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| Gartner Advice to DOJ: Conduct an Open Review of Carnivore |
| STAMFORD, Conn., September 11,2000— The Carnivore Internet surveillance system is an online e-mail-tapping program that enables the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to gather evidence on suspects via their e-mail correspondence. According to Gartner Group, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB), industry review and testing of the Carnivore system has been hampered by restrictions that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has put on review procedures. A thorough independent review of the soon-to-be-renamed Carnivore system would identify bugs and shortcomings in the system and speed its effective use for the FBI, according to Gartner research. |
| "Like any surveillance tool, the responsible use of the technology depends on the security clearances and the procedures used by government officials," said John Pescatore, Gartner research director. "The technology itself, however, must be tested for security, accuracy and effectiveness before evidence derived from Carnivore can stand up in court." |
| Pescatore explains the situation by using wiretapping as an example. "If tapped telephone conversations could not be confirmed to originate from a specific phone number -- or could not be confirmed that the voice speaking on the tape belongs to a particular suspect or witness -- then the wiretapping technology would be useless to investigators. Carnivore must also support the concept of "minimization" and provide mechanisms to reduce the collection of information that is not directly indicated in the court order that authorizes the collection. To stand up to those tests, the integrity of Carnivore's e-mail surveillance system must withstand independent technological scrutiny before it can be accepted by the public and the courts." |
According to Gartner, the effectiveness of a proposed review of Carnivore was questionable last week when universities, invited by the DOJ to review the surveillance device, declined participation due to limitations placed on the review process by the DOJ. According to Gartner, an open review would accomplish the following for the DOJ:
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| According to Gartner's Pescatore, the current review restrictions placed on Carnivore prevent the DOJ from providing either of those assurances. |
| "Any downside of an open review — including limited exposure of source code — will be vastly outweighed by the increased security of the Carnivore tool and the increased public confidence in the ability of the DOJ to use it safely and effectively," continued Pescatore. "Carnivore has the potential to become an extremely powerful and positive force in crime investigation, but only if it can be introduced with the confidence of a thorough independent review backing it. As the NSA's experience with the Clipper Chip has shown, the potential downside to mishandling this situation is scrapping the technology altogether. The DOJ should take every step to avoid a similar public relations disaster." |
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| CONTACT: | |
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Allison Haines (203) 316-6216 E-mail allison.haines@gartner.com |
