[Infowarrior] - OpEd - InfraGard: An Unhealthy Government Alliance

[Richard Forno]

InfraGard: An Unhealthy Government Alliance
by Gary D. Barnett, February 22, 2008
http://www.fff.org/comment/com0802g.asp

There is an organization that is quietly and secretly becoming very large
and powerful. The FBI started this partnership or alliance between the
federal government and the private sector in 1996 in Cleveland with a few
select people. After September 11, 2001, when the general population
replaced their rationality with fear, this organization, called InfraGard,
continued growing, and with little notice. By 2005 more than 11,000 members
were involved, but as of today, according to the InfraGard website, there
are 23,682 members, including FBI personnel. At first glance, many would
think this alliance healthy and useful in the fight against ³terrorism,² but
upon further examination, one has to wonder.

InfraGard began as an alliance between the FBI and local businesses with the
objective of investigating cyber threats. Since that time, little
resemblance to that design exists. According to InfraGard¹s own website,

    InfraGard is an information sharing and analysis effort serving the
interests and combining the knowledge base of a wide range of members. At
its most basic level, InfraGard is a partnership between the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and the private sector. InfraGard is an association of
businesses, academic institutions, state and local law enforcement agencies,
and participants dedicated to sharing information and intelligence [emphasis
added] to prevent hostile acts against the United States.

Every InfraGard chapter has an FBI special agent coordinator attached to it,
and this FBI coordinator works closely with FBI headquarters in Washington,
D.C. Initially, while under the direction of the National Infrastructure
Protection Center (NIPC), the focus of InfraGard was cyberinfrastructure
protection, but things have gotten much more interesting since September 11,
2001. NIPC then expanded its efforts to include physical as well as
cyberthreats to critical infrastructures.

A progression is occurring, but it gets even more interesting as time
passes. In March 2003, NIPC was transferred to the Department of Homeland
Security which now has total responsibility for critical infrastructure
protection (CIP) matters. Part of the Department of Homeland Security¹s
mission is to facilitate InfraGard¹s continuing role in CIP activities and
to further develop InfraGard¹s ability to support the FBI¹s investigative
mission, especially as it pertains to counterterrorism and cyber crimes.

InfraGard¹s stated goal ³is to promote ongoing dialogue and timely
communications between members and the FBI.² Pay attention to this next
part:

    Infragard members gain access to information that enables them to
protect their assets and in turn give information to government that
facilitates its responsibilities to prevent and address terrorism and other
crimes. 

I take from this statement that there is a distinct tradeoff, a tradeoff not
available to the rest of us, whereby InfraGard members are privy to inside
information from government to protect themselves and their assets; in
return they give the government information it desires. This is done under
the auspices of preventing terrorism and other crimes. Of course, as usual,
³other crimes² is not defined, leaving us to guess just what information is
being transferred. Since these members of InfraGard are people in positions
of power in the ³private² sector, people who have access to a massive amount
of private information about the rest of us, just what information are they
divulging to government? Remember, they are getting valuable consideration
in the form of advance warnings and protection for their lives and assets
from government. This does not an honest partnership make; quite the
contrary.

In my article ³The New Crime of Thinking,² I criticized H.R.1955 and Senate
1959, which, if passed, will literally criminalize thought against
government. As usual, the exact type of thought is left undefined. This
vagueness in the thought-crime legislation together with the secrecy of
InfraGard makes for a dangerous combination. S.1959, if passed, will be
attached to the Homeland Security Act and InfraGard is already a part of the
Department of Homeland Security. This is not a coincidence. Under section
899b of S.1959 it is stated:

    Preventing the potential rise of self radicalized, unaffiliated
terrorists domestically cannot be easily accomplished solely through
traditional Federal intelligence or law enforcement efforts, and can benefit
from the incorporation of State and local efforts.

