CHAIR'S CORNER Andy Kraus - National Conference of State ...

CHAIR'S
CORNER
Inside this issue:
Virginia Legislature –
Learning the Blackberry
Prayer
Louisiana Legislature Moves
to FTR Gold
Minnesota Senate Implements
Wireless
Idaho Offers New Web Site
Design
Nevada Legislature - Securing
the Future
Kansas Technology Update
Arkansas Legislature - The
Scourge of Spyware
2004 NALIT PDS:
Mischief in the Mountains
Editor's Corner
Officers and Directors
2004-05 NALIT Committees
N A L I T
National Association of Legislative Information Technology
Winter 2005
National Conference of State Legislatures • 7700 E. First Place • Denver, CO 80230 • (303) 364-7700
Recent changes within NALIT have allowed me the opportunity to become your Chair a
bit early, so I would like to use this Chair’s Column to outline my strategy for the next year
and a half. First, though, I would like to extend a big thank you to Todd Jewell. I am speaking
for everyone when I say that we appreciate your service on the NALIT Executive Committee.
We are currently in the process of finalizing committee assignments for this year.
Committees are really the core of NALIT because much of the “grunt work” is done there.
You will find a list of the committees, including the description, later in the newsletter. I would
really encourage you to look through the list and see if anything piques your interest. At the
same time, we have identified a list of “candidates” who we
think would be a good fit for the committees, so we will
contact you soon. Between the volunteers and our list, we
will have many fine people on the committees this year.
Andy
Kraus
One of my immediate goals for NALIT will be undertaken
by the Outreach Committee. In order to continue NALIT’s
growth and the search for varied sources of information, it is
important to include as many people as possible. The
Outreach Committee will find ways to attract more
international participants and speakers to the Annual
Meeting and Professional Development Seminar. They will
also work on ways to include states that have not been
involved with NALIT in the past. The bottom line is that the more people and organizations
we can include, the more we will all benefit from our pooled knowledge.
A longer-range goal I would like to set for NALIT is to transform our organization into a
source of information for the other NCSL staff sections, in addition to our respective state
legislatures. The first step is the formation of the “IT Seal of Approval Exploratory
Committee.” As the committee description notes, the committee’s first year will consist of
establishing a way to implement a technology review system that will allow our panel of
experts to examine existing systems and methodologies and publish “opinions” on what
makes them work so well. When new products or systems come out, this committee will find
out who the experts are and work with them to learn and share the knowledge with the rest of
NALIT. I am really excited about this project’s potential. We will start small this first year, and
once we determine a target scope, we will march ahead next year. This idea is still in
development, and I have already received some excellent suggestions for tweaking it.
Nonetheless, I want to put the idea out there so we can all start considering its possibilities. I
will try to keep you all updated via the listserv as things develop, and to give you an
opportunity for feedback.
Finally, the “PDS Site Selection Committee” will work to select the seminar locations for
2006 and 2007. If your state is interested in hosting either of these seminars, you should let
the selection committee know. If you want to have a say in where we meet, then please
consider being on this committee.
I am honored to serve as your Chair. Be assured that I am always happy to talk to you
and find out what’s on your mind about our great organization. If there is anything I can help
you with, please feel free to call, e-mail, or if you are in Topeka, stop on by. This is a great
time to be involved with NALIT, so here’s to another great year!
1

W ithin 10 minutes,
I had coordinated
a solution with
other Blackberrycarrying
staff and, as
we confirmed a
successful resolution
to this particular
problem, the phrase
“Blackberries Rule”
was transmitted.
2
Virginia Legislature –
Learning the Blackberry Prayer
By Sharon Crouch Steidel
As is sometimes the case in a legislative
environment, you don’t always get to
choose the timeline of projects. Such was
our case when we received a request for the
integration of a Blackberry server with our
Domino mail server. The request came the
week before our 2005 session began, but we
decided to give it a try.
As mentioned, we are a Domino (Lotus
Notes) environment. We needed to
configure mail and calendar events to auto
synchronize to mail boxes in two distinct
mail domains. Technical staff from Nextel
assured us this would not be a problem, so
we embarked on our journey to deploy the
Blackberry Enterprise Server. Nextel
estimated the installation would take
approximately two to four hours. The
installation itself only took about 45 minutes,
but to say things were flowing perfectly at
that time would be a drastic overstatement.
In fact, initially, we spent one afternoon from
1:00 p.m. until about 8:00 p.m. on the phone
with technical staff from RIM, who makes
the Blackberries. After 30 or so hours of
phone support, a few edits to our registry
files and many different configuration edits
(most of which failed), we had a fully
functional BES server.
To their credit, Nextel and RIM remained
steadfast in their support. There were
several multiple-hour conference calls as we
were trouble shooting the quirky problems
that persisted, and RIM hung in there to
insure that we were fully operational. There
are still some lingering quirks that we are
ironing out, but all in all the project has been
successful. We now have the staff of the
House and Senate Budget committees,
Speaker’s Office, and some House Clerk’s
staff using Blackberry 7520’s – walking the
halls practicing what is sometimes called the
Blackberry Prayer – heads bowed down to
the Blackberry, thumbing away at the next
important message. Since we were already a
Nextel customer, those staff carrying Nextel
phones were able to easily move their
phones over to the Blackberry device. To
anyone considering a similar project I would
suggest allowing a month for installation and
testing. After many hours chatting with RIM
technical support staff, we did find out that
the server we were deploying had just been
released a few weeks before. Perhaps that
contributed to the additional tweaking
required.
So, has the Blackberry improved
productivity in our office? It has definitely
proved useful in providing around-the-clock
support to members during session. As an
example, one recent Sunday afternoon I was
sitting on a car wash bench, my dog asleep at
my feet, when I got a call for help via email.
Within 10 minutes, I had coordinated a
solution with other Blackberry-carrying staff
and, as we confirmed a successful resolution
to this particular problem, the phrase
“Blackberries Rule” was transmitted. Of
course, the greatest advantage of the device
is also its biggest flaw – it is an electronic
tether that can keep you attached to the
office until you choose to hit the power
button. And as the devices’ nickname
“Crackberries” suggests, it is evident that
many users cannot ever bring themselves to
hit that power button. To that end, I am
providing two articles I found recently about
these devices that may be food for thought.
I, for one, am enjoying the ability to leave
the office, comfortable that if a problem
comes up, I will know about it. I can browse
the web, send email, check my calendar, and
stay in touch with the office and home from
anywhere. It’s a very handy tool when
stranded at an airport for most of the day – as
I was a few weeks ago. It is the ultimate, allin-one,
portable office.
But as I sit down to dinner with my
husband, I do have to remind myself that
there is a power button….
Resources:
Blackberry or Crackberry: A PDA Culture War
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/
story.php?storyId=4279486
Blackberry Jam
http://www.govexec.com/features/1104-01/1104-01s2.htm
Avoiding Addiction
http://www.govexec.com/features/1104-01/1104-
01s2s1.htm

Louisiana Legislature
Moves to FTR Gold
By Gary Schaefer
In 1999, the Louisiana Legislature began
using FTR version 3.3 (For The Record) to
record its committee meetings. FTR was
implemented because it provided all staff and
legislators with the means to listen to any
recorded meeting on their PCs in the Capitol.
Recordings can be annotated to locate the
discussion on a particular instrument and the
testimony of a specific witness. Annotations
also allow staff to find specific portions of a
recording, which facilitates meeting excerpt
duplication requests.
Although FTR provided more flexibility and
capabilities than the old cassette recording
system, some problems were experienced. The
most common complaints from personnel
staffing the meetings were: the system would
freeze and lock up randomly, difficulty in
starting and stopping a recording, cumbersome
to monitor a meeting while in progress, and
unable to edit annotations during the meeting.
The most significant problem occurred when
meetings in multiple rooms were being recorded
simultaneously. A user in one meeting could
inadvertently stop another user’s recording. If
users were not extremely alert, they did not
realize their recordings had been stopped until
their meeting was over.
Following the 2003 regular session, the
Legislature initiated an upgrade to FTR Gold
software. An upgrade was necessary because
software support for version 3.3 was being
phased out, and Windows XP was being
installed, for which version 3.3 was not
designed.
The FTR Gold version purported to allow:
• better control over starting, pausing, and
stopping a recording,
• easier methods for annotating the meeting,
• flexibility to add notes to a meeting,
• enhanced audio monitoring during a
meeting to ensure the system is functioning
properly,
• improved storage capabilities utilizing less
disk space (i.e., the ability to store more
meetings on line),
• ability to convert existing recordings and
annotations to the new more efficient format,
and
• more options for providing audio copies of
the meeting (e.g., cassette tape, CD).
The upgrade to the new FTR Gold product
was implemented for the 2004 regular session.
Senate staff responsible for the recordings and
duplication requests has had very positive
comments concerning the new software. The
purported improvements have been realized, and
the new software is more user-friendly.
