FROM THE ARCHIVE
Interior offers security plan
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2001 Admitting "significant deficiencies" in its protection of individual Indian trust data, the Department of Interior today offered a plan to put new security measures in place to ensure malicious users don't gain access to the accounts of 300,000 American Indians. But beyond offering to install firewalls and intrusion detective devices on its computer networks by January 31, 2002, the proposal didn't lay out a specific timeline for getting its information technology systems back up and running. The Interior only said it "intends to hire a qualified independent contractor to perform a system-by-system evaluation" of how it would ensure trust data is safe. Secretary of Interior Gale Norton has already hired Predictive Systems Inc., the same firm who broke into the Individual Indian Money (IIM) system with permission from a federal court, to help her with network permeter and intrusion software issues. The document submitted to U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth today does not identify if Predictive would be involved in the systems analysis. Nevertheless, the Interior has identified a number of areas in which heightened security measures would be in place. In response to Predictive's findings of weak, blank or no password protection on various machines and systems, the Interior says it has shut down all user accounts. The Interior says it reactivate only those users authorized for a particular system. The department also says it would require strict password compliance. With Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies and offices nationwide at a standstill due to the a shutdown that has extended through various agencies of the Interior, attorneys representing the Indian beneficiaries said Norton's offer was a "good first draft." "It's clear they put some thought into it," said Dennis Gingold. "I'd say it's a 60 percent chance we can get this resolved over the weekend." If all the issues are worked out, Lamberth might agree to a consent order that would lift the Internet shutdown he decreed on Wednesay night. In response to that action, Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb directed a massive network disconnect. Today on Indianz.Com:
DOI Shutdown: 'We're Hurting Tribes' (12/7)
From the top, a gamble in trust (12/7) Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://indiantrust.doi.gov
Office of the Special Trustee - http://www.ost.doi.gov
Trust Management Improvement Project - http://www.doi.gov/bia/trust/tmip.htm
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com Related Stories:
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