CSC 352 – Discussion Topics: Some Effects of September 11
1. National
Identity System
Focus: what questions should we ask in the process of determining whether or not to proceed towards adoption or rejection?
How would you describe consideration of a national identity system to a friend or family member?
National Research Council, “IDs—Not That Easy: Questions about Nationwide Identity Systems,” http://books.nap.edu/html/id_questions/notice.html
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, “National Identification Schemes (NIDS) and the Fight Against Terrorism: Frequently Asked Questions,” 11/27/01, http://www.cpsr.org/program/natlID/natlIDfaq.html
Cherry, Steven M. “Security, Fear, and National ID Cards.” Nov 1, 2001. IEEE Spectrum Online. www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/special/sept01/idcards.html
Electronic Privacy Information Center, “Your Papers, Please: From the State Drivers License to a National Identification System,” Feb. 2002, www.epic.org/privacy/id_cards/yourpapersplease.pdf
For further reading:
Sobel, Richard. “The Degradation of Political Identity Under a National Identification System, Harvard Journal of Law & Technology, Spring, 2002, http://www.bu.edu/law/scitech/volume8/Sobel.pdf
2. Biometric
Systems
Focus: Can/how can biometric systems provide better security in the US?
Facial recognition systems have been tested at Logan Airport and at the Statue of Liberty this summer. Do these systems work?
Schneier, Bruce. “Biometrics in airports,” page 5+ of Crypto-Gram Newsletter, 9/30/01, www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0109a.html
Agre, Phil. “Your face is not a bar-code: Arguments against automatic face recognition in public places,” version of 6/2/02, http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/bar-code.html
Kilgannon, Corey. “Cameras to Seek Faces of Terror in Visitors to the Statue of Liberty,” 5/25/02, www.nytimes.com/2002/05/25/nyregion/25CAME.html
Bray, Hiawatha. “Reliability of face-scan technology in dispute,” 8/5/02, Boston Globe (available on Lexis-Nexis through La Salle’s library)
Not facial recognition, but a new biometric technology described as “brain fingerprinting”: Guevin, Laura. “Picking your brain in the name of security.” August 16, 2002. www.tmcnet.com/tmcnet/columns/laura081602.htm
3. Vulnerability of US computer systems (including Internet, government, and critical infrastructure) to attack
Focus: Weaknesses/vulnerabilities
What can be done to protect?
Vatis, Michael, Director of Institute for Security Technology Studies, Dartmouth College, to House subcommittee, “Cyber terrorism: the state of US preparedness,” 9/26/01, http://www.ists.dartmouth.edu/ISTS/counterterrorism/preparedness.htm
Cyber Protests: The Threat to the US Information Infrastructure, Oct 2001, NIPC, http://www.nipc.gov/cyberprotests.pdf
National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC): www.nipc.gov/
Schwartz, John. “Securing the lines of a wired nation,” 10/4/01, www.nytimes.com/2001/10/04/technology/circuits/04SECU.html
O’Harrow, Robert. “Key US computer systems called vulnerable to attack,” 9/27/01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32105-2001Sep26.html
Jones, Jennifer, et al, “Feds make cyberassets protection a priority,” 10/12/01, http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/10/15/011015hngovreact.xml
Not directly related to critical infrastructure protection, bur rather focuses on the risks of disinformation: Knight, Will. “Hacker rewrites Yahoo! news stories,” 9/20/01, http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991329
From the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), 7 tips for protecting small business and home computer users: http://www.nipc.gov/warnings/computertips.htm
4. Access to
Government Information
Focus: What are the pros and the cons of restricting access to government information as has taken place since September 11?
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack, how can we balance the public’s right to know with the nation’s security?
Tien, Lee. “Access to Information after 9/11," presented at the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference in April, 2002, www.cfp2002.org/proceedings/proceedings/tien.pdf
OMB Watch. "Access to Government Information Post September 11th, " 2/1/02, www.ombwatch.org/article/articleprint/213/-1/1/
Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy, http://www.fas.org/sgp/index.html Follow link to Secrecy
Center for Democracy and Technology’s page on Access to Government Information at http://www.cdt.org/righttoknow/
Toner, Robin. “Government Clamps Down on Agency Web Sites,” 10/28/01, http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/28/national/28INFO.html
Cha, Ariana. “Risks Prompt US to Limit Access to Data,” 2/24/02, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/A58430-2002Feb23.html
Focus: What are some specific civil liberties concerns in the Patriot Act?
EFF Analysis of the Provisions of the USA Patriot Act, 10/31/01, http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism_militias/20011031_eff_usa_patriot_analysis.html
Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) page on the USA Patriot Act at http://www.cdt.org/security/010911response.shtml
Heymann, Philip. “Civil liberties and human rights in the aftermath of September 11,” Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Spring 2002, available on Proquest through La Salle’s library online.
Schneier, Bruce. “Protecting privacy and liberty,” page 14+ of Crypto-Gram Newsletter, 9/30/01, www.counterpane.com/crypto-gram-0109a.html
McCullagh, Declan. “Why liberty suffers in wartime,” 9/24/01, www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,47051,00.html