Ex-FBI chief sees need for 'electronic librarian'

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/02/24/fib.spy.01.reut/index.html

February 24, 2001
Web posted at: 10:09 p.m. EST (0309 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The FBI needs an "electronic librarian" to
signal if an employee peeks into unauthorized areas after a veteran
agent's arrest as an alleged spy for Moscow, former FBI Director
William Webster said in a TIME.com interview published Saturday.

Webster will lead an inquiry into the FBI's internal security
procedures in the wake of Sunday's arrest of 25-year employee Robert
Hanssen on charges of selling secrets to Moscow over a 15-year period.

"Electronic filings offer a lot more vulnerabilities than was
anticipated," Webster said.

"Invariably (double agents) are apt to wander into areas where they
don't belong," he said. "We may not always recognize them when they
belong -- but we can when they don't belong."

Hanssen had access to a wide variety of top secret material because of
his position as a counterintelligence officer, and he is accused of
selling secrets about double agents, U.S. electronic surveillance
methods and other sensitive topics.

"In the old days," Webster said, "we'd have a librarian who'd report
when people asked for files they didn't need to see."

"We need to have some kind of electronic librarian. Machines can be
taught, and I think we can build in a level of uncertainty that makes
people in this game hesitate, and that will cut down on their
effectiveness," he said.

Webster, who has not begun the inquiry yet, said those ideas were not
necessarily going to end up as recommendations, according to TIME.com.

He is also expected to look at whether to expand the use of lie
detectors, currently used on prospective FBI employees and agents
working on the most sensitive cases.

At the CIA, all new employees are given polygraph tests before they
are hired, and most are tested again after about three years and then
after about five years. There are also random tests at the spy agency.

Webster, who is also a former CIA director, said on the use of lie
detectors, "I don't know how we'll come out, but I expect it'll be
somewhere between what FBI has and what CIA has."

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