[ISN] US oil platform watcher shuts net over Indian suit

From: InfoSec News (isnat_private)
Date: Wed Jul 02 2003 - 02:47:08 PDT

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    http://www.forbes.com/home_asia/newswire/2003/07/01/rtr1016532.html
    
    By Timothy Gardner
    Reuters
    07.01.03
    
    NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge has ordered the U.S. agency that
    monitors energy platforms in the Gulf of Mexico to shut down its
    Internet and email systems indefinitely to block hackers from $1
    billion in American Indian funds the agency manages.
    
    The Minerals Management Service (MMS), part of the U.S. Department of
    Interior (DOI), oversees offshore oil and gas production on some 4,000
    platforms in the U.S. Gulf.
    
    The shutdown has already hurt communications between energy companies,
    the government and the media. This week details about the production
    effects of Tropical Storm Bill, which hit the coast of Louisiana, were
    difficult to obtain.
    
    "This time, because it (Tropical Storm Bill) coincided with the
    temporary restraining order, we had a bit of a problem because the
    companies couldn't report to us like they usually do," said Nicolette
    Humphries, spokeswoman at MMS in Washington.
    
    The storm ultimately fizzled into a tropical depression on Tuesday and
    impacts on refineries in the Gulf were minimal.
    
    Last Friday, DOI Judge Royce Lamberth shut down many of the DOI's
    sites, including some MMS and Bureau of Land Management sites, when
    the government refused to allow a court-appointed computer expert
    hacker to test the measures in place to protect the American Indian
    money.
    
    It was the second time the judge has ordered such a shutdown to keep
    hackers from the fund. The last shutdown, which started in December
    2001, lasted more than four months, according to the MMS. This time
    the restraining order has knocked some 2,500 government workers
    offline, said a DOI spokesman.
    
    A spokeswoman at the Louisiana office of MMS said the agency was
    setting up a fax system to inform interested parties of storm impacts
    on energy systems in the U.S. Gulf, adding it would also try to pass
    on information via telephone.
    
    MMS collects and disburses revenues from federal and American Indian
    leases and manages the money in a trust fund.
    
    MMS also provides information on the status of the platforms, which
    becomes particularly important to energy markets when hurricanes and
    storms affect production in the Gulf.
    
    The restraining order came in connection with Cobell vs. Norton, a
    seven-year-old suit in which American Indian plaintiffs sough
    compensation from the government which they say squandered $137
    billion from the fund over the last century.
    
    
    
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