[Infowarrior] - US-VISIT: We May Get Worms, But Our PR is Stellar

[Richard Forno]

US-VISIT: We May Get Worms, But Our PR is Stellar
http://blog.wired.com/27BStroke6/index.blog?entry_id=1477236

Homeland Security employees are likely tasking themselves with action items
following Kevin's piece on his Freedom of Information Act battle that led to
the revelation that the Zotob worm took down the nation's system for
registering and identifying visitors to the country, a system known as
US-VISIT.

At least, one should hope they are, given that the Department of Homeland
Security is paying PR giant Fleishman Hillard some $13 million a year to
scan the news for coverage of US-VISIT, ghost-write editorials, and educate
Americans and foreigners about the benefits of the program.

In all, US-VISIT may spend more than $70 million dollars over five years for
the services of Fleishman Hillard flacks.

According to the task order:

    As part of the overall plan, the contractor will provided daily media
scans of the coverage on US-VISIT and related DHS programs, analyze the
coverage for issues and actions, provide rapid-response counsel, draft press
related materials such as releases, letters-to-the-editor, opinion pieces,
etc.[¿]  The public education plan must continue to be targeted to reach
both domestic and international audiences.

The contract (.pdf), also obtained through a Freedom of Information Request,
covers 2005-2006, with the option to extend the work order for four more
years.

>From April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006, US-VISIT was obligated to pay $10,429,
241 for 30,000 hours of PR services.

That works out to $347 per hour of 'outreach services.'

That's a lot of money for PR for a system that only records exits from the
country at 12 airports and 2 seaports, is somehow vulnerable to internet
worms despite ostensibly being a closed network and which still doesn't
inter-operate with the FBI's fingerprint DB.

Just last week, Sen. Judd Gregg and Sen. Robert Byrd attached an amendment
to next year's Homeland Security funding bill that would, among other
things, provide $60 million to upgrade US-VISIT's fingerprint scanners.

Seems that the current ones only take two fingerprints, while criminal
databases contain 10.

That means that trying to check a visitor's prints against criminal records
works about as well as a state police officer sending the FBI close-ups of a
suspect's left and right eye and asking the agency to find a match against
the mugshot book.

That $60 million might not make it through Congress since the administration
has threatened to veto the spending bill if it comes in higher than $94.5
billion and the current version clocks in at nearly $109 billion, according
to Christian Beckner at Homeland Security Watch.

While the task order doesn't specifically task Fleishman Hillard with
responding to blog entries, the comments are open, even to messages crafted
by PR reps pulling down taxpayer dollars at the rate of $347 per hour.