Virus zapping terror lookout databases?

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34054

By Paul Sperry
August 12, 2003

WASHINGTON -- The computer system used by U.S. immigration and customs 
officers to check terrorist watchlists has been on the blink for much 
of the past week, and technicians dispatched by the Homeland Security 
Department cannot seem to diagnose the problem, let alone fix it, 
WorldNetDaily has learned. 

Some 40 ports of entry across the country have reported chronic delays 
in accessing law enforcement data and even 24-hour system outages, 
officials say. 

"A virus may have migrated to our system," said one official. 

Indeed, the department has distributed a virus alert to port 
directors. A fast-spreading virus -- dubbed the MSBlast, or LovSan, 
worm -- has infected other government agencies, including some Federal 
Reserve banks. 

Federal immigration officers at Chicago's O'Hare International 
Airport, the nation's busiest, say delays in the TECS lookout database 
is causing passport-processing bottlenecks and long lines at 
international terminals. 

"People are backed up all the way down the terminal," a supervisor 
there said. "It's just a mess." 

U.S. authorities at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport say their 
database went down for 24 hours a week ago, and delays in calling up 
data persist. 

Homeland Security spokesman James Michie said he's aware of complaints 
about "sluggishness" in the computer system, but he knew of no other 
details about the problem. 

"I understand there has been some sluggishness in recent days with 
some databases," he confirmed in an interview with WorldNetDaily. 

The back-up system for TECS, known by the acronym PALS, isn't much 
help, officers say, because it relies on old data. It's updated by CD 
every couple of months. 

Washington is baffled by the computer glitch, officials say. 

"The tech honchos from D.C. can't figure it out," one said. 

"It's weird," said another. 

Paul Sperry is Washington bureau chief for WorldNetDaily



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