However a problem we really do have is that we have lost our expertise. The COTS mandate lead to less demand for the kinds of engineers who could have prevented this breach.
My friend Murray Sims is a naval civil service coder. He rang me up once to beg me to work for the navy:
"People are dying because of software bugs."
Id love to but I get a little loopy sometimes so have no hope of getting a clearance, instead I write technical articles.
Your friend definitely has a point. People are dying because of software bugs. And process bugs. And outdated hardware.
I agree with you that we have lost our expertise. I think the defense industry in general has a demographics problem. There's a lot of old guys who are about to retire. A lot of young, inexperienced people. And not enough of the mid-career engineers.
I applied to the US Air Force Cyber Command as well as all manner of military computer security jobs. I received but one response, that my application to be an encryption machine trainer was declined.
That was not my intention though I do understand why you took it that way.
I intended to insult the United States Congress.
