[ISN] The Hacker Foundation Releases SLA Project

[InfoSec News]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


CONTACT:

North America:

B.K. DeLong
Media Liaison
The Hacker Foundation
telephone: +1.617.797.2472

Christian Wright
Media Liaison
Packetstorm Security
telephone: +1.312.399.5064

Europe:

Emerson Tan
Director
Packetstorm Security
telephone: +44.781.456.8265

e-mail: press at survivorlocationassistance.org

THE HACKER FOUNDATION RELEASES SURVIVOR LOCATION ASSISTANCE PROJECT

Organization distributes software as open-source and centralizes tracking 
of disaster victims.

http://www.survivorlocationassistance.org -- 6 January 2005 -- The Hacker 
Foundation (THF) is pleased to announce the creation of the Survivor 
Location Assistance (SLA) project, a globally accessible web-based database 
system designed to help survivors, relatives, internally displaced people, 
and aid agencies connect with one another and to facilitate & coordinate 
the need to track all victims of disasters around the world.

SLA's first application is now live and awaiting new entries - South Asian 
Tsunami - Survivor Location Assistance (SAT-SLA). The system is running on 
hardware donated by Packetstorm Security and on network connectivity 
provided by Asylum Networks Inc.

The SLA project encourages the myriad of web sites and organizations 
currently maintaining lists of survivors, Internally Displaced People & the 
missing to contribute their dataset to the SAT-SLA database. Hospitals, aid 
agencies, & NGOs are also encouraged to share their registration 
information to ensure relatives of survivors are notified in a fast & 
timely manner that their loved ones are safe & alive.

"The SLA project is why The Hacker Foundation was created," said THF 
President and Co-founder Jesse Krembs. "to bring useful technological 
resources to people in need. Our staff of volunteers has done an amazing 
job putting together a tool in such a short amount of time that can not 
only be used in this crisis, but hopefully for any humanitarian need."

On the SLA Web site, users can add a new entry with identifying information 
about a person, or search the database to see if their relative has been 
located. By the end of 1Q 2005, THF and the SLA project hope to publicly 
release the source code for the system and begin fostering a development 
community around the open source solution. Those interested in making use 
of software more immediately can email the project at 
support at survivorlocationassistance.org . The SLA web site is located at 
http://www.survivorlocationassistance.org.

"THF is releasing the SLA backend to anyone who requests it & opening our 
survivor data to the public," said Emerson Tan, Director of Packetstorm 
Security. "As more of the world gets connected via the Internet, we believe 
the SLA project has global potential to be used in tracking IDPs, thwarting 
the child slave-trading of orphans from such disasters, and assisting aid 
agencies & NGOs responding to humanitarian efforts similar to those in the 
Darfur region of Sudan."

The SLA project is also seeking translation assistance for its web site, 
database and other resources to ensure global access and usability.

"The world has many different languages," said THF's Krembs. "and disasters 
do not discriminate. We hope, with volunteer help, to be able to offer our 
information in Thai, Sinhala and other native tongues of those effected by 
the tsunami."

About The Hacker Foundation

The Hacker Foundation (THF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to 
establishing and maintaining a research & service organization to promote & 
explore the creative use of technological resources. Visit the Hacker 
Foundation web site at http://www.hackerfoundation.org.

About Packetstorm Security

Packetstorm Security is the world's largest free repository of
Internet security information. It is staffed entirely by volunteers
throughout the world and mirrored in many locations. Web site at 
http://www.packetstormsecurity.org.

About Asylum Networks

Asylum Networks provides Internet colocation services to customers with 
extremely demanding security requirements. The company operates in five 
countries (Switzerland, Luxembourg, Cayman Islands, Denmark, and the United 
States) each chosen to address either financial privacy concerns or provide 
excellent connectivity. Asylum Networks' portfolio includes international 
banks, financial institutions, and security-conscious corporations. Please 
visit them at http://www.asylum-networks.net.