Ruminations">Ruminations – An IT Blog debuts

Sometimes, an issue comes to my attention that is worth commenting on, but does not fit easily into the available fora. It applies to general IT issues, so it would not be appropriate as a column for The OpenVMS Consultant. Other publications may be unsuitable for a variety of other reasons. For these reasons, I have decided to create a venue on our web site for these observations.

Ruminations – An IT Blog will emphasize observations that focus on global IT issues. The first entry discusses some issues that arise when a standard, such as the Payment Card Industry's Data Security Standard, is developed by one organization and enforced by others, with no easy path for correcting shortcomings in the standard.

Ruminations– An IT Blog can be accessed at:

New York Enterprise Windows User Group schedules Incident Response: What to do when “There is a problem”?

The New York Enterprise Windows User Group has invited Mr. Gezelter to present Incident Response: What to do when “There is a problem”? on March 5, 2009 in New York City.

Incidents are inevitable. How one responds to an incident determines the impact of the situation on the organization and its people. Preserving the integrity of digital evidence protects the interests of all parties: the organization, the employee, and if a criminal offense is involved, law enforcement. Failing to preserve the integrity of digital evidence can lead to failed prosecutions and civil liability.

Mr. Gezelter will explain steps to be taken to preserve everyone's rights and protect the integrity of the digital evidence.

A complete abstract of this talk and information about the presentation can be found at:

Computer Security Handbook, 5th Edition to be released in February

Mr. Gezelter is pleased to announce that the Computer Security Handbook, 5th Edition, will be released by John Wiley & Sons in February 2009.

He has been a Contributing Editor to the Handbook since its 3rd Edition (1995). In this edition, he contributed chapters on Mobile Code (Chapter 17) and E-Commerce and Web Server Safeguards (Chapter 30). This is the third edition of the Handbook that Mr. Gezelter has contributed to since he wrote Internet Security for the Third Edition in 1995.

Authenticity and integrity are crucial in today's interconnected world. Security lapses involving both mobile code and web server security make front-page news. These are critical topics affecting both individuals and organizations. These chapters reflect updated concerns and time-tested strategies for protecting clients and servers.

The web site for the Computer Security Handbook is:

The OpenVMS Consultant OpenVMS.org column resumes

While Mr. Gezelter was heavily involved in several whitepapers and the Computer Security Handbook chapters, the OpenVMS Consultant column has been on hiatus.

Mr. Gezelter has resumed writing his column with an introduction to OpenVMS DEBUG. Going forward, the column will include articles aimed at developers, system managers, and operators of OpenVMS systems.

The full list of The OpenVMS Consultant columns can be found at: