D.C. Officials Unveil Emergency Plan for Region; Feared Sept. 11 Cyberthreat Yields Just One Feeble Worm; China Toughens Obstacles to Internet Searches

D.C. Officials Unveil Emergency Plan for Region

The Washington D.C. Metropolitan Council of Governments yesterday released the regions first comprehensive emergency plan, recommending measures to help quickly evacuate the nations capital, prevent a bioterror epidemic from spilling across state lines and mobilize in the aftermath of a natural disaster. A story in todays Washington Post reports that the drafters of the plan said its release on the anniversary of Sept. 11 underscores the urgent need for multilevel cooperation among federal, state and local governments in marshaling resources in case of a new attack. The plan and its 400-page document cost $2.8 million to prepare.Feared Sept. 11 Cyberthreat Yields Just One Feeble WormComputerWeekly today. The worm, called W32/Chet-A or Chet, accompanies an e-mail with the subject All People! The Chet worm is stored within an attached file named 11september.exe and is activated only when an e-mail recipient opens the attachment. Like other e-mail worms, the Chet worm attempts to use a computers e-mail program and address book to spread copies of itself to other computer systems.

Predicted widespread cyberattacks on Sept. 11 failed to materialize yesterday with the emergence of just one new e-mail worm on European computer systems, reports

China Toughens Obstacles to Internet SearchesNew York Times. The diversions are an intensification of an effort to block access that began last week, reversing a trend toward looser restrictions that took hold during the past year, when China unblocked access to some major media sites, including those run by The New York Times and CNN. Those sites remained available to Chinese users today, though some people reported that China’s Internet monitors now selectively deny access to news content on those sites. Chinese officials have not publicly explained the blocking of Google or Altavista, but Beijing Legal Times, a government-controlled newspaper, reported that China Telecommunications Administration and Public Security Bureau shut down Google because it contained harmful content.

Internet users in China attempting to access Google and other American search engines have found their browsers redirected to other sites the government deems friendly and safe, according to a story in todays