How Safe are Government Computers?

KingOfBLASH asks: "Recently, when I was in the local City Court to protest a parking ticket, I noticed that all of the computers were running Windows (some as old as Windows 95!), and there were definitely network cables snaked around them. The City Hall suffers from the same affliction. Given that some of these computers have passed the End of Life for support, and there are a number of known exploits, how safe our government computers? What damage could be done if they were attacked?" It would be interesting to note if it's just local governments that may be running lower-than-expected tech or regional governments, as well. It would also be worthwhile to hear how governments outside the US compare to their American counterparts.

Comments

Probably no better than your average small busines

[MerlynEmrys67]

So government computers have old OSes, old network connections, and old hardware. This doesn't make them any more vulnerable when deployed in a correct networking environment (just because there are network cables - doesn't mean they are hooked up to the network). I would be a lot more wary if the computers were not locked down and you were able to start typing on the keyboard, or even better - just steal the whole darned thing.

In reality Windows 3.1 was a pretty secure OS - after all there was no networking built in (it was an add on) so very few remote vulnerabilities. That said - there were a LOT of vulnerabilities in the add on software to get them on the network. The other thing going for them is if they are old enough a lot of the vulnerabilities (various scripting flaws etc.) weren't built in to the level that they are today - making the current crop of random Trojan horses a lot less effective

As a county DBA/Network Technician

[infohord]

As a county DBA / Network Technician, I can tell you that most government computers are secure and often more secure then some of the vendors/businesses we deal with. Unlike corporations, we have mandated audit processes. Our agency just went through an extensive IT audit conducted by a legally seperate internal auditor who hired out much of the audit work. From a technology stand point we are very secure (biggest problem was lack or written policy). We take great strides to make sure our network and systems are secure and most other local government IT people I talk to do the same thing.

We as taxpayers/employees take great pride in protecting the public's information. And while one respondent asked about public record, yes most are public but we MUST control the way in which the public gets access.