Saudi arrested at U of I was studying computer security

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://204.228.236.37/News/story.asp?ID=34163

[See also: http://204.228.236.37/News/story.asp?ID=34215  - WK]


Jonathan Brunt
The Idaho Statesman
03-01-2003

MOSCOW - Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, who is accused of supporting 
terrorism, was affiliated with a program at the University of Idaho 
designed to prevent cyber terrorism. 

On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney for Idaho Tom Moss said Al-Hussayen used 
knowledge he was learning in the U of I´s computer programs to assist 
terrorist groups. 

Al-Hussayen, 33, was arrested Wednesday on charges of lying on his 
visa application. The federal grand jury indictment alleges that 
Al-Hussayen, a computer science doctoral student from Saudi Arabia, 
funneled more than $300,000 to groups that promote terrorism. 

Al-Hussayen´s defense attorney said he has seen no clues to back up 
the claim that Al-Hussayen used knowledge acquired at U of I 
inappropriately. 

"My reading of the indictment doesn´t support that statement," David 
Nevin said. "It leads you to wonder if they really have the evidence." 

Al-Hussayen was one of about 30 students at U of I´s Center for Secure 
and Dependable Systems, a research group that often is hired by 
companies and government agencies to help design programs to decrease 
threats from hackers and cyber terrorists. 

Because he was not a U.S. citizen, Al-Hussayen was not allowed to work 
on government projects considered sensitive, center Director Deborah 
Frincke said. 

Frincke said studying at the U of I would be an unlikely choice for a 
terrorist. 

"There would be easier ways than sitting through 45 hours of my 
lectures to get what they want," she said. "People can get much of the 
information we give from other places."

Instructors likely couldn´t stop a student who intended to use 
computer security information to cause havoc, Frincke said. But as a 
precaution, she said, teachers emphasize how to stop software 
tampering rather than how someone could break into a system. 

"It prevents against the people who just want to play around," Frincke 
said. 

The center, which is made up mostly of master´s and doctoral students, 
was formed in 1999 and named during the same year by the National 
Security Agency as one of seven "Centers of Excellence" for studies on 
the protection of computer systems from threats such as viruses. 
Al-Hussayen was finishing up his dissertation on computer security and 
hoping to graduate in May. 

The center has had contracts with NASA, the Defense Advanced Research 
Programs Agency and the Air Force, Frincke said. Educational leaders 
in computer security often wonder how information taught in their 
classes could be used to harm computer systems, she said. 

"The technology that protects a system is the same technology that can 
bring a system down," she said. 

Some of the center´s work is considered sensitive, and some government 
contracts can be worked on only by U.S. citizens. 

Portions of the center´s work are completed behind locked doors, where 
students not approved to participate are not allowed. 

"Because many of the projects in CSDS are funded by the federal 
government, there are tight restrictions on who can work on those 
projects," said Steve Penoncello, U of I associate engineering dean 
for research and graduate studies. 



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