U.S intelligence reveals "Intellipedia"

Wikipedia move over, make room for Intellipedia.

Believe it or not, but that's the title the office of U.S. intelligence czar John Negroponte announced Tuesday for the government's classified Intelink Web. The system allows intelligence analysts and other officials to work together to add and edit content and is key to the future of American espionage.

The "top secret" Intellipedia system, is currently available to the 16 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community. It has grown to more than 28,000 pages and 3,600 registered users since its introduction on April 17. Less restrictive versions exist for "secret" and "sensitive but unclassified" material.

The system is also available to the Transportation Security Administration and national laboratories.

Intellipedia makes data available to thousands of users who would not see it otherwise, but also has spawned uneasiness about potential security lapses following the recent media leak of a national intelligence estimate that caused a political uproar by identifying the Iraq conflict as a contributor to the growth of global terrorism.

"We're taking a risk," admitted Michael Wertheimer, the intelligence community's chief technical officer. "There's a risk it's going to show up in the media, that it'll be leaked."

Intelligence officials say the format is the answer for sharing information between agencies. They are so enthusiastic about Intellipedia that they plan to allow access to Britain, Canada and Australia.

Even China could be granted access to help produce an unclassified intelligence estimate on the worldwide threat posed by infectious diseases.

"We'd hope to get down to the doctor in Shanghai who may have a useful contribution on avian flu," senior intelligence analyst Fred Hassani said.

Source:Xinhua/Agencies