The SANS Institute - best known for helping to track hacker activity via the Internet Storm Center - is helping to recruit tech-savvy volunteers to help care for people left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. Techies are needed to set up PCs and wireless networks at shelters and at Red Cross headquarters in Washington DC to install security software tools. The Red Cross HQ needs people who know how to tune Cisco IDS, NetIQ Manager and McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator tools.

People who live near the shelters and have experience in deploying Windows XP or Cisco systems - or Washington-based security experts - can register to help on the SANS's website here. SANS is collating this info and passing it on to the Red Cross. Meanwhile SANS handler Tom Liston is verifying hurricane related URLs to root out scam artists. Hundreds of Katrina-themed domains have been registered since the storm hit the US Gulf Coast last week. As well as helping to recruit volunteers, SANS is also donating $100K to the Red Cross. ®

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