--- Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 00:46:57 -0700 To: daveat_private, declanat_private From: Ross Stapleton-Gray <amicusat_private> Subject: "The Department of Homeland Security ate my dissertation..." In-Reply-To: <BB2EA677.3F55B%daveat_private> GMU grad student compiles extensive map of US fiber optic networks, starts people worrying: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23689-2003Jul7.html?nav=hptop_tb "He can click on a bank in Manhattan and see who has communication lines running into it and where. He can zoom in on Baltimore and find the choke point for trucking warehouses. He can drill into a cable trench between Kansas and Colorado and determine how to create the most havoc with a hedge clipper. Using mathematical formulas, he probes for critical links, trying to answer the question: "If I were Osama bin Laden, where would I want to attack?" In the background, he plays the Beastie Boys. For this, Gorman has become part of an expanding field of researchers whose work is coming under scrutiny for national security reasons. His story illustrates new ripples in the old tension between an open society and a secure society." ... Ross amicusat_private http://www.fuzzycloud.com --- Date: Wed, 09 Jul 2003 10:44:39 -0400 From: ERIC GUY <eguyat_private> Subject: Student dissertation to be suppressed in the name of "National Security"? To: declanat_private Declan, (pardon me if this has been sent twice - problems with my mail service) I am sure you have seen the Washington Post article about Sean Gorman's work on mapping the business and industrial infrastructure of the American economy, but it hit me hard that information that is "publicly available material he found on the Internet" should be suppressed. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23689-2003Jul7.html Some quotes: "Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined I'd be briefing government officials and private-sector CEOs." "Invariably, he said, they suggest his work be classified. 'Classify my dissertation? Crap. Does this mean I have to redo my PhD?' he said. 'They're worried about national security. I'm worried about getting my degree.'" "'He should turn it in to his professor, get his grade -- and then they both should burn it,' said Richard Clarke, who until recently was the White House cyberterrorism chief." "When Gorman and Schintler presented their findings to government officials, McCarthy recalled, they said, 'Pssh, let's scarf this up and classify it.' " "And when they presented them at a forum of chief information officers of the country's largest financial services companies ... the executives suggested that Gorman and Schintler not be allowed to leave the building with the laptop." "The university has imposed the security guidelines. It is trying to build a cooperative relationship with the Department of Homeland Security. Brenton Greene, director for infrastructure coordination at DHS, described the project as 'a cookbook of how to exploit the vulnerabilities of our nation's infrastructure.' He applauds Gorman's work, as long as he refrains from publishing details. 'We would recommend this not be openly distributed,' he said." This is frightening stuff, to find out that the government / industrial complex can come in and "suggest" that publicly available information be suppressed is just another step towards a repressive state. Couple this with what is happening with the DCMA and other such repressive legislation and it seems that we are heading away from a free and open society. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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