My wife recently had her bank delete her debit card and issue her a new one after she found that she was among the people whose information was compromised by the Target stores hack. She’s one of more than 140 million people. No sooner than our family began to feel a little more secure, the news released the story that a software malfunction on the eBenefits website, the VA and Social Security online benefits portal had displayed random veteran’s information to other vets logged onto the system. The online veterans were even able to make changes to the information belonging to other vets. It should also be pointed out that the eBenefits website contains most of a veterans private information, from date of birth to social security number and much, much more. There is no real way to determine whether any veteran’s private information was taken for wrongful use; only the future can determine that. However, the damage to the credibility of the VA is obvious right now. I know that my trust has been betrayed by this mishap, and it disturbs me further to learn that the VA system has been hacked a number of times in the last couple of years. The VA made no attempt to notify veterans of the breaches, nor has the VA notified any of us about this one. We had to learn it from news stories.
Going to the eBenefits portal sent a shiver down my spine as I read that Social Security will no longer be mailing out its notices to its benefits recipients, this and other Social Security information will be placed online shortly. Perfect.
The thing is, our government has had so many breaches in its online endeavors that it’s difficult to have faith that we won’t be harmed by what appears to be a pattern of lax security measures. Hacks are going to happen, as we saw with Target and other companies who’ve had their systems compromised by experts. But that’s a different thing than badly written code which openly displays information that can be used to literally destroy someone’s economic (and perhaps physical) life. Is the government going to swoop to the rescue of people damaged by errors like the one we saw on eBenefits? I know that if anything goes amiss with my credit or debit card, my bank is right there with a bagful of protections for me. I don’t see Uncle Sam offering similar protection. Further, we can use companies like PayPal to act as intermediaries between our private banking information and the various merchants we deal with and the systems used. I would feel better if there were a VAPal or GovPal I could employ to protect me, but I shouldn’t hold my breath waiting for one to appear.
I understand that the government is trying to reduce expense and speed its processes, but I’m not so sure that it’s ready to take so much important material online. Not when there seems to be so large a question about security. The “cyber world” needs more viable locks and keys before I think it should be used so universally. Keep in mind that many people don’t have access to computers or a connection to the internet, and sending them to the local library only offers yet another failure point for security.
But if the government is set on taking so much critical information online, then it needs to do so with great caution, using a system that doesn’t actually store the information on internet accessible systems, but uses a bucket brigade type system with checks and balances to receive or display information, much the way PayPal, Visa’s V.Me and other secure systems do. As to online transaction activity, keep in mind that financial institutions are rising to meet the security challenges. They’re losing over a billion dollars a year from online fraud and yu can bet they’re anxious to help.
As I said, PayPal is an excellent (and free) way to protect yourself when it comes to online transactions. Recently, Visa started V.Me which works very much like PayPal. If you aren’t using one or both of these protections, you should be. Also, Amazon Payments and Google Wallet offer layers of security that apply checks and balances to your transactions. The so-called cyber world is a dangerous place for the unprotected. But it’s just another place to shop for those who take advantage of the protections being offered by more and more highly reputable companies. The thing is, we can help things along by turning u the heat. You should tell your elected officials what you think of the growing incidence of computer compromises in government, and demand regulation that limits the exposure of anyone involved in doing business online. After all, this is your money we’re talking about, not some fictitious government budget. We need to take action to reduce the number of people who wake up one day to find their bank accounts empty and their credit strained to the limit. We need to do business with stores that accept alternative, protected payments like PayPal and v.me, and shun the stores that don’t. The more companies find that their bottom line depends on the protection they offer their customers (and that includes the government), the better things will get.
