IIT To Review FBI's Carnivore System

By Nick Wakeman, Senior Editor


OCT. 2 ? The IIT Research Institute of McLean, Va., has won a contract to conduct a technical review of the controversial Carnivore e-mail surveillance system for the FBI.


Carnivore has raised the hackles of privacy advocates because it can quickly filter e-mail on an Internet service provider's network. The software scans Internet traffic for key search terms and content as it moves through the network.


"Under this new contract, IITRI will perform a complete and comprehensive independent review of the Carnivore software program in terms of its design, function and method of use," said Kerry Rowe, group senior vice president for advanced technology at IITRI, who will head the technical review process. "IITRI technical staff will evaluate the performance of the Carnivore system in each of several model scenarios that are intended to reflect those most likely to be relevant in actual practice."


IIT Research Institute is a not-for-profit research and development organization affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology. The technical review team will consist of IIT Research Institute staff and senior faculty members from IIT's Chicago-Kent College of Law. The contract is worth about $175,000.


The review and final draft report will be completed in December, with an interim draft report being made public for comment in late November.