Procedures for starting and stopping a recording
are much simpler, and users cannot inadvertently
stop another recording. Annotations are entered
more easily and annotation text wraps
automatically. Users also have the ability to
correct text for an entered annotation, and add
text to an annotation while the meeting is in
progress. The old version required such editing
to be done as a “post” annotation. In version
3.3, the time stamp associated with annotations
was not always correct. This caused problems
when trying to locate a particular instrument or
specific testimony. There have been no
problems with the time stamp when using FTR
Gold. Users report increased flexibility when
playing a recording to transcribe minutes and
when performing post annotations.
Senate staff responsible for duplication of
these recordings has also been very satisfied
with FTR Gold. They particularly like the fact
that they can duplicate a recording from their PC
versus going to another location and a dedicated
PC to create the copy. The audio quality is much
better, and CDs can be produced in several
different formats: a file for use with the FTR Gold
player; a “.wav” file for use with RealPlayer,
Windows Media Player or “GearPlayer;” a
“.wma” file for use with Windows Media Player;
or a “.cda” file for use with car and home CD
players.
The only unresolved issue is the FTR file
conversion of recorded meetings from 1999
through 2003. PSA (Public Systems Associates),
the Legislature’s computer consultant, reports
that the recordings must first be “archived” to
CD in order to convert the old file format to the
new file format. When FTR was implemented,
the Legislature decided to keep all recordings on
line for easy access. There are approximately
3,000 recorded Senate and House committee
meetings in the old file format totaling 300 GB of
disk storage. PSA estimates it will take one year
to archive and convert all the old files. Until all
files are converted, users must keep both
versions of the FTR player on their PCs. Overall,
Senate staff is very pleased with the
implementation of the FTR Gold product.
T he audio quality is
much better, and
CDs can be produced
in several different
formats: a file for use
with the FTR Gold
player; a “.wav” file
for use with
RealPlayer, Windows
Media Player or
“GearPlayer;” a
“.wma” file for use
with Windows Media
Player; or a “.cda”
file for use with car
and home CD players.
3

For security, we are
implementing MAC
address lock-downs for
senate users and
authorized agency
users. This will keep
any new devices not
setup by the Senate IT
staff from connecting
to any “non-public”
state networks.
4
Minnesota Senate
Implements Wireless
By Jim Greenwalt
The Minnesota Senate has finally begun
implementation of wireless access in the State
Capitol Building. Initially, access is available in
the six major senate hearing rooms of the
building. The Senate Chamber, having already
been hardwired, is not included.
Wireless access will be provided on three
levels: (1) members and senate staff; (2) other
legislative and state agencies; and (3) the
general public.
The architecture is built around the
Airespace Wireless product (recently acquired
by Cisco). It consists of a redundant wireless
access network in each of the hearing rooms. In
each of these areas, for senate members and
staff, we are using the 802.11a protocol to give
us the best coverage, with the fastest access,
and with the smallest chance of being interfered
with by other wireless networks in the building.
Using 802.11a will also eliminate anyone from
walking from the street with a handheld and
connecting to the network. 802.11b and 802.11g
service is available on the system for the others
without investing in additional hardware.
In each of the hearing rooms we have
installed two wireless access point radios, each
connected to a different switch, giving full
redundancy of hardware and access in each
area. This also allows for double the bandwidth
and double the number of available channels in
each area.
We are very excited about hosting the
2005 seminar. Tentative plans are to have
an authentic Native American cuisine
dinner at the Crazy Horse Memorial, visit
the Mount Rushmore Memorial and travel
to Historical Deadwood for dinner and, if
desired, a little gambling. Unfortunately,
due to the distance between Rapid City
and Pierre, it will not be possible to take
everyone to our beautiful State Capitol
Building. However, if anyone would like
to stop for a tour on their way through,
For security, we are implementing MAC
address lock-downs for senate users and
authorized agency users. This will keep any
new devices not setup by the Senate IT staff
from connecting to any “non-public” state
networks.
Access for each level of user is directed
through VLANs set up on the senate’s network.
One is exclusively for members and staff,
allowing access to the Senate’s network and all
applications and data necessary for users.
Another is for other legislative or state
agencies, directing them to the appropriate state
network for which they are authorized. For the
public, the senate will broadcast an 802.11b/g
signal, which will allow anyone within range
access to just the public internet. The public
can then access legislative information through
the Senate’s public web site, or their e-mail
through their Internet providers.
There is no charge for access by agencies
or the public. The Senate accepts NO
responsibility and provides NO maintenance for
the service they receive.
The Airespace solution, reasonable in cost,
was very easy to implement. The systems can
be easily and seamlessly integrated with most
vendors' switches. It has proved to be very
scalable, allowing us to implement in stages and
provide a variety of services with a single
solution.
2005 NALIT Professional Development Seminar
October 5-8, 2005
Rapid City, South Dakota
By Lou Adamson
Scott or I would be very happy to
accommodate you.
