Shuttering of intel e-mail draws concern for other collaboration tools

The decision to shut down a popular e-mail system used by intelligence agencies to exchange information has many in the field fearing that other technologies designed to increase interagency collaboration will be shut down.

Officials with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence notified analysts on Oct. 2 that it would shutter ugov.gov, a Web-based e-mail platform, because of security concerns. Introduced in 2005, ugov.gov is an unclassified, open-source e-mail server that allows analysts from the various intelligence agencies to collaborate from outside their office networks.

"In order to improve security and enhance collaboration, the decision was made to phase out the ugov.gov unclassified Web-based e-mail system currently in use by a limited number of personnel," wrote DNI spokeswoman Wendy Morigi in a prepared statement.

The decision, which was first reported on Tuesday by The Atlantic, a Nextgov sister publication, prompted an outcry from the intelligence community, which is worried that other collaborative tools such as Intellipedia could be closed.

Lewis Shepherd, a former senior technology officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency, posted a sharp criticism of the decision on his Twitter account: "Did we negotiate a reciprocal takedown by adversaries? Course not; unilateral disarm. Back to caves."

Bob Gourley, another former CTO at the agency, advised ugov.gov supporters not to lose heart. "For uGov friends, the establishment frequently rejects smart change," Gorely wrote on his Twitter account. "Learn lessons from history and don't give up."

Morigi said the decision to shut down ugov.gov is related to worries over how secure the system is, adding that the action will not affect other collaborative platforms.

"This transition will be executed in an orderly manner that sustains functionality and minimizes the impact on individual users," she said. "Access to Intel-link, Intellipedia, and similar services will not be affected. The ODNI remains committed to investing in and providing high-quality enterprise services for the intelligence community."

Bernie Skoch, a retired Air Force brigadier general and a former top official at the Defense Information Systems Agency, said he did not have details of why ugov.gov was closed, but intelligence agencies must strike a balance between collaboration and compartmenting information due to the possibility of a leak or compromised personnel.

"It's a balance ODNI needs to walk, and I think they've done a fantastic job over the last five years," he said.

"Even within a compartmented world, it's a challenge to know how much information we can reliably share with other intelligence agencies," Skoch added. "Every time we have someone who betrays us, we quickly ask, 'How is it they had access to this information?' From a security perspective, you want to keep everything tightly controlled and compartmented. That minimizes collaboration, but there's no security challenge."

Although the information shared on ugov.gov is not sensitive or classified, it could still present a security risk if an enemy state or intelligence service were to access the information, Skoch said.

"I promise you, if you take enough unclassified pieces of information, you can quickly develop a classified picture," he said.

ODNI is considering how it will replace ugov.gov with another e-mail system and said it plans to migrate e-mail messages and data from the old server to the new system once a provider is chosen.

Skoch said several well-established efforts within ODNI can support collaboration, and he expects ugov.gov to be replaced. "I'm 100 percent confident that another collaboration tool will be in place if ugov shuts down," he said. "There's no illusion on their part that [the intelligence community] can get by without collaboration."

The next system must be Web-based and provide a tight security, even if it's unclassified, Skoch said, suggesting that modifying a commercial application for the task could be the best approach to keep costs low.