In the aftermath of 9/11 and with war in Iraq looming, much attention has focused on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), both for what it could have done (but didn't) and for what it should do now. As part of a special report on "Intelligence & Technology," IEEE Spectrum Senior Associate Editor Jean Kumagai details the agency's deficiencies and its attempts to make good. Chief among the improvements is Trilogy, the multi-million-dollar, multi-year effort to upgrade the agency's IT infrastructure. The "antiquated computer hardware and software" and lack of compatibility noted by the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security and various experts has hampered the FBI's ability to file, retrieve, and share information on U.S. crime and international terrorism. A billion-plus records are stored in many databases at dozens of sites.
At the same time, as the agency works to improve its data management, advocates for privacy and civil liberties are concerned that the FBI may learn--and act upon--more than it needs to know about innocent citizens. Research analysts and lawyers have expressed fears of a police state emerging from the network of information.
Another concern is that the FBI, even with a technological upgrade, will still not be the best agency to handle counterintelligence and counterterrorism. Senator Richard Shelby, who reviewed the U.S. intelligence community last December, concluded that "some kind of radical reform of the FBI is in order--indeed, is long overdue." All these aspects of the matter, along with a timeline of FBI gaffes and improvements, are covered in the April article.
RSS