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posted by mrpg on Thursday November 15 2018, @08:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the masaka! dept.

System error: Japan cybersecurity minister admits he has never used a computer

A Japanese minister in charge of cybersecurity has provoked astonishment by admitting he has never used a computer in his professional life, and appearing confused by the concept of a USB drive. Yoshitaka Sakurada, 68, is the deputy chief of the government's cybersecurity strategy office and also the minister in charge of the Olympic and Paralympic Games that Tokyo will host in 2020.

In parliament on Wednesday however, he admitted he doesn't use computers. "Since the age of 25, I have instructed my employees and secretaries, so I don't use computers myself," he said in a response to an opposition question in a lower house session, local media reported.

He also appeared confused by the question when asked about whether USB drives were in use at Japanese nuclear facilities. His comments were met with incredulity by opposition lawmakers. "It's unbelievable that someone who has not touched computers is responsible for cybersecurity policies," said opposition lawmaker Masato Imai.

And his comments provoked a firestorm online. "Doesn't he feel ashamed?" wrote one Twitter user. "Today any company president uses a PC. He doesn't even know what a USB is. Holy cow."

Another joked that perhaps Sakurada was simply engaged in his own kind of cybersecurity. "If a hacker targets this Minister Sakurada, they wouldn't be able to steal any information. Indeed it might be the strongest kind of security!"

Also at NYT, The Register, and Reuters.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by jelizondo on Thursday November 15 2018, @08:45PM (22 children)

    by jelizondo (653) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 15 2018, @08:45PM (#762334) Journal

    In my experience, rarely a politician or politically-appointed person has qualifications for the job. In private industry it is about the same, the CEO is a guy/gal from sales who has no fucking idea what happens in the factory floor.

    At those high levels, it is more about attending meetings and securing funding that about technical knowledge.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by pipedwho on Thursday November 15 2018, @09:06PM (20 children)

    by pipedwho (2032) on Thursday November 15 2018, @09:06PM (#762342)

    Absolutely. I can understand knocking a guy for being incompetent at his job, but this guys job is about leadership and being able to delegate technical tasks and questions to professionals with in-depth knowledge. Not to come up with half-arsed solutions by himself.

    Laughing at him because he doesn't know what a USB is is funny from a 'look, we found a guy that doesn't play with the toys he's selling' standpoint. And conversely, even he did know, are you then going to grill him about all the possible technical pitfalls that entails, and possible alternatives. You may as well laugh at Bill Gates because he doesn't know the name or details of some .NET interface library. These guys have professionals working for them with a detailed understanding of their speciality to solve problems. As a corollary, a boss that "knows just enough to be dangerous" is far more worthy of ridicule. And I'm sure we've all seen how that can play out.

    That whole article comes across like the banter in a primary school playground where the kids laugh about the teacher because she wasn't down with some inane meme that is sweeping through the third grade like the stench of an overflowing sewerage system.

    • (Score: 2) by legont on Thursday November 15 2018, @09:40PM (2 children)

      by legont (4179) on Thursday November 15 2018, @09:40PM (#762359)

      OK, let's assume you are right. What is that he supposed to do besides delegating to experts? And while we are at it, how the fuck does he know who the experts are?

      --
      "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @10:59PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @10:59PM (#762396)

        This guy is a deep bootlicker who accepts the reasoning of the ruling class without question.
        "It's not about technology it's about people" -- says guy who doesn't know technology.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @04:24AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @04:24AM (#762531)

        Yelp reviews and twitter following numbers, duh, hello?!

    • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @09:45PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @09:45PM (#762360)

      Laughing at him because he doesn't know what a USB is...

      How about we roll our eyes at him while we snicker at you?

      USB is an interface standard, not a physical thing. There is no "a USB". There is a USB socket (several of them, actually). There is a USB hub. There is a USB cable. USB is not a thing, it's a type of thing.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday November 15 2018, @10:23PM

        by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday November 15 2018, @10:23PM (#762376)

        Oh good lord A/C, we know what he meant, and so did you.

        Relax man, you'll live longer.

      • (Score: 1) by pipedwho on Friday November 16 2018, @01:01AM (1 child)

        by pipedwho (2032) on Friday November 16 2018, @01:01AM (#762439)

        Yeah, thanks, I had no idea what 'a USB' was until you pointed it out. And in no way was I just paraphrasing the Twitter quote from the summary:
        "Today any company president uses a PC. He doesn't even know what a USB is. Holy cow."

        You could have at least pointed out that I missed the possessive apostrophe in "guys" while you were there.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @10:06PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @10:06PM (#762371)

      Fully agreed that somebody who is "a good manager and leader but bad technical skills" is better in this role than somebody who is "technically adept but bad with people." On the other hand, I think everybody would agree that it's better to have somebody who is both technically adept (or at least knowledgeable) as well as a good people-person.

      With something as high-profile as this, I don't see why they couldn't have found somebody who was both. seeing how they didn't, because really who doesn't have some experience with computers now-a-days, the question becomes why did they select him?

      To cut through the coy veneer of allusions and insinuations to the real heart of the matter... is this person qualified for his role, and is there government corruption going on here?

      I suspect the answer is semi-qualified, and yes-corruption, but I'd need a lot more information to be positive.

