Secret Service Computer System Has Only 60% Uptime

Terry Olaes

Terry Olaes

I Used to be the [H] News Guy
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
4,646
You think your computer system is slow and unreliable at your work? A classified review of the US Secret Service’s computer system is only fully available about 60% of the time and relies on a mainframe that dates back to the 80’s. Ouch.

Sources tell ABC News that the Secret Service was so plagued by computer problems that the agency invited the National Security Agency to formally review its information technology systems. The Secret Service's databases are outdated and users are at times unable to conduct searches from one system to another.
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ewb302 said:
Yeah really. With the amount of money our government wastes, they can't put together a modern and reliable computer system?
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Maybe we could if we weren't spending 62% of our federal budget on mandatory entitlements.
Defense of the US is in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution. I read the U.S. Constitution and no where in there did I see Social Security, Welfare or Health Care.
Our current priorities as a nation will be our downfall.
 
Cabn12 said:
Maybe we could if we weren't spending 62% of our federal budget on mandatory entitlements.
Defense of the US is in the preamble of the U.S. Constitution. I read the U.S. Constitution and no where in there did I see Social Security, Welfare or Health Care.
Our current priorities as a nation will be our downfall.
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really? you read the constitution? the preamble specifically? and no where did you see "welfare"? lmao

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
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and the definition of welfare includes well being, state of health, prosperity, and happiness. so yep its all in there.
 
All the crap that gets thrown at the government for wasting money and now the Secret Service is getting shit for trying to go the cheap route by continuing to use what they've been using for 3 decades or so. Sigh.

Maybe the stuff they have is so old that it's super hack resistant? Like a T-Rex for the PC world or something? Eh? Maybe?
 
What can you really say to that? I mean, spend a few billion and get with the times.
 
Ocean said:
and the definition of welfare includes well being, state of health, prosperity, and happiness. so yep its all in there.
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No your definition does, and it says promote...not provide.
 
Shuffle 1 billion from the war in the Middle East or the war on drugs, and I think you'll have a decent mainframe/system.

I mean, seriously... 1 billion, that's like, what, compared to our usual spending habits as a government?

Maybe that system was broken when that couple crashed that one White House party a few months ago...
 
The government is very slow to update old computer systems because upgrading is a big hassle for them. Their documentation requirements are extreme (for better or worse), and their compatibility requirements are very strict.

For these reasons, most government agencies take the "don't fix what isn't broken" approach. Of course, in this situation, I think we can agree the current system is broken.
 
Bgrngod said:
Maybe the stuff they have is so old that it's super hack resistant? Like a T-Rex for the PC world or something? Eh? Maybe?
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no, the security of 80's equipment was based around the total lack of people having another
computer to attach to yours (read NONE) but in a way that works since those machines are
isolated from the net, and would require physical access to get the data. and that data is
stored in tapes and transferred out via serial. so you'll be there for awhile ...
 
Paul_Johnson said:
No your definition does, and it says promote...not provide.
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wasnt my definition, it was Merriam-webster's definition. no one mentioned "provide"

but now that you brought it up, i believe you can promote health by providing healthcare, promote well being by providing safety regulation on foods, promote prosperity by providing law enforcement, etc etc.

i dont think its possible for the government to "provide a state of health"


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does the secret service not use computers out of some sort of security risk? or are they intentionally kept offline until needed? do they outsource their investigative work?

im really shocked that any defensive system wasnt made current after 9-11.
 
Ocean said:
really? you read the constitution? the preamble specifically? and no where did you see "welfare"? lmao

OK got me there, Should have re-read my post before posting :p but it seems the modern definition has come to mean redistribution of wealth and as the moderator says "it says promote...not provide" Where do the entitlements end?

back on topic

Maybe they can get to the Secret Services computer systems after they finish updating the FAA's in 2025
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