Will the Feds succeed in keeping hackers out of Intellipedia?
The U.S. intelligence community on Tuesday
unveiled its own secretive version of Wikipedia, saying the popular online
encyclopedia format known for its openness is key to the future of American
espionage.
The U.S. intelligence community on Tuesday unveiled its own secretive version of Wikipedia, saying the popular online encyclopedia format known for its openness is key to the future of American espionage.
The office of U.S. intelligence czar John Negroponte announced Intellipedia, which allows intelligence analysts and other officials to collaboratively add and edit content on the government’s classified Intelink Web much like its more famous namesake on the World Wide Web.
A “top secret” Intellipedia system, currently available to the 16 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community, has grown to more than 28,000 pages and 3,600 registered users since its introduction on April 17. Less restrictive versions exist for “secret” and “sensitive but unclassified” material.
But the system, which makes data available to thousands of users who would not see it otherwise, has also stirred qualms about potential security lapses following the recent media leak of a national intelligence estimate that caused a political uproar by identifying Iraq as a contributor to the growth of global terrorism.
“We’re taking a risk,” acknowledged Michael Wertheimer, the intelligence community’s chief technical officer. “There’s a risk it’s going to show up in the media, that it’ll be leaked.”
Of course, the evocative remark is Wertheimer worrying about American citizens learning what intelligence [sic] experts really tell the hacks in the White House and Congress. No fear — otherwise!
On the other hand, this could be the biggest honeypot ever constructed.
Posted: Wed - November 1, 2006 at 04:02 PM