Why an acclaimed Georgia Tech professor is barred from her COVID-19 research

[CuseJacket]

Interesting story. Figured this might deserve its own thread, given the GT connection.

https://www.ajc.com/news/local/the-...covid-why-she-can-help/MZSnUknKjvabcO1QvKfXLL

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

Well, it's hard to dispute the fact that she is, according to that link, "an admitted felon".

 

[CuseJacket]

AJC: Acclaimed Georgia Tech professor Lee still barred from COVID-19 work

Early this week Duane Caneva, the Department of Homeland Security’s chief medical officer, became the second high-ranking member of the agency to ask that Lee’s access to be restored. Both Lee’s lawyer, Buddy Parker, and the university confirmed this on Friday.

In late January, Romel Lapitan, director of DHS’s Agro/Bio Terrorism Countermeasures Division, asked Georgia Tech president Angel Cabrera to restore Lee’s access. “I sincerely hope you will consider this request quickly so we can utilize Dr. Lee’s talents to serve this nation’s health crisis in a timely manner,” he wrote.

In a statement issued Friday, the university said “it needs a request, in writing, from a senior official overseeing the U.S. government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak that formally requests her involvement.” Given the nature of Lee’s guilty pleas, authenticating such a request is reasonable and “we remain open to receiving it,” the school said.

 

[RonJohn]

There are many things in this story that I don't quite understand. It could be the reporting instead of her concerns of facts.

• She had access to 200 computers but now only has access to her laptop. -- If she is working on modeling that is important to DHS for coronavirus research, Google, Microsoft, or Amazon would probably provide her with all the cloud computing resources she could use quickly and at no charge.
• She needs her GT email to connect with her former students to assist. -- She could have provided contact information in these news stories. I'm sure most if not all of her former students have read the story and they could have been contacting her to be involved.
• She needs a file from a secured computer that is classified and that no other person at GT is authorized to see, so GT's offer to get her any files she needs from the school's computers won't work. -- There are plenty of people at GT and GTRI who have varying levels of security clearances. I would find it extremely hard to believe that she was working on something that has code word type classification. Therefore, it seems to me that there are people who could gather files, even classified files, for her if she needs them.

It probably is that the reporting doesn't capture the issues factually correct to details. However, from the reporting, I don't see anything that she could not do without having access to GT's network or computers.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

the pooch?

Prof Eva Lee might be in some hot water. Some back & forth finger pointing between her & school.

Deals with NSF funding.

Jeez, some of these smart people are so freaking stupid. One item I read said she actually didn't know how to tie her shoes or work a thermostat. They made it sound as if literally true.

If anyone interested they can look it up.

 

[RonJohn]

the pooch?

Prof Eva Lee might be in some hot water. Some back & forth finger pointing between her & school.

Deals with NSF funding.

Jeez, some of these smart people are so freaking stupid. One item I read said she actually didn't know how to tie her shoes or work a thermostat. They made it sound as if literally true.

If anyone interested they can look it up.

There is already a thread about her: https://gtswarm.com/threads/why-an-...r-is-barred-from-her-covid-19-research.21344/

My take on the stories is that her lawyer is trying to gain public sympathy before her sentencing hearing.

 

[IEEEWreck]

There are many things in this story that I don't quite understand. It could be the reporting instead of her concerns of facts.

• She had access to 200 computers but now only has access to her laptop. -- If she is working on modeling that is important to DHS for coronavirus research, Google, Microsoft, or Amazon would probably provide her with all the cloud computing resources she could use quickly and at no charge.
• She needs her GT email to connect with her former students to assist. -- She could have provided contact information in these news stories. I'm sure most if not all of her former students have read the story and they could have been contacting her to be involved.
• She needs a file from a secured computer that is classified and that no other person at GT is authorized to see, so GT's offer to get her any files she needs from the school's computers won't work. -- There are plenty of people at GT and GTRI who have varying levels of security clearances. I would find it extremely hard to believe that she was working on something that has code word type classification. Therefore, it seems to me that there are people who could gather files, even classified files, for her if she needs them.

It probably is that the reporting doesn't capture the issues factually correct to details. However, from the reporting, I don't see anything that she could not do without having access to GT's network or computers.

And even if it were code word classified it seems highly unlikely that she'd be the only person with clearance at GT. And even if she were, I can't construct a scenario in which everyone at GT would simultaneously not have clearance to view a file but also have the ability to control access to it.

 

[DeepSnap]

And even if it were code word classified it seems highly unlikely that she'd be the only person with clearance at GT. And even if she were, I can't construct a scenario in which everyone at GT would simultaneously not have clearance to view a file but also have the ability to control access to it.

True story. There is ALWAYS a CSSO & a Security Manager - MUST be two different people - essentially "read into everything" to act as access controls. If she's so special, who'd handle those files if she got killed by a MARTA bus? She may have been the only "analyst" read into the program(s) covering those files, but not the only one with access.

Anyone having access to said files, if they are codeword compartmented or classified, whoever got them for her now or for some outside source not only does so at their own peril in terms of prosecutions and potential imprisonment, but imperils GT/GTRI as well.

Treat it as a SAP - A potential solution to only allow access in a controlled security environment (SCIF, e.g.) with proper firewalled access and not on any personal computer.

 

[LibertyTurns]

True story. There is ALWAYS a CSSO & a Security Manager - MUST be two different people - essentially "read into everything" to act as access controls. If she's so special, who'd handle those files if she got killed by a MARTA bus? She may have been the only "analyst" read into the program(s) covering those files, but not the only one with access.

Anyone having access to said files, if they are codeword compartmented or classified, whoever got them for her now or for some outside source not only does so at their own peril in terms of prosecutions and potential imprisonment, but imperils GT/GTRI as well.

Treat it as a SAP - A potential solution to only allow access in a controlled security environment (SCIF, e.g.) with proper firewalled access and not on any personal computer.

She might have been the only person at GT with access to the program she was working on. The CSSO and CPSO certainly have access to her systems, but they likely do not have authority to access her files.