If you have any suggested speakers or items
you would like sessions on, please contact:
Pam Greenberg (pam.greenberg@ncsl.org),
Scott Darnall (scott.darnall@state.sd.us), or
Lou Adamson (lou.adamson@state.sd.us).
Any suggestions will be welcomed.
Hope to see you all in October.

NALIT at the NCSL Annual Meeting
August 16-20, Seattle, Washington
Mark your calendar for the 2005 NCSL
Annual Meeting, to be held Aug. 16-20, 2005.
The preliminary schedule for NALIT and other
staff sections begins with meetings from 1 p.m.
to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 16. On Thursday,
Aug. 18, NALIT will meet from 11:45 a.m. to 5
p.m.
The traditional all-staff luncheon, where
legislative staff achievement awards are
presented, is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 19 from
Idaho Offers New Web Site Design
By Brenda Wilkening
The Idaho Legislature has a new and
improved web site. Over the interim, the
Legislative Services Office web group along
with the Idaho Department of Administration
redesigned the web site to be more accessible,
useful, and aesthetically pleasing. The new site
went live the first part of January, just in time for
the legislative session.
The web team determined the use of rollover
menus greatly decreased the amount of
clutter on the web pages, and allowed easier
navigation throughout the site. The designers
utilized style sheets to create the menus which
insures complete accessibility and allows
viewing from any browser.
The introduction of ColdFusion into our
website has been one of the best improvements,
generating many of our pages dynamically. The
use of this tool has greatly reduced errors as
well as the amount of time it takes to update
legislator and staff information.
12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m., to be followed by NALIT
meetings from 2:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
In addition to these time slots, NALIT may
sponsor additional sessions during other times.
In addition, tours of Seattle or Olympia-area hightech
firms or organizations may be scheduled.
Additional information about the NCSL
Annual Meeting is available at www.ncsl.org/
annualmeeting. Watch for more details about
NALIT sessions at www.ncsl.org/nalit.
2005 NCSL Annual Meeting, Preliminary Schedule (Abbreviated)
Tuesday
August 16
Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
August 17 August 18 August 19 August 20
Registration Opening Standing Concurrent Sess. Plenary Session
Plenary Committees NCSL Closing Event
Business Mtg.
NALIT Standing NALIT Legis. Staff Lunch
1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Committees 11:45 a.m.-5:00 p.m. 12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m.
NALIT
2:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.
Opening Washington Social States’ Night
Reception Event
Currently, the Idaho Legislature web site
spans across three servers. The Idaho statutes,
constitution and legislation are held on a Linux
Apache server, while the search criteria for these
documents is hosted on a Windows 2000
Advanced server. The remainder of the website
is on a Windows 2000 server.
Looking ahead to future improvements, the
web team plans to combine all pages to a single
server, extend the use of ColdFusion and,
utilizing XML, push legislation and statutes to
the web site from our new bill drafting system
currently in development. (Stay tuned for more
information about that topic once it hits
production.)
Having spent several months and countless
hours on the new design, the web team is
considerably proud of the finished product.
However, we will continue to take advantage of
new technology available to better serve the
citizens of the state of Idaho and beyond.
T he web team
determined the
use of roll-over menus
greatly decreased the
amount of clutter on
the web pages, and
allowed easier
navigation throughout
the site.
5

D ual gigabit fiber
connections allow
for 2 Gbps of throughput
to each hub room while
still providing active
redundancy. Utilizing
VLAN’s, ACL’s and QoS
also provided a secure
way of segmenting our
users and providing the
appropriate level of
service for each group.
6
By Eric Dugger
Securing the Future
During the last year the Nevada State
Legislature has gone through a rebirth of its IT
infrastructure. Facing changing times and more
demands for IT services, it was determined that a
complete upgrade was in order. A new network
consisting of the latest switches, routers,
firewalls, and VPN products would be the base
of the upgrade. Upon that was a move from a
Windows NT 4.0 domain to a Windows Server
2003 Active Directory structure as well as a new
mail server and anti-spam gateway along with an
internal instant messaging server. Might as well
just do everything, right?
Having the opportunity to do everything
new allowed for a clean, secure design. With a
group of four people, we had around half a year
to plan, configure, install and tune, which
towards the end seemed to be not enough time!
Our first move was to a Windows 2003 Active
Directory domain structure. This foundation
allowed us to do many new things, including an
upgrade to Exchange 2003 mail server. The new
Exchange is much more stable and secure than
the old 5.5 version, and allows for much more
control and growth. Outlook Web Access alone
is worth the upgrade if you have remote users.
