SECURITY MEANS STRONGER INTERNET, NOT SEPARATE INTRANET, SOME SAY
Office of Homeland Security’s proposal for GovNet has prompted interest from many key players in Internet and telecom arenas. More than 160 companies and one public interest group responded to request for information (RFI) issued by General Services Administration (GSA). Responses are being treated as proprietary information at request of companies, GSA spokesman said. However, he said, more information about submissions could be released in early Jan. GovNet project envisions “corporate intranet” on air-gapped network that federal agencies could use in addition to their existing Internet connectivity. RFI also asked industry to propose better ways of securing critical classes of internal govt. information from viruses and other outside attacks.
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WorldCom provided a “variety of solutions” to Bush Administration’s overall goals, from completely separate network to one that would run on current network structure but with added security features, company spokeswoman said. There’s more to network security than just having separate network, she said. Intranets can fall prey to viruses and hacking, which often begin internally, she said. And creating separate, safe Net also involves putting in place protocols setting out who’s allowed to use system, whether discs are allowed and so forth, she said. WorldCom has been working for several years with govt. agencies that already have intranets, such as Dept. of Defense and U.S. Postal Service, spokeswoman said.
Sprint’s response offered “at least 4 alternatives” that vary according to security level, scalability and cost, spokesman told us. Some ideas are “quite proprietary,” he said, while others could be put in place immediately under current Federal Technology Service contract (that qualifies Sprint and WorldCom to sell technologies to federal agencies).
Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications spokesman confirmed that company had responded to RFI. Anticipating that GovNet would rely heavily on fiber connectivity, he said, the company’s submission outlined “secure satellite alternative” that would complement fiber network.
VeriSign’s submission was aimed at “larger philosophic” questions of not only what shape GovNet should take but whether system outlined in RFI made sense in light of changing govt. security needs after Sept. 11, Public Policy Dir. Michael Aisenberg told us. While VeriSign’s network security business clearly would be of interest to other bidders as member of team, he said, company also wanted to highlight what it saw as problems with RFI, and to encourage govt. to think outside box. VeriSign makes business of giving its customers online security without removing them from Internet, Aisenberg said, and security govt. seeks could be achieved on Internet with “heavy security features.”
Doing GovNet right means maintaining “delicate balance” between security and public access to information, Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) Assoc. Dir. Ari Schwartz said. He cautioned that creating separate intranet would drain resources needed to strengthen existing Internet. CDT is concerned about GovNet as proposed, he said, because it wasn’t clear how it would ensure access to public information, given that system for obtaining govt. information (under the electronic Freedom of Information Act) doesn’t work all that well now. Moreover, he said, if govt. spends its limited dollars on GovNet, and intranet doesn’t prove secure, govt. will have wasted resources on something with “tremendous pitfalls.”