Battles without gunpowder smoke, the horns of wartime management, and the breathtaking strikes, one by one, brave and fearless fighters jointly compose a resonant battle song. "Conforming to the needs of the country, ensuring network services for the education". In the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, the CERNET people fight to escort China's education informatization and guarantee the education network is unobstructed.
During the epidemic, the need for education network surged, but no single major failure happened. Colleges and universities across the country successfully started online classes. Millions of teachers and students used the Internet to study and research at home. Thanks to CERNET people's devotion!
In the wartime, they are the combat "vanguards" of cyber security
The CERNET Epidemic Prevention and Network Guarantee Command Center is located on the first floor of the FIT Building of Tsinghua University. The tense atmosphere of the epidemic and heavy medical clothing aggravated the sultry heat in the room. Due to the epidemic isolation policy, some staff have been on seven consecutive day shifts, but they are still full of energy and never slack. Stay focused to the line connection, watch attentively to the network flow, and monitor the continuous data of packet loss.
On the morning of February 15, in this command center, Wu Jianping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the CERNET Network Center, announced that CERNET has entered "wartime management".
For the core subsystems of the backbone network, CERNET put forward eight major requirements including "improving political positions and enhancing work awareness", and urgently mobilized and deployed relevant units of the education network through video conferences. Professor Li Xing, the deputy director of CERNET Network Center, put forward specific requirements for the network guarantee of "wartime management" at the meeting.
According to Professor Liu Ying, Director of the Office of CERNET Network Center, teachers at the CERNET Network Center have been busy throughout the holiday with preparation. After entering the "wartime management", there is no moment to relax: the supervisor leads the team, the operating personnel are on duty, and the command center has technicians on duty 7x24 hours. The teachers do not leave until 10 o'clock every night.
Fan Guanmin, deputy general manager of CERNET company who has a 30-year military career, has a deep understanding of wartime management. He believes that in the face of COVID-19, the network security team is facing a battle without gunpowder. Wartime management is much higher than the guarantee level of heavy security work, which is reflected in its own, necessity and uniformity, which means that all relevant units of the education network must work around this central task and do it unconditionally. There is no way out. In his impression, this is the first time that "war management" has been proposed since the establishment of CERNET and CERNET company, which shows the urgency of the situation and the importance of organization.
The situation is indeed extremely serious and severe. Although they have experience in "fighting against SARS" 17 years ago, the impact of COVID-19 is even more serious. Can the staff fully understand the work? In the face of thousands of university users, can network interoperability and resource integration and coordination meet their needs? In the face of complicated epidemic prevention measures, how to conduct on-site investigation and maintenance of the network while ensuring the safety of personnel? A series of difficult problems appeared in front of the education network communication security personnel.
Fan Guanmin spoke with emotion, highlighting the meaning of "wartime management". "In the battle without gunpowder, we are all front-line network security "vanguards". Everyone must quickly enter the state and obey the command; bear hardships and stand hard work, selfless dedication; be prepared for danger in times of peace, and make plans; fire detection and timely response."
The CERNET backbone network is the foundation for carrying various business networks. Its status is directly related to the safe operation of the entire education network, as well as the overall situation of the anti-epidemic work.
On the WeChat account of Sun Xin, the message sent by Hongbin Shen, the person in charge of the Communications Operations Department, from the Harbin Maintenance Station is still reserved: "This is the time when we are the most tested. This is when we need to resolutely complete the guarantee task. When the time comes. Please rest assured that the headquarter leaders, I will protect myself and successfully complete the required task."
At that time, the local government stipulated that every 48 hours in and out of Harbin, a physical examination was required at a designated hospital. Only after passing the physical examination can he enter and leave the city. This means that he is on duty in the city and has to go to the hospital for physical examination every two days. In order to prevent Shen Hongbin from seeing the hopelessness of the closed interior, he simply took a suitcase and went to the hospital for another inspection. After confirming that there was nothing wrong, he stayed at a friend's house in the city for a month and a half without delaying his duty.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, residential communities in most cities across the country have been closed, colleges and universities have been closed, and roads have been closed. Especially in Wuhan, Hubei, strict and unprecedented lockdown measures have been implemented. Most people have to stay at home and work online. However, the network communication security work must attack at any time, go out of the house, on-site maintenance, on-site duty, and become another group of "retrogrades" during the epidemic. In this network security work, the first difficulty they encountered was how to get out of the "closure" to ensure the health and safety of staff.
