http://www.dotplanet.com/news/article.asp?aid=703146 University will examine Carnivore's teeth Thursday, August 10, 2000 12:04:39 PM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ By MICHAEL KIRKLAND WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- The Justice Department is moving swiftly to get an independent evaluation of the FBI's Carnivore e-mail intercept system, even as the system is denounced by congressional Republicans and civil libertarians as a threat to privacy on the Internet. The FBI points out that Carnivore cannot easily be abused because of the limitations of its source code, and it can only be used after a rigorous internal review and a court order - like any wiretap. But criticism continues, fairly or unfairly, as the bureau refuses to let outside critics have a look at the system's coding. The FBI says part of the Carnivore system comes from an unnamed private vendor, who doesn't want trade secrets revealed to competitors. Assistant Attorney General Steve Colgate heads the Justice Department's management division and will play a key role in deciding Carnivore's future. Colgate said Thursday that three U.S. universities have been contacted and at least six more will be approached over the next 10 days in an effort to find one institution to conduct the independent evaluation. "We have been very pleased with the response from the (university) community," Colgate said. Some institutions have even offered to do the evaluation for free, he added. After signing a non-disclosure agreement, university computer scientists will be given "full access to all aspects of Carnivore," Colgate said, including its source code. At her weekly news conference in the Justice Department, Attorney General Janet Reno said she is looking for a university "with expertise in the area" of computer security to conduct the evaluation. She will choose an institution "after consulting with the privacy and law enforcement communities," Reno said. As for timing, she added, "I hope we can do it quickly." Colgate said later that he expects Reno to choose an institution within two weeks. After its evaluation, the university will report to a Justice Department review board, which he will chair, Colgate said. The board will include a number of Justice Department officials, with FBI Laboratory Director Donald Kerr representing the bureau. After the university completes its evaluation and sends it to the review board, Colgate said, the report will be made available immediately for a period of public comment. Then the board will include those comments, along with the university's evaluation, in a final report to the attorney general. "My hope is that we will have this whole process wrapped up by Dec. 1," Colgate said, predicting that the final report should be on Reno's desk by that date -- a schedule considered "lightning speed" by government standards. So named because it looks for the "meat" in e-mails, Carnivore is only used when an Internet service provider cannot perform a court-ordered intercept on its own. The entire source code is contained in a single personal computer, which can be accessed into an ISP's data stream but is removed when a court order expires. The system does not hunt for categories or look at the content or the subject lines of e-mails. Instead it looks for an "authentication code" contained in "packets" zipping along an ISP's data stream that identify the e-mail of someone targeted by a court order. Carnivore reassembles the packets into a whole so that the e-mail can be read by the FBI. Any extraneous unassembled data picked up by Carnivore is discarded without being examined, Kerr explained to reporters last month. The whole process is electronically audited to prevent abuse, FBI scientists said. Carnivore intercepts have been used only a dozen times in criminal investigations over the last year, always on the order of a federal judge. A judge will only issue an order for a Carnivore intercept, or an ordinary phone wiretap for that matter, if the FBI can make a convincing case that a felony has been committed or is being committed. An unspecified number of court-ordered Carnivore intercepts have been used in national security investigations, but the number is not large, the FBI said. Colgate said Thursday that Carnivore will continue to operate while the evaluation process goes forward. -- -- Copyright 2000 by United Press International. All rights reserved. -- Make DotPlanet Home 08/10/2000 *** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Feel free to distribute widely but PLEASE acknowledge the source. *** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The end is in the means as the tree is in the seed. - Mahatma Ghandi ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Abraham Lincoln, letter to Wm. F. Elkins Nov. 21 1864 Arthur Shaw ed. The Lincoln Encyclopedia 40 {1950} "We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing it's end. It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood.........It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic, but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong it's reign by working on the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.angelfire.com/mi/smilinks/thirdeye.html <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
