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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.
On the other hand it would be easy to fit goverment with the latest in secure systems. Just pay more taxes.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
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
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
how much information on these is machines is public record? how much of government records should be confidential? what i would worry more about is people tampering with the records, doubling my property tax and so on.
:) don't get me started about identity theft! (like why is SSN used for anything OTHER THAN social security?)
also, what if any liability does government have for misuse of information? an infamous case was a state (CA?) that gave out auto licence plate information promiscuously enabled a stalker to locate and kill a woman. for a time state governments were selling driver's license information to marketers, all the way down to the height and weight info. i worked on a proposed "violent gang database" collecting officer intelligence on alleged gang members, such as nicknames, residence, and so on -- i asked, what if the data falls in the hands on an enemy gang?
i would suggest that government should be held liable for negligent dissemination of private information, and that some sort of comprehensive plan regarding what is "private" and what is required to access private data. right now i can apparently find out how much my neighbor paid for her house, how much she gave to poilitical campaigns, where she's lived for the last 20 years -- questions i would hesitate to ask to her face (and she's nice!). what's going on here?
this touches a nerve, as you can see.
Public computer, public toilet. City Hall *says* they are clean. Who am I to argue?
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
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.
When aquisitions are written into a contract or pre-set by an annual budget, this means they probably left out long-term maintenance, upgrades, and funds to pay anyone do to maintenance and upgrades. Welcome to basically every bureaucracy large and small on the whole planet.
For example, wasn't it the good ol' Department of Homeland Security that scored an 'F' for network security this last year? Wasn't the Department of the Interior that was ordered off-line for gross negligence? Large and small, they all fall.
Have a nice day.
Vote in November. You won't regret it.
snaked around them.
So what? Just because they have a network card and some cabling does not necessarily mean they are hooked to anything but another computer in the building.
I don't believe the question here is 'how prone to hacking are these computers' I believe the question is, 'how strong is the firewall protecting them.'
That is of course assuming they are 1 connected to the internet, and 2 firewalled.
The county government here has one computer on the internet, and it's isolated from the other computers, i.e. not networked in with them.
No, you're not the only one. I'm pretty sure it's not 'borderline' any longer.
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
Hey who in here reading things like this hasn't been added to that list? ;-)
Try asking federal employee a few simple questions and you will find the majority of them know next to nothing about security (other than how to log on to their workstation).
...we are from the government - we are here to help...
What damage could be done if they were attacked?
If anyone wants to take the chance of finding out how secure they are, can you get rid of those pesky parking tickets in my name?
I work for a state Govt agency finally got an upgraded pc this winter (promised last summer). It has xp. However, I am one of the few that have xp. My PC they just replaced was still on Win98 which is mostly what we run. I don't work in IT (I'm in marketing), but I can safely bet any of you that there's only ONE member of our IT staff (7 members) that is more qualified for the position than I am. Reason: because I am a geek at home, and my SO works in the industry. This is just the cabinet/department I work in. Now our state gov't has an entire IT department under the governor's office that the cabinet/department level IT staff report to, and they aren't much better. Governments can do a lot with the money that have, it is just they don't always hire the best people for all the reasons you've probably heard...and the dedication of the staff. It is the same with private and public businesses, it's all about who you know...