US oil platform watcher shuts net over Indian suit

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.forbes.com/home_asia/newswire/2003/07/01/rtr1016532.html

By Timothy Gardner
Reuters
07.01.03

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge has ordered the U.S. agency that
monitors energy platforms in the Gulf of Mexico to shut down its
Internet and email systems indefinitely to block hackers from $1
billion in American Indian funds the agency manages.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), part of the U.S. Department of
Interior (DOI), oversees offshore oil and gas production on some 4,000
platforms in the U.S. Gulf.

The shutdown has already hurt communications between energy companies,
the government and the media. This week details about the production
effects of Tropical Storm Bill, which hit the coast of Louisiana, were
difficult to obtain.

"This time, because it (Tropical Storm Bill) coincided with the
temporary restraining order, we had a bit of a problem because the
companies couldn't report to us like they usually do," said Nicolette
Humphries, spokeswoman at MMS in Washington.

The storm ultimately fizzled into a tropical depression on Tuesday and
impacts on refineries in the Gulf were minimal.

Last Friday, DOI Judge Royce Lamberth shut down many of the DOI's
sites, including some MMS and Bureau of Land Management sites, when
the government refused to allow a court-appointed computer expert
hacker to test the measures in place to protect the American Indian
money.

It was the second time the judge has ordered such a shutdown to keep
hackers from the fund. The last shutdown, which started in December
2001, lasted more than four months, according to the MMS. This time
the restraining order has knocked some 2,500 government workers
offline, said a DOI spokesman.

A spokeswoman at the Louisiana office of MMS said the agency was
setting up a fax system to inform interested parties of storm impacts
on energy systems in the U.S. Gulf, adding it would also try to pass
on information via telephone.

MMS collects and disburses revenues from federal and American Indian
leases and manages the money in a trust fund.

MMS also provides information on the status of the platforms, which
becomes particularly important to energy markets when hurricanes and
storms affect production in the Gulf.

The restraining order came in connection with Cobell vs. Norton, a
seven-year-old suit in which American Indian plaintiffs sough
compensation from the government which they say squandered $137
billion from the fund over the last century.



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