Clips July 23, 2003

[Lillie Coney <lillie.coney@xxxxxxx>]

Clips July 23, 2003

ARTICLES

House Takes Aim at Patriot Act Secret Searches
Senate Rejects Bid to Boost Homeland Security Funding 
OPM rejects GAO recommendation to rebid jobs site contract 
Kinko's Case Highlights Internet Risks 
Firms Raced to Fix Internet Hardware Flaw 
Agencies under fire to assess privacy impact of federal actions 
Stamping Out Welfare Shame
Pentagon Wants to Make a New PAL  

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Reuters
House Takes Aim at Patriot Act Secret Searches
Tue Jul 22,10:09 PM ET
By Andrew Clark 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to roll back a key provision, which allows the government to conduct secret "sneak and peek" searches of private property, of a sweeping anti-terrorism law passed soon after the Sept. 11 attacks. 

   

The House voted 309-118 to attach the provision to a $37.9 billion bill funding the departments of Commerce, State and Justice. It would be the first change in the controversial USA Patriot Act since the law was enacted in October, 2001. 


The move would block the Justice Department (news - web sites) from using any funds to take advantage of the section of the act that allows it to secretly search the homes of suspects and only inform them later that a warrant had been issued to do so. 


Supporters of the change say that violates both the U.S. Constitution and the long-standing common law "knock and announce" principle -- which states the government cannot enter or search private property without first notifying the owner. 


"Not only does this provision allow the seizure of personal and business records without notification, but it also opens the door to nationwide search warrants and allowing the CIA (news - web sites) and NSA to operate domestically," said the amendment's sponsor, Idaho Republican Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter. 


The Justice Department recently told Congress that it had already executed 47 "sneak and peek" searches and had sought to delay notification of search warrants in a total of 250 cases, said Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich. 


"I would suggest to you that just one would constitute a threat to our Bill of Rights," he said. 


The Patriot Act, which granted broad new powers to U.S. law enforcers, was passed by Congress with little debate in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11 and signed into law by President Bush (news - web sites) just six weeks after the attacks. 


Since then, it has come under increasing criticism from lawmakers and civil liberties advocates from both ends of the political spectrum. The House is now expected to pass the broader spending bill on Wednesday. 


"Given its overwhelming passage this evening, the amendment is highly significant and a herald of more fix-Patriot measures to come," said Laura Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites)'s Washington legislative office. 


U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) -- who has become a lightning rod for concerns over the possible erosion of U.S. civil liberties -- defended the Patriot Act on Monday, saying criticism of it was based on exaggerations and falsehoods. 
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Washington Post
Senate Rejects Bid to Boost Homeland Security Funding 
By Helen Dewar
Wednesday, July 23, 2003; Page A07 


Senate Republicans yesterday turned back the first of several Democratic attempts to add to proposed spending for homeland security next year, ensuring the issue a role in the 2004 congressional elections.

A proposal by Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) to add $1.75 billion to the $29.3 billion appropriations bill for the new Department of Homeland Security was defeated on a largely party-line vote of 50 to 43 -- 17 votes short of the 60 needed under Senate rules because the proposal exceeded budget allocations.

But, just as they did last week in forcing a series of losing votes on initiatives challenging President Bush's Iraq policy, the Democrats were seeking to make a political point. They plan other, more narrowly targeted efforts to increase anti-terrorism spending. The Democrats' contention, disputed by Republicans, is that the administration and the GOP-controlled Congress are shortchanging the nation's domestic security needs.

Byrd's proposal sought to add $602 million for transit security; $729.5 million for police, firefighters and "first responders"; $238.5 million for border protections; $100 million to safeguard air cargo; and $80 million to protect chemical facilities.

Since Congress's initial $40 billion response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, "the momentum has slowed," Byrd told the Senate. "Homeland security initiatives are falling behind." He cited a recent Council of Foreign Relations task force report warning that local responders remain unprepared for a catastrophic attack. "The American people believe that we here in Washington are taking care of the problem," Byrd said. "We must not mislead them."

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), chairman of the new appropriations subcommittee for homeland security, said there is "no end to the list of ways we could spend additional funds on homeland security," noting that Congress has already pumped billions of dollars into security programs. He said spending is constrained by allocations imposed by the budget that Congress approved earlier this year and, in many cases, by practical limits on how much can be spent in a year. 

Meanwhile in the House last night, lawmakers debated the proposed $37.9 billion measure to finance the Commerce, Justice and State departments for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The bill would provide $4.6 billion for the FBI, $424 million more than for 2003, excluding extra or "supplemental" appropriations. 

