3 Auditor's PCs Stolen in MN

[The_Warmth]

Information on PCs included SSN and DOB.


http://www.startribune.com/462/story/490333.html

[lakeguy]

1. nice to know they value personal information so highly

"The loss was discovered late Thursday in a locked, unmarked fourth-floor area of the auditor's office near the State Capitol, Deputy Auditor Tony Sutton said Tuesday."

[Totally Committed]

2. I am absolutely NOT a computer geek, but...

Isn't there such a thing as encryption? Why isn't this sort of information heavily encrypted? Couldn't something like that be seen as crime prevention? Why isn't our information guarded more closely is what I want to know!

TC

[Deja Q]

3. Their IT department has a lot to answer for.

I wonder who is auditing them.

The few times I opened my mouth in my IT dept about portable equipment encryption (laptop, PDA, et al), nobody cared. And they feign ignorance too. (after all, I've always been ignored... I'm the nobody.) Never mind it was too much effort to deal with the mitigating factors surrounding encryption and protection. :eyes: The two-facedness of it all is aggrevating.

(and if they do have a plan, nobody's been implementing it...)

[Human Torch]

4. There's a lot of "victim mentality" thinking in IT departments

Sure, many IT professionals are hard-working, dedicated, etc.

But having worked in companies like Apple, Cisco, and Pacific Bell at the beginning, middle and end of the "dot com" fiasco, I can tell you from experience that:

1). Some (NOT ALL) IT employees feel "undervalued"

2). Some (NOT ALL) IT employees feel "underpaid" (back in the late 90s-early 2000s, when the hourly rate was $60 and up per hour)

3). Some (NOT ALL) IT employees think you are STUPID if you do not know as much as they do, and some of these folks couldn't find their ass with a funnel.

4). Some (NOT ALL) IT employees seem to be generally annoyed when you ask them to do ANYTHING, and they waste no time telling you how they feel.

5). Some (NOT ALL) IT employees are a lot like Jim Carrey's character in "The Cable Guy."

Now...with all of the disclaimers in place (take CAREFUL NOTE of the MULTIPLE "Some (NOT ALL)" references)...let me repeat: A SEGMENT of the IT population is bright, caring and professional.

ANOTHER segment is LIVING PROOF of why SOME animals eat their young. That explains why things DO NOT get done, and when they DO, they get done BADLY. VERY, VERY badly.

:patriot:

PS: SOMEONE will read this and say "But not all IT guys are like that."

:evilgrin:

[MADem]

5. I had a snarky bastard like that...he shaped up when he found out

that I was the one to sign his eval.

He was a lot like that skit on SNL years back. His customer service sucked. I made sure to solicit input from those he served and gave the little shit a firm talking-to.

[Human Torch]

6. Yep. I didn't want to mention the SNL skit...

...because I was hoping someone else would pick up on it.

:evilgrin:

Once again...realizing that we're talking about an unspecified percentage of the IT professional population..., that Jimmy Fallon character on SNL was drawn DIRECTLY from real life. I've known and worked with guys who have that exact attitude. It didn't represent EVERYONE who chose that career path, but it WASN'T a cartoon or stereotype. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Then again, I've worked with IT professionals who would bend over backwards and go out of their way to help you.

Put those two extremes together, and leave plenty of room for "middle ground," and you have American IT workers.

:patriot:

[MADem]

7. Well, I looked at it as a leadership challenge

I had to fire the guy who was running our fucked-up IT division, so until I had a replacement, I rode herd on them even though I didn't have a clue about the technical aspects (hell, it wasn't any worse than it already was, and at least people could get help when they needed it).

I focused on the customer service component, and made sure the replacement director understood that there was no substitute for caring, concerned workers, and I wasn't going to put up with that snarky bullshit. Who knows how they're doing nowadays, but I nipped that crap in the bud during my tenure!

[Human Torch]

8. I managed to get promotions and raises for people...

...and I'm not saying that to pat myself on the back jut to reinforce what you're saying about the customer service aspect.

I got one person converted from temp to full-time as the result of an e-mail I sent to his manager. I got a raise for another.

No matter how bad things get, no matter how tight the job market is, the cream always rises.

Under George W. Bush, the average worker has had to work impossibly hard to "rise"...but still, a good attitude and a genuine desire to be of service will always separate the wheat from the chaffe.

:patriot:

[NYC]

9. Because there is no penalty for losing the information.

You asked:

"Why isn't our information guarded more closely is what I want to know!"

Who suffers as a result of the loss? The person whose SS#s, etc. have been taken. Very little suffering is done on the part of the company that lost it.