White House Spy Probe Shows Computer Vulnerability

Oct. 6, 2005 — -- The proliferation of computers and network technology has made it a lot easier to create and share vital information. Sometimes, too easy.

Leandro Aragoncillo, a former White House staff member, was arrested last month for allegedly using his top secret security clearance to download more than 100 classified intelligence documents and pass them to others – mostly via e-mail, say federal prosecutors.

More worrisome, federal investigators believe Aragoncillo may have been spying for his Philippine contacts for more than three years.

How could this type of espionage case have been prevented? Security experts and computer industry consultants offer mixed views.

Richard Clarke, former White House adviser on cybersecurity and now an ABC News consultant, told ABC News' "Good Morning America" that the espionage case clearly shows how far government computer networks lag behind corporate systems in terms of online security and monitoring programs.

"What it says about the computer network [allegedly accessed by Aragoncillo] is that they don't have at the White House or at the FBI the kind of basic software that &$133; American banks operate to find the insider threat," Clarke told "Good Morning America."

Indeed, while in the past companies have been concerned about outside threats such as spam and e-mailed viruses, corporate America has been also rapidly developing tools for "insider threats" – disgruntled employees stealing or sharing corporate secrets, or e-mails among co-workers with inappropriate jokes or comments.

"The new wave of technology out there is about monitoring the networks ... protecting up-front from both inbound and outbound threats," says Sandra Vaughan, a senior vice president at Proofpoint, a software security firm in Cupertino, Calif. "But a real big market for us is the insider threat – preventing insider information from getting out."