IP: [1] EPIC Obtains First Set of FBI Carnivore Documents: EPIC Alert 7.18

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>[1] EPIC Obtains First Set of FBI Carnivore Documents
>=======================================================================
>
>The Federal Bureau of Investigation released the first set of
>documents concerning its Carnivore Internet surveillance system on
>October 2.  The documents were released as a result of EPIC's Freedom
>of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI and Department of Justice
>(see EPIC Alert 7.15).  Of the 729 pages of material processed, nearly
>200 were withheld in full and another 400 were released with
>deletions.  The documents reveal the surveillance system's origins,
>contain discussions of interception of voice over IP, and describe
>various testing procedures.
>
>The newly-released documents confirm that Carnivore grew out of an
>earlier FBI project called "Omnivore" and reveal for the first time
>that Omnivore itself replaced an older surveillance tool.  The name of
>that earlier project has been blacked out of the documents, and
>remains classified.  In September 1998, the FBI's Data Intercept
>Technology Unit in Quantico, Virginia launched a project to migrate
>Omnivore from Sun's Solaris operating system to a Windows NT platform.
>"This will facilitate the miniaturization of the system and support a
>wide range of personal computer (PC) equipment," according to the
>project's Statement of Need.  The project was called "Phiple Troenix"
>and the resulting system was named "Carnivore."
>
>Phiple Troenix's estimated price tag of $800,000 included training for
>personnel at the Bureau's National Infrastructure Protection Center
>(NIPC).  The Omnivore project was formally closed down in June 1999,
>at a final cost of $900,000.
>
>Carnivore version 1.2 was released in September 1999; as of May
>2000, it was in version 1.3.4.  At that time it was subjected to an
>exhaustive series of carefully prescribed tests under variable
>conditions.  The results, according to an internal memo, were
>positive.  "Carnivore is remarkably tolerant of network aberration,
>such as speed change, data corruption and targeted smurf type
>attacks."
>
>An "Enhanced Carnivore" project began in November 1999 and is
>scheduled to conclude in January of next year, at a total cost of
>$650,000.  Some of the documents indicate that the Bureau plans to add
>more features to versions 2.0 and 3.0 of Carnivore, but the details
>have been mostly redacted.
>
>The next installment of Carnivore documents is scheduled to be
>released to EPIC in mid-November.
>
>EPIC has posted scanned images of selected documents at:
>
>      http://www.epic.org/privacy/carnivore/foia_documents.html