Some days, I think we are screwed

By Rich | February 16, 2015

I meant to write about this earlier and forgot. Last week I was listening to the Diane Rehm show on NPR while out for a long run (I am weird and prefer talk radio/podcasts on long workouts). The show was all about cybersecurity. To be honest, the panel was a bit weak (Ravi Pendse from Brown was decent).

When they opened up the phone lines, as you would expect, a lot of consumers called in. I will paraphrase one call a bit..

I don’t really get what the big deal is. If someone uses my Social Security number all I need to do is call my bank and clean it up.

This was prefaced by:

I’ve worked on process control systems for over 20 years, like water treatment and other utilities.

Even the panel had a hard time responding.

(Sorry I don’t have a transcript.)

2 Comments

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Michael 2015-03-10
It's hard not to come to that conclusion. When I went through my first experience with identity theft, one of the cops manning the frankly fruitless anti-fraud desk told me that here in Toronto, ID theft was then (2011) more common than traffic violations. My CISO and I are now planning around "when the big breach comes" instead of "let's think about the unthinkable". It helps, really. I suppose this is the year I learned to stop worrying and love the lawyers our insurance carrier.
W
Will 2015-02-18
People tend to be stupid, so the smart ones must protect them from themselves :)