President Obama’s order for a “deep dive” inquiry into Russia’s suspected cyberattacks in the presidential election — and vowing to take action in response — is an all-too-familiar tune that strikes a sour note. We’ve heard it all before.
We heard it when Team Obama took office eight years ago and vowed to “pursue a new comprehensive approach to securing America’s digital infrastructure.” We heard it last year, when some 18 million federal employees with the Office of Personnel Management had their personal information hacked, including Social Security numbers and birth dates, presumably by the Chinese. That gave rise to a new Cybersecurity National Action Plan in mid-2015. All of which has amounted to nothing, opines Investor’s Business Daily.
The ransomware attacks have become too common nowadays, and big companies in Europe and North America have become a victim of it.
But now, amid questions of whether Russian hacking tilted the presidential election in Donald Trump’s favor, cybersecurity once again is in the national spotlight.
Where was the hue and cry in 2014 when Russia reportedly penetrated computer networks at the White House and State Department? Never mind all the other cyberattacks against U.S. systems since 2009.
One doesn’t need to dive too deeply to see that the Obama administration has paid little more than lip service to shoring up America’s flimsy firewall, despite a litany of warnings over the years. Here’s hoping the incoming Trump administration, with a different security mindset, will finally seal that which has been exposed for far too long.
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