Open Forum, February 2006

Open Forum February 2006

Vol. 19 No. 4

Serving New York's State/Local Government and Corporate IT Leadership

FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Colleague:

As the 2005 - 2006 annual agency membership initiative draws to a close, I want to express our sincere appreciation to all of the government agencies that maintained their active, paid memberships in the NYS Forum for the current year. As of this writing, the agency memberships appear to have been maintained at the same high level achieved for the 2004 - 2005 year. As you likely know, agency membership support of The Forum represents nearly 50% of all income and is the key source of support for The Forum's core operational functions. Efforts are now underway to launch the 2006 - 2007 agency membership initiative and we urge that you keep an eye out for that letter and membership invoice from The Forum. If you have any questions about your agency membership, please feel free to call.

As for the key program components of the 2005 - 2006 year, fiscal support for specific programs, in particular the Annual Security Conference, is shaping up extremely well and is likely to surpass previous years. In that context of program support, the generous contributions of the IT Corporate Roundtable must be acknowledged. The IT Corporate Roundtable representatives have become active leaders and contributing members of all of The Forum's committees. As a result, the 2005 - 2006 program year promises to be one that affords a rich and diverse array of educational opportunities. As noted in last month's issue of the Open Forum, participation in programs for the 2005 - 2006 program year is already at record levels. More importantly, participant feedback on sessions provided thus far in the 2005 - 2006 program year is extremely positive and (particularly in the case of the Emerging Technologies Committee session on RFID) has offered excellent insights regarding the focus of future programming.

In coming months it is my intent to focus on building stronger relationships with, and increased participation in, The Forum's government and corporate membership communities so as to better understand the issues and needs of all of our constituencies. The Forum represents a unique partnership of government and corporate entities committed to identifying and addressing difficult challenges over the long term. Central to that success is a clear understanding of the problems and the ability to attract and leverage the expertise required to address them. We have come a long way in this regard and we are all grateful to those who provide the fiscal and human resources necessary for The Forum to continue making valuable contributions to the pursuit of well managed, efficient IT operations that serve the state's administrative requirements and the needs of our citizens.

Sincerely,

Greg Benson

The AG's Internet Bureau

An Interview with Elizabeth Nieliwocki, Assistant Attorney General, Internet Bureau

The NYS Forum took particular note of the New York State Attorney General's Internet Bureau in August of 2004 when Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced settlements with two major travel web sites, Ramada.com and Priceline.com. The settlements make the sites far more accessible to blind and visually impaired users. In commenting on the settlements, the Attorney General noted that: "The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that private web sites be accessible to blind and visually impaired Internet users. The ADA generally dictates that all 'places of public accommodation' and all 'goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations' of places of public accommodation, must be made accessible to disabled citizens, absent undue hardship. New York law provides similar civil rights protections." This action and underlying rationale was of particular interest to The NYS Forum since both its IT Accessibility Committee and Webmaster's Guild had been, and are now continuing working on accessibility and usability standards and appropriate education and training for those responsible for developing and maintaining NY state and local government websites. These efforts have long been part of The NYS Forum's more broadly defined "digital divide" agenda.

The parallel interests were underscored again on October 12, 2005 when Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning announced an agreement to help prevent children from getting involved in dangerous chat room activities over the Internet. This concern with protecting children from malicious acts and stalking via the Internet was a central topic of the October 20, 2005 Cyber Security Awareness Conference - Protecting Our Children on the Internet and web cast cohosted by The NYS Forum, the NYS Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination and several other state agencies (see: http://www.nysforum.org/csac/).

To learn more about the Internet Bureau and in order to explore how these mutual interests might yield avenues for collaboration and/or mutual support, The NYS Forum has reached out to Elizabeth Nieliwocki, Assistant Attorney General and she generously agreed to the interview that follows.

The Forum: The New York State Attorney General's Internet Bureau was one of the first of its kind in the country. Can you tell us something about what led up to its creation? ...and provide a sense of its mission?

Ms. Nieliwocki: The Internet Bureau grew out of the Bureau of Consumer Frauds and Protection, in response to an increasing number of Internet-related consumer complaints. The office felt that the creation of a separate bureau would allow us to concentrate on this new area of the law with a group of dedicated experts, and that such dedication could only serve to increase our expertise in the area over time.

