Virtual Case File
Encyclopedia
Virtual Case File was a software application developed by the United States
Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) between 2000 and 2005. The project was officially abandoned in January 2005, while still in development stage and cost the federal government nearly $170 million.
(IT) infrastructure. The project had three parts: purchasing modern desktop computers for all FBI offices, developing secure high-performance WAN
and LAN
networks
, and modernizing the FBI's suite of investigative software applications. The first two goals of Trilogy were generally successful, despite cost overruns. Replacing the Bureau's Automated Case Support (ACS) software system proved difficult. It had been developed in-house by the bureau and was used to manage all documents relating to cases being investigated by the FBI, enabling agents to search and analyze evidence between different case. The project was originally scheduled to take three years and cost US$380 million. ACS was considered by 2000 a legacy system
, made up of many separate stovepipe
applications that were difficult and cumbersome to use. ACS was built on top of many obsolete 1970s-era software tools, including the programming language Natural, the ADABAS
database management system, and IBM 3270
green screen terminals. Some IT analysts believed that ACS was already obsolete when it was first deployed in 1995.
contract for the software aspects of the project was awarded to Science Applications International Corporation
(SAIC), and the network aspects were contracted to DynCorp. Dies was the first of five people who would eventually be in charge of the project. The software was originally intended to be deployed in mid-2004, and was originally intended to be little more than a web
front-end to the existing ACS data.
. The attacks highlighted the Bureau's information sharing problems and increased pressure for Bureau to modernize. In December 2001, the scope of VCF was changed with the goal being complete replacement of all previous applications and migration of the existing data into an Oracle
database
. Additionally, the project's deadline was pushed up to December 2003.
Initial development was based on meetings with users of the current ACS system. SAIC broke its programmers up into eight separate and sometimes competing teams. One SAIC security engineer, Matthew Patton, used VCF as an example in a October 24, 2002 post on the InfoSec News mailing list regarding the state of federal information system projects in response to a Senator's public statements a few days earlier about the importance of doing such projects well. His post was regarded by FBI and SAIC management as attempting to "blow the whistle
" on what he saw as crippling mismanagement of a national security
-critical project. Patton was quickly removed from the project and eventually left SAIC for personal reasons.
In December 2002, the Bureau asked the United States Congress
for increased funding, seeing it was behind schedule. Congress approved an additional $123 million for the Trilogy project. In 2003, the project saw a quick succession of three different CIO's come and go before Zal Azmi took the job, which he held until 2008. Despite development snags throughout 2003, SAIC delivered a version of VCF in December 2003. The software was quickly deemed inadequate by the Bureau, who lamented inadequacies in the software. SAIC claimed most of the FBI's complaints stemmed from specification changes they insisted upon after the fact.
On March 24, 2004, Robert Mueller testified to Congress that the system would be operational by the summer, although this seemed impractical and unlikely to happen. SAIC claimed it would require over $50 million to get the system operational, which the Bureau refused to pay. Finally, in May 2004 the Bureau agreed to pay SAIC $16 million extra to attempt to salvage the system and also brought in Aerospace Corporation to review the project at a further cost of $2 million. Meanwhile, the Bureau had already begun talks for a replacement project beginning as early as 2005. Aerospace Corp.'s generally negative report was released in the fall of 2004. Development continued throughout 2004 until the project was officially scrapped in January 2005.
practices:
mission. In March 2005, the bureau announced it is beginning a new, more ambitious software project code-named Sentinel to replace ACS.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) between 2000 and 2005. The project was officially abandoned in January 2005, while still in development stage and cost the federal government nearly $170 million.
Origins
In September 2000, the FBI announced the "Trilogy" program, intended to modernize the bureau's outdated Information TechnologyInformation technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
(IT) infrastructure. The project had three parts: purchasing modern desktop computers for all FBI offices, developing secure high-performance WAN
Wide area network
A wide area network is a telecommunication network that covers a broad area . Business and government entities utilize WANs to relay data among employees, clients, buyers, and suppliers from various geographical locations...
and LAN
Län
Län and lääni refer to the administrative divisions used in Sweden and previously in Finland. The provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010....
networks
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
, and modernizing the FBI's suite of investigative software applications. The first two goals of Trilogy were generally successful, despite cost overruns. Replacing the Bureau's Automated Case Support (ACS) software system proved difficult. It had been developed in-house by the bureau and was used to manage all documents relating to cases being investigated by the FBI, enabling agents to search and analyze evidence between different case. The project was originally scheduled to take three years and cost US$380 million. ACS was considered by 2000 a legacy system
Legacy system
A legacy system is an old method, technology, computer system, or application program that continues to be used, typically because it still functions for the users' needs, even though newer technology or more efficient methods of performing a task are now available...
, made up of many separate stovepipe
Stovepipe system
In engineering and computing, a stovepipe system is a system that is an assemblage of inter-related elements that are so tightly bound together that the individual elements cannot be differentiated, upgraded or refactored. The stovepipe system must be maintained until it can be entirely replaced by...
applications that were difficult and cumbersome to use. ACS was built on top of many obsolete 1970s-era software tools, including the programming language Natural, the ADABAS
Adabas
ADABAS is Software AG’s primary database management system.- History :First released in 1970, ADABAS is considered by some to have been one of the earliest commercially available database products...
database management system, and IBM 3270
IBM 3270
The IBM 3270 is a class of block oriented terminals made by IBM since 1972 normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. As such, it was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal. Due to the text colour on the original models, these terminals are informally known as green screen terminals...
green screen terminals. Some IT analysts believed that ACS was already obsolete when it was first deployed in 1995.