The features of 2003 Active Directory allow our
group of four to manage over 500 users and their
PCs, 30 servers in our main Carson City location,
and our remote office in Las Vegas.
Our old network infrastructure was comprised
of Cisco 2600 routers and a Cisco Catalyst
5500 switch. We only had 200 Mbps to each of
our hub rooms, which serve upwards of 100
users per room. This configuration was both
slow and inefficient, therefore we wanted our
new network to provide more bandwidth,
redundancy and security. New Cisco 3550
switches in the hub rooms and a Cisco Catalyst
6500 as the backbone were the answer. Dual
gigabit fiber connections allow for 2 Gbps of
throughput to each hub room while still providing
active redundancy. Utilizing VLAN’s, ACL’s
and QoS also provided a secure way of segmenting
our users and providing the appropriate level
of service for each group.
Wireless by nature is not secure, therefore
we wanted to implement new technologies and
procedures to improve security. We consolidated
our two wireless networks (one for the
public and one for internal users) into one
network outside of our firewall. We selected the
Cisco 1200 APs running A/B/G and split the
users into two SSID networks, one running A for
faster speeds for our users and the other running
B/G at slower speeds for the public users. We
incorporated Cisco’s WLSE and ACS to help
manage the network of 40 APs as well as keeping
it more secure. This system is projected to have
over 200 users online during peak times.
Due to the move of the wireless network
outside the firewall and the additions of remote
offices, we were forced to take VPN seriously.
Cisco’s 3000 VPN concentrator allows our staff to
connect seamlessly while on our wireless
network. This makes wireless a secure option
while giving our legislators the flexibility to do
their own thing when not connected to the VPN.
When connected to the VPN, staff and legislators
will receive the latest Windows patches and antivirus
system updates.
Security was implemented everywhere it
could be. On the domain side, we are using
Microsoft’s MOM server to monitor all servers
for any security or hardware faults. We also use
policies to make sure any PC that logs onto the
domain is updated with the proper patches. On
the network side we use MAC authentication
where needed and ACL’s to secure traffic flows.
This helps each division within the Nevada
Legislature maintain the type of operating
environment they want without having multiple
domains and networks, which can become very
expensive. Our next step is to create an intelligent
network by integrating our intrusion
detection/prevention systems and policies with
our network devices to create a dynamic infrastructure
that reacts to changes in its environment,
making it more secure.
The Nevada State Legislature Operations
Team consists of Manager Randy Dumbauld,
Rich Tillis, Scott Corbett and myself, Eric Dugger.
References:
Microsoft 2003
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/
overview/family.mspx
Cisco Catalyst 6500
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps708/
index.html
Cisco VPN 3000
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/vpndevc/ps2284/
index.html
Cisco Wireless
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/wireless/ps430/
index.html
Cisco Enterprise Security Solutions
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns340/ns394/ns171/
networking_solutions_packages_list.html

Kansas Technology Update
By Dave Larson
Three interesting initiatives are occurring
at the Kansas Legislature.
First, the electronic committee experiment
will continue this session. This project was
started last year when the House Health and
Human Services Committee and the Senate
Utilities Committee acquired Tablet PCs,
software, wireless networking equipment and
multimedia facilities to conduct a totally
paperless, electronic committee. Feedback and
lessons learned from last session were factored
into revisions to be tested this session. Some
of the lessons learned were:
• Legislators, no matter the initial skill level,
eventually overcame their resistance and
adopted the technology. The largest complaint
from legislators was the prohibition on using
state resources in campaigns, therefore they
could not put their campaign material on the
state-provided tablet.
• Legislators who indicated they were
computer literate, overestimated their abilities.
More training is required than was anticipated.
• The process moves too fast for search
technology to be employed effectively. Push
technology is required.
• The tablets were used over traditional
laptops for two reasons. First, it was
anticipated that handwriting recognition would
smooth the transition for the non-computer
oriented legislator. Second, using the PC in
tablet mode kept the legislator from hiding
behind the screen and was perceived to be more
courteous to conferees. Handwriting
recognition is quite good today. Some
legislators liked to mark up bills in handwriting
mode, but ultimately, handwriting capability is
not required for acceptance or success.
• The electronic process did not appear to be
a disadvantage to any conferee. Nearly all
testimony was submitted in electronic form.
Testimony that wasn’t submitted in electronic
form was scanned and entered into the
document database by committee staff.
• The electronic process placed some
additional work on the committee staff to
prepare for the committee meeting. Significant
effort was applied during the interim to relieve
the workload.
• There was a temptation by the committee to
coerce the staff revisor to draft amendments in
committee. Staff revisors prefer to take notes
back to the office and draft there. Similar
pressures were experienced by the research
staff.
