CYBER NOTES

SPY AGENCIES LEARN HOW TO DO IT FROM WIKIPEDIA

GREG MILLER, LA TIMES - The CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies
have created a computer system that uses software from a popular
Internet encyclopedia site to gather content on sensitive topics from
analysts across the spy community, part of an effort to fix problems
that plagued prewar estimates on Iraq.

The system, dubbed Intellipedia because it is built on open-source
software from Wikipedia, was launched earlier this year. It already is
being used to assemble intelligence reports on Nigeria and other
subjects, according to U.S. intelligence officials who on Tuesday
discussed the initiative in detail for the first time.

After being criticized for downplaying dissenting views on Iraq's
alleged weapons programs, "we're trying to transform the way we do
business," said Michele Weslander, a senior official overseeing the
initiative for National Intelligence Director John D. Negroponte.

The system allows analysts from all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies to
weigh in on debates on North Korea's nuclear program and other sensitive
topics, creating internal websites that are constantly updated with new
information and analysis, officials said.
More than 3,600 analysts and other intelligence officials have
registered to use the service since it was launched in April, officials
said.

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