      (Note, I say the same for many of the officials appointed to the Trump administration, when they seem to lack basic credentials related to their departments.)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @10:52PM (7 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @10:52PM (#762389)

      It's easy to demonstrate that he's doing a shitty job because he hasn't bothered learning even the basics you'd get from a CISSP. Which is by the way not technical, it's a security exam meant for managers and policy makers.
      He can't communicate with technical managers if he can't use the term "Threat model" in a sentence and he can't understand common threat models if he doesn't know what USB is.
      I came here just to give a big fuck off to dudes like you. We expect the Surgeon General to be an actual physician, I can't be elected as a judge without credentials.

      His appointment is the result of multiple layers of ignorance and incompetence.

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @11:26PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @11:26PM (#762411)

        I can't be elected as a judge without credentials.

        Depends on where you are. In at least some parts of the USA you certainly can. And I'm not talking abough BK and politics. Judges are elected, and while they are commonly lawyers, it is not required. The sole criterion is winning the election.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @02:18AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @02:18AM (#762471)

          BK = Brian Krzanich?

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @04:25AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @04:25AM (#762532)

            Brett 'Party Boy' Kavanaugh.

      • (Score: 2) by pipedwho on Friday November 16 2018, @01:59AM (1 child)

        by pipedwho (2032) on Friday November 16 2018, @01:59AM (#762462)

        This is about a politician that signs off on policy. Not a technical manager. He doesn't write and most likely doesn't even look at detailed threat assessment models. His job is dealing with raised exceptions where he has to make decisions that may affect other policies or ministerial departments. He will also likely give prepared legislation a once over to make sure sections are covered, and then defer explanation and assessment to the people expert in that area.

        Politicians generally aren't lawyers either, but good ones should at least be consulting experts in various legal areas before signing off or attempting to draft legislation.

        Just like a CEO is all about acquiring funding and signing off on the big picture and direction of a company.

        Why should this guy be forced to use a traditional computer, or drive a car, or even make his own lunch if he has people to do these things? He just needs to know that: he needs policies in place about computer security, there are pitfalls and consequences due to inaction or underfunded action, and who he needs to convince that it would be a good idea to implement the policies that his department have drafted.

        Competence at this level is not evaluated by mundane knowledge of technical minutiae. It is evaluated by their skill in dealing with the people that have been appointed as trusted experts and advisors, and the ability to negotiate across the ministerial bench with other people who also have no domain expertise.

        I'm sure if you told this guy that "it is possibly to plug a external device into a computer and make it do bad stuff" that this guy would understand just fine. He doesn't give a shit the details of that device, eg. USB, Keyboard, Network Cable, PCMCIA Card, RS232 device, parallel port printer, HDMI cable, Thunderbolt device, Firewire drive, etc. It's all the same, a bunch of technical words that have no meaning beyond 'something that plugs into a computer' to someone in his position beyond, ie. "something that may be used to achieve a nefarious outcome if plugged into a computer".

        Now, if this minister refused to retain domain security experts, or ignores what his experts tell him, then we should be knocking him. Same for a technical manager that knows nothing about what his team is doing when it comes time to make a technical decision.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @08:45AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @08:45AM (#762599)

          This is about a politician that signs off on policy

          That politician is also expected to defend "his" policy to the public, in terms that both the public and the cabinet can understand. That also includes answering topical questions from informed journalists. If he can't do that, it reflects badly on the entire cabinet.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @02:16AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 16 2018, @02:16AM (#762470)

        The surgeon general made it a priority to come up with exercises that dont mess up your hair.
        https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/surgeon-general-calls-for-health-over-hair/ [nytimes.com]

      • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Sunday November 18 2018, @04:46PM

        by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Sunday November 18 2018, @04:46PM (#763536) Homepage Journal

        Physicians seem to make poor ministers of health. They tend to have a God complex about being in charge, and don't understand how administrative edicts affect subsequent activity in huge bureaucracies. You know, the law of unintended consequences? They tend to understand the deficiencies of the health-care system, and take measures to fix it that, like many obvious remedies, are dead wrong.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @11:12PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15 2018, @11:12PM (#762404)

      In depth knowledge is of course not required to be a manager and one could argue not the best of ideas anyway, as you lose visibility of the forest from the trees and become too focused on the 'small stuff'. However *basic* knowledge of what you oversee, is. This is appalling.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Friday November 16 2018, @12:10AM (2 children)

      by sjames (2882) on Friday November 16 2018, @12:10AM (#762427) Journal

      I don't think it's too much to ask that he at least has a solid layman's understanding of the thing he is in charge of. Based on what we know, many small children know more about computers than he does.

      If the tech people had a similar asymmetry in their knowledge, they'd show up for work in their underwear. And nobody wants that.

      • (Score: 4, Touché) by pipedwho on Friday November 16 2018, @02:05AM (1 child)

        by pipedwho (2032) on Friday November 16 2018, @02:05AM (#762466)

        Actually, if what the average layman or child knows about computers would be useful from a security perspective, we wouldn't have prolific viruses and trojans running rampant on desktop systems.

        • (Score: 2) by sjames on Saturday November 17 2018, @01:35AM

          by sjames (2882) on Saturday November 17 2018, @01:35AM (#762919) Journal

          Naturally, that wouldn't be enough to actually accomplish the mission, but it should be a very bare minimum for someone managing people who are qualified.

  • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Thursday November 15 2018, @11:08PM

    by RamiK (1813) on Thursday November 15 2018, @11:08PM (#762401)
    --
    compiling...