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[h2o-discuss] FW: star wars
Between this, the cybersquatting bill, and the passage of UCITA, it's
not been a good week for the end-users...any thoughts on the
adminstration proposal to sniff out the bad guys by listening to
everyone?
jtw
-----Original Message-----
From: Tuyet A. Tran [mailto:tatn2000@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, July 30, 1999 2:51 PM
To: John Wilbanks
Subject: star wars
I'm wondering if you or anyone read the enclosed
snippet. I'm forwarding the article for discussion
but, not sure if H2o would be interested. The site
requires registration so this article is included in
the text.
I'm wondering what Berkman scholars think of the issue
of privacy? Please feel free to discuss and comment
b/c I'm concerned about the issue of privacy and the
Net.
Thank you.
Tuyet
>
> [begin extract]
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> NetFlash: Breaking news from Network World
> Fusion
> 7/29/99
>
> [snip]
> Now for the real news.
>
> Government's "Star Wars" net intrusion/detection
> plan
> faces opposition
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away Ronald
Reagan had an idea - cover the U.S. with an
impenetrable shield of well-armed satellites
that would blast any incoming Soviet missiles. The
scheme - lovingly referred to by detractors as the
Star Wars plan was widely regarded as pork barrel
politics at its best. That's because the Star
Wars-like
technology did not exist to perform these duties,
but by golly Ronny was willing to pay as much
taxpayer money as possible to build it.
>
What is that saying? People who don't learn history
are destined to repeat it? Well, this week the Clinton
administration revealed it needs a history lesson by
proposing a grandiose "Star Wars" defense
program for government and private-sector networks.
>
> According to the "National Plan for Information
Systems Protection," a draft document from the
National Security Council, President Clinton wants
the government to install a sophisticated
integrated intrusion-detection system - called the
Federal Intrusion Detection Network (FIDNET) - by
2003 on all government and other important nets.
>
Reagan's missile-defense plan and Clinton's FIDNET
network-defense plan clearly have two things in
common: they both need untold billions of dollars to
work as envisioned, and there's reason to question
whether the idea of mammoth integrated and automated
intrusion-detection and response systems on this scale
can work at all. Don't know much about history eh?
> [snip]
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
> [end extract]
>
The included link for the full story points to
this:
>
> [begin quoted article
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/1999/0729fidnet.html ]
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Government's "Star Wars" net intrusion/detection
plan faces opposition
>
> By Ellen Messmer
> Network World Fusion, 07/29/99
>
>
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The grandiose "Star Wars" missile
defense program was a favorite of the Ronald Reagan
White House, and now it looks like the Clinton
administration is readying a similarly ambitious
defense program for government and private-sector
networks.
>
According to the "National Plan for Information
Systems Protection," a draft document from the
National
Security Council(NSC), President Clinton wants the
government to install an integrated
intrusion-detection system - called the Federal
Intrusion Detection Network (FIDNET) - by 2003 on all
government nets.
>
The 150-page network "Star Wars" plan was leaked by
government officials to the Washington, D.C. civil
liberties group Center for Democracy and Technology
(CDT), which has posted it in part at cdt.org this
week
>
Reagan's missile-defense plan and Clinton's FIDNET
network-defense plan clearly have two things in
common: they both need untold billions of dollars to
work as envisioned, and there's reason to question
whether the idea of mammoth integrated and automated
intrusion-detection and response systems on this scale
can work at all.
>
The drafted plan also calls for "key corporations"in
the telecoms, energy and banking to also use the same
kinds of monitoring and reporting systems so that
critical U.S. information systems would be protected
as well.
>
The plan proposes that the FBI be the central agency
for taking action based on any trouble detected by
FIDNET. The FBI, which is now setting up liaison
offices to share security information with the
industry, would have to figure out how to share
sensitive corporate secrets without worrying about
violating antitrust laws, according to the document.
The draft plan notes the Clinton Administration may
ask Congress to pass new laws to tackle legal
questions raised by the national monitoring system.
>
The idea of the government constructing a massive
surveillance system such as FIDNET has raised alarm
among civil liberties groups concerned about its Big
Brother aspects.
"This really changes the dynamic of how the
government goes after criminals," says Ari Schwartz,
policy analyst at the CDT. "Instead of just tracking
down criminals based on their behavior, it tracks
everyone."
Legal issues related to individual privacy rights are
complex, governed by laws such as the Electronic
Communications and Privacy Act. However, the
government has leeway to do pretty much what it wants
if it invokes the specter of national security,
Schwartz points out.
He adds that the FBI has long wanted to make
surveillance easier by having the telecommunications
equipment manufacturers build gear built according to
the FBI's wishes. The Communications and Law
Enforcement Act (CALEA) passed a few years ago forces
the telecom industry to heed the FBI's demands and has
lead to many arguments between them over money and
privacy.
>
With the Star Wars network, the Defense Department,
FBI and other agencies would be authorized to find a
best-of-breed intrusion-detection system within a few
years that would be installed and operational in four
years.
But at the same time, the document bemoans the lack
of qualified personnel to manage such computer
surveillance systems and notes that the kind of
massive monitoring system envisioned under the plan
would be a first of its kind.
>
In President Clinton's message statement that is part
of the document, Clinton says he will request $1.5
billion in this year's budget to "meet our targets for
information systems protection." But it doesn't take
an intrusion-detection system to figure out that this
is just pocket change in comparison to what it would
take
to move FIDNET from concept to design and deployment
in four years.
>
NSC advisor Sandy Berger emphasized that the White
House plan for a national intrusion-detection system
is still being developed and has not yet been sent to
the President. The NSC anticipates such a plan would
be officially unveiled around September or October.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> [end quoted article]
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