• To be really effective, there may need to be
a technician assigned to the electronic
committee to manage the technology, pan the
camera, etc.
The experiment was funded by a grant from
the Information Network of Kansas (INK). INK
is the state’s information portal manager. The
State of Kansas’ information portal is called
AccessKansas.
Second, the Kansas Capitol is in the third
year of a 10-year renovation. As part of the
renovation, a wireless survey was conducted by
a Kansas City firm. Surprisingly, the survey
indicated that the massive, stone Capitol
building with all its nooks and crannies did not
pose any significant challenges to wireless
coverage. This is encouraging and indicates
that the installation of wireless networking
maybe easier and less expensive than
anticipated. This revelation may allow us to
speed up the implementation of wireless which
in turn may help us manage the network through
the renovation.
Third, the Legislature recently completed
the latest revision of its strategic computing
plan. This version was created using a new
methodology called the “New Information
Economics (NIE) Model.” The model was
developed by the Beta Group and published in
February 2004. We found the model easy to
understand and implement. The model helped us
focus on the true needs of the Legislature and
quantify those results.
The methodology works by aligning
strategic intentions to the mission of the
organization. These intentions include an
analysis of organizational structure and the
objectives of the organizational subgroups. In
turn, the objectives are used to develop
information technology objectives that support
the mission of the enterprise. The revised
strategic plan was adopted last fall and we are
busy preparing to implement the first set of
priorities identified in the plan.
H andwriting
recognition is quite
good today. Some
legislators liked to mark
up bills in handwriting
mode, but ultimately,
handwriting capability is
not required for
acceptance or success.
7

S pyware has eclipsed
viruses and spam
as the fastest growing
threat to users on the
Internet.
8
The Scourge of Spyware
By Lorie A. Johnson
Recently, a House member came into my
office with his laptop. It would not start up
and I noticed a chassis problem, so I
swapped his hard drive into a spare machine.
I booted the machine to check that the hard
drive was working and discovered it took
much longer than usual to boot. After
logging in I observed several icons for a fake
anti-spyware program on the desktop and a
swarm of pop-ups appeared on the screen
without opening the browser. It took four
hours to remove all of the rogue programs.
This scenario is a reflection of the fastest
growing scourge on the Internet: spyware.
Spyware has eclipsed viruses and spam
as the fastest growing threat to users on the
Internet. Spyware can be web bugs that
follow your browsing, ad servers that feed
popups to your system, and key loggers
which record passwords and other private
information. Trojan horses are another form
of spyware that open back doors to your
system and enable hackers to use your
system as a zombie for sending spam or
distributed denial of service attacks. When
you think you have managed to remove it,
the creators of this software have disguised it
so that it magically reappears.
Spyware can get into a computer in a
variety of ways: through attachments in email,
through unpatched browsers, in socalled
‘drive-by downloads’, inattentive
clicking on pop-ups, in popular software like
file sharing and screen savers, and even
through port scans of unprotected systems.
Spyware infections and compromises are less
common for state and enterprise systems,
since those systems are normally set up and
patched behind enterprise-level firewalls.
However portable systems, when connected
to outside networks, become magnets for
malware if not properly updated. In addition,
innocent searches made from inside a
protected network can lead to browser
hijackers.
Currently, the spyware and malware
assault is far ahead of our means to fix it.
There is no single anti-spyware program
available that will clean all spyware. You have
to install several programs, use them in layers
to get rid of the spyware, and hope it has all
been removed. Enterprise level companies,
like Panda and MacAfee, are finally catching
up, but it has taken them awhile. Fake antispyware
software is an even more sinister
development for people hoping for a quick
cure. A site called SpywareWarrior.com has an
extensive and continually updated list of fake
spyware programs, some with names close
enough to appear legitimate. There are several
excellent free anti-spyware programs available,
such as Lavasoft’s venerable “Ad Aware,” Kolla’s
“Spybot Search and Destroy,” and Webroot’s
“Spy Sweeper.”
How do you clean up the messes these
malicious programs leave on systems? The
easiest solution is to re-image the system, but if
you have systems that are not imaged, or are
specialty systems, re-imaging will not work. Here
are some basic steps we utilize to clean infested
machines.
• First, generate a reference list of processes
with Task Manager from a clean machine. In
addition, use the program Hijack This! to get a
reference list of Browser Helper Objects (BHOs).
• When cleaning a PC, boot into Safe Mode
and get rid of suspicious programs using “Add/
Remove Programs.”
• Run Spybot S&D, Ad-Aware, and Hijack This
to find and clean up any strays and recursives.
