Reading Room Document

Reaffirming Use of the EINSTEIN 2.0 Intrusion- Detection System to Protect Unclassified Computer Networks in the Executive Branch

Operation of the EINSTEIN 2.0 intrusion-detection system complies with the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the Stored Communications Act, and the pen-register and trap-and-trace provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 3121 et seq., provided that certain log-on banners or computer-user agreements are consistently adopted, implemented, and enforced by executive departments and agencies using the system. Operation of the EINSTEIN 2.0 system also does not run afoul of state wiretapping or communications privacy laws, which would stand as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress and be unenforceable under the Supremacy Clause to the extent that such laws purport to apply to the conduct of federal agencies and agents conducting EINSTEIN 2.0 operations and impose requirements that exceed those imposed by the federal statutes above. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/olc/file/2009-08-14-einstein-reaff/download.

August 14, 2009