The House voted overwhelmingly last night to roll back a key part of the USA Patriot Act that allows the government to conduct secret "sneak and peek" searches of private property, Reuters reported.

The House voted 309 to 118 to attach the provision to the $37.9 billion funding bill, Reuters reported. The move would block the Justice Department from using any funds to take advantage of the section of the act that allows it to secretly search the homes of suspects and only inform them later that a warrant had been issued to do so.

The "sneak and peak" provision "opens the door to nationwide search warrants and allowing the CIA and NSA to operate domestically," said the amendment's sponsor, Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter (R-Idaho), Reuters reported.

Staff writer Dan Morgan contributed to this report.
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Government Executive
July 22, 2003 
OPM rejects GAO recommendation to rebid jobs site contract 
By Tanya N. Ballard
tballard@xxxxxxxxxxx 

The Office of Personnel Management is ignoring a recommendation from the General Accounting Office to consider losing contractors? bids to redesign the federal jobs Web site. 


On Monday, OPM General Counsel Mark Robbins sent a letter to GAO announcing its decision to stick with the initial decision to award the contract to upgrade the site to Monster.com, despite the watchdog agency?s recommendation to rebid it. 


?When we put out the contract, we wanted to choose someone on a technical merits basis, not a cost basis,? Robbins said Tuesday. ?We wanted to make sure we had a partner on whom we can rely, and we are much more comfortable with the reliance factors with Monster.com.? 


The bidding imbroglio began in January when OPM awarded a 10-year, $62 million contract to Monster.com to upgrade the USAJOBS Web site (aimed at applicants seeking federal jobs), redesign Studentjobs.gov (aimed at college students and graduates seeking federal internships and jobs), and perform a number of other services.


Symplicity Corp., another bidder, protested the Monster.com contract award and in April GAO issued a decision recommending that OPM bid the contract again. OPM asked GAO to reconsider its recommendation, but GAO denied that request in May, saying in part that OPM did not evaluate bids on an equal basis. 


?OPM?s evaluation approach here created a situation where OPM was in effect comparing ?apples and oranges,? ? GAO said in its decision. 


According to Norm Enger, OPM?s e-government program director, when the contract was awarded in January, OPM was not required to suspend the project until GAO rendered its decision. But in the interim, Monster.com has delivered a multi-million dollar software product, Enger said. 


?We continued to work on the new Web site, and what?s happened is we?ve spent $4.8 million,? Enger said. ?This is an e-gov initiative, it?s part of the president?s management agenda and with that there are very, very tight timetables in making these initiatives operational.?


The large financial investment and firm schedule for implementing the Web site make rebidding the contract a costly option, Robbins said. 


?The General Accounting Office recommended that we reopen the bidding process and that really is not practical at this point because we do have the product that we want, and we paid for it,? Robbins said. ?We could go back to the very beginning and start all over, but it would be a waste of the $4.8 million.?


Agencies rarely choose to reject a GAO recommendation, according to that agency?s general counsel. 


?It is very unusual for agencies not to follow recommendations in bid protest decisions; they follow our recommendations something on the order of 98 percent of the time,? said Daniel Gordon, associate general counsel at GAO. 


But Robbins said OPM Director Kay Coles James brought in new procurement personnel to review the bidding process and asked the agency?s inspector general to weigh in on the situation before she chose to stay with Monster.com. 


?We?re not doing this out of spite for the system. We have all due respect for the system. But we have an obligation to the taxpayer and to the president and the administration to get this up and running as soon as possible,? Robbins said. 


Because OPM rejected the recommendation, GAO must now send a report detailing the protest and the recommendation to the House Government Reform and Appropriations committees and the Senate Governmental Affairs and Appropriations committees, Gordon said. 


House Government Reform Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., is ?deeply concerned? with OPM?s decision to disregard GAO's recommendation because it jeopardizes and taints the federal competitive acquisition system, according to spokesman David Marin.


?A flexible, responsive, and impartial competitive acquisition system is critical to the government's need to leverage the best services and goods the private sector has to offer at fair and reasonable prices,? Marin said Tuesday after a briefing by OPM officials. 


Marin said once the report is received, Davis will review the options and make a decision on how best to move forward. 


?Whatever decision is madespecial legislation, recission, or something else altogetherthe goal will be to protect the integrity of the federal procurement process, which OPM has sullied in this instance,? Marin said.


In the meantime, OPM plans to move forward and launch the new and improved Web site in the next few weeks. 


