Rap Sheets, Watchlists and Spy Networks Now Available With Single Click

Law enforcement officials nationwide now have the ability to search multiple sensitive databases, including spy agency intranets and homeland security suspicious activity reporting – with a single login.

The breakthrough in interconnectivity is expected to close information gaps that, among other things, have contributed to the rise in homegrown terrorism and school shootings.

"Let's say you have a lone-wolf incident or an active-shooter incident, where you need to be able to securely share information in a timely way. With a single sign-on capability, there is no wrong door," Kshemendra Paul, program manager for the Information Sharing Environment at the Office of Director of National Intelligence, said during an interview. "If you have an account, you can get to the virtual command center that the fusion center may be using – in a very direct way."

It took about three years to tear down silos without eroding privacy controls.

"In many cases, the data sources have different access requirements – so you can do a federated query that goes across the multiple sources, but with controlled access," Paul said Thursday.

That means some users still will be blocked from seeing certain information.

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