White House chastised for use of security technology

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1203/120203tdpm1.htm

By Drew Clark
National Journal's Technology Daily 
December 2, 2003

The Bush administration has failed to effectively use information 
technology in the war on terrorism, according to officials at the 
Markle Foundation, who on Tuesday proposed creating a homeland 
security information network. 

"They have not yet taken advantage of technological expertise" 
available in this country, said Zoe Baird, president of the New 
York-based foundation. "The government can set up a network that 
improves our ability to prevent terrorism and protect civil 
liberties." 

After articulating nearly a dozen perceived weaknesses in current 
information-sharing systems, the group suggested the creation of a 
System-wide Homeland Analysis and Resource Exchange (SHARE) Network 
designed to couple Silicon Valley know-how with low-tech law 
enforcement and intelligence databases. 

Markle also urged greater clarity from the administration about the 
proper delineation of responsibilities between the Terrorist Threat 
Integration Center (TTIC) overseen by the director of intelligence and 
the Homeland Security Department, and the foundation said privacy 
principles must be incorporated into any new intelligence network. 

The recommendations came from a report issued Tuesday by the 
foundation's task force on national security, which Baird co-chaired 
with James Barksdale, a venture capitalist and former CEO of Netscape. 
An October 2002 report from the task force said better information 
sharing is necessary to fight terrorism. 

The second report was more critical of the administration. It 
recommended how to change course on distributing intelligence 
information, implementing computer systems and reorienting the 
nation's approach to privacy. The members of the task force also said 
that President Bush should issue an executive order establishing their 
proposed network as a way to better share information within the 
federal government and with state and local governments. 

"There is a deep belief [in the tech community] that [technology] can 
be enormously valuable" in combating terrorism, said Eric Benhamou, 
chairman of 3Com and Palm. 

But for the concept of the SHARE network to work, "there has to be 
strategic implementation from the top," he added. Even more important 
are "a sense of urgency and a set of clearly stated values that help 
the rest of the strategy be implemented more crisply." 

The report repeatedly contrasted the "Cold War intelligence 
architecture" or the world of computer mainframes with the 
decentralized and distributed model for information handling that has 
been seen on the Internet. Baird said the new homeland security model 
"needs to be decentralized, with information to and from" 
intelligence-collection agencies. 

"Centralized analysis of information alone is inadequate," said Baird, 
who was President Clinton's first choice for attorney general. 

"We really need to have the right organizational construct that 
requires sharing to take place where it is not taking place today," 
said Michael Vatis, executive director of the task force and a Clinton 
administration cyber-security official. He criticized Bush's decision 
to create the TTIC and said it created confusion among state 
government officials. 

"Who has responsibility for developing actionable intelligence?" he 
asked. "That confusion between [Homeland Security] and TTIC and their 
roles needs to be clarified."



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