USG pulls 'sensitive' info off net

Khoder bin Hakkin hakkin at sarin.com
Wed Oct 3 06:38:05 PDT 2001


Must've never heard of caching..

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-100301safe.story

Several federal agencies have removed sensitive documents and reports
from their Internet sites following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
saying they want to keep the information out of the wrong hands.

The Department of Transportation has removed its national mapping system
for a variety of pipelines. The Department of Health and Human Services
yanked a report on the dangers of chemical plant terrorism. The
Environmental Protection Agency pulled information on risk-management
programs, which inform communities of dangers from 15,000 chemical
plants and other industrial facilities nationwide.

The widespread editing illustrates how swiftly federal agencies have
switched gears following the attacks. Although community activists have
lobbied for years for more access to records about nuclear plants and
other facilities, agencies now fear that such access may put the public
at risk.

"Recent events have focused additional security concerns on critical
infrastructure systems," said a note posted online by the Office of
Pipeline Safety within the Transportation Department.

"At this time, [the office] is providing pipeline data to pipeline
operators and local, state and federal government officials only."

White House officials say they have not issued a blanket order to
federal agencies to remove sensitive documents from government Web
sites.

"We would only hear about these things if we were asked to advise on
them," said E. Floyd Kvamme, co-chairman of the President's Committee of
Advisors on Science and Technology.

However, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said his
agency is working closely with the White House and Department of Defense
to assure its Web site does not disclose potentially dangerous
information.

"We have been reviewing all the information on the Web site with an eye
to removing anything that might be helpful to potential terrorists,"
said NRC spokesman Breck Henderson. For instance, if the site contained
the exact geographic coordinates of a nuclear plant, that information
would be removed, he said.

"If we're a little overzealous in removing things, if there's something
on there you really want, give us a Freedom of Information Act request,"
Henderson said.

EPA emergency coordinator Jim Makris said he personally made the
decision to remove--at least temporarily--information about
risk-management plans submitted by industrial facilities as required by
1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act.

The Risk Management Program Web site gave detailed information about
15,000 facilities, including executive summaries, emergency plans,
accident histories and chemicals used on site. That data had been on the
Internet since late 1999.

"We just wanted to get it out of the way," Makris said. "We have made no
decision that it will stay off." The information is still available to
emergency managers, firefighters and others who need it, he said.

Web security experts say the steps taken by the agencies are only "half
measures," because the material could have been previously downloaded
and saved on users' hard drives. In addition, some of the reports are
still available in paper form, said Elias Levy, chief technology officer
for SecurityFocus, a security information company in San Mateo.

"If someone really wants to get it badly, as they're assuming possibly a
terrorist would, they still would be able to get it," Levy said. "You
simply have to jump through a lot of hoops. What they're going to end up
doing is discouraging the public from obtaining the information, not
necessarily discouraging the terrorists from doing so."

The Government Printing Office, which prints most government documents
and runs a chain of stores, has not been asked to pull any books or
reports, deputy general counsel Drew Spalding said.

But Transportation Department spokesman Lenny Alcivar said reviews
similar to the one being conducted by his agency are taking place
throughout the federal government.

"This is not meant to restrict information on the part of the public,
but more importantly to allow the department and the public the maximum
protections against security threats as it can," Alcivar said.

"It's important that government, across the board, do all that it can to
heighten safety measures while at the same time continue to be as open
and responsive to the public as possible."





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