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Hanssen's Access Brings Systems Probe NewsMax.com WiresWASHINGTON – Experts are combing government computer systems to try to ensure that Robert Hanssen, the FBI agent accused of spying for Moscow, did not sabotage them or create software vulnerabilities that could allow Russian intelligence agencies to steal information while he is in jail, the Washington Post reported Monday. One senior official said no conclusions have been reached about Hanssen's computer activities at the State Department, where he had been assigned since 1995 to an office that monitors foreign diplomats. "The jury is still out as to what he was able to do," the official said. "Because of the possibilities, we've got to take a look." At the FBI, systems administrators already have "scrubbed" the bureau's classified computer system, which is not attached to the Internet, the newspaper said. They found no evidence that Hanssen planted malicious software codes either to damage the network or expand his access to secrets, the officials said. U.S. counterintelligence officials say Hanssen's use of computers greatly exceeds that encountered in any other major U.S. espionage case, presenting new levels of complexity – and potential damage – as officials attempt to retrace his moves in cyberspace. "There are a large number of ways that you can infiltrate a system," said Fred Cohen, a computer security expert at Sandia National Laboratory. He added, "If you are an insider, the number increases dramatically." The Post said it is clear from the FBI's affidavit that Hanssen was a regular user of the FBI's internal network, the Automated Case Support System, which contains classified records of investigations. "The fact that a spy for Russia had access to that is very troubling," said Dion Stempfley, a former Defense Department computer expert. Sunday, the New York Times reported that Hanssen told Russia the United States built a secret tunnel under its embassy in Washington. Hanssen may have exposed the tunnel even before the embassy buildings were completed and fully occupied in the early 1990s, the report said. The tunnel was built in the 1970s and 1980s along with the hilltop embassy, a period of time when the United States was bitterly accusing the Soviets of attempting to plant spy devices at its new Moscow embassy. Hanssen was arrested Feb. 18 after months of surveillance confirmed what Russian documents turned over to the FBI had shown, that he had been spying for the Russians on and off since October 1985, the FBI said. Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
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