Request to DoD for InfoSec

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

To: kbacon@pagate.pa.osd.mil
From: jya@pipeline.com
Date: Tues 15 September 1998, 09:51 AM
Subject: Interview Request

Kenneth H. Bacon
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs
OASD (PA)
1400 Defense Pentagon
Washington D.C. 20301-1400

Dear Mr. Bacon,

Three points of Secretary Cohen's informative talk[*] at the 
Council on Foreign Relations last evening would benefit
by amplification, and I ask your assistance in arranging an
interview with the Secretary to focus on the Department's
policy on information security technology.

1. The first concerns his view on the interdependency of military
and economic affairs for assurance of national security.

1.1 What does he see as the prospect for further declassification 
of restricted defense technology for use by industry for protection 
of information against economic espionage, as exemplified in the 
declassification of the Skipjack encryption algorithm. 

1.2 And what other services and/or technology the defense supply
and intelligence agencies may provide non-governmental customers 
in competition with other nations where closer cooperation between 
such agencies and industry is more common.

2. The second concerns the need for international cooperation
for US defense policy and how that is impacted by publicity and 
criticism of the Echelon electronic intercept program and other
national technical means not customarily discussed in public by 
the Department.

2.1 What are Secretary Cohen's views of programs such as Echelon 
political and international trust issues and what he is his view of European 
calls for investigation of Echelon.

2.2 What are Secretary Cohen's views as a constructive response to 
charges that Echelon and other national technical means are 
offensive military and economic espionage against those from 
whom the US desires defense cooperation.

3. In the Q&A on the topic of terrorism and encryption, Secretary 
Cohen remarked that the American people will have to decide how 
much privacy they are willing to give up in order to be protected from
terrorist threats.

3.1 What are the Secretary's views on how disputes on encryption
policy could be resolved in light of his calls for closer connection
between military and economic interests and for international 
cooperation for defense policy.

Your office has always been exemplary in responding to requests
for information. Thank you very much.


Sincerely,


John Young
JYA/Urban Deadline
251 West 89th Street, Suite 6E
New York, NY 10024

E-mail: jya@pipeline.com
Tel: 212-873-8700
Fax: 212-799-4003

* See: http://jya.com/dod091498.htm