[IP] Interior Department Goes Offline
Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 07:47:32 -0800
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[Note: This story represents just the tip of the iceberg of a very
troublesome and shameful episode of our government's continuing saga of
screwing Native Americans. If you take the time to dig into this tale,
you'll begin to wonder that if our government can persist in acting in
defiance of our own court system repeatedly, then what's to stop them from
screwing the rest of us as it sees fit. This sage gave me a whole new
perspective on the potential dangers of laws like the Patriot Act. DLH]
Interior Department Goes Offline Associated Press
Story location:<http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,62675,00.html>
02:49 PM Mar. 15, 2004 PT
WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Monday once again ordered the Interior
Department to pull the plug on most of its Internet connections, finding
that the department still hasn't fixed computer security problems that
could jeopardize millions of dollars in royalties for American Indians.
It is the third time that U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth has ordered
the systems to be disconnected to protect oil, gas, timber and grazing
royalties held in trust for the Indians.
"The interest of the 300,000-plus current beneficiaries of the individual
Indian trust outweigh the potential inconvenience of those parties that
would otherwise have access to Interior's Internet services," Lamberth wrote.
An Interior Department spokesman could not immediately comment on the
decisions.
The judge allowed all emergency systems, such as those that deal with law
enforcement or fire fighting, to remain connected. The National Park
Service and U.S. Geological Survey, and Interior's budget office, will also
remain connected, since they convinced the court that they have fixed their
lapses.
Lamberth said the move was necessary because the department refuses to
work with Special Master Alan Balaran to fix holes in the computer
security, which has been widely criticized in government reviews as being
deficient.
The department has accused Balaran of being biased. Lamberth denied the
department's request to remove him from the case.
The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 300,000
American Indian landowners. The department was assigned in 1887 to manage
royalties from lands held in trust for the Indians. But over time, the
lands were poorly managed and money was squandered, stolen or never collected.
The Indians sued in 1996, demanding an accounting that had been ordered
by Congress two years earlier. In 1999, Lamberth said the department must
account for the money and repair its management flaws.
Since then, however, the case has bogged down in court fights and
congressional maneuvering. Interior insists that just a few million dollars
are owed to the Indian landowners. The Indians' attorneys contend it is
likely tens of billions of dollars.
Lamberth first disconnected the systems in 2001, after Balaran determined
that even a novice hacker could penetrate the security and access data for
the Indian revenues. To prove his point, Balaran, working with the court,
repeatedly penetrated the system's security and set up a bogus account in
his name.
The move left the public unable to access information about popular
national parks and monuments and made it difficult for Interior agencies to
communicate with one another. Emergency services were allowed to remain
connected, and service was restored as gaps were fixed.
The judge ordered a second, limited shutdown last June, after the
department first resisted Balaran's oversight.
Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>
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