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"Agents Spy Internet Data"
A little birdy sent this my way, and I thought you might find it of
interest. And this article is "scanned, not shaken or stirred." ;-)
COMPUTERWORLD AUGUST 1, 1994
Agents spy Internet data
By Mitch Betts
Langley, VA
After decades of viewing public information as practically useless, U.S.
intelligence agencies are planning to exploit the wild and ultrapublic
Internet in search of cheap but useful nuggets of information.
By summer's end, the Central Intelligence Agency and five other
intelligence units will hook up to the Internet to collect and share
"opensource," or unclassified, information, CIA official Joseph Markowitz
confirmed.
"The six-node Internet link will give intelligence analysts an access
point to the Internet at large, including access to electronic mail by
subject-matter experts across the globe,"Markowitz said in a recent
interview. He is director of the CIA's Community Open Source Program
Office, which opened March 1.
"The Internet will be a gateway to commercial on-line information
services, he added, as well as a vehicle for sharing open-source
intelligence with sister agencies such as the National Security Agency and
the Defense Intelligence Agency."
Naturally, the spy agencies are keenly aware of the danger of security
breaches from Internet hackers. Markowitz said they are installing a
commercial-grade "firewall"--essentially a server with access-control
software--to protect internal computer networks from Internet intrusions.
In addition, a special, undisclosed hardware device will allow analysts to
transfer Internet files to their high-security workstations while
preventing file transfers in the opposite direction, Markowitz said.
These days the Internet is getting crowded with investigators of all
sorts. Many private-sector researchers already use the Internet to
supplement their heavy-duty use of online vendors such as Dialog
Information Services, lnc. For example, John F. Quinn, a business
intelligence professional in Vienna, Va., and former CIA analyst in Japan,
recently used the Internet's Gopher navigation tool to collect information
on foreign reaction to the death of North Korea's leader. James Cook, a
California-based business investigator, runs an Internet-based discussion
group called InfoPro, where information professionals swap advice and
establish far-flung contacts.
But using the Internet for intelligence has a downside. For example,
queries posted on public news groups or mailing lists may alert the world
to the research topic unless the query is artfully phrased. "There is a
danger of tipping your hand," Quinn said. "I use the lnternet to contact a
colleague [directly], but I am loathe to post something publicly." Another
problem is information overload and the urgent need to filter incoming
Internet messages. "The information will be affordable and accessible, but
electronic filtering hasn't progressed as far as we'd like," Markowitz said.
Furthermore, private-sector researchers warned there are no
quality-control police on the Internet. The danger of getting outdated or
bad information is quite real. On-line researcher Helen Burwell in Houston
put it this way: "The Internet is a great big closet full of junk and
treasures, so you have to go in there judiciously."
"You may get to know 100 to 500 new contacts, including ones in Italy and
Russia, but the next question is how competent and reliable are they?"
said Cook, a due diligence consultant for business investors. "You need to
build a circle of trusted people."
Markowitz agreed that it takes a lot of mining to get a few nuggets from
the Internet. "With open sources, there's lots more information available,
but it has a poor signal-to-noise ratio," he said. A big challenge is
getting the clandestine service to accept open-source intelligence as
being valuable, Quinn said, because the spy culture figures that "if it's
not secret, it' s not worthwhile . " One reason for the new interest in
on-line resources is they are low-risk and cheap when compared with
billion-dollar spy satellites at a time of shrinking budgets. Further, the
spy agencies are being asked to provide unclassified reports about more
diverse topics, Markowitz said.
"The reality is that open sources are now superior in many cases to
existing classified sources, such as in dealing with African crises, where
the intelligence community has mediocre to nonexistent capabilities," said
Robert D. Steele, president of Oakton, Va.-based Open Source Solutions,
Inc., a non-profit organization that promotes the broader use of
open-source intelligence. "The creation of our office is a recognition
that open sources are a valuable resource. As we draw back in some parts
of the world, our office provides an information safety net," Markowitz said.
---------------------------------------------
Watering holes in cyberspace
Intelligence analysts are likely to be poking around in these Internet
nooks and crannies:
Open Source Intelligence Resources: Gopher: gopher oss.net
Somalia News Update: Usenet newsgroup: alt.current-events.somalia
China Headline News Service: E-mail: [email protected]
Reports by Voice of America Correspondence: Gopher: gopher.voa.gov
Slovakia Document Store:
World Wide Web: http://www/eunet.sk
Gopher: gopher.eunet.sk
E-mail: [email protected]
Gateway Japan
E-mail: [email protected]
-NetSurfer
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