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Hanssen's Access Brings Systems Probe
NewsMax.com Wires
Monday, March 5, 2001
WASHINGTON – Experts are combing government computer systems to try to ensure
that Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent accused of spying for Moscow, did not
sabotage them or create software vulnerabilities that could allow Russian
intelligence agencies to steal information while he is in jail, the
Washington Post reported Monday.
One senior official said no conclusions have been reached about Hanssen's
computer activities at the State Department, where he had been assigned since
1995 to an office that monitors foreign diplomats.

"The jury is still out as to what he was able to do," the official said.
"Because of the possibilities, we've got to take a look."

At the FBI, systems administrators already have "scrubbed" the bureau's
classified computer system, which is not attached to the Internet, the
newspaper said. They found no evidence that Hanssen planted malicious
software codes either to damage the network or expand his access to secrets,
the officials said.

U.S. counterintelligence officials say Hanssen's use of computers greatly
exceeds that encountered in any other major U.S. espionage case, presenting
new levels of complexity – and potential damage – as officials attempt to
retrace his moves in cyberspace.

"There are a large number of ways that you can infiltrate a system," said
Fred Cohen, a computer security expert at Sandia National Laboratory. He
added, "If you are an insider, the number increases dramatically."

The Post said it is clear from the FBI's affidavit that Hanssen was a regular
user of the FBI's internal network, the Automated Case Support System, which
contains classified records of investigations.

"The fact that a spy for Russia had access to that is very troubling," said
Dion Stempfley, a former Defense Department computer expert.

Sunday, the New York Times reported that Hanssen told Russia the United
States built a secret tunnel under its embassy in Washington.

Hanssen may have exposed the tunnel even before the embassy buildings were
completed and fully occupied in the early 1990s, the report said. The tunnel
was built in the 1970s and 1980s along with the hilltop embassy, a period of
time when the United States was bitterly accusing the Soviets of attempting
to plant spy devices at its new Moscow embassy.

Hanssen was arrested Feb. 18 after months of surveillance confirmed what
Russian documents turned over to the FBI had shown, that he had been spying
for the Russians on and off since October 1985, the FBI said.




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