A Symplicity official expressed disappointment with OPM?s decision and said company officials were exploring other options. 
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Associated Press
Kinko's Case Highlights Internet Risks 
Tue Jul 22, 2:47 PM ET

By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer 

NEW YORK - For more than a year, unbeknownst to people who used Internet terminals at Kinko's stores in New York, Juju Jiang was recording what they typed, paying particular attention to their passwords.


Jiang had secretly installed, in at least 14 Kinko's stores, software that logs individual keystrokes. He captured more than 450 user names and passwords, using them to access and even open bank accounts online. 


The case, which led to a guilty plea earlier this month after Jiang was caught, highlights the risks and dangers of using public Internet terminals at cybercafes, libraries, airports and other establishments. 


"Use common sense when using any public terminal," warned Neel Mehta, research engineer at Internet Security Systems Inc. "For most day-to-day stuff like surfing the Web, you're probably all right, but for anything sensitive you should think twice." 


Jiang was caught when, according to court records, he used one of the stolen passwords to access a computer with GoToMyPC software, which lets individuals remotely access their own computers from elsewhere. 


The GoToMyPC subscriber was home at the time and suddenly saw the cursor on his computer move around the screen and files open as if by themselves. He then saw an account being opened in his name at an online payment transfer service. 


Jiang, who is awaiting sentencing, admitted installing Invisible KeyLogger Stealth software at Kinko's as early as Feb. 14, 2001. 


The software is one of several keystroke loggers available for businesses and parents to monitor their employees and children. The government even installed one such program to capture a password that the son of jailed mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo used to access files on his computer. 


Earlier this year, a former Boston College student pleaded guilty to using similar software on more than 100 computers around campus to collect passwords and other data to create a campus ID card for making purchases and entering buildings illegally, authorities say. 


Mehta said that while millions of individuals use public terminals without trouble, they should be cautious. 


"When you sit down at an Internet cafe, ask the owner or operator about the security measures in place," he said. "If they don't know or don't have anything in place, you could consider going somewhere else." 


Encrypting e-mail and Web sessions does nothing to combat keystroke loggers, which capture data before the scrambling occurs. But encryption can guard against network sniffers  software that can monitor e-mail messages, passwords and other traffic while it is in transit. 


Data cookies also contribute to the risk of identity theft. Cookies are files that help Web sites remember who you are so you won't have to keep logging on to a site. But unless you remember to log out, these files could let the next person using the public terminal to surf the Web as you. 


Furthermore, browsers typically record recent Web sites visited so users won't have to retype addresses. But such addresses often have usernames and other sensitive information embedded. 


Secure public terminals should by default have provisions for automatically flushing cookies and Web addresses when a customer leaves, Internet security experts say. 


Kinko's spokeswoman Maggie Thill said the company takes security seriously and believes it has "succeeded in making a similar attack extremely difficult in the future." She would not provide details, saying that to do so could make systems less secure. 


Nonetheless, Thill said customers have a responsibility to "protect their information as they would a credit card slip." She said the company is trying to educate them through signs and other warnings. 

   



At one Kinko's that authorities said Jiang targeted, a sign attached to individual $18-per-hour stations warns: "BE SAFE. PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION." 

Richard M. Smith, a security consultant in Cambridge, Mass., said customers could also use certain techniques to foil keystroke loggers. When typing in sensitive information, for instance, he suggests cutting and pasting individual characters from elsewhere to form the password. 

No keys depressed, no characters logged.
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Washington Post
Firms Raced to Fix Internet Hardware Flaw 
Vulnerability in Cisco Systems Routers Had Sparked Predictions of Major Internet Outages 
By Brian Krebs
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 22, 2003; 4:25 PM 


The Internet appears to have dodged a bullet over the weekend, as private firms and the U.S. government scrambled to plug a major security hole in the computer hardware that handles the majority of the world's Internet traffic.

Round-the-clock security upgrades were initiated across the globe last week in response to a Cisco Systems Inc. announcement that it had discovered a vulnerability in the software that operates its widely used router hardware. 

Security experts predicted Internet disruptions after it was revealed on Friday that anonymous hackers had posted online instructions for manipulating the Cisco vulnerability. Major outages were avoided, however, as network administrators worked overtime for several days to patch their systems and filter out potentially malicious Web traffic, experts said.

Few companies felt any impact from the security hole, aside from the inconvenience and extra cost of keeping IT staff on the clock for several extra hours this weekend, said Alfred Huger, senior director of engineering at Cupertino, Calif.-based Symantec Security Response.

