Federal Judge Orders Department Of Interior Offline

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March 17, 2004 (10:43 AM EST)

Federal Judge Orders Department Of Interior Offline

Large parts of the Department of Interior's Web site were shut down Tuesday by order of a federal judge concerned about security holes the agency still hasn't fixed to protect payments owed to American Indians.

As of Wednesday morning, the agency's main Web site was offline.

This is the third time since 2001 that U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth has ordered the department to take its systems offline to protect oil, gas, grazing, and timber royalties held in trust for Indian tribes. Three years ago, investigators found that the trust monies were vulnerable to hackers.

"The feigned indignance of Interior aside, there is simply no other alternative. Interior brought this on themselves," Lamberth wrote in an opinion on Monday.

The judge ordered all non-emergency systems to be disconnected from the Internet, which Interior has done. Only machines slated for fire and police services were allowed to remain connected.

The National Park Service, one of the most popular Web destinations under the Department of Interior's umbrella, was allowed to remain online by the judge, since it has no hand in securing the royalty payment trust fund data.