Minister in Charge of Japan's Cybersecurity Says He Has Never Used a Computer (nytimes.com)

Futurepower(R) shares a report: A lot of people don't use computers. Most of them aren't in charge of a nation's cybersecurity. But one is. Japanese lawmakers were aghast on Wednesday when Yoshitaka Sakurada, 68, the minister who heads the government's cybersecurity office, said during questioning in Parliament that he had no need for the devices, and appeared confused when asked basic technology questions. "I have been independently running my own business since I was 25 years old," he said. When computer use is necessary, he said, "I order my employees or secretaries" to do it. [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source.] "I don't type on a computer," he added.

Asked by a lawmaker if nuclear power plants allowed the use of USB drives, a common technology widely considered to be a security risk, Mr. Sakurada did not seem to understand what they were. "I don't know details well," he said. "So how about having an expert answer your question if necessary, how's that?" The comments were immediately criticized. "I can't believe that a person who never used a computer is in charge of cybersecurity measures," said Masato Imai, an opposition lawmaker.

Comments

This is new?

[Ubi_NL]

I could argue that the US president knows a similar amount about politics or diplomatics, but then I guess that honor could be extended to most in his administration.
See guys, now that it happens in another country is when you see it is a weird thing.

Re:This is new?

[Crash Dummy Redux]

That didn't stop Abraham Lincoln from running for President with a single two-year term in the House of Representatives.

Re:This is new?

[Anonymous Coward]

Did you say the same when a Senator with all of two years of experience in the US Senate and no actual leadership experience ever became President in 2008?

That senator was a constitutional scholar who at least understood the limits on his authority and how government works.

His great orange-ness? He knows none of this, and the stream of crooks and cronies he brings in who spend tax-payer money on stupid things and utterly fail to understand the function of the department they are heading would be a joke if it wasn't scary.

What you have now is a bunch of rich assholes with no knowledge (or concern) about the law, the Constitution, or doing anything else but lining their own pockets.

That 'drain the swamp' thing? There's so much shit in that swamp Shrek would be happy.

Re:Low-tech Japanese

[AmiMoJo]

The same thing happens all the time in the UK. Important jobs are given out as rewards or to groom allies of the Prime Minister. The people in charge of stuff like education, the army, Wales and of course cybersecurity are normally completely unqualified and clueless. It's the job of the civil servants to explain everything to them and handle the detail.