How Bad Was CIA Chief's Computer Blunder?

John Deutch made a fantastically poor judgment call when he inadvertently exposed classified national security information to the world of Internet users via his home computer. But, say members of the Justice Department and former colleagues at the CIA, his negligence was not criminal; he simply should have known better. That's the line on Capitol Hill Thursday, as former CIA director Deutch faces the Senate Armed Services Committee and their probing line of questioning. Did he understand what was at stake when he decided to write classifed documents on his personal computer? CIA insiders, including George Tenet, the agency's current leader, agree that Deutch's security lapse was very serious, but are publicly insisting that Deutch's blunder does not approach the gravity of the Los Alamos breach allegedly orchestrated by Wen Ho Lee.

And while allegations of favoritism — and even racism — emerge as people compare the two men's cases, TIME Washington correspondent Massimo Calabresi says there is little doubt who committed the more egregious transgression. "Wen Ho Lee downloaded classified information from a secure computer to an insecure computer — while Deutch simply composed documents on an insecure computer and never transferred any classified information."

The fear, experts say, is that while Deutch used his computer for surfing the Internet and sending e-mail, he could have exposed all of his documents to hackers. "If the data is insecure" — as it was in this case — "it's theoretically possible that someone could install a so-called Trojan horse on Deutch's computer without his knowledge," says TIME technology reporter Chris Taylor. "It would have appeared as an attachment on an e-mail message, and he would have had to open it to activate it. The program, once it installed itself, would allow the interlopers to view and control his computer from a remote location." There's no proof that this did (or didn't) happen, but all the same, Deutch was stripped of his security clearance in August, when Tenet learned of the breach. Tenet, meanwhile, is trying desperately to distance himself from his former boss's misbehavior. But, says Calabresi, all his effort may be too little, too late. "This scandal significantly decreases Tenet's chances of staying on at the CIA during a Republican administration."