Under the instructions of the superiors, the various personnel from the maintenance stations of the education network immediately acted and contacted the local communities and epidemic prevention command departments. Thirty one people successively carried the resumption certificate issued by the company in the community, the government epidemic prevention command department. In just 5 days, the 34 maintenance stations on the entire network have completely opened up the "lifeline" of communication guarantee and smoothly entered the state of "wartime management".
Of course, at a critical juncture, it is not only a test of platooning and coordinating command, but also a concerted effort for soldiers!
On January 23, Wuhan was locked down. As colleagues left Wuhan during the Spring Festival and could not return, Wang Jing was the only one on duty at the huge Wuhan Maintenance Station, desperately suppressing the fear of being infected. He wrote this paragraph: As a "Wuhan citizen", I must strictly observe the government has instructed us all to do a good job of self-protection, and actively cooperate to maintain social order; as a "CERNETer", I will also resolutely perform my duties and do my duty to ensure network communication and escort CERNET.
During the epidemic, Zou Junlong of the Xiamen Maintenance Station gave up the opportunity to go home and reunite with his family during the Spring Festival, and took the initiative to ask for orders to hold on to his position. The epidemic aggravated to ensure that the school maintenance and duty work would not be interrupted. For one month he insisted on not going out of the gates of Xiamen University with no regrets.
In order to return to work on time, Mu Baojian of the Fuzhou Maintenance Station took the train for 13 hours to arrive in Fuzhou on time when the community was closed to avoid foreigners. Zhang Jianlong at the Xiamen Maintenance Station took food with him when the long-distance bus was stopped.
Through the joint efforts and dedication of all maintenance personnel, since the epidemic communication guarantee, there has not been a single case of interruption of communication.
During the epidemic, colleges and universities across the country realized the importance of intercommunication and management through the education network, and tens of millions of teachers and students learned and researched through the Internet.
Tribute to the heroes who stick to the front line of education information network security!
They are the guardians of the safe operation of the network
In early February, the CERNET Network Center urgently established a joint command mechanism for epidemic prevention and control, coordinated and commanded the entire education network, activated the backbone network guarantee command center, clarified the linkage guarantee mechanism, and guaranteed 7 * 24 hours on duty. The remote monitoring of the network management simplifies the approval process and improved the response speed and disposal efficiency in various situations.
According to Li Suogang, the person in charge of the Network Operations Department, due to the home teaching and scientific research of teachers and students during the epidemic, the network traffic showed different characteristics than usual, mainly due to the interconnection throughput between different operators. In response to the needs of the epidemic, they quickly upgraded the 4 10-Gigabit lines interconnected with China Unicom in Beijing. At the same time, it monitored the interconnection lines in real time and reported the traffic conditions every day. When the traffic exceeds the warning line, the traffic analysis and optimization are carried out to ensure that the utilization of the bandwidth of the interconnection link is less than 85%.
In order to ensure the smooth flow of the network "lifeline" of the education system in all provinces during the epidemic, network operators and NOC teachers from CERNET's core officials in 41 universities across the country formed a sophisticated backbone network maintenance "matrix". During the process, all routine teachers are on duty 7x24 hours, and they can quickly arrive at the computer room site if they have problems.
In the hardest-hit area of the epidemic, Li Dong, a teacher from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, a core officer of CERNET Wuhan, and his rotating colleagues were hospitalized with new coronavirus symptoms in isolation. In order to ensure a "safe distance" from the computer room, he lived in the school and went to the computer room every day. On duty, he could keep the phone open at night, and reach the designated location within 15 minutes if there is a problem. Driven by this sense of responsibility, he discovered the Wuhan router module alarm in time and reported it in time, avoiding major losses and making great contributions to the smooth flow of Wuhan's local education network.
In addition to the normal operation of safe computer room equipment and network guarantees, an additional worry about is the threat to network security caused by pervasive hacker attacks during the epidemic. The Spring Festival itself is a cyber-attack. COVID-19 has increased the difficulty of cyber security protection during a period of weak network security protection in colleges and universities, giving criminals an opportunity to take advantage of it.
Li Yingxia, as the security operation and maintenance personnel of CERNET Shanghai branch mainly responsible for the network security work of Tongji University, described the "shocking step by step" events during that period: On January 22, foreign hackers threatened to attack the above-mentioned website. By the 24th, Li Yingxia and another colleague took turns to monitor the network conditions 24 hours a day, and they dared not close their eyes at night.
