Wednesday
Apr232008
Who is watching the watchers?
Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 11:45AM
The question before us today, is if the Federal Bureau is using its resources wisely and appropriately. At the House Judiciary Committee FBI Oversight Full Committee hearing on the FBI, Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) said there are serious concerns about the FBI wiretapping the voices of Members of Congress during the investigation into Congressman Renzi, and the point, he said, is that surveillance “of this nature” by necessity, raises serious constitutional questions- most notably the speech and debate clause. Can any member of Congress get their office broken into, he asked, and can any member of Congress have their phones tapped?
Although the terrorist threat seems as if it disappeared, Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX) said, it is easy to become complacent about the need for intelligence gathering. But FISA is outdated, and Congress has no greater responsibility than to enact long-term, common sense legislation to modernize FISA. However, he said, we cannot lose sight of the FBI’s traditional crime-fighting responsibilities.
Congressman Gohmert (R-TX) quoted King David from the Bible, saying that without adequate accountability, there is a tendency to abuse power. The three sections of government were created that way to avoid the abuse of power, and who has the authority, he asked, to wiretap the FBI? Who, he said, is watching you?
FBI Director Robert Mueller testified that the cyber threat, and the intersection of home-grown extremists using the internet, is one of our greatest threats. Public corruption remains the FBI’s top priority, and he pointed out that the search of Congressional Offices is all done using legal resources, and under a search warrant.
There were quite a few questions on different topics, one of which was about child pornography. Director Mueller said the FBI is looking into the ability to record ISP addresses and keep a database in order to keep track of the perpetrators. Also brought forward was mortgage fraud, and Mueller said there are intense efforts being done within the FBI to investigate it.
Of a major concern was the resources the FBI would need to close “the wide open door” threats that are caused by the accessibility of the internet. Mueller said part of it is giving partial security to the net, and so last year they started a National Cyber task force, including DOD, NSA, and others, to address individual hackers and government hackers.
Although the terrorist threat seems as if it disappeared, Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX) said, it is easy to become complacent about the need for intelligence gathering. But FISA is outdated, and Congress has no greater responsibility than to enact long-term, common sense legislation to modernize FISA. However, he said, we cannot lose sight of the FBI’s traditional crime-fighting responsibilities.
Congressman Gohmert (R-TX) quoted King David from the Bible, saying that without adequate accountability, there is a tendency to abuse power. The three sections of government were created that way to avoid the abuse of power, and who has the authority, he asked, to wiretap the FBI? Who, he said, is watching you?
FBI Director Robert Mueller testified that the cyber threat, and the intersection of home-grown extremists using the internet, is one of our greatest threats. Public corruption remains the FBI’s top priority, and he pointed out that the search of Congressional Offices is all done using legal resources, and under a search warrant.
There were quite a few questions on different topics, one of which was about child pornography. Director Mueller said the FBI is looking into the ability to record ISP addresses and keep a database in order to keep track of the perpetrators. Also brought forward was mortgage fraud, and Mueller said there are intense efforts being done within the FBI to investigate it.
Of a major concern was the resources the FBI would need to close “the wide open door” threats that are caused by the accessibility of the internet. Mueller said part of it is giving partial security to the net, and so last year they started a National Cyber task force, including DOD, NSA, and others, to address individual hackers and government hackers.
Security Expert Warns That Hackers Could Destroy U.S. Money Supply
The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. held a conference Friday calling for more public and private participation to stop internet "hackers."
At the conference, former U.S. director of the National Intelligence organization Mike McConnell said that internet hacking isn't a laughing matter, that instead, hacking could have a global effect.
"I'm not worried about someone, some hacker, turning off your refrigerator and spoiling tomorrow night's dinner," McConnell said. "I'm worried about some terrorist group that has the capability to attack the U.S. money supply."
McConnell said "destroying data, not stealing data" could have worldwide effects because it could contaminate the country's accounting system.
McConnell and other experts said public support through increased firewall use and knowledge about hacking could help decrease the number of "hack jobs" in the country.
James Lewis, director of the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, added that hacking includes spying. He said in the United States, like it or not, spying is a part of people's everyday internet use.
Lewis noted that current proposed legislation aims to provide more internet protections, but said as of now, spying and a weak U.S. defense toward hacking are "a big problem."
Controls such as Sen. John Rockefeller's (D-W.V.) proposed cyber security bill S.773 has drawn some support for its safety measures, but many people believe the potential of decreased internet access as granted by the President is a step too far.