Senator calls for expulsion of Canadian computer science students
June 2, 2004 Posted: 9:42 AM EST (1442 GMT)NEW YORK, N.Y. (CNN) -- Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has called for the expulsion of Canadian computer science students in the U.S., saying
"hostile foreign nations are sending students to American universities to learn computer science so they can go home and possibly use it against us."Schumer's remarks were triggered by news stories that Canada was shielding the identity of the suspected mastermind behind the "Randex" computer worm. The worm spawned a global manhunt for its author after it allegedly caused millions of dollars of damage.
The suspect is the latest in a string of Canadian computer criminals whose identities are protected by law. He is scheduled to appear before a Canadian magistrate tomorrow.
Speaking to reporters at "Ground Zero" where the World Trade Center buildings once stood, Schumer insisted the expulsion of Canadian computer science students would strengthen homeland security. "Our own schools that our children attend, that our tax dollars fund, are probably now serving as digital training grounds for future cyber-terrorists. And we're doing nothing about it."
But that would change, he said. Canada "should not use the U.S. as a cyber-terror incubator."
The senator from New York suggested he may also demand the expulsion of computer science students on visas from Asian and Arabian countries. "When I learned that ... Iran, Iraq, North Korea, [and] China are training citizens in how to use the Internet as a weapon, it's become even clearer to me that this is possibly the principle form of 21st century warfare."
Cyberthreats should be treated as seriously as threats to physical health, the senator said. "Terrorists can use viruses to shut down commerce in this country with potentially overwhelming economic impact."
"A more technologically sophisticated Timothy McVeigh may at this moment be at home developing a virus that could undermine the American economy," Schumer insisted.
"If I were a betting man, I'd put a few dollars down that the next virus that clogs computer networks is going to be transmitted through an e-mail" sent from a Canadian Internet service provider.
Schumer cited a classified CIA document that warned Canada sends high-tech operatives who pose as party-going college students. "It's a lot easier for them to develop a devastating virus or to create a cyber-attack than probably it is to use weapons of mass destruction, which are much harder to deliver" across the 5,500 mile border between the neighboring countries.
A spokeswoman for Canada's Ministry of Information Superiority refused to comment on the matter.
Schumer refused to say if he would call for Canada's removal from America's "most favored nation" status.
The two nations have maintained an uneasy alliance since Canada declared victory over the U.S. in the War of 1812. The alliance was strained a decade later when America issued its Monroe Doctrine in 1823.