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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2002

The Department of Interior was led to believe its computer systems were secure by third-party consultants, a spokesperson has told The New York Times.

According to John Wright, consultants told the department the systems that house the trust data of 300,000 Americans Indians were secure. Nevertheless, he claims the department tried to fix the problems.

"I don't propose to defend all of the shortcomings," Wright is quoted as saying. [I]t's not like they didn't try to fix the problems. There were a number of attempts."

Most of the department's computer systems, web servers and Internet access remains offline ever since a federal judge on December 5 ordered the Interior to protect Indian trust data.

Get the Story:
U.S. Agency's Computers Didn't Protect Indian Fund (The New York Times 2/26)
Username: indianz.com, Password: indianz.com

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://130.94.214.68/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp

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