What Computer System Did the FBI Scrap?

On January 14, 2005, the news came out that FBI may scrap $170 million computer overhaul (Anderson, AP). My eyebrows went up at this news as two questions jumped out at me. First, what software was considering being dumped, and $170 million seemed like a very low price tag. Apparently I am not the only one left wondering.

On January 18th, also from the AP, we get the news that FBI Tosses Carnivore to the Dogs. Carnivore? Carnivore is (was) an email interceptor program whereby specific email accounts could be tapped and redirected. This program was developed "in house" as there wasn't adequate commercial software available. According to "outside experts", the estimated cost of that system was $6 to $15 million (AP report).

OK, we have jumped from an estimated $15 million cost to $170 million. But it gets more confusing as the FBI was purportedly working on a "paperless office" and "virtual case management" software. Neither of those is what Carnivore is reportedly for, but the two systems come up in the came reports time after time. Carnivore is a surveillance software - not an office or case management software.

You try an figure out the following:

FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said the bureau moved to popular commercial wiretap software because it was less expensive and had improved in its ability to copy e-mails and other communications of a targeted internet account without affecting other subscribers.

"We see the value in the commercially available software; we're using it more now and we're asking the internet service providers that have the capabilities to collect data in compliance with court orders," Bresson said.

The FBI said last week it was sending back to the drawing board its $170 million computer overhaul, which was intended to give agents and analysts an instantaneous and paperless way to manage criminal and terrorism cases.(FBI Tosses Carnivore to the Dogs)

A piece by Seth Ross at Securius.com - Carnivore, the Fourth Amendment, and You ((7/31/2000)- provides an interesting discussion of Carnivore and links to the Congressional testimony about it:

Here's a description from the Congressional testimony of Tom Perrine, of the San Diego Supercomputer Center, who claims to have seen a Carnivore system:

Physically, Carnivore is a personal computer with a network interface, and Zip or Jaz removable disk drive, running a version of the Microsoft Windows operating system, with the Carnivore software loaded. In order to use Carnivore, it must be physically attached to the network to be monitored. The Carnivore software has a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which presents the user with an easy-to-use way to describe the filters that are to be used in accepting (and recording) or rejecting network data seen by the system.

You can view all the Congressional testimony at http://www.house.gov/judiciary/con07241.htm
or read the sketchy details presented in the press:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2245549.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/438436.asp
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,37765,00.html

Even after the flood of words about the system, nobody outside the FBI really knows squat. Carnivore is a secret system. It may do only what the FBI says it does, more than the FBI says it does, or less than the FBI says it does. It may be the tightest security system on the planet, or it may be just as bug-ridden and vulnerable as other Internet systems. Without complete system details and an opportunity to review the system's source code, there's no way to verify that the system meets the explicit requirements of the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution

So is the FBI scrapping Carnivore or its paperless office and case management software, or both? It seems to me that a $170 million price tag doesn't make sense. If they are scrapping just Carnivore, then the cost should be significantly lower by a factor of 10. That leaves about $154 million in padded funds which, I guess, could be used for development of some other secret project. On the other hand, if they are scrapping the "paperless office" and "virtual case management" software, it seems the cost would be much higher than $170 million. It seems to me that there is some disinformation being floated here.

Not mentioned in any of the reports is one of the FBI's other computer surveillance packages Magic Lantern which is also a computer wire tapping program that captures all the keystrokes on a computer. Prior to Magic Lantern, the FBI was using the "Key Logger System," but it had to be physically installed on the target computer. Magic Lantern can be pushed onto systems via an internet connection.

The other nagging concern, is that the justification for the software development at the FBI was that adequate "commercial" software was not available. Apparently it is now available. According to the FBI spokesperson there is now "popular commercial wiretap software" software available. Who the heck is using it?

Posted by rowan at January 26, 2005 6:16 AM | TrackBack | [eMail this article!] |