On February 8, the relevant departments issued a prediction on the Windows Remote Desktop Service code execution vulnerability (CVE-2019-0708). A total of 10 websites with this breakthrough were found after a two-day comprehensive investigation. They immediately shut down the relevant website outside the network and issued a rectification report to the administrator and notify him of rectification within a time limit.
On February 10, I was notified that there were many documents that used the title of COVID-19 to spread Trojan horses. On February 13, foreign hackers threatened to attack the domestic video surveillance system, which was another strict defense; February 20, Early warning of a Tomcat file containing vulnerabilities (CVE-2020-1938), 55 servers and websites were completely eliminated within a few days, and administrators were notified to rectify... Similar situations continue to appear, hackers have repeatedly issued DDoS attack threats, video surveillance system attacks threats and using the "epidemic" to carry out Trojan horse and phishing attacks.
Every day is in a state of high tension, but network security affects the whole body, it is a matter of everything, and no error is tolerated. Therefore, every security operation and maintenance personnel of the education network has always vigilant, especially during the epidemic. With the spirit of twelve points, we will make every effort to deal with various network information security threats.
It is understood that a total of 30 incidents that endangered network security were discovered during the period of epidemic prevention and control, and they were dealt with in a timely manner to ensure the safe operation of the backbone network and user networks.
At the same time, the education network has built a network security information center and early warning platform during the epidemic, comprehensively collecting and understanding domestic and foreign network security information, paying attention to new virus attack patterns and methods, taking precautions, and preparing for prevention and response plans. .
Real-time adjustment, they are the implementers of user bandwidth guarantee
In order to meet the temporary needs of CERNET user units during the epidemic period due to network access, online teaching and information services and other work mode changes, the education network specially implemented an expansion adjustment method during the epidemic period. This allowed the adjustment of the bandwidth requirements of CERNET user units during the epidemic period for free. , At the same time CERNET staff could deal with network security management requirements such as domain name registration, ICP filing, and IP address application proposed by various user units. The time limit is 25 minutes to block service responses and the time limit to activate services within 4 hours. As of April 8 2020, the number of free adjustment (upgraded) users is 422, and the total number of free upgrades is 163.265G.
This increase in bandwidth and traffic then puts pressure on the expansion of the CERNET backbone network, which can seriously affect the quality of operation. Technical staff then insist on daily monitoring of the backbone network, internal (inter) interconnection traffic, giving a timely grasp of the situation, and providing an opportunity to ensure the quality of network operation.
According to Li Suogang, in order to fulfill the high-standard requirements for the CERNET backbone network guarantee, they reorganized the guarantee plan to ensure that the personnel are in place, the process is smooth, and the network equipment has a large number of spare parts. In addition the resources of CERNET2 can provide backup decentralization for the CERNET backbone network when necessary, and conduct technical tests in advance to ensure that additional connectivity can be provided within 15 minutes.
In order to achieve the goal of "simplifying the application process and completing adjustments quickly", they pass the WeChat group, the leaders approve at any time, and they execute it in real time. Generally, the adjustment can be completed within 2 hours.
In the maintenance and guarantee work of the national education network, timely handling of user inquiries, sorting, transmission and feedback of information is an indispensable requirement. According to Yu Yingqiong, the head of the customer service department, CERNET has gradually launched various payment services during the epidemic. In particular, the use of video conference services and academic resource sharing services has attracted the attention of many more users, so their daily work has been increasingly busy. Moreover, the requirements of users and the urgency of incidents have grown significantly.
The most prominent example is that the customer service department answered the phone in the early morning of March 18, and Wenzhou Medical University needed to change the DNS address from their telecom provider to the education network due to the temporary interruption of the telecommunication line. It was a Wednesday. In order not to affect the school's online classes, Yu Yingqiong contacted the CERNET network center by phone immediately to modify the user's DNS information and broadcast it to the outside world, which took effect immediately. When it happened, the relevant teacher in charge of Wenzhou Medical University immediately sent a circle of friends to praise CERNET for its efficient and considerate service.
Stand by at any time, they are the guarantees of online service education
The raging COVID-19 situation is becoming more and more serious. Telecommuting through the Internet and online teaching have become the main management and communication methods in these challenging times. CERNET upholds the function of "network service education" and shoulders the important mission of supporting and serving the national education system.
The Ministry of Education video conference is an important emergency command platform for the education system. During the epidemic, the Ministry of Education's emergency deployment of "no classes without suspension" has highlighted its importance. According to statistics, there were 12 video conferences of the Ministry of Education in 2019, and in the first quarter of this year, CERNET completed 13 video conference guarantee tasks of the Ministry of Education.
