Secret Service computers are a mess

This should make you feel nervous about your government: The Secret Service, which protects the president, other national leaders and foreign dignitaries, has a computer system from the dark ages.

ABC News reported that a classified review of the Secret Service's computer technology found the system is outdated and reliant on IBM mainframes from the 1980s. Yes, the 1980s! Currently, 42 mission-oriented applications run on a 1980s mainframe. What's worse, the review found that the system is fully operational only 60 percent of the time.

"We have here a premiere law enforcement organization in our country which is responsible for the security of the president and the vice president and other officials of our government, and they have to have better IT than they have," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

A Secret Service spokesman told ABC that the National Security Agency (NSA) conducted a review that "suggested we needed enhancements to ensure that our systems remained sound." He said a number of the recommended changes have been implemented.

That is an understatement. The 2011 budget request for the Secret Service said its "data environment is fragile and cannot sustain the tempo of current or future operational missions." The existing hardware, the Secret Service acknowledged, is "prone to failures."

For more details on the IT troubles of the Secret Service:
- see this ABC News report

Related Article:
Secret Service plans to ditch old IT systems