Fatal flaws found in terrorism database

One of the country's most important terrorism databases is on the verge of failure after suffering from gross mismanagement and technical design flaws that went ignored for months, a congressional investigation found.

A congressional committee on Thursday called for an investigation into a program called "Railhead," which was supposed to upgrade the National Counterterrorism Center's integrated terrorist intelligence database, called Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE). The database serves the United States' 16 separate intelligence agencies, and as of January, contained more than 500,000 names (PDF), according to the NCTC. The program has cost an estimated $500 million.

Railhead was also meant to improve TIDE Online, an unclassified version of the TIDE database, and NCTC Online, a classified database of terrorist information and intelligence reports available to counterterrorism analysts.

However, officials at the NCTC began making drastic changes to the Railhead program in recent weeks, according to the House Science and Technology Committee, including laying off hundreds of private contractors working on the program. The number of contractors has shrunk from more than 800 to just a few dozen. The state of the program is now in jeopardy.

Representative Brad Miller, chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee's Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee, sent a letter (PDF) Thursday to the Inspector General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence requesting an investigation into Railhead's near-collapse.

"Potentially hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted, delivery schedules have slipped, contractor employees have been laid off," he wrote. "The end result is a current IT system used to identify terrorist threats that has been crippled by technical flaws and a new system that if actually deployed will leave our country more vulnerable than the existing yet flawed system in operation today."

Miller noted the problems with TIDE and Railhead stem from "fundamental design flaws," namely their reliance on Structured Query Language (SQL) to search the database. SQL is a computer code that uses sentence structures to conduct queries, as opposed to using text-based searches, like search engines such as Google do.

Due to faulty searches, tens of thousands of CIA messages to the NCTC have not been properly processed or reviewed, or may not have even reached the TIDE database.

On top of that, the TIDE database has reportedly crashed several times in recent months, delaying the delivery of updated terrorist intelligence data to the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center.

While TIDE already has problems, Railhead appears to just exacerbate them: The Railhead initiative would significantly downgrade the NCTC Online's capabilities by preventing access to any intelligence community Web sites or data resources, such as sites for the CIA, DIA, or FBI.

The project is not only flawed but also behind schedule. Thirty-four of Railhead's 72 "action items" are past due, and two are behind schedule. Ten more tasks--five of them costing more than $92 million--are "significantly off-task."

Unnamed sources involved with the Railhead project also told Congress that some of the project's deals with private contractors were inappropriate. A memo (PDF) produced by congressional staff cites sources who allege that SRI International's involvement in the project created a conflict of interest because SRI program director Earl Lyberger has close ties to Railhead's program manager Dirk Rankin.

Additionally, the staff's sources allege that the government misused funds by spending nearly $200 million to retrofit a building in Herndon, Va., belonging to one of the project's main contractors, Boeing.

Representatives from Boeing and SRI did not respond to requests for comments.

Miller noted in his request for an investigation into the program that there may be efforts under way to close down Railhead completely.

[The_Decider]

Another ill-thought out, incompetently management program within the Bush Administration?

Color me shocked.

[ferretboy88]

Bill Clintons plan was much better. Sure. The 9/11 attacks were planned 5 years before Bush even was in office. In 1993 the World trade center was attacked and bombed. That was when Clinton was president. He had 8 years to do something about using oil for cars and stopping attacks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_bombing

No matter who runs the govt things always get messed up with all the redtape and crap.

[n3td3v]

They can just ask GCHQ for a backup hard copy of the database, http://www.gchq.gov.uk/

[Perry_Clease]

Railhead? Sounds like the starting point for a train wreck.

[expatincebu]

Perfect example of what is wrong with the "war on terror". There is no war on terror, only a program to siphon US taxpayer dollars off as welfare for corporate managers.

[Jack K1]

It's not just corporate manaers who profit - don't forget building contractors, too - the ones rebuilding the WTC and the Pentagon! They're making a bundle on this deal.

[ferretboy88]

Some one said something about Welfare. 90% of welfare voters go for the Democrats. End welfare.

[Arrgster]

One of the other problems is the source of the data. I work it law enforcement, some of these guys are good at what they do but others have no business touching a computer. We get problems like they don't understand the program, or are too lazy to bother. Most of the time they just put in bogus data to get done with the report. I can't imagine that on a national scale. I bet a good amount of that data is junk just to begin with.

