More than three years after the September 11 attacks, and $170-million later, the FBI has abandoned an attempt to upgrade its computer database, hampering America’s ability to track suspected terrorists.
FBI director Robert Mueller told Congress he took full responsibility for the failure of the project, known as the virtual case file (VCF). He also warned that the new project would take a further three years to complete.
”It’s my fault for not having put the appropriate persons in position to review that contract and assure that it was on track,” Mueller said. ”I am tremendously disappointed that we did not come through with virtual case file, but by the same token, I see this as an opportunity.”
He said the FBI would now start from scratch, and look for a more updated, flexible system using off-the-shelf software.
Frank Wolf, a Republican congressman who chairs the committee controlling the FBI purse-strings noted a previous failed upgrade attempt and urged Mueller to get it right this time. ”I really think it’s important that the bureau find the most knowledgeable people with regard to technology before you take the next step because they’ve kind of failed on two different occasions. And failure on the third one would be just devastating,” Wolf said.
At the time of the September 11 attacks, the FBI was struggling with the most antiquated computer systems in the United States. The operating system was three decades old, and most of the bureau’s field offices did not even have internet connections. For example, there was no way to transmit a digital photograph of a terrorist suspect.
The commission investigating the 9/11 attacks found that shortcomings in the FBI’s filing and archive system may have played a role in its failure to detect the al-Qaeda plot.
An FBI official said on Wednesday that the bureau had made significant progress since then, installing new computers and a new networking system. The virtual case file was supposed to be a third phase of that upgrade project, which would have allowed FBI agents to enter new information on a case into the system in a way that would make it available to other agents and analysts. ”At the moment, you have to print out a hard copy of a case and fax it or send it to another office,” the official said.
The collapse of the VCF project coincided with another embarrassment for the bureau. The FBI admitted its e-mail system had been compromised by computer hackers who had gained access to some internal documents, although officials said those did not include active cases.
The urgency underlying the FBI’s computer modernisation was emphasised by Mueller’s disclosure that ”special interest aliens”, people from countries where al-Qaeda is known to be active, have crossed into the US from Mexico using false identities.
The FBI director did not say how many people were suspected to have entered the US this way. He said one of the suspected routes went through Brazil, where people with Muslim names changed to Hispanic versions before travelling to Mexico and then the US border. However, Mueller said there was no evidence the infiltrators were al-Qaeda members, although they were citizens of countries where al-Qaeda have a significant presence. – Guardian Unlimited Â