First, here’s the video report from Dale Russell of Fox 5 Atlanta that aired last night:
Apparently it is even easier to steal a business in Georgia than it is to steal an identity – which is already easy enough – and you have the last three Secretaries of State – Cathy Cox (D), Karen Handel (R), and Brian Kemp (R) – to thank for that.
Due to being both a techie and a politically-oriented person, I was asked to comment on this story, and I shall, after the jump…
First, the tech side: Let’s face it, this is something that should be behind a login screen – PERIOD. The security flaws here are EXTREMELY basic and EXTREMELY easy to fix – yet apparently they haven’t been touched since at least 2006, other than to add in an email notification feature that simply served as confirmation to the thief that they had been successful! From a tech standpoint, the solution there is SIMPLE, and it is NOT the one Kemp’s people used. The solution is to send a confirmation email to the OLD email address and force them to confirm the change – you know, the same system used by virtually every private website out there!
So clearly, Handel and Kemp – both of whom have also been in hot water over their illegal Voter Verification scheme, also built on faulty technology – have issues with technology and don’t seem to be able to think things through to any true degree. These things are to a large degree basic common sense, but apparently this is lost on Kemp and Handel.
Yes, I’m going into the political now, and here is what I have to say there: Clearly, Republicans – typically seen as very pro-business – can’t be trusted to actually keep business data safe. So why should we trust them with the full power of the Secretary of State’s office, which is basically the largest regulatory office in the State, entrusted with all kinds of personal data, business data, and professional licensing data. Is ANY of this data truly safe with Republicans guarding it? (Yes, Doug MacGinnitie offered this statement, but remember – Kemp also owned his own business before being appointed Secretary of State, meaning he should be just as well versed in business issues as MacGinnitie.)
But unlike Voter Verification, this wasn’t just a Republican problem. The report above clearly indicates that the immediate predecessor to Handel, Cathy Cox – a Democrat – was the one that originally had this system built. So clearly the Democrats – who tend to be very big government anyway – can’t be trusted with our individual, business, or professional licensing data either.
Fortunately for Georgia, there IS a man who has worked in secure environments and understands the value of security and integrity of personal data. This man DOES understand the value of privacy, and will actively work to ensure that Georgians’ data remains private and secure.
This man is David Chastain, the Libertarian nominee for Secretary of State.
Voting for a Democrat or a Republican in this race is a vote to compromise your identity and that of your business.
Vote to secure your data and your privacy. Vote Libertarian. Vote David Chastain for Secretary of State in 2010!
