[Infowarrior] - Idiotic USG solution to WL 'pollution'

[Richard Forno]

Feds Seek Computer Firewall to Block WikiLeaks 'Pollution'

Dec 20, 2010 – 3:22 PM
http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/20/feds-seek-computer-firewall-to-block-wikileaks-pollution/

Sharon Weinberger Contributor

Among the more striking aspects of the still unfolding WikiLeaks controversy are government demands that their workers -- and even federal contractors -- refrain from reading leaked classified documents, even though they are in the public domain.

Now, according to one network security company, the government wants to install a system that can block unclassified computers from accessing WikiLeaks documents no matter where they originate.

Fidelis Security, a Boston-based network security company that works with the military and other government agencies, says it's being asked to set up a firewall against WikiLeaks document traffic, regardless of whether it flows from a website, e-mail or other source.

Fidelis sells a network security system to federal agencies that is designed to prevent "data extrusion," or leaks, but it can also be used to prevent data -- in this case, classified documents released by WikiLeaks -- from coming into a network.

"The interesting twist by our customers is they now want it to be used on inbound traffic to prevent consumption of classified materials from WikiLeaks and other places," Kurt Bertone, the company's vice president and security strategist, told AOL News in an interview.

For government agencies, which have declared the WikiLeaks documents off limits, such software offers a potential solution to what Bertone calls "pollution" of the unclassified networks by classified documents leaked on the Internet.

At issue are the more than 250,000 leaked diplomatic cables -- many of them classified -- that are being posted on the Web by WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization. WikiLeaks has also released tens of thousands of military documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Those documents are also posted on a number of "mirror" WikiLeaks websites and are being re-posted by some news media and other independent outlets. "Once that classified information gets out into the wild, you don't know where it's going to come from, and it may come back into the network," Bertone said.

Fidelis software can be used to block e-mails, websites and other Internet traffic containing the WikiLeaks documents by using keyword searches.

Sponsored Links Bertone said that WikiLeaks presents a unique challenge for government because the leaked documents -- many of them classified -- are being re-posted on multiple websites, which is problematic if the government wants to prevent access to them. The Air Force, for example, has started blocking news media sites such as The New York Times that have re-posted some of the documents.

But Bertone said that the Air Force approach wouldn't prevent someone from being e-mailed a leaked document, or accessing a website that hasn't been specifically blocked by the Air Force. "This information is going over the entire Internet, and it's impossible to block access to every site that re-posts WikiLeaks cables," he said.

Bertone declined to name which government customers have asked Fidelis to block WikiLeaks documents, but the military is listed as one of the company's clients. A Pentagon spokesman was not immediately able to comment today on whether the Defense Department had requested Fidelis' help with blocking access to WikiLeaks cables.