Our mission is to coordinate statewide the investigation and prosecution of law enforcement actions involving the Internet, primarily regarding fraudulent, deceptive, or otherwise illegal conduct occurring online. We also provide consumers, through our web site, our mediation program and various other outreach efforts, useful information on a variety of Internet-related subjects, such as protecting online privacy, safeguarding children online, identity theft, various Internet fraud schemes and tips to avoid spam.

Our bureau is made up of four professional mediators and investigators, and six attorneys. Our mediators attempt to mediate Internet-related consumer complaints against companies where a monetary loss is involved, where either the consumer or company is located in New York. We also have a number of other employees assisting our mediators in these efforts. Our attorneys, with the assistance of our investigator as well as law student interns, each handle a number of investigations and cases against various companies or individuals who perpetrate illegal conduct on the Internet.

The Forum: The mission of the Bureau covers a very broad range of Internet-related prosecution and enforcement actions. Can you provide us with a brief overview of the most typical kinds of actions the Bureau has pursued?

Ms. Nieliwocki: We do address a very broad range of Internet-related matters, so that, in fact, there isn't a typical kind of action that we pursue. The bureau is instead built around a particular medium, the Internet, and we touch on a wide variety of legal areas. For example, we have enforced the Americans With Disabilities Act in the Internet context, in connection with our Ramada.com and Priceline.com settlements; we address deceptive practices on the Internet; we regulate Internet Service Providers in the provision of services to consumers; we investigate the use of spyware and adware; and we have worked with criminal law enforcement to prosecute spammers. The wide variety of cases makes our job fun.

The Forum: Do you see new technological developments (i.e. wireless, merging of media transmissions, etc.) creating circumstances that will result in investigations or legislative initiatives in arenas you've not yet encountered?

Ms. Nieliwocki: While I cannot be specific about any future investigations, we have in the past, and will continue to, apply existing deceptive practices laws to new technologies.

The Forum: Most laws simply didn't and couldn't have anticipated the virtual environment and the liabilities and vulnerabilities it holds for our citizens of all ages. Are there examples of how The Bureau has attempted to improve legislation to better address the Internet environment and its penetration into all aspects of our lives?

Ms. Nieliwocki: Our bureau was instrumental in passing this year, General Business Law § 396-ss, which requires every dial-up Internet Service Provider providing service through telephone numbers with New York area codes to provide a specified warning on every page on which access numbers are set forth, alerting the consumer to the fact that long-distance charges may apply even where the access number is in a consumer's area code. The Attorney General's Office proposed this legislation in response to a large volume of complaints, sometimes involving hundreds or even thousands of dollars, from consumers who had apparently assumed that local area codes would not result in long-distance charges. However, some "local" area codes do, in fact, result in toll charges, and our office found that existing warnings to consumers were inadequate. In particular, for example, approximately 700 consumers in the Rochester area were billed over $200,000 in unexpected Internet dialup access charges over an eight month period. Section 396-ss responds to this particular vulnerability and will hopefully result in the elimination of such unanticipated charges to consumers.

The Forum: The NYS Forum often works in collaboration with technology corporations to address key issues. Conferences related to the digital divide and cyber security are examples of where this partnership has been particularly productive. Are there collective actions or positions you feel that the IT corporate sector might take that would be helpful and supportive of your overall efforts?

Ms. Nieliwocki: In general, we would encourage companies to provide clear and conspicuous notice to consumers of all circumstances that affect consumers' rights. We receive many complaints because consumers were not well informed of, for example, terms and conditions or pricing information. Companies should of course also do what they say they are going to do and not do what they say they will not do.

The Forum: The NYS Forum has long had particular interest in issues related to privacy, accessibility and usability of the Internet by the disabled, and in ensuring widespread awareness and education of children (and their parents) regarding their vulnerabilities in the virtual environment. Are you aware of any particular initiatives or examples of "best practices" in these areas?

