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NATIONAL CENTER FOR POLICY ANALYSIS
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| Suggestions to Turn U.S. Technology Against Terrorists |
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To identify potential terrorists and apprehend them before they can strike, the U.S. must enable federal computers to talk with each other -- and then with those in the private sector, technical analysts say.
- Smart computers must be able to sift through millions of data points to help flag terror cells -- reducing the burden on human analysts.
- Civilian firms do something similar each day when they screen for credit card fraud and search for deadbeats.
- Fragmented computer systems at agencies such as the CIA, FBI and the INS must start sharing information with each other -- along with the civilian databases that contain the electronic footprints of terrorists.
- Technology experts say a process to merge the systems using current technology could be rolled out within six months.
Advocates of this approach say that techies in the private sector -- who wouldn't have been caught dead working for the federal government prior to Sept. 11 -- are raring to go. And many technology vendors -- such as Hewlett-Packard, Oracle and IBM already have indicated their willingness to donate services and equipment to the cause.
Source: James Shinn (Princeton), "Enlist Techies in the War on Terrorism," Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2002.
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Copyright © 2002 National Center for Policy Analysis - All rights reserved.
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