This appears to be a direct reference to the InfraGard program. Moreover, in
section 899c of S.1959 the new commission created after passage is to build
upon and bring together the work of other entities, and will establish, as
designated under 899d, a ³Center of Excellence.² This center will be
university-based, and is to study ³violent radicalization and homegrown
terrorism² in the United States. According to InfraGard¹s mission statement,
it is a group of businesses, academic institutions, state and local law
enforcement, and other participants dedicated to sharing information and
intelligence. Keep in mind that this new center will be, and InfraGard
already is, a part of the Department of Homeland Security. I¹m just
speculating, of course, but is it possible that InfraGard will be a domestic
police and spying arm for the government concerning ³thought crime²?

There is a definite and natural link here, and it should give us pause. The
definitions concerning thought crime are vague and unclear, left to the
interpretation of government only. InfraGard, on the other hand, is an
organization cloaked in secrecy. It holds secret meetings with the FBI. It
also, according to FBI Director Robert Mueller, shares information (what
information, we don¹t know) with the Secret Service and all government
agencies involved with security in the United States.

One question on InfraGard¹s application for membership is, Which critical
infrastructures does your organization belong to? Some choices listed are
defense, government, banking and finance, information and
telecommunications, postal and shipping, transportation, public health, and
energy. At least 350 of the Fortune 500 companies have representation in
InfraGard, this according to their website. These representatives have
access to most of our private records, including phone and Internet use,
health records, and banking and finance records. Considering the recent
attempts by President Bush and his administration to protect many
telecommunications companies and executives from prosecution for releasing
private information, how many of the top telecom executives are members of
InfraGard? I, for one, would be very interested in this information, but
alas, it is not public information; it is secret.

According to InfraGard¹s own policies and procedures,

    The interests of InfraGard must be protected whenever presented to
non-InfraGard members. Independent of the type of presentation, (interview,
brief, or published documentation) the InfraGard leadership and the local
FBI representative should be made aware of the upcoming presentation. The
InfraGard member and the FBI representative should agree on the theme of the
presentation. The identity of InfraGard members should be protected at all
times. 

This means that no one outside InfraGard is to know who is a member unless
previous approval has been given. In addition, when interviews with members
of the press are forthcoming, all questions should be submitted in writing
prior to the interview. The InfraGard leadership and the local FBI
representative should review the submitted questions, agree on the character
of the answers, and identify the appropriate person to be interviewed prior
to the interview. Even demeanor is addressed in this directive, and strict
guidelines for behavior are listed. You see, when I said secret, I wasn¹t
kidding.

The bottom line is this: This is an organization created by the FBI,
sanctioning individuals from the private business sector to provide
information, sensitive and private information, to government agencies for
special concessions. These concessions, or favors, according to an article
titled ³The FBI Deputizes Business,²in The Progressive magazine, include
advance warning on a secure portal about any threatening information related
to infrastructure disruption or terrorism. InfraGard notes as much on their
website by advertising for members ³access to an FBI secure communication
network complete with VPN encrypted website, webmail, listservs, message
boards and much more.² Also advertised: ³Learn time-sensitive,
infrastructure related security information from government sources such as
DHS [Department of Homeland Security] and the FBI.² Is this elitist group of
InfraGard members a group of Americans superior to the rest of us? Are they
truly privileged or just selling their souls for protection and favors? And
how involved will they be in watchdog activities, activities sanctioned by
the U.S. government? Is this a new kind of conscription by government meant
to increase its surveillance capabilities so that it can monitor our lives
even more than it does now?

Legislation, bureaucracies, and government/business partnerships created
since 9/11 have severely infringed our freedom. Almost all of the so-called
terror-protection legislation has been linked ‹ and in many cases it is
linked ‹ to increased government oversight of the rest of us. This is
evident concerning InfraGard and the Department of Homeland Security. If
this program is for the benefit of this country, why are the members¹ names
and their activities kept so secret? Why do some gain protection and early
warning while the rest of us do not? And what information and ³intelligence²
is being shared? Since these business members are fully protected by
government, how far will they go, and when will it be too late to stop this
secret assault by this behemoth we call government?

Gary D. Barnett is president of Barnett Financial Services, Inc., in
Lewistown, Montana. Send him email.