Troubles Plague Cyberspy Defense

[steven johnson]

Cybersecurity is important given the attacks mounted on Lithuania and Ukraine when there were conflicts with Moscow. Forewarned is forearmed.

The flagship system designed to protect the U.S. government's computer networks from cyberspies is being stymied by technical limitations and privacy concerns, according to current and former national-security officials.
The latest complete version of the system, known as Einstein, won't be fully installed for 18 months, according to current and former officials, seven years after it was first rolled out. This system doesn't protect networks from attack. It only raises the alarm after one has happened.

A more capable version has sparked privacy alarms, which could delay its rollout. Since the National Security Agency acknowledged eavesdropping on phone and Internet traffic without warrants in 2005, security programs have been dogged by privacy concerns. In the case of Einstein, AT&T Corp., which would test the system, has sought written approval from the Justice Department before it would agree to participate, people familiar with the matter say.

It will take 18 months to launch Einstein 2 across most of the government, a senior Homeland Security official said, and then 96 smaller agencies will follow. Plans are already under way for Einstein 3. As envisioned by the Bush administration, Einstein 3 would draw from an NSA program that automatically identifies and deflects security breaches, according to former officials familiar with the program.

This version has raised bigger privacy issues because the technology has the ability to read the content of emails and other messages sent over government systems as it scans for attacks. Mr. Obama's transition team flagged Einstein 3 as a potential privacy concern, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
When officials told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee about plans to use "active sensors," lawmakers balked because that sounded too much like spying, a senior intelligence official said, adding that the perception was incorrect.



Troubles Plague Cyberspy Defense