FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 15, 2002 www.indiantrust.com REPORT ON NORTON'S FAILURE TO SAFEGUARD TRUST DATA IS SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO HOLD HER IN CONTEMPT, JUDGE SAYS Burden Will Be on the Secretary to Show Why She Should Not Be Sanctioned for Ignoring Internet Security Issues WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal judge said today that a court investigator's scathing report showing that individual Indian trust accounting data is unprotected from Internet hackers is sufficient, on its face, to hold Interior Secretary Gale Norton in contempt of court. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said he was putting the U.S. Attorney's office, which is defending Norton against contempt charges, on notice that a Nov. 14 report by Special Master Alan L. Balaran documenting "deplorable and inexcusable" computer security lapses is "prima facie" evidence of contempt by the Secretary. The judge's conclusion means that the legal burden will be on Norton to show why she should not be held in contempt. Lamberth also said he was withholding a decision on whether to issue a preliminary injunction to force Norton to provide adequate computer security safeguards and to put systems back on line temporarily to issue overdue checks to 43,000 Individual Indian Monies (IIM) trust beneficiaries. "I'm hopeful all that can be ironed out in the next few days and checks issued to trust beneficiaries," the judge said. Lamberth set another computer security status hearing for Jan. 31. Dennis M. Gingold, the lead attorney for Indian plaintiffs seeking to have Norton held in contempt, again urged Lamberth to issue the preliminary injunction and force Interior to issue the IIM checks. "We are talking about going into winter on the Great Plains," said Gingold. "It's cold. There were no checks for Christmas, although there seemed to be no problem getting Interior's payroll checks out." Lamberth also released a report by Balaran demonstrating that Interior has not asked court permission to reconnect several of its web sites to the Internet, despite telling the public and the media that a court- ordered shutdown has forced it to cut its entire connection to the Web and rendered it unable to issue IIM checks. Balaran's report says that in the areas of law enforcement, fire safety, employee safety issues, the Office of Aircraft Services, the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service, Interior has made no request to reconnect its Internet service. "Interior's representations to the press and others, while not inaccurate, fail to adequately convey the delicate and extremely difficult process currently underway to bring IT systems on line," said Balaran, who is responsible for court oversight of the process. "Ensuring the security of individual Indian trust data (on systems that were completely lacking in all measurable respects) in a manner consistent with federal regulation requires careful scrutiny," he said. Lamberth ordered Interior's trust-related systems shut down on Dec. 5 after Balaran submitted a 154-page report documenting that IIM trust accounting data were unprotected by computer security devices such as "firewalls" and detection software. With the court's approval, Balaran hired computer security specialists who hacked into the IIM system and created an account without being detected. Lamberth said today he has not yet decided to accept Balaran's recommendation that the court place the IIM trust accounting data system in the hands of an outside receiver or other judicial officer. ##### To subscribe to the Indian Trust mailing list, please paste the following link into your browser: http://www.indiantrust.com/