"Homeland Security's Security Questioned"

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Homeland Security network that shares classified information with intelligence and law enforcement agencies was put together too quickly to ensure it can protect the information, according the department's inspector general.

Responding, a department spokesman said Monday that the Homeland Security Data Network was still in its fledgling stages but met all security standards before it went online late last month.

In a new report, Homeland Security Inspector General Richard L. Skinner said the department could not show that the network's security standards and policies were in place. The network, described in one Homeland Security document as "a new DHS backbone," was set up to share secret information with up to 600 federal, state and local agencies.

Homeland Security "does not have assurance that HSDN will satisfy user needs and adequately protect classified information," the report found.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20050510/D8A010HG0.html