Defence Firewall

[mudrecceman]

I always wonder why this specter of mass indiscipline is so commonly used by the DND IT world to justify restrictions, while at the same time they declare:

So which is it going to be?  Oppressive control of access, or expectations of responsible action and disciplining of those who choose to disobey rational expectations?   Why does it seem we try to have both?

Part of the problem are people like my former SUNRAY who, I am positive, remember.  He did an "empire building" exercise and, unfortunately it was to his benefit and not in any way providing the best service to the units he supported.  I was EXTREMELY shocked when I made the move to that shop, brought some questions up and was basically told "this is the way it is".  That mentality, I have bumped into at the level I was at, at the next higher HQ, the ASU, and now I see it in the Navy and Air Force worlds, too.  From my perspective at "ground zero", the problems lies with the "because we always have" mentality.

FWIW, ADM (IM) was taken over by the gent at the helm now to solve the entire DND/CF IT with a "top down" approach.  Hence, the Forces domain.

Ref the firewall, rememeber folks, it serves 2 purposes, to filter outgoing and incoming.

The major thing lacking in the DND/CF I.T. world is a standard.  Forces/Baseline (or the anticipated Baseline-like SMS solution that was rumoured) is a move to that end.  An example is the rollout and use of GP-Net machines...I know some bases are using a AD type environment...others are "standalone and up to the Unit ISSO" type ones...

Different ways of doing business in a "normal" working environment simply waste alot of money and resources that could be used elsewhere.  Purchasing SW, when not specialized, by Environment vice Department, also costs more $ per license, etc etc.

Internet access is, in a way, no different than ammo on a range.  You won't get in trouble for using it, unless you weren't supposed to or did so in a manner contrary to regulations.

 

[Greymatters]

That mentality, I have bumped into at the level I was at, at the next higher HQ, the ASU, and now I see it in the Navy and Air Force worlds, too.  From my perspective at "ground zero", the problems lies with the "because we always have" mentality. 

It is, I believe, one of the CF's worst faults, but not always due to individual persons.  Like any lumbering bureaucratic system, it often acts likes a dinosaur - it takes a while for 'new information' to reach the brain, then time for the brain to decide, and then more time for the brain to react... hopefully before the species gets wiped out by a meteor...