Briefs

By Ryan Gabrielson, Tribune, September 17, 2006

Hsinchun Chen goes where terrorists gather. He monitors what they say and, particularly, how they say it. He tracks who they are talking to, and whether they are spreading propaganda or providing training. �They�re hiding,� Chen said. �You need to dig them out.�

Chen is not operating undercover, or eavesdropping on nearby conversations in an unmarked van on a darkened street. He is a middle-aged, polite computer science professor at the University of Arizona, working from a closet-sized office in Tucson. A supercomputer in his building�s basement uses data-mining to scour the Internet and analyze the intelligence it gathers for the U.S. government. Chen is one of dozens of university computer researchers serving as online intelligence officers training the next generation of digital spies.

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