In past articles we mentioned the inefficiency of our tax dollars to pay for the country’s programs. Now we address the management process that fails to deliver. To wit, The Colonial Pipeline fiasco is a perfect example of how not to do things. Our “leaders” need to recognize the priorities of our society. We need food, water, shelter, etc. along with certain other “essentials” that make this land work for all of us.

We’ve known for years about cyber threats, ransomware and domestic terrorism. What have we done to solve those very real dangers? Well, we know about Russian election interference TWICE, we’ve seen personal records stolen numerous times from credit rating companies, banks and retailers and now we learn that ransomware has been used over 2,400 times in the past year (including the Colonial Pipeline).

Again, we ask “what has been done to address these cyber issues?” The apparent answer is “very little”. Either we are inept or we just haven’t tried. We always hear about domestic terrorism in the form of mass shootings. The story goes like this: a madman broke into a space (school, mall, etc.) and senselessly killed several people and wounded many more. First responders quickly arrived and put the gunman down. Details on the 11 o’clock news.

The above story line is always the same. Never prevention of the deed; always the remedy of picking up the pieces afterwards. Can we really afford that mentality when dealing with cyber crimes? Do you want to experience a total loss of the power grid in your area for a month while utility company officials negotiate with a Russian cyber hacker who’s demanding $100 million in cryptocurrency? And guess who will eventually pay for that $100 million loss?

We need and must have preventive measures in place and require that critical industries and governments protect our way of life. Failure to do so should result in personnel terminations, replacements and upgrading of any successfully attacked unit. We know that’s a tall order but consider what a skilled hacker could do to us and ask yourself “how possible is it that the worst case scenario could happen?” Now you understand what’s at risk. Tell your Congressperson.

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