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My mom sent me this link... pretty cool stuff, but actually one of the engineering geeks I work with gets the real advisories, so I had this yesterday: ISAC Security Analysis Team SECURITY ADVISORY Please do not reply to this message as it was sent from an automated mailbox. 2003-10-072 ///////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ SUBJECT: Coronal Mass Expected to Produce Intense Geomagnetic Activity RISK FACTOR: 4 RISK FACTOR EXPLANATION: Information Only IMPACT: May cause disruption or outages of telecommunications SUMMARY: A major solar event is expected to impact the Earth's magnetic field tomorrow at midday. A cloud of high-energy particles has been ejected from the sun's surface and is heading toward Earth at nearly a million miles per hour. It is expected to disrupt the Earth's magnetic field, with resultant disruptions in telecommunications that transmit via radio waves. PLATFORMS AFFECTED: Miscellaneous,Physical BACKGROUND: At approximately 3:00 PM on October 22, 2003, a coronal mass ejection (CME) from Sunspot 484 erupted on the sun. In the past, geomagnetic storms such as these have created voltage surges in electric power grids, disrupted radio communications and navigation systems, and negatively impacted satellite operations. Most recently, Sunspot 484 emitted a solar flare on October 19, 2003, that temporarily disabled high frequency radio communications over the continental United States for more than two hours, greatly impairing airline and marine communications. Larry Combs, a forecaster with the NOAA Space Environment Center’s Space Weather Operations, said that this region has developed rapidly over the last three to four days. "It’s somewhat unusual to have this much activity when we’re approximately three-and-a-half years past solar maximum," he said. "In fact, just last week, solar activity was very low with an almost spotless sun." Solar cycles of high and low activity repeat about every eleven years, and the sun has been moving towards solar minimum for the past three years. A second region of the sun is also active and could create more powerful eruptions during the next two weeks. RECOMMENDATIONS: N/A VENDOR-SUPPLIED INFORMATION: None ///////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\