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posted by janrinok on Tuesday August 16 2016, @09:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the that-will-be-good-then dept.

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

The Democratic National Committee (DNC), still reeling from the hack on its computer system that resulted in a bunch of leaked emails and the resignation of basically all of its top people, has now created a "cybersecurity advisory board" to improve its cybersecurity and to "prevent future attacks." .

"To prevent future attacks and ensure that the DNC's cybersecurity capabilities are best-in-class, I am creating a Cybersecurity Advisory Board composed of distinguished experts in the field," interim DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile wrote in a memo. "The Advisory Board will work closely with me and the entire DNC to ensure that the party is prepared for the grave threats it faces—today and in the future."

Sure. That sounds like a good idea. But, then there's this:

Members include Rand Beers, former Department of Homeland Security acting secretary; Nicole Wong, former deputy chief technology officer of the U.S. and a former technology lawyer for Google and Twitter; Aneesh Copra, co-founder of Hunch Analytics and former chief technology officer of the U.S.; and Michael Sussmann, a partner in privacy and data security at the law firm Perkins Coie and a former Justice Department cybercrime prosecutor.

[...] But none of them are actual cybersecurity experts. I have no problem with these people being on this advisory board, but it's insane to put together a cybersecurity advisory board that doesn't include at least a single (and probably more) actual technologist with experience in cybersecurity.

Source: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160815/09190935246/democratic-national-committee-creates-cybersecurity-board-without-single-cybersecurity-expert.shtml


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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 16 2016, @09:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 16 2016, @09:34PM (#388846)

    It depends upon the purpose of the board. I doubt they are the ones who are supposed to come up with the detailed nuts-and-bolts technical answers. I would bet that they would have cybersecurity people they task to address issues. Just like with rockets. The board of directors of Boeing, or whomever, are not the ones designing the rockets.

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  • (Score: 2) by tibman on Tuesday August 16 2016, @09:38PM

    by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday August 16 2016, @09:38PM (#388849)

    But then what sort of advice can this advisory board give? Their advice will be to ask someone who actually knows! lol

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 16 2016, @09:51PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 16 2016, @09:51PM (#388855)

    Scott Adams has been talking about exactly this point.

    http://blog.dilbert.com/post/148197490846/the-inexperienced-voter [dilbert.com]
    http://blog.dilbert.com/post/148152679301/experience-is-overrated [dilbert.com]

    It is an interesting theory. It fits the evidence of how people like Trump and Clinton actually work. Take Trump for example. He has built many large buildings. He may have a passing knowledge of welding and pouring cement. But he knows a guy he can go to to get the right advice on that sort of thing to hire the right people.

    This board does seem a bit light on tech people though. You probably want someone who has a passing knowledge of what is going on. A gang of lawyers does not seem like the right set of credentials for this job. They do have a couple of CTOs in there so maybe they will be fine? My guess is the lawyers are there to help write laws to make doing what happened have a harsh criminal penalty. Then grab one of their favored congress critters and push it out under a 'get tough on crime' bill.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by mechanicjay on Wednesday August 17 2016, @12:06AM

      by mechanicjay (7) <reversethis-{gro ... a} {yajcinahcem}> on Wednesday August 17 2016, @12:06AM (#388904) Homepage Journal
      Seriously, Scott Adams has been knocking it out the park this year with his deconstruction and analysis of the presidential primaries.
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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 17 2016, @12:23AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 17 2016, @12:23AM (#388912)

      CTOs are the worst because they think they're technical people and that their grasp of internet plumbing and system security must be so utterly superior because they're C*O and you're just a peon.