"We saw some limited activity, but nothing alarming or any mass attacks," Huger said. 

The stakes last week were considerable for governments, corporations and everyday Internet users. Cisco's routers process and direct the largest slice of the world's Internet traffic. Routers are devices that forward Internet traffic between networks. When users send requests for Web pages, data or e-mail out to the Internet, routers are responsible for directing that information from the user's network to the destination, and back again. 

The Cisco vulnerability involved a flaw in the operating system running in its routers. Armed with a special sequence of malformed data, an attacker could have theoretically fooled the router into believing it was unable to handle any more Internet traffic, effectively causing it to crash. The most dangerous aspect of such an attack is that a vulnerable router could crash just by handling a particular sequence of data. 

Raj Dhingra, vice president of product management for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Network Associates, said if Internet users suffered any downtime as a result of the vulnerability, it was likely as a result of companies taking their networks down to fix them. 

"Quite a few of our customers were busy through the weekend just getting things patched and operating again," Dhingra said. 

Symantec's Huger said while there were attempts to exploit the security flaw, even users served by unpatched routers were probably not affected because most major ISPs installed data filters to search for and drop any traffic that appeared to fit the exploit's attack signature. 

"How long the ISPs will continue to do that is a good question, because these companies are bandwidth providers, and they're not particularly interested in becoming the next great firewall of China," he said. "It will be interesting to see what will happen when they stop."

While an attack leveraging the Cisco vulnerability could certainly have disrupted a good portion of the world's Internet traffic, that type of attack isn't all too appealing to the average malcontent hacker, said Alan Paller, research director for the SANS Institute, a Bethesda, Md. based security training group. 

"Hackers are far more interested in taking over other computers through worms and viruses and that kind of thing," Paller said. 

The coordinated effort to fix the Cisco vulnerability is how the Bush administration envisioned how the U.S. should protect its critical information infrastructure. In the national cybersecurity plan released in February, the White House said it was eschewing tough computer security mandates on private firms in favor of leading by example and fostering voluntary cooperative efforts.

Under that strategy, the newly created Department of Homeland Security has worked to build bridges with the private sector so that government and business can share information and coordinate responses.

"This partnership and cooperation between Cisco and the government is really the first time since this new division was launched where we could put that into practice," said Andrew Purdy, acting director of the Department of Homeland Security's new cybersecurity division. 
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Government Executive
July 22, 2003 
Agencies under fire to assess privacy impact of federal actions 
By Ted Leventhal, National Journal's Technology Daily 


Liberals and conservatives alike at a hearing Tuesday praised a measure that would require federal agencies to assess the privacy implications of any future rules and regulations.

After briefly extolling the provisions of the Defense of Privacy Act, witnesses, including past and present lawmakers and privacy and civil liberties advocates, moved on to more specific federal programs that they consider threats to privacy today. They called on lawmakers to hold hearings on technology's effect on existing privacy measures enacted in 1974the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

The Defense of Privacy Act, co-sponsored by Reps. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, and Jerold Nadler, D-N.Y., was introduced during the previous two Congresses, but never enacted. 

"We have seen attempt after attempt by federal agencies to implement ominous regulations that allow the government to invade the privacy of American citizens," Chabot said before the House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee. "From financial information to medical records, the federal government has sought access to highly sensitive information without regard to the privacy implications."

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, testified that Congress needed to strike a "delicate balance" between protecting citizens from terrorism and invading privacy, and said "rigorous and effective congressional oversight" is the best solution. 

Grassley said he was willing to give the Defense Department the benefit of the doubt on its controversial Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA) program, provided that an audit by the inspector general finds the program will be used for foreign intelligence purposes only and not "snooping around" in Americans' private records. 

Other witnesses said the privacy threat from TIA and other recent programs was more drastic, especially in light of federal agencies' use of commercial databases as a means of collecting information exempt from Privacy Act restrictions. 

"In the 1960s, we had scandals in which government agencies collected data on citizens involved in the anti-war and civil rights movements," said former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr, who sponsored the bill in the 107th Congress. 

"The extent to which information technology can collect and sort vast amounts of data underlies why we are here today," he said.

James Dempsey, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the FBI has achieved since 1992 a 9,600 percent increase in the use of proprietary commercial databases, ranging from credit reports, frequent shopper data and scuba diving certification records. It is unclear, Dempsey said, what guidelines, if any, apply to the FBI's use of this information. 

