First AFNet Increment Suitable for Service

The first increment of the Air Force’s new centralized Web and e-mail management system is “suitable, effective, and mission capable,” according to the results of the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center’s utility evaluation. The Air Force Intranet, or AFNet, is designed to improve network security by shifting from individual base standards to a centrally managed, service-wide system. AFNet Increment 1 has already reduced entry points into the Air Force’s network by nearly 85 percent. At USAF bases where it is already in place, it is blocking 60 percent of incoming message traffic, which has proven to be either malicious content or spam. “AFNet is about keeping threats from getting into the network, and the AFOTEC report validates that we’re executing on that requirement,” stated AFNet program manager Ronnie Carter. AFOTEC’s affirmative report, released March 18, paves the way for the system’s service-wide implementation by the end of the fiscal year, according to Jan Krajewski, the project’s lead engineer. (Hanscom report by Charles Paone)