills.
- D Martin Marincin: The big man finally made his NHL debut this season, and played well. Jonathan Willis reported recently that he has played well since returning to the minors.
- C Jujhar Khaira: Big, rugged center no longer the top forward in the system but remains the man with the widest range of skills married to potential. He's having a tougher time scoring than we thought he would, but some of that is likely because Constantine.
- C Bogdan Yakimov: Huge Russian center began the season very well and has tailed off of late, but he has a nice resume and should be a load when he sets sail for North American hockey.
- D Anton Belov: Big Russian defenseman won a top 6D job with the Oilers and will make this list only the one time. He has struggled a little recently, but has been playing heavy minutes with Jeff Petry—a far cry from his job a season ago. A quality free agent signing.
- D Dillon Simpson: Closing out his college career with a flourish. Simpson plays all the tough minutes, top pairing, plus both special teams for UND. His progression from draft day through graduation has been exceptional based on all reports.
- D Martin Gernat: Turned pro this fall and the expectations were that he would play in both Stockton and Oklahoma City. That has happened, but he's showing well in the AHL and the Oilers have to be happy with his performance.
- C Greg Chase: This is one of the truly exceptional stories of the Oilers list this season. Chase is 18-years old and delivering a strong offensive season–his NHLE is the best among amateurs—while maintaining his agitating style. Impressive player.
- L Mitchell Moroz: A big, tough winger who has 21 goals halfway through the season is going to get your attention, and in the case of Moroz it comes on the heels of a year in which his selection was universally panned. A hopeful arrow, and a delightful story.
- C Mark Arcobello: I believe there are readers of this blog who would have Arcobello top 5, but I'm satisfied with him here. HERE represents a major accomplishment, and betting against Arcobello at this point is a terrible idea. He joins Belov as the only NHL regulars this season who are on the list (and they will graduate).
- D Taylor Fedun: Like Arcobello, Fedun is a college grad-free agent signing and we hope to see more of them in the coming years. Fedun joins Marincin above him as players who have received their first NHL 'cups of coffee' this year.
- D David Musil: He began this season with the continued 'divided house' assessment of his professional future. Musil is an excellent defenseman, but is not a fast train and that's a deal breaker in the modern NHL. Early in his pro career, Musil is showing his defensive ability but is also in a very difficult race to the NHL with some very talented players.
- R Tyler Pitlick: Rescued his pro career from oblivion with a strong training camp in front of new head coach Dallas Eakins. Pitlick even found his way to the NHL, where he suffered a costly injury in game 3. He's back in the minors working his way to the NHL.
- R John McCarron: Big power winger with size and some skill in an organization parched for it. McCarron is not attached to the MacTavish regime, but it's very likely we'll see him in pro a year from now.
- L Anton Slepyshev: Russian skill winger has had a tough season so far, and fell off from his summer number. Slepyshev passed through his draft year in 2012, and his subpar season at 19 suggests we should be a little concerned.
- L Luke Gazdic: Enforcer grabbed off waivers and appears to have found an NHL home. His actual value to winning hockey games is not high, but based on his likely career games-played total I think this is a reasonable slotting. Gazdic has had an immediate NHL impact.
- D Erik Gustafsson: Swedish defenseman having a fine season in one of the top European leagues, his puck moving ability should have value for the new Oilers. We'll find out how much value the Oilers place on him if Gustafsson comes over for TC 2014.
- R Jackson Houck: Power forward with some nice things on his resume, he's having a season very similar to last year. Not a great sign, but not regressing either.
Picks 21-30 are here and 31-40 are here.
- #1 Nail Yakupov: Stu MacGregor: "One of the things that really impressed– whenever he got in all alone on a goaltender, he didn't miss, he put it in. He has the potential — and I want to say potential — to score 30 goals or even more."
- #2 Justin Schultz: The bloom is off the rose this season, but one year ago he was leading the AHL in points and the honeymoon was in full swing.
- #5 Teemu Hartikainen: Harski was the first sign that new GM Craig MacTavish viewed the minor leaguers differently. Hartikainen had eaten all his vegetables during his entry level deal, worked his way up to the NHL for some looks, and was ready to assume the role (somewhere between Brad Winchester and Dan Lacouture) of big role-playing winger. The Oilers didn't see it that way, Hartikainen is in Russia and the Oilers have moved on (although they retain his rights).
- #11 Anton Lander: Still trying to catch on in the NHL, his offense has awakened in the AHL and that might be enough for him to get some traction in the NHL.
- #17 Colten Teubert: He's long gone blue now, but at one time he was considered to be a part of the future.
- #7 D Anton Belov: A lot of anger toward him recently, but I think that has more to do with the quality of opposition he's facing. Belov was a terrific free agent addition, and is certainly among the 6 best available, many would argue he's among the 4 best in Edmonton currently.
- #12 C Mark Arcobello: The Oilers needed to sign him this past summer or lose Arcobello, and that contract has been real value this year. He's been an effective player in an area of weakness, and has had an impact on the season.
- #18 L Luke Gazdic: Plucked from waiver at the end of training camp, Gazdic has become an NHL regular and allowed the Oilers to trade Mike Brown.


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A resolutely optimistic photographer whose work is influenced by many years in the field, Hayeur's approach is steadfastly humanistic. For more than 15 years, she has been exploring how people become socialized around a certain quest for friendship and rituality. In contrast to paparazzi, she uses her camera to capture a variety of emotions and attitudes.
Hayeur's works, firmly anchored in contemporary art photography, beyond the journalistic context, not chasing down "hot" news but recounting daily life in a unique way with her eye and her montages. Truth is not the objective of her practice. Behind her search for universality, she is determined to make images of the "here and now".


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Parting Shot: Post Office Stretch
8:15 Am, Tuesday
United states Post Office, Kailua
Photographer: Rae Huo
>> Customer Service Supervisor Greg Gittens, foreground, instructs the daily group stretching, a routine begun by the USPS across Hawaii in 2005 to reduce repetitive strain injuries. The postal workers will need it this month. In 2010, Hawaii post offices processed 97 percent more parcels during the holidays than the rest of the year combined, and parcel volume increases annually. This year, the post office recommends sending parcels by first class or priority mail before Dec. 19 to get it to the mainland by Christmas.
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The median home value in Fort Bragg, CA is $291,700.
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The national median home value is $170,100.
The average price of homes sold in Fort Bragg, CA is $291,700.
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Opportunity is knocking with this outstanding corner location on Main St. & Laurel in downtown Fort Bragg! A hotspot in the shopping district,with good income from solid, successful tenants. The home of Tangents, North Coast Artists, The Headlands Coffeehouse and Frame Mill Artworks. Building in good condition. First time on the Market. There are 3 offices plus an apartment upstairs. This has the possibility of becoming 2 seperate lots.
Classic 1960's Redwood Beach House with deeded access to Hare Creek Beach, a beautiful sandy cove where Hare Creek flows into the ocean. Great Views; end-of-road privacy...Re-Done in 2008. This 60's Post and Beam beauty is the ideal beach house: All glass to to the ocean views & Easy access to the sandy ocean cove down private steps. An abundance of closets and storage, a shop attached to the garage, perimeter fencing and mature landscaping.
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