Posted on 09/15/2017 12:49:39 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
When Congress hauls in Equifax CEO Richard Smith to grill him, it can start by asking why he put someone with degrees in music in charge of the company’s data security.
And then they might also ask him if anyone at the company has been involved in efforts to cover up Susan Mauldin’s lack of educational qualifications since the data breach became public.
It would be fascinating to hear Smith try to explain both of those extraordinary items.
If those events don’t put the final nails in his professional coffin, accountability in the U.S. is officially dead.
Equifax “Chief Security Officer” Susan Mauldin has a bachelor’s degree and a master of fine arts degree in music composition from the University of Georgia. Her LinkedIn professional profile lists no education related to technology or security.
This is the person who was in charge of keeping your personal and financial data safe — and whose apparent failings have put 143 million of us at risk from identity theft and fraud. It was revealed this week that the massive data breach came due to a software vulnerability that was known about, and should have been patched, months earlier.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
BS. The could have walked all over her and tell her a pile of shit was roses. She didn’t even know the right questions to ask. Total incompetence. It really isn’t her fault. Her ego got her the job. Probably all of her jobs and she was lucky up to the point until she wasn’t.
Except one thing... If you don’t have a degree and specific experience in the field, how do you know what that security team needs to be doing?
You can’t just take their word for it.
She failed. There is a reason for it. You can’t simply say, “Oh, I hired a great team, but they failed me.”
I can confirm that money (in a company that always turned a profit) was the reason my last gig was vehemently-resistant to implementing even basic security. That, and rank stupidity.
In that case, it was the locals guys, not corporate, that were the immovable roadblock.
I hear pudding is hard on a good security infrastructure.
I’m surprised they did not pick a Gender Studies major. Sounds like discrimination to me.
Without knowing exactly how the breach occurred, it’s difficult to know where and why she failed.
Sadly the do-nothing-right Congress will beat their chests.
s/b “, it was the locals”
or
“it was the local guys”
How would she know where to start, when building a set of technical requirements needed to assemble a team of experts?
I’ll third that.
Clearly the result of her being hired are clear for all to see. I could see her in charge of HR - maybe.
Those are practically persona non grata in a lot of places nowadays.
Looking at the picture, I can bet she never played the Skin Flute!
I’ve been EQUIF*CKED!
I would usualy agree with your comment because I’ve been there and done that without a computer relat d degree but these days and with the unique position equifax is in they really needed a very qualified person in that position. I see many C suite types headed for the door over this.
Education in a particular field of science is a good and often necessary thing, but that won’t provide the management skills required to run a security operation — that only comes with many years of experience in the field.
I’m not at all saying she’s not accountable. My point concerns the focus of failure which to me is a failure.
Maybe a start up but security for a fortune 500 company and Equifax? That is the big f***ing league. She was an amateur.
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