Ms. Nieliwocki: Regarding privacy online, our web site contains tips concerning secure ordering sites, protecting personal data, online cookies, and spam, as well as links to other useful material, such as tips from the Securities and Exchange Commission for safeguarding money and personal information. As far as accessibility and usability of the Internet by the disabled, the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium is a good resource for information on, and implementation of, web access for the disabled. On its web site, http://www.w3.org/WAI, WAI provides guidelines, techniques and authoring tools to help companies and organizations make their web sites accessible to the disabled. We referred to the WAI guidelines in crafting our settlements with Ramada.com and Priceline.com, and we encourage all companies to use the guidelines to make their sites accessible.

With respect to protecting children online, we make several suggestions to consumers in our outreach programs. First and foremost, we suggest that parents do not place a computer in a child's room. However, while adult supervision of a child's Internet use is best, we recognize that an adult may not be present every time a child uses the computer. Because of this, we urge parents to educate children about the dangers inherent in Internet use.

For example, we encourage parents to teach children to protect their personal data when they chat, instant message or generally communicate through any means online, and to understand that individuals they encounter online may not be who they say they are. In addition, we generally instruct parents to teach their children not to download files sent by unknown individuals because these attachments can contain inappropriate material or malware that can adversely impact a computer.

We also recommend that parents use blocking and monitoring software. Depending upon the software, blocking applications can block access to inappropriate material, limit the times of day that children can get online, allow parents to customize Internet access for children of varying ages, keep a record of sites visited and information exchanged and control email features. Blocking and monitoring software is available both commercially and through free downloads, and is also built into many Internet Service Providers in standard and customized forms. In addition, we inform parents concerned about a child's online activity to consider locating and reviewing the computer's cookie, cached and history files.

We further encourage parents to do what they can to minimize spam, which can result in a child seeing inappropriate material. Tips for limiting junk mail include protecting and teaching children to protect e- mail addresses, using filters to block bulk email and exercising caution when responding to spam. For example, while a legitimate business will honor a request to opt-out from further mail by clicking on a link, a dishonest one will treat the request as evidence that an address is active and capable of receiving many more solicitations. We inform consumers that, unless they know and trust the e-mail source, it is often best simply to delete a message without responding in any way.

Finally, we suggest that parents do what they can to instill proper "netiquette" in their child. Cyber bullying can be dangerous, both for the victim and the victimizer.

The Forum: Your Attorney General's website dealing with the Internet (http://www.oag.state.ny.us/internet/internet.html) provides many useful links to guidelines and organizations that address one or more Internet issues. Among those, or in addition to those cited, are there resources you've found to be of particular value for creating awareness and educating Internet users of all ages?

Ms. Nieliwocki: Our mediators have found several additional web sites useful. For example, the web site http://www.asdk12.org/internet/safety.asp, which is connected to the Anchorage School District, has multiple links to pages dedicated to making the Internet a safe place for people of all ages. In addition, we frequently refer consumers to (1) http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/fraudschemes.htm, for further information on, and tips to avoid, common fraud schemes, such as identity theft and advance fee schemes; (2) http://www.antiphishing.org, the web site of the Anti-Phishing Working Group, where consumers can report phishing e-mails (spoof e-mails purportedly from, for example, banks that attempt to trick consumers into providing ac count information), pharming sites (malicious sites to which consumers are misdirected through nefarious use of domain name system hijacking or poisoning) and spyware attacks (such as use of keyloggers, which record each keystroke on a particular computer); and (3) http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/global/vinfodb.html, the web site of Symantec, a data management and security company, for information on the latest virus threats.

Contributors

Gille Ann Rabbin, Esq., Joseph Rivela and Sibu Thomas contributed to these responses.

New York State IT Workforce Survey Seeks to Find the Talent Behind the Technology

The New York State CIO Council's Human Resource Committee, in partnership with the Governor's Office of Employee Relations (GOER) and the Office for Technology (OFT), are surveying the State's IT workforce. The goal of the survey is to gather information about the existing skill set and training needs of current IT employees, as well as to evaluate the state's future IT workforce needs.

