As a result of continuous monitoring of services, Scientific Computing Services and Enterprise Applications staff noticed a dramatic increase in the number of external attempts to break into SLAC computers. SCS staff made an immediate change to block these off-site ssh attempts on infrastructure servers, including web servers. By responding quickly through the use of our centralized management software, SCS mitigated this Cyber Security threat for the Lab.
Scientific Computing Services staff investigated a number of unrelated problems for several different research groups, including FGST, SIMES, and LCLS, as well as in the shared "bullet" computing cluster. During a very busy two-week period, SCS proactively upgraded all of the FGST "xrootd" servers to the latest Linux kernel and resolved problems in the other service areas, in an effort to provide sustained service for the science mission.