[Lerianis]

Hey, my cousin works in law enforcement/transportation safety...... he says that 3 of his superiors will not even touch a computer and do not know how to use one..... though in their positions, they are supposed to know how to use one to type up reports.

[Arrgster]

One of the other problems is the source of the data. I work it law enforcement, some of these guys are good at what they do but others have no business touching a computer. We get problems like they don't understand the program, or are too lazy to bother. Most of the time they just put in bogus data to get done with the report. I can't imagine that on a national scale. I bet a good amount of that data is junk to begin with.

[jb1z]

I wouldn't worry too much - Boeing will get another $250 million contract to fix it right up.

[Seattlite]

"Miller noted the problems with TIDE and Railhead stem from "fundamental design flaws," namely their reliance on Structured Query Language (SQL) to search the database. SQL is a computer code that uses sentence structures to conduct queries, as opposed to using text-based searches, like search engines such as Google do."

What kind of crap description is this. Google uses text searches that are transformed into SQL to search a database of websites. SQL is the defacto standard method of "talking" to a database.

[Lerianis]

Yeah, I didn't understand that as well. Frankly, SQL is used in EVERY database server that I can think of. It's what is used on the imageboards I go to, it's what is used on the Google website, and it's what is used for searches on most forums that I go to.

[Goodbye Helicopter]

war on terror = bush = miserable failure

[sovapid]

Using SQL to query a database??? Thats insane!! It is such a negligent design someone should go to jail!!! LOL

What kind of idiot wrote this article?

[Jack K1]

The kind of idiot you make a habit of reading, apparently.

"Miller noted the problems with TIDE and Railhead stem from "fundamental design flaws," namely their reliance on Structured Query Language (SQL) to search the database."

Well maybe they should contract Google then. If they combined all the info that google is anyway gathering on people around the world and combined that with what the U.S. is gathering at airports and through Echelon and stuff that would be a truly frightening prospect. Of course it could play havoc with Google's Chinese expansion plans.

[Cube Over]

There are few brands coined so well as "war on terrorism".
Another one is "peacekeeper". As always with US, the answer to WHY is dollars.

[Lerianis]

Is anyone else getting tired of this 'war on terror' and seeing what a money waster it actually is? Frankly, the 'war on terror' would be better taken care of by the FBI with old police methods, and by the CIA with infiltrating these terrorist organizations.
Considering that a white boy from California was able to join Al-Qaida, the only requirement seems to be that you are able to say "Allah ackbar! Kill the infidels!" and are willing to blow yourself up.

[Get_Bent]

They should have called it Nailhead because that's what their doing to themselves....

[docplaster]

I hope that all the proponents screaming for Universal Healthcare run by the government reads this and comprehends how the government handles things.

[ferretboy88]

Now that CBS owes cnet everything will be left wing. Wonderful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center_bombing

[ferretboy88]

How is Bush a failure at stopping terrorism if we have not been hit again.

[MeatwadGetsIt]

To Lerianis, that "white boy" from california was a special version of "white boy" from california, he was jewish. Of course a jew would be in Al Qaeda, ever hear of the group of israeli jews that was arrested trying to recruit Palestinians into Al Qaeda?

Al Qaeda is a phoney front for jewsih terror acts.

This programming contract,,, was it out to bid or was this another hand out to someones pal. If they can't cut it with sequel, they should start flipping burgers -again.

[MeatwadGetsIt]

Hey ferretboy, considering the fact the first terror strike was a false flag attack, they don't have the cooperating moron minions to fool as easy for the next attack on Americans.

The busted 'missing nukes' may have been the next attempt.

What ever happened to that guy that was busted with SAMs? Still free I suspect.

[Evervigilant45]

The government has never been a good return on your investment (taxes). They go from one extreme to the other - spending like there is no tomorrow vs hamstringing the people charged with our security. There has to be balance and accountability. If you pay a contractor to develop and produce a centralized system for suspected terrorists and that contractor fails to produce or goes over budget, then THEY DON'T GET PAID! There are many people (military, rank and file civilians) busting their backsides to protect all of us - The good news is WE HAVE NOT BEEN HIT SINCE 9/11