[iwar] [fc:Area.firm.'named'.hijackers]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-09-24 21:22:23


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Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 21:22:23 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: [iwar] [fc:Area.firm.'named'.hijackers]
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Area firm 'named' hijackers

9/24/2001 8:00:00 AM
By Taylor Lincoln Exclusive to Potomac Tech Journal —

Software made by a small Herndon, Va., company helped federal
authorities identify some of the 19 hijackers suspected in the Sept.  11
terrorist attacks. 

Jack Hermansen, the chief executive officer of Language Analysis Systems
Inc., said government officials recently told him of the intelligence
breakthrough.  LAS makes software to translate names from non-Roman
alphabets into English-language equivalents. 

"I was overwhelmed that all this work that we were convinced was
valuable was finally proven to be important," Hermansen said.  "I had
e-mails from former employees who thanked me because they felt helpless,
and this was the only bright news they had heard for days."

Starting in the mid-1990s, Language Analysis Systems collaborated with a
group within the Department of Defense's counter-terrorism office on a
software system called "Name Reference Library." It was intended to help
border inspectors and other government investigators perform background
checks on people entering the country.  The product was designed for 28
federal agencies that use the Interagency Border Inspection System
(IBIS), including the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the
U.S.  Customs Service. 

Beta versions of the software drew sterling reviews from government
users, Hermansen said, but only the Central Intelligence Agency had
bought licenses since the software was completed this spring. 

"Things slowed down," Hermansen said.  "People said, 'We don't have
money, we're changing our systems.'"

Things changed quickly, however, after Sept.  11. 

Two days after the attacks, Language Analysis Systems' contracts manager
Debbie Lord received an e-mail from someone with a Department of Justice
e-mail address asking about LAS.  Hermansen later learned it was from an
INS special agent assigned to the FBI's task force in Denver. 

Later that day, Hermansen spoke with Elizabeth Tisdale, an assistant
chief inspector at INS, who told him the Name Reference Library had been
"instrumental" in tracking the terrorists to their Florida locations. 

The INS and FBI evidently had used beta versions of the software,
Hermansen said.  "I still don't know how the beta versions got to the
Denver FBI task force."

Tisdale did not return telephone calls last week. 

Hermansen said he visited the Washington, D.C., offices of INS, where he
installed five copies of the software and gave a tutorial on
understanding foreign names a week after the attacks.  The INS also has
requested a price quotation for 250 licenses, he said. 

Since the attacks, Hermansen has received inquiries about the software
from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.  An
employee from American Airlines also called asking for help in analyzing
name lists that it is required by the government to check.  Meanwhile,
various government agencies that Hermansen would not identify have
requested the service of some of LAS's 15 employees. 

The Name Reference Library uses algorithms that assist users in seeing
alternative spellings for names.  For instance, the identical Mandarin
name can correctly be translated Zhang, Chang or Jang.  Likewise, the
identical Arabic name can be rendered in English as Abd Al Rahman or
Abdurrahman and several other ways, Hermansen explained. 

The LAS software cuts through ambiguities caused by extra spaces in
names, which Hermansen likened to "hell on a computer.  A blank might as
well be a 'q' or a 'z.'"

The Name Reference Library also contains context for eight cultures,
including Arabic, Chinese and Thai.  It provides information on the
meanings of names and variants of names.  For example, "abd" means
"servant of" and is common in many Arabic names.  "Bin," a component of
the alleged mastermind behind the attack, Osama Bin Laden, means "son
of."

The varying legitimate ways to render names provides a chance for people
to hide their identities, said Hermansen, who has a Ph.  D.  from
Georgetown University in computational linguistics.  "It's clear from
reports that they know that this screws up our computers," he said of
terrorists. 

Hermansen would not speculate on whether the software could have helped
authorities prevent the events of Sept.  11.  Even if the hijackers were
identified as suspected terrorists, as press reports indicate at least
two were, the database would have had to be connected with the one the
airlines use to flag potentially dangerous ticket holders. 

The LAS software received strong praise from a Treasury Department
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.  "It is not the magic
wand that does everything for you, but it is still a fantastic reference
item," the source said. 

Nevertheless, Hermansen has had some difficulties selling it.  Through
Aug.  31, the General Services Administration schedule called for
government agencies to receive the product free, with a $700-per-license
annual service fee.  After that, the price went to $3,535 a copy and a
$990 annual fee. 

A couple of months before the attacks, Hermansen showed the software to
an official in the office of Vice President Dick Cheney.  But nothing
happened. 

Hermansen even staged an 11th hour campaign to sell the product by the
August GSA deadline, but to no avail.  Now, he said, LAS isn't willing
to change its price, in part because his company's survival depends on
the revenue. 

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