U.S. E-Government Post September 11th
Posted in Earlier to 2006 Journal | Tagged 9-11, e-government, internet, internet security, public information, security
Abstract:
As the United States and the rest of world mourned in the wake of September 11th, 2001 and grew incensed by the faceless cowardice of the ensuing Anthrax mailings, few could have suspected the far-reaching impact these terrorist attacks would have on society. Undoubtedly, military, security, and foreign policies would shift dramatically in the weeks and months that followed but the online commerce implications could hardly have been predicted. In a race to prevent further terror attacks, the Department of Justice utilized Carnivore, its controversial email monitoring program, to sort through millions of online communications; science and technology documentation disappeared from public websites sponsored by the U.S. government; and the FBI created an online terrorist tip site which became vital to their investigation (Verton, 2001). Following the attacks, FirstGov, the United States government Web portal, was criticized for its poor response to the events and purported violations of privacy by federal agencies also circulated. Further escalating the online implications, the Special Advisor to the President for Cyberspace Security, Richard Clarke, advocated a strategy that would place online government activities on an entirely separate network called GovNet. The events of the past year have thrust the government’s online practices to a new state of public awareness. As a result of the recent flurry of attention on e-government, this paper will examine the effect that heightened sensitivity to terrorism has had on U.S e-government.
Full Article (PDF):
Meighan-OReardon-US-E-Government_Post_September_11th.pdf