• For stubborn programs, we use
“MSCONFIG” to turn off hidden programs that
might run in startup, and comb the registry for
other bits and pieces. We also clean out the temp
files.
The key to keeping spyware infestations at
bay is vigilance. Your IT security staff must stay
on top of all developing trends in spyware, and
keep your systems patched and protected.
Constant vigilance and swift action, as well as
policies and communication that educate your
staff, are your best tools.
Resources:
CastleCops (formerly Computer Cops)
http://computercops.biz/
Spyware Warrior
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/index.php
Tom Coyote
http://tomcoyote.com/
Gibson Research Corporation
http://www.grc.com/default.htm
Infestation in four minutes:
http://www.techweb.com/wire/security/54201306
Fake spyware listings:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

2004 NALIT PDS:
Mischief in the Mountains
Last September, the 2004 NALIT
Professional Development Seminar was held in
Burlington, Vermont. Well over 100 people
attended. To the 20 or so for whom this was
their first NALIT conference... welcome. We
hope to see you at future conferences!
Between the high quality of the program
offered and the beauty of the venue, a very
good time was
had by all.
Burlington, a
small but
vibrant city
located on the
shore of Lake
Champlain, is a
town with a
wide variety of
restaurants,
bars, and other
entertainment,
and NALIT
people, as
usual, enjoyed
all these facilities to their fullest.
The seminars included sessions on both
technical and managerial topics. And, as
always, I found myself wishing to be in two
places at once. At the Managing Expectations
session, Vermont Rep. Judy Livingston gave an
impassioned plea on behalf of legislators
everywhere for more help using the tools we
provide. On the technical side, the Voice Over
IP session provided real world experience in
implementing this fast-growing technology from
people who have actually done it. Other
session topics
included Embracing
Security, Contingency
Planning, RSS, and
XML Editors.
One day was
spent at the State
Capitol in Montpelier,
where several
sessions were held jointly with both the NALIT
and the Legal Services Staff Section (LSSS).
One joint meeting discussed the public records
implications of e-mail. If this session didn’t
scare the pants off of you, you weren’t
listening!
Over lunch, Dr. Frank Bryan, a professor of
political science from the University of Vermont,
discussed that unique institution, the New
by Duncan Goss
England Town Meeting, a totally new concept
for many conferees, but one as familiar to me as
parades on the Fourth of July. Recently, I
attended our town’s 200th consecutive meeting,
and Dr. Bryan’s wry observations were right on
target!
On the way back from Montpelier, we
visited another Vermont institution of more
recent vintage, Ben & Jerry’s main ice cream
factory. While this visit may not have provided
any more insights into the legislative process, it
certainly gave people another taste of Vermont.
The final day of the conference concluded
with a visit to the Shelburne Museum, an
eclectic
collection
of
Americana
spread
throughout
some 40
buildings.
The
evening
concluded
with a truly
spectacular
dinner on
board the
Ticonderoga,
Pam Greenberg and Duncan Goss
an elegant steamship located at the center of the
museum grounds.
After dinner, we presented Pam Greenberg with
a print of the Burlington waterfront, signed by
all conference attendees, in gratitude for all that
she does for NALIT.
I appreciated having the opportunity to
welcome all of you to Vermont and I am looking
forward to next October and the 2005
Professional Development Seminar in Rapid
City, South Dakota. See you all there!
A t the Managing
Expectations
session, Vermont state
Representative Judy
Livingston gave an
impassioned plea on
behalf of legislators
everywhere for more
help using the tools we
provide.
9

10
Editor's Corner
By Gary Wieman
Hello to all. I do hope that this newsletter is
finding all of you healthy and having a success
filled legislative session. It seems that the winter
edition of the newsletter is getting out later
every year, but the late date of the NCSL Annual
meeting this year allows me a little more time to
come up with a final product.
