Are MoD as bad as the rest of government?

[David Hansen]

On 21 Jan 2008 at 20:10, Ian Batten wrote:

> I've always assumed that even if government are busy cocking things up  
> in the civilian areas, the MoD would at least Have Some Clue.  It  
> would appear that they can't organise keeping data safe either.

Their incompetence doesn't surprise me.

Many moons ago I built a computer room for them. It was specified to 
high standards. We spent weeks walking around the place in plastic 
overshoes, after treading on sticky mats to get most dust off our 
shoes, doing various tests. The room operated at positive pressure to 
keep the dust out. It took the contractor several weeks to discover why 
the electromagnetic shielding was not working. Just as they were on the 
point of ripping down the cosmetic walls to find out what was up they 
found a nail had been hammered in too far and was touching the 
shielding. With this nail removed the appropriate people conducted yet 
another set of tests and found that it was now working. The 
contractor's site agent had the nail mounted on a piece of wood on his 
desk.

After all this, within an hour of them moving in they had ordered that 
the interlocks on the air-lock were defeated. Obviously this negated 
the dust and electromagnetic emission controls they had specified and 
the taxpayer had paid a lot of money for. Ours not to reason why, they 
were the customer.


-- 
  David Hansen, Edinburgh 
 I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents 
me   
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54