Launch
Bob E. Dies, then the bureau's assistant director of information resources and head of the Trilogy project, prepared initial plans in 2000 for a replacement to ACS and several other outdated software applications. In June 2001, a cost-plusCost-plus pricing
Cost-plus pricing is a pricing method used by companies to maximize their profits.The firms accomplish their objective of profit maximization by increasing their production until marginal revenue equals marginal cost, and then charging a price which is determined by the demand curve. However, in...
contract for the software aspects of the project was awarded to Science Applications International Corporation
Science Applications International Corporation
SAIC is a FORTUNE 500 scientific, engineering and technology applications company headquartered in the United States with numerous federal, state, and private sector clients...
(SAIC), and the network aspects were contracted to DynCorp. Dies was the first of five people who would eventually be in charge of the project. The software was originally intended to be deployed in mid-2004, and was originally intended to be little more than a web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
front-end to the existing ACS data.
Problems and abandonment of the project
Robert Mueller was appointed director of the FBI in September 2001, just one week before the September 11, 2001 attacksSeptember 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. The attacks highlighted the Bureau's information sharing problems and increased pressure for Bureau to modernize. In December 2001, the scope of VCF was changed with the goal being complete replacement of all previous applications and migration of the existing data into an Oracle
Oracle Database
The Oracle Database is an object-relational database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation....
database
Database
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
. Additionally, the project's deadline was pushed up to December 2003.
Initial development was based on meetings with users of the current ACS system. SAIC broke its programmers up into eight separate and sometimes competing teams. One SAIC security engineer, Matthew Patton, used VCF as an example in a October 24, 2002 post on the InfoSec News mailing list regarding the state of federal information system projects in response to a Senator's public statements a few days earlier about the importance of doing such projects well. His post was regarded by FBI and SAIC management as attempting to "blow the whistle
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
" on what he saw as crippling mismanagement of a national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
-critical project. Patton was quickly removed from the project and eventually left SAIC for personal reasons.
In December 2002, the Bureau asked the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
for increased funding, seeing it was behind schedule. Congress approved an additional $123 million for the Trilogy project. In 2003, the project saw a quick succession of three different CIO's come and go before Zal Azmi took the job, which he held until 2008. Despite development snags throughout 2003, SAIC delivered a version of VCF in December 2003. The software was quickly deemed inadequate by the Bureau, who lamented inadequacies in the software. SAIC claimed most of the FBI's complaints stemmed from specification changes they insisted upon after the fact.
On March 24, 2004, Robert Mueller testified to Congress that the system would be operational by the summer, although this seemed impractical and unlikely to happen. SAIC claimed it would require over $50 million to get the system operational, which the Bureau refused to pay. Finally, in May 2004 the Bureau agreed to pay SAIC $16 million extra to attempt to salvage the system and also brought in Aerospace Corporation to review the project at a further cost of $2 million. Meanwhile, the Bureau had already begun talks for a replacement project beginning as early as 2005. Aerospace Corp.'s generally negative report was released in the fall of 2004. Development continued throughout 2004 until the project was officially scrapped in January 2005.
Reasons for failure
The project demonstrated a systematic failure of software engineeringSoftware engineering
Software Engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software...
practices:
- Lack of a strong blueprintTechnical architectureTechnical architecture is one of several architecture domains that form the pillars of an enterprise architecture or solution architecture. It describes the structure and behaviour of the technology infrastructure of an enterprise, solution or system...
from the outset led to poor architectural decisions. - Repeated changes in specification.
- Repeated turnover of management, which contributed to the specification problem.
- MicromanagementMicromanagementIn business management, micromanagement is a management style where a manager closely observes or controls the work of her or his subordinates or employees...
of software developers. - The inclusion of many FBI Personnel who had little or no formal training in computer scienceComputer scienceComputer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
as managers and even engineers on the project. - Scope creepScope creepScope Creep in project management refers to uncontrolled changes or continuous growth in a project's scope. This phenomenon can occur when the scope of a project is not properly defined, documented, or controlled...
as the requirements were continually added to the system even as it was falling behind schedule. - Code bloatCode bloatCode bloat is the production of code that is perceived as unnecessarily long, slow, or otherwise wasteful of resources. Code bloat can be caused by inadequacies in the language in which the code is written, inadequacies in the compiler used to compile the code, or by a programmer...
due to changing specifications and scope creep. At one point it was estimated the software had over 700,000 lines of code. - Planned use of a flash cutoverFlash-cutA flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
deployment, which made it difficult to adopt the system until it was perfected.
Implications
The bureau faced a great deal of criticism following the failure of the VCF program. The program lost $104 million in taxpayer money. In addition, the bureau continues to use the antiquated ACS system, which many analysts feel is hampering the bureau's new counter-terrorismCounter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
mission. In March 2005, the bureau announced it is beginning a new, more ambitious software project code-named Sentinel to replace ACS.
External links
- IEEE Spectrum article: Who killed the virtual case file? 11 page detailed article of the entire timeline
- The FBI's Upgrade That Wasn't - Washington Post article about the project
- Testimony of Inspector General Glenn A. Fine before the Department of Justice - February 3, 2005: Project Audit results
- Testimony of Inspector General Glenn A. Fine before the Department of Justice - July 27, 2005
- Matthew Patton's October 24, 2002 posting on InfoSec News about VCF
- IEEE Spectrum Radio audio discussion of the failure. Participants are Peter Neumann, Steve Bellovin, Matt Blaze, and Robert Charette.