Call it a parallel Internet. The federal government is taking initial steps to set up Govnet, a secure computer network dedicated to government business , and separate from the public Internet.
By some accounts, it’s acting quickly.
With fears of computer viruses and other Internet disruptions , including possible electronic strikes by terrorists , the project takes on national security overtones.
Richard Clarke, President George W. Bush’s new adviser on cyberspace security, called for the network Oct. 10. He said the federal government had been working on the plan for several months. Clarke works under Tom Ridge in Bush’s new Office of Homeland Security.
With that announcement, the General Services Administration set a Nov. 21 deadline for initial proposals on the Govnet project.
What the government envisions is a network that would carry telephone calls, computer data and perhaps video service using Internet protocol. Yet the network will have no connection to commercial or public networks.
The network would carry encrypted data and have the capability to carry classified material.
The project will cost in the neighborhood of $3.5 billion, estimated Michael Erbschloe, vice president of research for Carlsbad-based Computer Economics.
Erbschloe is the author of “Information Warfare: How to Survive Cyber Attacks” (Osborne/McGraw-Hill, 2001). The book details how terrorists may disrupt computer networks to spread fear among a population, or how extortionists may threaten such disruption for financial gain.
Erbschloe’s $3.5 billion estimate includes the development and implementation of Govnet, and training people to use it. He added the federal government tends to pay about twice as much as private business for such things.
Erbschloe estimated the whole project could come together in five or six years.
The military services and the Department of Justice already have in place several networks that are separate from the Internet, said Erbschloe.
He added that the federal government will likely use Govnet for electronic commerce.
A new network would not only have a security advantage, he said, but uniformity in things like architecture, document management and protocols. Such uniformity is important in electronic commerce.
In such an arrangement, government contractors would have their own, dedicated Govnet terminals, he said.
All this spells opportunities for information technology companies, both inside and outside San Diego.
Representatives from government contracting giant Science Applications International Corp. declined to be interviewed for this story, saying the company was preparing to bid on the project.
“It is something that’s a very high priority for SAIC,” said spokesman Ron Zollars.
San Diego-based SAIC already runs the ANX Network, a virtual private network that serves subscribers in several industries, including health care, steel and automobiles.
Another company with the know-how to build Govnet is Electronic Data Systems Corp. Its employees, including a large San Diego contingent, are building the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet, a separate network for Navy Department business.
Erbschloe said he expected familiar federal contractors like EDS, Computer Sciences Corp. and Hughes to compete on the Govnet project.
Govnet contractors will take a team approach to the project if the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet is any indication. For the Navy project, EDS leads a group called the “Information Strike Force” which includes Raytheon, WorldCom, Dell, Microsoft, Cisco and others.
The administration’s requirement that Govnet repel threats from the outside has raised some eyebrows.
The government wants to prevent denial of service attacks and viruses. A requirement like that would prevent any connection at all between the Internet and Govnet, said commentators in several published reports.
Historically, secure networks have not been immune from trouble.
In their coverage of Govnet, writers for Ziff Davis Media recounted instances where the Melissa and LoveLetter viruses jumped from the Internet to military networks.
