The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and operated by Carnegie Mellon University. The DoD established the Software Engineering Institute to advance the practice of software engineering because quality software that is produced on schedule and within budget is a critical component of U.S. defense systems. The SEI mission is to provide leadership in advancing the state of the practice of software engineering to improve the quality of systems that depend on software. The SEI accomplishes this mission by promoting the evolution of software engineering from an ad hoc, labor-intensive activity to a discipline that is well managed and supported by technology. SEI work focuses on pervasive and significant issues impeding the ability of organizations to acquire, build, and evolve software-intensive systems predictably, on time, within expected cost, and with expected functionality. Please visit our web site to learn more about SEI: (www.sei.cmu.edu)

In 1988, as a result of an attack on the Internet, the SEI established the CERT® Coordination Center (CERT/CC), an computer emergency response team and a central point for communication among computer experts. This attack demonstrated that there was a need for such a team. Since then, the SEI has helped establish other response teams while maintaining leadership in analyzing vulnerabilities and threats. To enable software engineers to address security as a system attribute, the SEI has extended its incident response work to include security improvement practices, survivable network management, and survivable network technology. Visit the CERT web site for current updates and advisories: (www.cert.org)

Carnegie Mellon is a national research university of about 7,500 students and 3,000 faculty, research and administrative staff. Pittsburgh is strategically located, has a cost of living that is among the lowest of any city in the nation, is the home of world-renowned educational and medical facilities, and is at the forefront of cutting-edge technology. When the school was renamed Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1912, it took another important step in its transition into one of the nation's leading private research universities. In 1967, Carnegie Tech merged with the Mellon Institute to form Carnegie Mellon University. For more information, visit the University’s web site: www.cmu.edu

Long known as a place with big-city luxuries and a small-town feel, Pittsburgh is a wonderful place to live, work, and play. Pittsburgh is a city that's strategically located, among the lowest cost of living in the nation, home of world-renowned educational and medical facilities, and on the brink of cutting-edge technology. Visit the following web site for more links to Pittsburgh: www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us

CERT and CERT Coordination Center are registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office.