"The IT Workforce Skills Assessment Project will help ensure a skilled technology workforce is available and well trained to meet the growing demand for high-tech workers," said Mike Mittleman, New York State CIO. "I encourage all employees to complete the survey and to use this opportunity to help shape the future of the state's high-tech workforce." After consulting with the State's employee unions, the project was officially announced at the CIO Advisory Council Meeting on January 19, 2006. The survey will be sent by email to 4,500 NYS IT employees covering over 70 state agencies, authorities and boards, who will be asked to complete the survey on the web. Each agency will appeal to its IT employees to complete the survey, which will be distributed in March of 2006. The survey is being administered by the University at Albany's Center for Technology in Government (CTG), an independent research center devoted to improving government and public services through policy, management, and technology innovation. Working collaboratively with the NYS CIO Council's Human Resources Committee, CTG will take responsibility for project planning and management, survey administration and analysis, and reporting of the survey results.

"As state governments become increasingly technology-dependent, their IT work environments are rapidly changing," said CTG's director Sharon Dawes. "New York State is taking a leadership role in gathering the data needed to embark on the meaningful training and development of its IT workforce."

In 2003, the federal government took steps to address similar shortcomings by issuing the Clinger-Cohen Assessment Survey, as required by the E-Government Act of 2002. The survey was sent to the entire federal IT workforce, of which nearly 20,000 responded, representing about 26% of those surveyed. The survey rated skills and competencies critical to providing IT managers and agency officials the information they need to think strategically about developing and training workers. For example, data showed which areas of competencies will be affected most by retiring workers. As well, other data showed a lack of sufficient competency in new areas where government is focusing on IT that would require dedicated training initiatives.

As required by law, the federal survey is annual. In 2004, a second survey was administered which is now allowing the federal government to track shifts in competency and skill proficiencies over time. For example, the second survey showed that retirement was not negatively impacting the skill set of federal IT workers as formerly predicted by many.

The NYS IT workforce survey will be similar to the Federal survey, but adapted to the needs of New York State. In addition to the employee survey, an estimate of future NYS IT workforce development and training needs will be determined through a survey of NYS agency CIOs.

Similar to the federal survey, New York State is looking to use the results of the two surveys to produce a gap-analysis that pinpoints the exact competencies and training needs of the state-wide workforce. The survey will have three sections. The first section will ask about information technology skills in 11 different areas important to IT work, general administrative skills and whether or not you are currently using those skills in your job. Preferred training methods will also be covered in this section of questions. The second section takes an inventory of the current certifications and/or certificates held, and the third asks demographic and opinion questions. The results and associated reports are expected to be complete by late Spring of 2006.

The Forum's MATRIX Committee will be hosting a half-day informational session on this survey. Join us the morning of February 16th to hear representatives of the CIO Council Human Resources Committee and the Center for Technology in Government discuss the goals of the survey, how it will be administered and how it will benefit both NYS IT Professionals and the State as a whole. A preview of the survey will be offered and the presenters will be available to answer your questions.

Online registration is available at: www.nysforum.org.

NYS IT Workforce Skills Assessment Survey Information Session

February 16, 2006

8:30 am - noon

Empire State Plaza Convention Center

Meeting Room 6

The NYS CIO's Office, the Governor's Office of Employee Relations and the Office for Technology are preparing an IT Workforce Skills Assessment Survey to be administered by the Center for Technology in Government to help focus the training needs of the State IT Workforce.

About The NYS Forum's Education and Training Programs

The NYS Forum is dedicated to providing quality educational offerings to those involved in government IT. The programs are developed in conjunction with industry professionals, designed to provide real world solutions, and presented in a collaborative setting. The NYS Forum seminars and conferences aim to encourage innovation in public service.

This is the place...

Where leaders learn

Among their peers, NYS IT professionals gather in The Forum's dynamic educational environments. Small interactive clinics, large group seminars and multi-day conferences, offer opportunities to build community, share ideas, and create new government solutions.

This is the place...

To enable change

Each year, The Forum hosts a series of in-depth conferences and seminars focusing on government information technology, its most important issues, and emerging IT solutions.

This is the place...

For timeliness

Consulting with the public and corporate sector professionals on each event ensures that The Forum's content is current and relevant. Seasoned government and corporate leaders and practitioners carefully formulate the content of each event to present timely topics, thought-provoking ideas, and real-world success stories.