More intensive meeting arrangements fully illustrate that during this special period, the Ministry of Education relies more on video conferencing when deploying and coordinating work related to the national education system. It is CERNET's responsibility to do its best to guarantee the video conference.
Due to the high level of participation in the video conference of the Ministry of Education and the complicated access environment, a set of rigorous testing procedures are required before each conference. Starting from the receipt of the Ministry of Education's video conference notice, the pre-planned plan was launched, and the process was strictly followed and supervised by a dedicated person. At the same time, close communication with the technical personnel of the Ministry of Education allowed staff to deal with abnormal faults in time. During the formal meeting, the NOC staff on duty pay attention to the business status at all times, and the SOC security team also closely monitors the security situation of the entire network to jointly ensure the security and stability of the video conference process.
On February 20, the Ministry of Education held a video conference on the prevention and control of the epidemic situation in colleges and universities. In addition to focusing on strengthening the security in Beijing, at the request of Sichuan University, CERNET Sichuan Branch specially arranged a technician to go to the scene on February 19 to assist users in troubleshooting the video system in the early stage of the conference. And during the meeting, the signal quality of the meeting was checked, and the audio and video effects of the meeting were paid close attention to, which ensured the smooth holding of the video meeting.
In addition to the video conference of the Ministry of Education, CERNET has also given great support to the video conference guarantee work of the education system in various places. For example, after the Hebei Provincial Government launched the first-level response to major public health emergencies, CERNET Hebei Branch responded quickly. At the end of January, it launched a major security plan for the provincial education department's data scheduling and video conferencing system, and followed suit. The video conference was guaranteed on-site and was highly praised by the leaders of Hebei Provincial Department.
In a special period, special protection is provided. Without a high political position, without super collaboration ability, and without excellent professional level, it is very difficult to do well. This fully highlights the determination and ability to dare to fight tough battles and win battles online and offline.
Highly favorable reviews, we will always take care of the user unit
The affirmative voice of users encourages us to move forward.
In the battle without gunpowder of COVID-19, CERNET sticks to its post, perform its duties, and makes due contributions to the "stopping of classes and non-stop teaching and non-stopping of schools" through powerful measures and considerate services. It has been frequently praised by users from all over the country, and thank-you letters from universities across the country, such as Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, are flying in like snowflakes.
Northwestern University wrote in a letter of thanks to CERNET: "on the occasion of Chinese New Year, COVID-19 suddenly breaks out. In an important period when schools are working together to fight the epidemic, your company actively responds to the government's call, takes the initiative to assume social responsibilities, makes full use of network resources and technological advantages, guarantees free expansion of education network bandwidth, provides free large-scale online conference ZOOM platform, and provides education and scientific research The CARSI service for unified certification and resource sharing on the Internet provides strong support for our school's teachers and students' online teaching, online office and scientific research and learning. Your full support and whole-hearted help have added unlimited confidence and strength to our school's promotion of informatization work!"
"Love has no boundaries and no price. I sincerely thank you for your kind deeds and selfless dedication, and thank you for walking side by side with us. In the future, I sincerely hope that your company will strengthen communication with our school and cooperate more closely to meet the booming moment of informatization together! I wish my career every success and prosperity. When the spring is warm and the flowers bloom, we will share the prosperity!"
Shanxi University said in the thank you letter: "As the operating unit of the China Education and Research Network, during the epidemic prevention and control period, not only did you use the technical advantages of the Education and Research Network to fully guarantee the stable operation of the basic campus network of our school, but also actively assisted our school to join the CARSI resource sharing platform, so that teachers and students outside the school can smoothly access scientific research and educational resources, which greatly eased the resource shortage of our school's VPN network system."
"Since the beginning of COVID-19, the staff of your company have actively contacted our school and provided our school with a series of free education network bandwidth guarantees, the unified certification and resource sharing of the education and research network (CARSI), and video conferences. Campus network services have made outstanding contributions to our school's network infrastructure protection, network resource sharing, and online education during the epidemic prevention and control period."
There are so many kinds. This is recognition, encouragement, and urge.
COVID-19 will eventually pass, and the state of wartime will be lifted, but the development of education informatization has a long way to go. In the post-epidemic era, the entire society, economy, and culture may have important transitions, and educational concepts and ecology will also undergo changes as a result. CERNET will face up to new challenges and provide the best services to users as always.
