Fergie's Tech Blog

No Quick Fix for Government Data Security

Joel Rothstein writes for Reuters:

The White House has set an early August deadline for government agencies to encrypt sensitive data after the embarrassing theft of millions of veterans' personal information, but experts warn a quick technology fix will not cure security problems.

While encryption and other security technology can help, slipshod handling of data and equipment, poor training and the slow moving government bureaucracy are seen as the main causes of vulnerability.

"The White House directive is a good first step, but we're concerned about the time frame," said John Dasher, director of product management at encryption software maker PGP Corp. "Do they have funds budgeted and allocated? These are the nuts and bolts of the procurement process."

posted by Fergie @ 7/17/2006 01:11:00 PM