US government staff wildly oblivious to basic computer, info security safeguards

theregister.co.uk

9 pointssohkamyung3 comments

Yeah, so I just completed an Australian Government security clearance application.

After filling out the details online, they are downloaded on forms for you to print out, sign and have witnessed.

You then scan and email those forms, with all your personal details on them, to a generic inbox. As PDF attachments. Unencrypted. I couldn't believe it.

It’s better than fax -barely. I worked for a company that builds HR software for gov customers including digital versions of forms with encryption etc. Day one I was faxing all of my own HR forms to HQ in another state.

No. Way. Seriously though, we've only had about 40 years of this problem and people wonder why I'm not a fan of giving the government anything new...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com