Forwarded From: William Knowles <erehwonat_private> House report faults DOE computer access by foreign nationals http://www.fcw.com/pubs/fcw/1999/0524/web-doe-5-25-99.html (Federal Computer Week) [5.25.99] A report issued today about theft of U.S. nuclear secrets by China concludes that the Energy Department has been too free in granting foreign nationals access to its supercomputers. The report, by the House Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns With the People's Republic of China, said DOE officials are required to review whether such access violates federal export controls. But the report also said lab officials "lack an essential understanding" of the export rules. The report cited interviews with Commerce Department officials who said they did not recall ever receiving a license application to "export" the technology from any of the labs. Although the systems or software are not physically exported, use of the technology by some foreign nationals is called a "deemed export" because sending the technology overseas would require a license. The report said the labs do not measure the power of their systems in such a way that they could determine which systems are subject to the export rules, and lab officials never asked Commerce how to determine if the DOE systems were subject to export control. The report also concluded that foreign graduate students and staff at U.S. universities who are conducting DOE-supported research have the same computer privileges as students who are U.S. citizens, even though some of the foreign students are affiliated with their countries' intelligence agencies. The report noted that DOE is preparing a counterintelligence plan that addresses these issues. -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: OSAll [www.aviary-mag.com]
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