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MONDAY, MAY 6, 2002

Five months after a court-ordered shutdown, and more than a year since a Bureau of Indian Affairs official first disclosed major security leaks, the Department of Interior still can't find anyone to fill its top information technology posts.

In the department's latest report to the federal court overseeing the Indian trust fund, Associate Deputy James Cason laments the lack of leadership. "The department was unsuccessful in its efforts to attract additional, senior-level management or technical talent to assist in the efforts to improve IT security," he wrote.

According to Cason, four posts are open, including an IT security chief and an Indian trust security manager. The two positions were created in response to the chaos that followed U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth's December 5 order, a melee from which the department has yet to recover fully.

But more importantly for the protection of assets belonging to 300,000 American Indians, two BIA posts remain vacant. The Office of Information Resource Management (OIRM) lacks a director and the BIA is without a chief information officer (CIO), Cason reported.

Finding people for these hot seats is a top priority, Cason promised. "Continued efforts to fill these key positions will be made during second quarter," he wrote, "as obtaining additional technical leadership is greatly needed."

Not that anyone would want to step into the firing range, judging from the history surrounding IT security at the Interior. Ever since the OIRM, in a court-contested move, was uprooted from its Albuquerque, New Mexico, digs to suburban Washington, D.C., digs, the BIA's computer center hasn't seen a stable leader.

One of its "acting" directors last summer in fact discounted claims by special master Alan Balaran that security of Indian trust system was lax. The rest, as is often said, is history.

History hasn't been kind to the CIO either, a position created by Kevin Gover during his tenure as assistant secretary. The post was promptly filled by Dom Nessi, a career government official who unceremoniously exited another Cabinet department before joining the BIA to work on a now failed $40 million trust fund accounting system.

Nessi in April 2001 disclosed to Government Executive Magazine that trust fund security was non-existent. His comments prompted Balaran's probe, in the middle of which Nessi resigned to work for the National Park Service.

Nessi's temporary replacement is Debbie Clark, who has handled the Internet shutdown well, according to her peers, even though the BIA remains among the few entities still crippled. However, she is not being groomed for the post, which Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb announced last fall was moving to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

In a recent interview with Indianz.Com about the lack of a CIO, McCaleb defended the proposed transfer and said it would help coordinate activities at disparate BIA locations. Meanwhile, Bill Roselius, who worked with McCaleb during their days at Oklahoma Department of Transportation, has been helping out with IT issues.

When asked if the position was moved to accommodate Roselius, the BIA didn't provide an official response.

For his part, Roselius is recommending the OIRM report directly to the CIO. He is currently overseeing efforts to ensure the OIRM complies with physical and other security standards, including creating disaster recovery and training plans.

Related Documents:
9th Quarterly Report | Special Master Report

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