Head of hacked U.S. agency says problems 'decades in the making'
Source: Yahoo! News / Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of a U.S. agency that fell victim to cyber attacks defended its performance on Tuesday against withering criticism from lawmakers furious about a breach that compromised the personnel files of millions of federal workers.
Katherine Archuleta, director of the Office of Personnel Management, said problems exposed by the cyber attacks discovered in April and linked by U.S. officials to China were "decades in the making."
Although she said her agency thwarts hackers 10 million times per month, members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs insisted that the successful hacks showed data security could not have been a priority for the OPM.
Some suggested that top officials resign.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/u-official-says-hacking-problem-decades-making-143657035.html
alboe
(192 posts)Whoa.
moondust
(19,981 posts)Keeping their technology somewhat up to date can be a big, expensive job for large organizations.
I remember GOP lawmakers going crazy over Benghazi and then later finding out they had voted to cut funding for embassy security:
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/10/10/985191/chaffetz-absolutely-funding-embassy-security/
Psephos
(8,032 posts)Give MOAR money to those who have failed their primary mission.
If you reward failure, guess what you get in return.
moondust
(19,981 posts)you can't expect a large organization of any kind to maintain operational security if you refuse to fund whatever is necessary to get the job done. You sound just like a Republican lawmaker who has refused to provide the necessary funding and then expects the job to get done anyway--like Benghazi.
Psephos
(8,032 posts)ps - stop already with the name calling, it would get you dq'ed in a junior high school debate
seabeckind
(1,957 posts)"You failed. You failed utterly and totally," said Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, the committee's chairman."
When you dairy queen your high school debate, make sure you include the section about accusations without any basis. Pay particular attention to the ad hominem part.
Psephos
(8,032 posts)Personally, I avoid such familiarity with their vile blather.
Meanwhile, evidenced from what you wrote, neither dq nor ad hominem mean what you think they mean.
Back to the actual point. Who would hand more $$ to those who already have shown serial incompetence?
Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)atreides1
(16,079 posts)You get the US Congress...one of the best examples of rewarding failure!!!
seabeckind
(1,957 posts)"I want to emphasize that cyber security issues that the Government is facing is a problem that has been decades in the making, due to a lack of investment in federal IT systems and a lack of efforts in both the public and private sectors to secure our internet infrastructure," she said.
The attitude in Washington for the last 30 years is that government doesn't do anything right and is the problem instead of investing in solutions to the problems.
When you add up the information and numbers of people hacked over the last couple of years, make sure you include the private sector. In this hack the Chinese found out you put your brother-in-law down as a reference.
Bank of America gave away your bank account.
35 years ago the government was very much involved in setting standards and rules. Now the gov't, thanks to the gop running the place, has turned over the chicken coop to the foxes.
Psephos
(8,032 posts)wow
They are all foxes, to use your analogy. WE are the chickens.
Meanwhile, here's more on the guys you want to trust again.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/06/18/reacting-to-chinese-hack-the-government-may-not-have-followed-its-own-cybersecurity-rules/
Short version: they are making their abject incompetence WORSE with their response.