"Americans' right to privacy is in peril," said Laura Murphy, director of the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Individuals' personal information is being collected through an ever-expanding number of computer networks and being stored in formats that allow the data to be linked, transferred, shared and sold, often without consent or knowledge," she said. 

Barr, Dempsey and Murphy said they feared that new security databases, such as the Transportation Security Agency's CAPPS system and Defense's TIA, would become victims of "mission creep" and expanded into greater law enforcement programs absent significant congressional oversight. 
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Los Angeles Times
Stamping Out Welfare Shame
Debit cards, which will soon be used in L.A., eliminate embarrassment at the supermarket checkout counter.
By Catherine Saillant
July 20, 2003

Janine Paul learned to steel herself from the hard stares that came at the checkout counter once she pulled out her food stamps.

Some people would make a point of inspecting the items in her cart. Others would sigh loudly or impatiently tap a foot while waiting for her to count out the colored coupons. Worst of all, said Paul and her husband, Steve, was waiting for someone to make a snide remark.

But the Simi Valley couple, who rely on food stamps to help feed their four children, no longer fear embarrassment at the grocery store. Their "stamps" are now electronic debit cards. The Pauls simply slide the card through a magnetic reader, enter a PIN and move on, like everyone else.

"People aren't looking down their nose at you, making you feel unpleasant," said Steve Paul, 51, a carpenter who worked for the Air Force before becoming disabled. "You just glide right through. It's obvious when you have food stamps. This makes it un-obvious."

Forty-six states have made the move from paper vouchers to debit cards as required by the 1996 overhaul of federal welfare laws. California expects to complete its conversion in all 58 counties by the end of next year.

"Time and studies tell us the biggest challenge [in getting eligible people to apply] is the stigma associated with food stamps," said Bruce Wagstaff, deputy director of California's welfare-to-work division in Sacramento. 

So far, Riverside, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara and 15 other counties have made the switch. Los Angeles County, where 40% of the state's welfare population resides, will begin phasing out food stamps next month. Starting in South-Central and East Los Angeles, aid recipients will be able to use the cards to buy food at a variety of grocery stores.

Those receiving monthly welfare grants also will be able to use the cards to withdraw their cash benefits.

"I was actually on welfare for about five years, so I can definitely relate," said Haleemah Henderson, community development coordinator for Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, a Los Angeles nonprofit that is helping the county with the transition. "It's a common thing that when you have babies and all your food and you start pulling out food stamps, people will move to other lines. Or the checker will get on the store's loudspeaker and say, 'I need change for food stamps!'"

Eliminating that stigma was not at the top of the federal government's list of reasons for requiring states to convert to electronic systems. Congress and the Clinton administration were more concerned about reducing fraud in the $20-billion program, cutting administrative costs and making it easier for states to track benefits when recipients moved, officials say.

A report by the U.S. General Accounting Office last year found that the new system saves the federal government time and money because it eliminates the need to print, distribute and safeguard paper coupons, which are issued monthly. The plastic cards, by contrast, are issued just once and can be recharged. 

Some states, however, have reported higher costs to administer the new program. It's too early to say whether California will save money in the long run, state officials say.

Reducing food-stamp shame is another beneficial outcome, federal officials say.

"With these cards, people feel like everybody else. Like you and me," said Susan Acker, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food & Nutrition Service. "Unless you happen to know what your state's card looks like, you wouldn't know that it is a food-stamp card."

Food stamps were first distributed to poor families during the Depression. President Lyndon B. Johnson instituted the modern version in 1964 as part of his administration's wide-ranging efforts to attack poverty. Today, the program helps to feed 19 million people in 8.2 million American households.

 From the start, recipients have had to bear the social stigma associated with welfare dependency, officials say. They have often been viewed as either too lazy to work or as con artists trying to scam the government. 

But fraud in the program has never been widespread, Acker said. The vast majority of food-stamp recipients use them for about a year  and are subsisting at near-poverty levels. Half of those benefiting are children.

To qualify, recipients must have a net monthly income of less than $1,252 for a family of three. Most are working but don't make enough money to pay all of their bills, Acker said.

That is the case with Lawrence Sierra, 56, who works part time selling appliances at Sears in Riverside. Sierra's wife is mentally ill and cannot help out right now, he said.

Before Riverside County switched to cards, Sierra found shopping so humiliating that he did it at night to avoid the crowds. The demeaning comments from other shoppers got to him after awhile, said the 6-foot-2, 230-pound Vietnam veteran and father of two young children.

