Saturday, June 19, 2010

L-3 Unit under investigation or spying ...


By ANTONIE BOESSENKOOL

The U.S. government has suspended a unit of L-3 Communications, New York, from doing any new business with government agencies. The government is investigating whether employees at the unit improperly used a military e-mail network to monitor other employees and government workers.

The investigation centers on whether L-3's Special Support Programs Division (SSPD), formerly called the Joint Operations Group (JOG), improperly used the U.S. Special Operations Command's e-mail network to monitor e-mails from L-3 employees, other government contractor employees and government workers, Reuters reported June 10, citing a memo it obtained from the U.S. Air Force's Office of the Deputy General Counsel.

The L-3 unit monitored the e-mails to see if its employees had shared information with another contractor, the memo said, according to Reuters.

The JOG contract is estimated to generate about $450 million in annual revenue for L-3 and contribute about $25 million to earnings before taxes, according to a research note from Jefferies & Co., a New York investment bank.

In documents filed June 9 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, L-3 said the unit is still working on outstanding orders under its existing contracts, and that the suspension will stay in effect until it's lifted by the Air Force. The Air Force also is considering suspending L-3 Integrated Systems, the parent firm of SSPD, L-3 said.

An L-3 spokeswoman declined June 18 to comment on the suspension.

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