Michael Riconosciuto, PROMIS

[Neil Johnson]

On Sun, 2004-12-05 at 20:58 -0500, Steve Thompson wrote:
> I've only read vague hints and rumours concerning its implicit design
> philosophy and architecture from the rare instances where it is mentioned
> at all.  Yes, he code is probably classified (blah, blah, blah), but its
> actual use must reveal its purpose and function to some degree.  And sure,
> we know that feds and other ne'er-do-wells have a bug up their ass about
> revealing sources and methods (unlike the public, who have no practical
> option in that regard) so any information that does leak is bound to be
> sketchy, but surely there must be _some_ accurate data available
> concerning its nature, especially considering the fact that it has been
> under development for two or three decades.

Yes, I have found that puzzling too.

Articles I have read refer to the original version being "in the public
domain". You'd think the source code would be "out there" somewhere.

The least "Tin Foil Hat (TM)" version of the story I found is at Wired

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.01/inslaw.html

Which gives this description:

"Designed as case-management software for federal prosecutors, PROMIS
has the ability to combine disparate databases, and to track people by
their involvement with the legal system. Hamilton and others now claim
that the DOJ has modified PROMIS to monitor intelligence operations,
agents and targets, instead of legal cases."

I find the claims made about this software (it's ability to reconcile
data from many different sources "automagically" ) pretty vague and
frankly, a little far fetched, based on what I know about software,
databases, etc.

(And that's not even including the "modifications" supposedly made to
install a TEMPEST back door in later versions).

-Neil