DOD Moving to Gag IT Contractors: WASHINGTON -- Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent deployment of military forces to Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Defense has submitted emergency orders for various types of equipment, including communications gear, and has sped up delivery time lines for previous contracts that had already been negotiated, Computerworld has learned. However, the Pentagon's need for increased secrecy to protect the lives of military personnel has raised new questions about how much information contractors should release to the public about sensitive government programs, especially IT-related programs that could enable terrorists to target U.S. operations. A number of press statements issued by companies have raised the ire of some in the Defense establishment. For example, within a week of the attacks last month, Carlsbad, Calif.-based Holocom Networks issued a statement on its Web site stating that the Pentagon placed an emergency order for 1,000 secure desktop communications enclosures.