Still a disconnect at Interior

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2002/1111/web-interior-11-11-02.asp

By Megan Lisagor 
Nov. 11, 2002

About 6 percent of the Interior Department's computer systems remain
disconnected from the Internet, 11 months after a federal judge
ordered a departmentwide shutdown citing security concerns, according
to a Nov. 1 Interior report.

Most of the systems support the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the
Office of the Special Trustee, agencies that rely on information
technology to fulfill the department's trust fund duties.

"The relative security and integrity of DOI's computer systems is
gradually improving," Interior officials said in their 11th status
report to the court, one in a series of updates required by U.S.  
District Judge Royce Lamberth.

This reporting period, July 1 through Sept. 30, saw little increase in
Internet connectivity - a fact attributed to procurement and
reconfiguration needs.

The department has awarded several contracts in recent months to
vendors, including IBM Corp. and Zantaz Inc., aimed at bolstering
information security. WorldCom Inc., meanwhile, has finished the
technical design for TrustNet, a new secure network for Indian trust
data. Testing and approval is pending fiscal 2003 funding.

Interior has held American Indian-owned lands in trust for more than
100 years, leasing the properties and processing revenue earned from
farming, drilling and other exploits. A group of beneficiaries filed a
class-action lawsuit in 1996, claiming that poor bookkeeping has
prevented landowners and their descendants from determining their
account balances. The plaintiffs estimate as much as $10 billion is
lost or missing.

In September, Lamberth held Interior Secretary Gale Norton and
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb in contempt,
finding them "unfit trustee delegates." Interior officials must submit
a revised strategy for trust reform to the U.S. court by Jan. 6, 2003.  
The trial resumes May 1, 2003. In the interim, the department has been
assessing what systems exist so it can develop a comprehensive
business model.

"System design is no longer centered on one all-encompassing asset
management system," Interior officials wrote. "What is required is a
series of software applications focusing on each aspect of the trust
business. The goal of Indian trust systems is to integrate the
separate applications into comprehensive software architecture that
share necessary information across all applications to accomplish
trust reform. The requirements and architectures will determine
whether existing systems and technology should be used, integrated or
replaced."



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