In this newsletter I tried to present you with the
latest information of what state legislative
technology has to offer. I listened and took
notes at the State Roundtable presentations at
the Professional Development Seminar in
Burlington, VT. I took this information, compared
it to presentations made at previous PDS and
Annual Meeting seminars, and asked for articles
from states who had not presented their updates
before. Some of these may have been topics that
had been discussed previously, but at least they
Executive Committee - Officers and Directors
2004-05
Chair/Vice Chair
J. Andrew Kraus
Senior Network
Administrator
Legislature
300 SW 10th Ave.,
Ste. 529-S
Topeka , KS 66612
Voice: 785-296-2610
Fax: 785-296-1153
E-mail: andyk@las.state.ks.us
Secretary
Gary Wieman
Network Manager
Leg. Technology Center
1445 K St., Rm. 359
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Voice: 402-471-6210
Fax: 402-479-0990
E-mail: gwieman@unicam.state.ne.us
Past Chair
Maryann Trauger
Manager,
IT Services
North Dakota
Legislative Council
State Capitol,
600 E. Boulevard
Bismarck, ND 58505
Voice: 701-328-2916
Fax: 701-328-3615
E-mail: mtrauger@state.nd.us
2004-2005 Directors
Scott Darnall
Programmer/Analyst
Legislative Research Council
500 East Capitol
Pierre, SD 575-01-5070
Voice: 605-773-4296
Fax: 605-773-4576
E-mail: scott.darnall@state.sd.us
Andy Harvey
Webmaster
Legislative Counsel Bureau
401 S Carson St
Carson City, NV 89701-4747
Voice: 775-684-1347
Fax: 775-684-1333
E-mail: aharvey@lcb.state.nv.us
Rick Johnson
Senior Software Engineer
Legislative Service Center
2404 Chandler Court SW
Olympia, WA 98502
Voice: 360-786-7725
Fax: 360-786-7234
E-mail: johnson_ri@leg.wa.gov
Ann McLaughlin
Director
Legislative Information System
Office of the Controller General
Legislative Hall, Box 1401
Dover, DE 19903
Phone: 302-744-4207
Fax: 302-739-3794
E-mail: ann.mclaughlin@state.de.us
Jonathan Palmore
Information Systems Director
Senate
P.O. Box 396
Richmond, VA 23218
Voice: 804-698-7410
Fax: 804-698-7670
E-mail: jpalmore@sov.state.va.us
Janet Sullivan
Applications Project Manager
Texas Legislative Council
P.O. Box 12128
Capitol Station
Austin, TX 78711-2128
Voice: 512-463-1160
E-mail: janet.sullivan@tlc.state.tx.us
were from a different perspective.
I want to thank all the contributing authors for
their time and effort in providing information that
is useful to NALIT members. I would like to
encourage those who have not participated
before to get involved with NALIT by
submitting articles, to participate in meetings,
and to volunteer for committees. There are many
great opportunities to meet your peers from
other states through this organization and to
develop friendships and exchange ideas that will
benefit all.
Hope you've enjoyed the newsletter,
Gary Wieman
Secretary
NALIT Executive Committee
2004-05 NALIT Committees
(appointments pending unless noted)
2005 Professional Development Seminar Site Selection Committee
The committee will review site selection criteria, solicit bids, and make
recommendations for locations of future Professional Development Seminars.
2005 Professional Development Seminar Planning Committee
Co-Chairs: Lou Adamson, South Dakota; Scott Darnall, South Dakota
The committee will assist the host state staff as requested, plan session content
and activities, locate speakers, and carry out other tasks that would contribute to
the success of the seminar.
Outreach Committee
Members of this committee will have a two-year appointment. Committee
activities primarily will include the continuation of outreach efforts to members
of other staff sections and inactive NALIT members. Efforts will be made to
encourage inactive NALIT members to become involved again by issuing
invitations to the NCSL Annual Meeting and the PDS, and to reach newcomers
by developing an information packet explaining the benefits of our organization.
Development of mentoring programs and other new activities would enhance the
purpose of this committee.
IT Survey Committee
Members of this committee will have a two-year appointment. Committee
activities will include evaluating the information presently in the survey, and
updating the types of information in the survey. The committee will issue
reminders to members to update their information within predetermined time
frames (e.g. quarterly, annually), and decide the best means for presentation on
the NALIT web page. The committee will also develop additional methods and
activities to enhance the value of the survey information.
IT Seal of Approval Exploratory Committee
Committee activities will include evaluating new and existing technologies and
processes, and offering an unbiased opinion that NALIT and other NCSL staff
sections can use as a source of information. The committee will observe existing
solutions, evaluate positive and negative aspects, and provide estimates of effort
needed for implementation. The committee will monitor other states’ technology
activities and utilize experts in those states to provide information to the NALIT
membership. Members of this committee will have a two-year appointment.
The initial year will be spent forming the scope of the committee’s work, and
start a few initial examinations to report at the 2005 Annual Meeting. The
committee membership will consist of a mixture of management and
technology specialists so that issues can be examined from all perspectives.
2005 NALIT Staff Achievement Awards Committee
The Legislative Staff Achievement Awards Committee will solicit nominations
and recommend award recipients for the 2005 NALIT Legislative Staff
Achievement Award, based on criteria outlined on the NALIT Web Site.
2005 Nominating Committee
The NALIT Nominating Committee will interview and evaluate interested
candidates and present the slate of candidates for election at the Business
Meeting at the NCSL Annual Meeting in Seattle in August.