"People would want to know why we are using food stamps  'Why don't you work?'  that kind of thing," he said. "Anything to be negative You try to ignore it, but it hurts."

Riverside County switched to the electronic benefits system in May. The difference, Sierra said, was "like night and day."

"You slide the card through. You don't hold up the line," he said. "It's quicker, more efficient and less embarrassing."

For the Pauls, too, shopping has become a pleasurable family event. On a recent trip, the couple and three of their children roamed the aisles of their local Albertsons. The parents fended off most of their children's requests for junk food, filling their cart with vegetables and meats.

After stacking their items on the checkout counter, Janine slid her card through the payment machine. The card looks like a fancy credit card with a picture of California's coastline and the words "Golden State Advantage" on the front.

On her printed receipt, Janine could see that she was charged $47.74 for the day's purchase, leaving her food benefits account with a balance of $120.09. Within minutes, the family was finished and out the door. "Technology is an amazing thing, isn't it?" Steve Paul said as they drove off.

Welfare administrators say they hope the change will solve a chronic problem: aiding people who are eligible for food benefits but unwilling to sign up for them.

A campaign to reach out to those families and encourage them to apply was already underway, the USDA's Acker said. Nationally, only about 60% of those eligible apply, she said.

"We want to ensure that every eligible person receives food stamps, especially children," she said. "And we want to make sure that the people receive the benefits with dignity and respect."
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Wired News
Pentagon Wants to Make a New PAL  
02:00 AM Jul. 23, 2003 PT

The Pentagon is doling out $29 million to develop software-based secretaries that understand their bosses' habits and can carry out their wishes automatically. 

Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science will get $7 million to build a Perceptive Assistant that Learns, or PAL, a kind of digital flunky that can schedule meetings, maintain websites and reply to routine e-mail on its own. A total of $22 million is going to SRI International, Dejima and a coalition of other researchers for the construction of a wartime PAL.

The efforts could make leaders in the boardroom and on the battlefield more efficient, says the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa. But some defense analysts are finding it hard to see the military value in such a system. 

Digital assistants have been a Darpa focus of late. The controversial, all-encompassing LifeLog project is also supposed to lead to the construction of a computerized helper. LifeLog's goal is to digitally capture and categorize every aspect of people's lives, from the TV shows they watch to the places they visit. The more information the assistant has about its boss, the argument goes, the more useful it can be. 

"The idea is to develop a system that will adapt to the user, instead of the other way around," said Antoine Blondeau, president of Dejima, a software development firm in San Jose, California, that is working on the PAL effort. 

According to Darpa spokeswoman Jan Walker, PAL originally was thought of as an office assistant, to set up meetings, handle correspondence and help write quarterly reports. Commercial software -- e-mail and scheduling programs, for example -- will be adapted for PAL purposes. To these will be added modules that will train the software to its user's preferences and components that will decide when to interrupt the boss with questions. 

The program "must respond to specific instructions -- i.e., 'Notify me as soon as the new budget numbers arrive by e-mail' -- without the need for reprogramming," Carnegie Mellon computer scientist Scott Fahlman said in a statement. 

"The point is to do all of the things a human assistant would do. If a meeting gets canceled, it would notify the appropriate people, de-schedule a (conference) room, maybe change your trip schedule. If you turned down another invitation because you were busy with this meeting, it might remind you of that," said artificial-intelligence authority -- and longtime Darpa contractor -- Doug Lenat. He's not directly associated with the PAL project, but Lenat is bidding on the LifeLog program. 

To Steven Aftergood, a defense analyst with the Federation of American Scientists, the PAL program does little to help the Pentagon in its mission to combat America's adversaries. 

"Darpa obviously takes a very broad view of its charter. Organizing e-mail? Allocating office space? These are to Darpa's mission what Tang is to the space program," he wrote in an e-mail. 

Agency representative Walker disagreed. A headquarters commander "has a large staff that supports him -- finding information, sorting through it, collating it and advising him," she said. 

Once fully implemented, a PAL could "cut down on the number of staff in a command center," she continued. "And that could make the command center smaller, more mobile and, therefore, less vulnerable." 

GlobalSecurity.org director John Pike -- a critic of many Darpa projects, including LifeLog -- sees a second possible use for the digital assistant. 

The Army has a doctrine, or battlefield rules, for just about any combat situation one can imagine, Pike noted. And soldiers are supposed to follow those tenets strictly. 

"But you look at all those field manuals they got, and, jeez Louise, there's no way anyone could memorize all that," he said. 

"This could be the little man whispering in your ear, telling you what to do next."
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