CACI solutions play many roles in securing our homeland. We support law enforcement agencies such as the Department of Justice, design and prototype systems that collect intelligence information and manage and secure the networks that carry that information. For homeland security our focus is on methods of extracting the most relevant and important information from the vast amount of data collected, then turning it into something useful that our government can act upon

Guiding the Analysts

Today's digital, networked world brings a flood of data and information. Our challenge is to give analysts guidance on how extract the most appropriate information, as well as the tools and technologies to reason from this data. Furthermore, we need a secure and effective method of sharing data with the appropriate organizations. Because our enemy's planning is networked and global our thinking and analysis must also be networked - and collaborative.

The "Knowledge Modeling" Approach

Our Cold War targets had in-place long-term technical networks. Our new targets have transitory technical networks but persistent social networks. That's another reason why a focus on data modeling alone is not practical - we need a "knowledge modeling" approach that will help us understand and map terrorist social networks.

CACI has significant experience in all aspects of this type of information management. We are skilled in knowledge mining and understand the federal arena well enough to promote collaboration across multiple information sources and government agencies. Moreover, we can make sure knowledge sharing takes advantage of existing infrastructure and commercial capabilities, at savings to the government.

How CACI Helps Collect Threat Data

Collecting and analyzing electronic signals is a key way to stay alert to potential terrorist threats. CACI's SIGINT solutions offer high-tech capabilities to comb the airwaves for electronic transmissions that could indicate the presence of terrorist groups and activities, or even impending attacks. CACI teams offer a range of SIGINT solutions. They support communications systems that can intercept radio signals, and develop and install software to process these signals for use by intelligence analysts.

They also prototype new systems for testing and provide a quick reaction capability to do so rapidly when needs are urgent. Although most of CACI's SIGINT work is classified, a few projects are on the public record. One of them is the U.S. Army's Guardrail Common Sensor system, supported by our team in Eatontown, NJ.

The Army's "Eye in the Sky"

Guardrail is an Army SIGINT system that includes computerized data collection equipment housed in specially built planes. These systems collect and process radio signals, then transfer their data to ground locations for further processing, analysis and reporting. Guardrail is one of the nation's premier "eye in the sky" capabilities that lets us watch for developing threats. Its history includes deployments along the German border during the Cold War years, as well as activity during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

VP John Dalton explains that CACI's role focuses on keeping Guardrail systems up-to-date with current needs and technologies. This includes assembling and testing new hardware and software configurations as necessary. Said John, "Our latest project is called Guardian Eagle. In this effort, we are installing and integrating new features expressly designed to increase Guardrail's counterterrorism capabilities."

For more information contact John Dalton, 732-578-5236, jdalton@caci.com

Read U.S. Port Security in the War on Terrorism, a white paper by Mr. Stephen T. Makrinos, Chief Scientist, CACI Technologies Incorporated ( Word doc - 5.3MB)

Managing Data for Homeland Security

CACI offers the federal government and Department of Homeland Security knowledge management solutions to capture raw data and transform it into useful information. When investigators collect paper documents as evidence, for example, CACI can convert them into electronic records through such technologies as optical character recognition. We can also convert files to foreign languages and perform conversions on seized hard drives and data files.

After conversion we store the electronic files in databases for quick and easy user access. Doing so streamlines the ability of investigators and litigators to organize evidence, helps them focus more on building winning strategies and saves time and resources over traditional storage methods.

Information Sharing Is Key

In the area of homeland security CACI is an important behind the scenes player on a number of cases. We helped to present evidence for a high profile case that resulted in a conviction. We also support an interagency task force that tracks funding associated with terrorist organizations - converting documents for use in a number of databases across many agencies.

This is vital, according to Senior VP Glennca Faison: "The key is to facilitate information sharing." CACI also offers security-cleared people and facilities to handle the work. As Glennca notes:

"One of the benefits we offer is that our staff are very familiar with strict 'chain of custody' controls. We have powerful tracking mechanisms to always identify where documents are in our pipeline, so investigators are assured that these records will retain their legal power to be used in court."

For more information contact Glennca Faison,703-841-3774, gfaison@caci.com

Assuring Data for Homeland Security

The big picture of homeland security includes making sure the right people receive the right information at the right time in the right format, while denying these advantages to adversaries. That's what we call information assurance.

"Information assurance is all about confidence," explains Bruce Brody, CACI's Information Assurance (IA) Division Manager. "Information superiority is an immense responsibility, and the need for defensive measures to protect that information is paramount. What CACI brings to clients is the confidence that they will be able to conduct their information-based mission in a hostile information environment."

CACI's IA offerings focus on the "C-I-A" of information: confidentiality, integrity and availability. Clients are assured that information is available only to authorized users, that it is reliable and unchanged, and that it is there when needed.

IA is particularly critical to the Office of Homeland Security. "Homeland security offers a real challenge," Bruce says. "All of the agency components must be able to share information, but some have mature systems, others don't, and others must build the necessary architecture."

CACI has already built solutions for U.S. Customs and the Secret Service and helped staff the Navy's Computer Incident Response Center.

CACI's process begins with a vulnerability analysis. "We look for the vulnerabilities, assign a risk level and do a complete analysis," Bruce says. "The practical issues connected with homeland security, and the huge areas of information that must be safeguarded, really force us - more than ever before - to always stay a step ahead of the bad guys."

For more information contact Bruce Brody, 703-679-4152, bbrody@caci.com

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