-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- from: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34027,00.html Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,34027,00.html"> Cyber Safe or Gov't Surveillance?</A> ----- Cyber Safe or Gov't Surveillance? by Declan McCullagh 10:40 a.m. 1.Feb.2000 PST WASHINGTON -- A government plan to monitor networks for intrusions goes too far and will lead to increased surveillance and privacy violations, a civil liberties group told a Senate panel on Tuesday. The Electronic Privacy Information Center said a memo it obtained last week shows that the Clinton administration's FIDNET proposal for "information systems protection" will result in unwarranted spying on Americans. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ More Infostructure in Wired News Read more Politics -- from Wired News See also: G-Man: 'Don't Just Fear Feds' ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Documents the group received through a Freedom of Information Act request indicate the administration is considering broad access to credit card and phone records of private citizens and monitoring of government workers' computers, EPIC director Marc Rotenberg told the Senate judiciary subcommittee on technology and terrorism. "The FIDNET proposal, as currently conceived, must simply be withdrawn. It is impermissible in the United States to give a federal agency such extensive surveillance authority," Rotenberg told the panel chaired by Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican. The privacy problems of FIDNET and similar government efforts are exaggerated, said Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office director John Tritak. "FIDNET is intended to protect information on critical, civilian government computer systems, including that provided by private citizens. It will not monitor or be wired into private sector computers," Tritak said. "All aspects of the FIDNET will be fully consistent with all laws protecting the civil liberties and privacy rights of Americans." Tritak showed up to discuss the so-called "National Plan for Information Systems Protection, Version 1.0," which the government released in January. It calls for additional government spending to thwart a "highly organized, systematic cyberattack by hostile powers or terrorist organizations." The 199-page plan includes a chapter titled "protecting privacy and civil liberties." The chapter calls for an annual "public-private colloquium" and review of privacy practices by "appropriate authorities." But it does not say the CIAO will reveal even summaries of its activities -- the sort of regular review required of federal prosecutors who ask for wiretaps of phone lines. "Nowhere does the Plan answer such questions as what formal reporting requirements will be established, what independent review will be conducted, and what mechanisms for public accountability and government oversight will be put in place," EPIC's Rotenberg said. Also testifying was Frank Cilluffo, deputy director of the organized crime project at the Center for Strategic & International Studies. CSIS has close ties to the military, and last month appointed former deputy secretary of defe nse John Hamre as its president and CEO. Cilluffo sided with CIAO: "Throughout history, the first obligation of the state has been to protect its citizens. Today is no exception." "Overall, I think the [CIAO] plan does an excellent job identifying gaps and shortfalls within the federal government, and charting an initial course of action to address them. My major concern is that it does not do enough," Ciluffo said. FIDNET, the part of the overall CIAO plan aimed at detecting intrusions into federal computers, came under fire last summer. Civil liberties groups and som e legislators warned it could be too intrusive and could monitor the private-sector Internet. The Justice Department didn't help matters by replying last September in a letter that said FIDNET would not -- at least, as currently "envisioned." During the hearing Tuesday, CIAO's Tritak echoed what other law enforcement representatives have said: "One person with a computer, a modem, and a telephone line anywhere in the world can potentially break into sensitive government files, shut down an airport's air traffic control system, or disrupt 911 services for an entire community." A top FBI official said the same thing in January, warning that electric power is vulnerable to miscreant hackers. But a person close to the North American Electric Reliability Council -- a trade association of electric power generating companies -- told Wired News that he wasn't aware of any power control computers hooked up to telephone lines or the Internet. Have a comment on this article? Send it Email this to a friend. Fax this from your computer for free Related Wired Links: Fidnet Eases Up on Net Plan 29.Sep.1999 Plan B for Cyber Space 9.Aug.1999 Surveillance Network Draws Fire 29.Jul.1999 Copyright � 1994-2000 Wired Digital Inc. 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