This is a story about government incompetency on the crude , most unforgivable plate . Here ’s how the Economic Development Administration unnecessarily spent $ 2.75 million to press a common display case of malware . Warning : much innocent computer hardware was lost . Yes , even the mouse .
In December 2011 the Economic Development Administration ( an agency under the US Department of Commerce ) was send word by the Department of Homeland Security that it had a malware infection spreading around its internet . These thing happen , but what come next was genuinely exceptional . The EDA ’s IT masses — including its CIO — had a meltdown .
The EDA ’s IT gang determined that its meshwork had been infect with a pertinacious , nation - land attack on its systems . So they sequester their department ’s hardware from other regime web , cut off employee email , hired an outside security system contractor , and started systematically destroy $ 170,000 worth of computers , cameras , mice , etc . It catch crazier . Fromthe report , prepared for the Dept . of Commerce :
EDA ’s CIO reason that the risk , or possible danger , of extremely persistent malware and nation - state activeness ( which did not exist ) was great enough to necessitate the forcible wipeout of all of EDA ’s IT components . 20 EDA ’s management agreed with this jeopardy assessment and EDA initially destroyed more than $ 170,000 worth of its IT components,21 include background , printers , TVs , cameras , reckoner mice , and keyboard . By August 1 , 2012 , EDA had sap funds for this try and therefore halted the destruction of its remain IT component , valued at over $ 3 million . EDA intended to sum up this activity once monetary resource were usable . However , the destruction of IT components was clearly unnecessary because only common malware was present on EDA ’s IT organization .
Destroying television camera ? And mice ? Over malware ? Are you serious ?
uncollectible , the EDA continued ruin constituent until it could no longer afford to destroy them . In fact , the agency intended to continue destroying gear just as soon as it got more funds O.K. to do so . Uhh … okay !
And no , it does not end there . It turns out the malware contagion was absolutely routine . All the EDA had to do was keep apart the affect component , take the malware , reconnect the hardware and move on . NOAA , which get a notice at the same metre as EDA , complete this cognitive operation in one month .
The overall cost of EDA incompetency ? $ 2.75 million — approximately half of the agency ’s IT budget . Here it is , neatly enumerated into smaller idiotic segments :
Malware is scary , so in a style , we ’re sympathetic to the government representation that got infected and had a bit of a panic onrush . But our sympathy melt when we learn that its answer to the malware cheat a basic misunderstanding of malware and how it works . And remember , kids ! Those are your tax dollars working severely in all the wrong places . [ Department of CommerceviaFederal News RadioviaThe Verge ]
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