Spy case prompts computer search

Experts are combing government computer systems to try to ensure that Robert P. Hanssen, the veteran FBI agent accused of spying for Moscow, did not sabotage them or create software vulnerabilities that could allow Russian intelligence agencies to steal information while Hanssen is in jail, senior U.S. officials said. BECAUSE HANSSEN is a “highly skilled” computer programmer, the officials said, government experts are checking all the systems to which he had access at the FBI and State Department. These include classified and unclassified computers. At the FBI, systems administrators already have “scrubbed” the bureau’s classified computer system, which is not attached to the Internet. They found no evidence that Hanssen planted malicious software codes either to damage the network or expand his access to secrets, the officials said. One senior official said no conclusions have been reached about Hanssen’s computer activities at the State Department, where he had been assigned since 1995 to an office that monitors foreign diplomats.