NEW IBT & INVOICE

Due to the implementation of NIS (Nebraska Information System), our Invoice/IBT style has changed beginning with your February bill.

For the non State agencies, you can process payments to the Division of Communications just as you always have. Please be sure to include the Remittance Copy of the invoice so your payment can be posted appropriately.

For State agencies, you will be processing your invoice/IBT through NIS. You will need to use our supplier number of 6506 along with the invoice number printed on your IBT. The Supplier Number is located in the second line of the Remit To address. It is shown as . The Invoice number is located in the upper right hand corner of the IBT. If you have any questions regarding the proper procedure for processing the IBT please contact the NIS Help Desk for assistance.

IS YOUR COMPUTER SECURE?

Start a conversation with someone about computer security and you will quickly realize that this term means different things to different people. To some, it means physical security such as restricting physical access to the computer using passwords, locked doors, and even guards. A second aspect of computer security is protecting computers on a network from “hackers” or “crackers”. It is widely acknowledged in the network security business that the only absolute way to secure a computer on a network is to disconnect it from that network. Since that isn’t very practical for State computers, network security becomes a compromise between reasonable protection measures and budgets.

The Communications and the Information Management Services divisions of DAS have worked together to implement basic network security for the State’s computer network. As a first step in security, the State checks the IP addresses of all network traffic from the Internet. Think of an IP address as your computer’s ID number. The State refuses communications from computers that have a bogus or fake IP address.

Additionally, the State provides firewall services for State computers on the internal network. If you have a computer on your desk, and the IP address starts with 10 you are on the State’s internal network. These computers are protected from the Internet with a State firewall, which means you have pretty good network protection from threats outside of the State network. External computers on the Internet cannot talk to the state computer unless the state computer initiates the session. This allows agencies to continue to get to websites on the Internet because sessions are initiated by the State, but hackers trying to initiate the session on the Internet cannot probe your computer for weaknesses. This may seem trivial, however the State network is probed hundreds of times per day, sometimes even thousands.

The Internet firewall is not guaranteed protection from every Internet threat, nor does it protect from threats coming from inside the State network. This is not common, but it does happen. Ultimately the responsibility for protecting agency computers falls on the individual agency. The Nebraska Information Technology Commission provides security best practices on their website at http://www.nitc.state.ne.us/standards/index.html#securitypolicies. Additionally, IMS can offer individual agency firewall services.

Cellular Phones and Their Use at Gas Stations

Several gas pumps now have signs indicating that cellular telephone usage should be discontinued at gas pumps. The issue of the alleged risk of gas station explosions from the use of wireless phones continues to appear in media stories around the world. The wireless industry addressed this issue three years ago when it was first raised in a story reported in the China Post, an English speaking newspaper in Taiwan. The article reported a supposed incident where a person was pumping gas while on their wireless phone and sparks from the wireless phone caused an explosion. The article attributed the story to Shell Oil Products Ltd. In response, some gas retailers put warning labels on their gas pumps prohibiting the use of wireless phones while pumping gas.

Since the incident reported in the China Post, two investigative reports have been produced looking at scientific factors and evidence about the possibility of cell phone interactions at gas stations.

• The University of Oklahoma Center for the Study of Wireless Electromagnetic Compatibility study (August 2001), Investigation of the Potential for Wireless Phones to Cause Explosions at Gas Stations, concluded that “…research into the cell phone - gas station issue provided virtually no evidence to suggest that cell phones pose a hazard at gas stations. …While it may be theoretically possible for a spark from a cell phone battery to ignite gas vapor under very precise conditions, the historical evidence does not support the need for further research.”
  
  
• Exponent Failure Analysis Associates, Menlo Park, California (December, 1999) study, Cell Phone Usage at Gasoline Stations, concluded that “…the use of a cell phone at a gasoline filling station under normal operating conditions presents a negligible hazard and that the likelihood of such an accident under any conditions is very remote.”

The report also noted “automobiles (which have numerous potential ignition sources) pose a greater hazard… Finally, other potential ignition sources are present, such as static discharge between a person and vehicle.”

In a letter dated February 28, 2002 from Shell U.K. Oil Products to the Federation of the Electronics Industry, the UK association representing the wireless industry, Shell Oil Products LTD denied its association with the incident reported in Taiwan. Shell stated that it has no knowledge of any specific incident of ignition that occurred as a result of using a mobile phone.

According to the experts, there is a danger of touching off an explosion by using a mobile phone near gas pumps. However, this is a hugely remote possibility at best, and the risk is nowhere near as immediate as that of a number of other common pump side behaviors such as smoking or leaving the engine running while filling the tank. Cellular phone manufacturers Nokia and Ericsson have said that the risk is very small that something will happen, but since there is a risk, it should be counted. Nokia also said that the company has been recommending for a long time that the mobile phones should be turned off while the car is being refueled. What it is about a cellular phone that could possibly trigger an explosion is difficult to fathom, however. The claim that the batteries used in a cellular phone can ignite gasoline seems specious, since cellular phone batteries are the same voltage as automobile batteries (12V D.C.) but deliver far less current. Likewise, the claim that a "cellular phone ringer uses more than 100 volts for excitation" is a curious artifact of the "regular" telephone era: cellular phones don't have ringers; they produce audio tones that simulate the sound of a ringing telephone. Wireless phone users should always consult their owner’s manual for information on the use of the phone and should follow all posted instructions at gas stations.

2003 STATE TELPHONE DIRECTORIES

The 2003 Nebraska State Government Directory has been distributed to all state agencies. Thank you to all of the agency communications coordinators who continue to provide us assistance with this annual project. Included in this year’s directory are recycling instructions located at the very front of the book.

The directories can be purchased on line or by contacting the Division of Communications at 402/471-2761. The cost to the general public for the directory will remain at $5.00 per copy. The information is also available on the Internet at http://www.state.ne.us then select Your Government, State Agencies, then Agency Directory.

Directory Listing Closing Dates: