Return-Path: <sentto-279987-2325-1001391689-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Mon, 24 Sep 2001 21:24:12 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 2871 invoked by uid 510); 25 Sep 2001 04:22:44 -0000 Received: from n15.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.65) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 25 Sep 2001 04:22:44 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-2325-1001391689-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.1.221] by ml.egroups.com with NNFMP; 25 Sep 2001 04:22:24 -0000 X-Sender: fc@big.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_3_2_2); 25 Sep 2001 04:21:29 -0000 Received: (qmail 47756 invoked from network); 25 Sep 2001 04:21:28 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.27) by 10.1.1.221 with QMQP; 25 Sep 2001 04:21:28 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta2 with SMTP; 25 Sep 2001 04:22:23 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id VAA15785 for iwar@onelist.com; Mon, 24 Sep 2001 21:22:23 -0700 Message-Id: <200109250422.VAA15785@big.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 21:22:23 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:Area.firm.'named'.hijackers] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit 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. ------------------------ Yahoo! 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