Government Computer News
Problem sharing
Info-sharing efforts at DHS
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In this report
Excerpts from the Markle report
The network should reflect the fact that many key participants are not in the federal government, but rather in state and local government and the private sector. ...
To date ... the government is still a long way from the creation of the dynamic, distributed network for sharing an analysis that we envision. The sharing of terrorist-related information between relevant agencies at different levels of government has been only marginally improved in the last year, and remains haphazard and still overly dependent on the ad hoc “sneaker net” of personal relations among known colleagues. It is not the result of a carefully considered network architecture that optimizes the abilities of all of the players. …
The Department ... seems to be focused on building a new information-technology infrastructure to support and unify its 22 components. This is an important step, but one that should be grounded in a plan for the whole system.
Source: “Creating a Trusted Information Network for Homeland Security,” December 2003
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In this report
Problem sharing
Info-sharing efforts at DHS
The Terrorist Screening Center, an interagency group funded by the FBI but managed by DHS employee Donna A. Bucella, which is responsible for merging the government’s watch lists.
As the system operates now, police dispatchers can call the center to inquire how patrol officers should handle persons they encounter: Arrest them, gather information from them, or simply note their presence and release them. The TSC doesn’t expect to deploy an integrated online terrorist watch database until the end of the year.
The Terrorist Threat Integration Center, operated by the intelligence community with interagency participation primarily to monitor international terrorist threats and prepare briefings for the president.
The information sharing system of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center, known as TTIC Online, reaches 2,600 users at the top-secret level throughout the government with dozens of intelligence products. TTIC plans to field a secret system to expand its reach to more homeland security officials.
Northern Command headquarters, the Pentagon’s nerve center for domestic military operations aimed at curbing and responding to terrorist threats, which has its own IT resources similar to those of TTIC.
The Homeland Security Operations Center, DHS’ 24-hour watch center that operates with an interagency staff and takes responsibility for preparing for and responding to natural threats as well as terrorist incidents.
Information Sharing and Analysis Centers, 14 across the nation, are DHS’ means of coordinating infrastructure protection measures. Some ISACs, such as the three information and telecommunications centers, came into being following a 1998 presidential directive. Others, such as the Agriculture, Public Health, and Postal and Shipping ISACs, remain in the planning stages.
The mature ISACs operate databases that pinpoint infrastructure vulnerabilities. But according to the General Accounting Office, the ISACs face challenges such as the lack of full participation by private-sector institutions, low funding, an immature legal structure, corporate concerns about privacy and the sensitivity of commercial information.
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