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TMCNet: Northrop to pay for computer audit

[September 02, 2010]

Northrop to pay for computer audit

Sep 02, 2010 (Daily Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Northrop Grumman has agreed to foot the bill for an outside review of the computer breakdowns that crippled Virginia's online services over the past week.

On Thursday Gov. Bob McDonnell announced that the investigative arm of the General Assembly -- the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission -- is working with state leaders and officials at Northrop -- the defense contracting behemoth that runs the state's information technology.


The Department of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Taxation were reportedly the hardest hit by the extended computer outage that hit 26 of the executive branch's 89 agencies. McDonnell called the ongoing problems an "unprecedented hardware failure" and said earlier in the week that he wanted a full scale investigation.

"We are promptly turning our attention to determining exactly how this hardware failure occurred and how well the response was conducted," McDonnell said, stressing the need for "an independent review conducted by a private external vendor." According to official estimates about 45,000 people could not renew their driver's licenses during the week-long outage. In response to the delays, the Department of Motor Vehicles has announced that it extended expiring licenses for up to 20 days.

Further, the DMV is extending normal business hour through the weekend -- including openings on Sunday and Labor Day -- and next weekend as well.

Virginia DMV's extended hours The Department of Motor Vehicles extended hours include special hours at these fourteen locations across the state: Abingdon, Alexandria, Charlottesville, Chesapeake, Chesterfield, Fair Oaks (10:30 to 6:30), Hampton, Harrisonburg, Leesburg, Lynchburg, Richmond-Broad Street, Roanoke, Virginia Beach- Buckner, and Woodbridge Friday -- All locations open until 6:00 p.m.

Sat. Sept. 4 + 11 -- All locations open 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Fourteen locations remain open from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Sun. Sept. 5 + 12 -- Fourteen locations open 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Mon. Sept.6 -- Fourteen locations open 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m To see more of the Daily Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dailypress.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.

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