A White House proposal for a massive federal computer surveillance system should be greeted with wariness if not alarm, says an editorial in Monday's Wall Street Journal, especially considering such breaches as the 900 confidential FBI files that ended up in the White House and the Cox Report survey of nuclear security breaches.
The Journal editorial bluntly says that protecting our information infrastructure is a certain priority, "(b)ut in the zeal to flush out cyberterrorism, it's important to protect the crucial balance" between stopping computer crime and preserving civil liberties.
"Ever worry about your boss reading your personal computer files or e-mail without your knowledge? Or how about someone secretly tracing your Internet travels? A new White House proposal could make such worries seem trifling," the Journal began.
The editorial appeared just three days after President Clinton signed an executive order creating a Cabinet-level work group to study whether existing laws are sufficient enough to police the Internet. The group will be headed by Attorney General Janet Reno.
The plan includes data traveling government and corporate computer networks - including areas like telecommunications, banking, and transportation - being monitored for intruders "or other anomalies" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other security agencies. But manufacturers and privacy advocates aren't buying the Clinton Administration's argument that these measures are required because "hostile powers and terrorists can now turn a laptop…into a potent weapon."
They're also not buying federal arguments that, as the Journal editorial phrases it, "strong encryption in the hands of criminals would hurt law enforcement efforts." The paper says the manufacturers and privacy advocates believe even the law abiding will be leery of "key recovery" schemes that usually compromise any encryption device's integrity.
"Just as businesses and individuals manage without Washington's help to protect their computer systems from virus scares…we're inclined to let them and the market determine proper encryption strength…On both encryption and the larger issue of computer surveillance, the Clinton Administration is essentially asking Americans to trust it to behave appropriately…
"But…(c)onsider what happened to the 900 individuals whose confidential FBI files ended up in the White house with the likes of Craig Livingstone," the editorial continues. "The Cox Report laid out breathtaking carelessness and incompetence with military secrets…Something more than bland reassurance is needed here."
