Unfortunately, there is no patch for systematic incompetence. No amount of money, new cybersecurity authorities and organizations, or smart hackers lured away from Silicon Valley firms will compensate for the depressingly obvious realization that our government does not care about technical expertise or cybersecurity outcomes writ large and is not at all interested in accountability.
This is all one big snooze to Jugears McFoodstamp. If it doesn’t involve assisting his #1 ally the Muzlim Bruthaz, transgender bathroom rights, gay marriage, slaughtering the unborn, stoking race wars, giving OPM to a hundred million + lazy slugs/parasites, importing Ebola, giving aid & comfort to America’s enemies, he don’t give no rat’s ass.
Never attribute to incompetence what can be adequately explained by treason.
It’s not just technical expertise in computers that government ignores. The hiring and promotion of identity groups within government, and the minimization of the value of technical expertise at the expense of people skills (however defined) has been a feature of Canadian government for at least 20 years, if not more.
My only comfort is that most other governments on the planet are in pricisely the same pile of doo doo. Even if the Chinese government has records showing the embarrasing bits of history on various civil services, they will, if history is any guide, screw up any use of this data.
But it will be fun to watch, I think.
This would be more damning if every large organization in the world, private or public, didn’t have the exact same problem.
The unfortunate fact is that absolutely no one cares about network security enough to spend even a token amount on it. That includes every web site you visit, your bank, and any government agency you interact with. Next time you’re in your doctor or specialist’s office, ask him two questions:
1) Are all of your office computers encrypted with AES-level encryption?
2) (Since the answer is pretty much guaranteed to be “no”): What’s preventing anyone from breaking in to your office, stealing the computer, and exposing medical information on all your patients to any crook with a bit of imagination and computer skills?
“This would be more damning if every large organization in the world, private or public, didn’t have the exact same problem.”
Except private, profit-driven organizations have more of a stake in protecting their data than governments, who lack this critical incentive.
Ultimately, it’s not the lack of technical expertise but, rather, not appreciating the importance of what you don’t know. That requires humility, an attribute lost on people who have advanced solely on the basis of their political connections.
No that’s failsville too for reasons including globalization, perverse incentives, corruption but probably most importantly.. “cultural issues”. We’re simply not serious about much as a people anymore. Who’s we? Citizens of first world countries.