Hi folks!
This is not directly related to GNU/Linux but
neverthless is an important new. It is about Dubya
(Gerorge Bush). He is planning to monitor the Internet
to increase the security after the Sept. 11
attacks. Hmm.... I see, such a pure man with no
ulterior motives.
This article is a copy from the New York Times
newspaper. You can find more atricles on this topic at
news.google.com by using the search string `Bush
Administration to Propose System for Monitoring
Internet`. I have snipped off uninteresting parts
Bush Administration to Propose System for Monitoring
Internet
------------------------------------------------------
The Bush administration is planning to propose
requiring Internet service providers to help build a
centralized system to enable broad monitoring of the
Internet and,potentially, surveillance of its users.
The proposal is part of a final version of a report,
"The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace," set for
release early next year, according to several people
who have been briefed on the report. It is a
component of the effort to increase national security
after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The President's Critical Infrastructure Protection
Board is preparing the report, and it is intended to
create public and private cooperation to regulate and
defend the national computer networks, not only from
everyday hazards like viruses but also from terrorist
attack. Ultimately the report is intended to provide
an Internet strategy for the new Department of
Homeland Security. Such a proposal, which would be
subject to Congressional and regulatory approval,
would be a technical challenge because the Internet
has thousands of independent service providers, from
garage operations to giant corporations like American
Online, AT&T, Microsoft and Worldcom. The report does
not detail specific operational requirements,
locations for the centralized system or costs, people
who were briefed on the document said.
<<SNIP SNIP>>
Stewart Baker, a Washington lawyer who represents some
of the nation's largest Internet providers, said,
"Internet service providers are concerned about the
privacy implications of this as well as liability,"
since providing access to live feeds of network
activity could be interpreted as a wiretap or as the
"pen register" and "trap and trace" systems used on
phones without a judicial order. Mr. Baker said the
issue would need to be resolved before the proposal
could move forward. Tiffany Olson, the deputy chief
of staff for the President's Critical Infrastructure
Protection Board, said yesterday that the proposal,
which includes a national network operations center,
was still in flux. She said the proposed methods did
not necessarily require gathering data that would
allow monitoring at an individual user level.
<<SNIP SNIP>>
But Internet service providers argue that its
data-monitoring functions could be used to track the
activities of individuals using the network. An
official with a major data services company who has
been briefed on several aspects of the government's
plans said it was hard to see how such capabilities
could be provided to government without the potential
for real-time monitoring, even of individuals. "Part
of monitoring the Internet and doing real-time
analysis is to be able to track incidents while they
are occurring," the official said. The official
compared the system to Carnivore, the Internet wiretap
system used by the F.B.I., saying: "Am I analogizing
this to Carnivore? Absolutely. But in fact, it's 10
times worse. Carnivore was working on much smaller
feeds and could not scale. This is looking at the
whole Internet."
<<<My Comment<<<
I had heard about Echelon network but the Carnivore is
new to me. Has anyone heard about it ?
>>>>My Comment>>>
One former federal Internet security official
cautioned against drawing conclusions from the
information that is available so far about the
Securing Cyberspace report's conclusions.
<SNIP SNIP>
But at the other end of the spectrum of reaction,
Mr. Vatis warned, "You end up without technology that
could be very useful to combat terrorism, information
warfare or some other harmful act."
______________________________________________________
Sometimes I feel thankful that Indian bureaucracy is a
bit slow.
May the Great Gnu have mercy on your soul!
Regards
Raj Shekhar
________________________________________________________________________
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