DATE=2/8/2000
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=A NEW SCANDAL HITS THE C-I-A
NUMBER=6-11672
BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-3335
CONTENT=
INTRO: Revelations that a former head of the Central
Intelligence Agency took home top-secret information
and placed it on his unsecured home computer are
causing embarrassment at the highest levels of the U-S
government.
The nation's daily newspapers have taken up the hue
and cry, wondering what ex-C-I-A boss John Deutch
could have been thinking. Editorial columns are
already expressing numerous opinions, mostly
unfavorable, and an investigation is underway. We get
a sampling of the comment now from ___________ in
today's U-S Opinion Roundup.
TEXT: The New York Times reports that former C-I-A
Director John Deutch possibly compromised some of this
country's top intelligence information. The paper
explains that during his tenure as head of the spy
agency, four years ago, Mr. Deutch loaded highly-
classified information from his agency computer onto
his home computers, without authorization.
The problem is that once he had contacted the
Internet, the worldwide computer network of
information sharing, enemy experts could have entered
his home computers and stolen the information. It was
also disclosed that during this period, about four
years ago, someone at Mr. Deutch's home was also using
the computers to view pornography, possibly making him
even more vulnerable to enemy influence.
The current C-I-A Director, George Tenet has revoked
Mr. Deutch's C-I-A security clearance and his Defense
Department credentials were put under review. Now a
professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
[M-I-T], Mr. Deutch also has been working as a
consultant on defense and intelligence matters. He
said today [Tuesday] he has not been using his Defense
Department security clearances, and he asked the
government to discontinue them.
We begin our sampling in South Carolina, where
Charleston's Post and Courier calls the incident "a
shocking lapse of security."
VOICE: Former C-I-A Director John Deutch and
his successor, George Tenet, should be called on
the carpet [disciplined] by Congress: Mr.
Deutch to explain why he violated elementary
security precautions in handling highly-
sensitive secrets, and Mr. Tenet to explain why
he let his predecessor off so lightly for this
lapse. The more we learn about it, the more the
Deutch case appears to have the familiar
hallmarks of the old-boy network at work. //
OPT // The C-I-A became aware in 1996 that its
director violated security regulations by
working at home ... on an Internet-connected
computer accessible by anyone with the necessary
knowledge. But it took no action until 1999,
when it suspended his security clearances.
Despite this action, the Pentagon continues to
allow Mr. Deutch to work as a consultant on
classified weapons projects, The Washington Post
reports. // END OPT // ... The nation will
probably never know whether Mr. Deutch, through
his carelessness, contributed to the recent
hemorrhage of national security secrets. ...
Congress should demand a thorough explanation.
TEXT: The San Francisco Examiner is one of several
papers that says this action by Mr. Deutch is
identical to what nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee is
accused of at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. And
it suggests Mr. Deutch's case will greatly hamper the
government in obtaining a conviction in the trial
against Mr. Lee.
VOICE: Wen Ho Lee is not thanking his lucky
stars as he sits in jail charged with
mishandling computerized nuclear secrets. ...
But he may be the lucky beneficiary of a "they-
all-do-it" defense in the further revelations of
C-I-A laxity toward a blatant security lapse by
former Director of Central Intelligence John
Deutch. ... The internal investigation of [Mr.]
Deutch began as he was leaving office ... when
C-I-A security experts discovered he had put
large amounts of secret material on ... home
computers that were also used to access the
Internet (including porn sites) along with
millions of other American Online customers.
...[Director] Tenet now claims the affair shows
the C-I-A can ... police itself. Tell that to
Wen Ho Lee, who can't get bail because he is
suspected of intent to give the nuclear weapons
data to China, though he is not charged with
espionage.
TEXT: In Utah, Salt Lake City's Deseret [pron: `DEZZ-
uh-`RETT] News is also pretty upset at both the agency
and its former director.
VOICE: Four years ago, the C-I-A was in
trouble. Its critics called it arrogant,
parochial and out of control. ... It was against
this backdrop than then-C-I-A director John
Deutch was loading up his home computer with
top-secret information and surfing the Internet.
Since news of this broke last week, few people
have sought to ascribe sinister motives to the
former director. Unfortunately for him, the
only other motive available is stupidity. ... In
almost any other line of work, an official could
feign ignorance. ... But the head of the C-I-A
has no such excuse. His is a business where
carelessness costs lives. ... // OPT // The
chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee
thinks that's enough to warrant bringing [Mr.]
Deutch in to explain under oath what happened.
That sounds like a good next move. No one knows
at this point whether any secrets were
compromised, but the former director ought to
explain why he was so careless. // END OPT //
TEXT: In the Midwest, The [Cleveland, Ohio] Plain
Dealer sounds equally exasperated as the other papers,
trying to fathom the potential security lapse.
VOICE: John Deutch, former director of the
Central Intelligence Agency, used to take his
work home, as many executives do. But then he
put it in computers that also were used to surf
the Internet. So it's possible that some 17-
thousand pages of Deutch's homework were
consumed ... by the Bear -- as in Russia. Or
China. Or any hacker clever enough to worm his
way into [Mr.] Deutch's three Apples [Apple
brand computers] ... What [Director] Deutch ...
apparently did not know is, the Internet is a
two-way street. Given the determination and the
resources, anyone can write a program that will
tiptoe into a computer through the open
connection of an Internet service provider, tour
the files, e-mail home what it wants, then erase
itself and its footprints -- all unknown to the
computer's owner. Did this happen? Nations
that are capable of building electronic bugs
into the woodwork of a State Department
conference room [a reference to a recently-
discovered Russian espionage action, including
just such a hidden microphone] would find it a
small challenge.
TEXT: Lastly, The Washington Post is critical of the
government, knowing what it did about Mr. Deutch,
still allowing him to retain his potentially-lucrative
Pentagon security clearance. (The editorial was
published before Mr. Deutch voluntarily surrendered
the last of his security clearances Tuesday.)
VOICE: Presenting the handling of his case in
public as a portrait of courageous leadership
also seems dishonest. It sends a bad enough
message to the many people responsible for
protecting classified information -- all of whom
are subject to stiff penalties for failing to be
cautious -- when the Director of Central
Intelligence has [stores] memos to the president
detailing covert actions on a home computer that
is used to surf the Internet. This message
grows immeasurably worse when that person, even
after his conduct is discovered, is permitted
continued access to classified information in
any form -- let alone in a form that enables
consulting opportunities. Secrets are either
important or they're not. Mr. Deutch has
conceded that there's no excuse for his
behavior. Why then has it been excused?
TEXT: On that indignant note, we conclude this
sampling of opinion on the recently-revealed security
lapse attributed to the former Central Intelligence
Agency Director John Deutch.
NEB/ANG/WTW
08-Feb-2000 15:41 PM EDT (08-Feb-2000 2041 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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