The NYS Forum

is the place...

...where, in its 2004-2005 program year, over 11,000 government and industry professionals turned for education and training opportunities, fostering the building of community, sharing of ideas, and creating new government solutions.

It is the mission of the New York State Forum to promote policies and practices for effective, equitable and secure use and management of information resources in New York state government at all levels.

Details about The Forum and committee activities are posted on the web at: www.nysforum.org

Don't miss these sessions!

February 7 - NYS Agency's Oracle User's Group Kick-Off Event - Hosted by the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS), this first meeting will provide an overview of how OASAS has implemented Oracle software and databases to provide a Data Warehouse using Discoverer, Oracle Application Server and Portal, Oracle Internet Director, JDeveloper and even Forms!

February 10 - Executive Committee Meeting - Identity Access Management

February 16 - NYS IT Workforce Skills Assessment Survey Information Session - Hear representatives of the CIO Council Human Resources Committee and the Center for Technology in Government discuss the goals of the survey, how it will be administered and how it will benefit both NYS IT Professionals and the State as a whole. A preview of the survey will be offered and the presenters will be available to answer your questions.

February 16 - National Webcast Initiative - Learn about what "identity theft" is and the steps to take if you may have become a victim of "identity theft." Visit http://www.cscic.state.ny.us/msisac/webcasts/

February 27 - 2006 IT Contracting Symposium - This symposium is designed to increase professional skills in IT contracting, highlighting recent laws enacted that effect procurement and public and private business drivers impacting public sector IT contracting. It is also designed to provide professional skills development on conducting technology procurements.

March 10 - Executive Committee Meeting - The New York State IT Strategic Plan

All government employees and members of The Forum's IT Corporate Roundtable are welcome to attend these very important session. For more information and to register, visit www.nysforum.org.

Please Participate...

...in the online survey regarding the future of the Open Forum newsletter. We want your opinion.

Go to: www.nysforum.org/survey

The Forum's website and/or electronic mail, as well as The Forum's committee-specific electronic newsletters have become the primary means for communicating upcoming events, past and future committee meetings, and for making relevant resources available to Forum members. To keep Forum members up to date on timely, IT-related information emanating from key state agencies (such as the Office for Technology, Civil Service, Office of General Services, Comptroller's Office, etc.), a dynamic "news" section for the Forum's website is currently being designed.

In light of this reliance on the website and other electronic means of communications, we are considering changes to the format and distribution schedule for the Open Forum. At the present time, the Open Forum is a monthly publication that is made available in both hardcopy and electronic form. Obviously, simply eliminating the hardcopy version would reduce both production time and costs associated with the Open Forum. We're interested in having your input on the decisions we make regarding the Open Forum and thank you for participating in the survey.

Executive Committee

Officers

Chair, Cecelia Hamblin, Dept. of Labor

Vice-Chair, Leigh Favitta, Dormitory Authority

Sec./Treas., Diane Taylor, Office of the State Comptroller

Members

James Bell, NYS Senate

Walter Bikowitz, OGS

Thomas R. Bodden, Assoc. of Towns of NYS

JoAnn P. Bomeisl, Insurance Dept.

Vivian Conboy, Dept. of Taxation & Finance

Teri Daly, OFT

Sharon Dawes, CTG

Michael Donovan, OCIO

Stanley France, Schoharie County

Robert Freeman, Dept. of State

Jeffrey S. Grunfeld, OSC

Christine Haile, SUNY at Albany

Roman Hedges, NYS Assembly

Karl Kelly, DMNA

Robert G. Kelly, DHCR

Kim S. McKinney, NYSLGITDA

Nancy Mulholland, Workers' Comp. Board

Eugene Pezdek, DEC

Joanne Riddett, Thruway Authority

Franklin Slade, Dept. of Civil Service

Timothy Spencer, DOB

Victor Stucchi, HESC

Staff

Editor

Gregory M. Benson, Executive Director

Design & Production

Rebecca J. Buchner, Executive Assistant

Milena Ivanova, Technical Coordinator

Editorial Office

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Open Forum is a regular publication of the NYS Forum.

We welcome editorial proposals and submissions.