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Comment by mpyne

3 days ago

In fairness the SECWAR is hardly a computing expert.

But in this case the SECWAR has been properly advised. If anything it's astonishing that a program whereby China-based Microsoft engineers telling U.S.-based Microsoft engineers specific commands to type in ever made it off the proposal page inside Microsoft, accelerated time-to-market or not.

It defeats the entire purpose of many of the NIST security controls that demand things like U.S.-cleared personnel for government networks, and Microsoft knew those were a thing because that was the whole point to the "digital escort" (a U.S. person who was supposed to vet the Chinese engineer's technical work despite apparently being not technical enough to have just done it themselves).

Some ideas "sell themselves", ideas like these do the opposite.

12 comments

mpyne

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jacquesm  3 days ago

> If anything it's astonishing that a program whereby China-based Microsoft engineers telling U.S.-based Microsoft engineers specific commands to type in ever made it off the proposal page inside Microsoft, accelerated time-to-market or not.

> It defeats the entire purpose of many of the NIST security controls that demand things like U.S.-cleared personnel for government networks, and Microsoft knew those were a thing because that was the whole point to the "digital escort" (a U.S. person who was supposed to vet the Chinese engineer's technical work despite apparently being not technical enough to have just done it themselves).

That is beyond bad. Proof of this?

lmm  3 days ago

Being compliant with the letter of the requirements at 1/3 of the cost is absolutely an idea that sells itself.

CoastalCoder  3 days ago

I'd like to suggest calling him SECDEF, not SECWAR.

IMHO the country should not capitulate to Trump's power grabs, even if Congress refuses to perform their oversight duties.

  • mpyne  3 days ago

    I'm sympathetic to the viewpoint but I'm not in the habit of policing the names people use for themselves.

    I've certainly done more than my fair share of jobs in the Navy where the office I was formally billeted to had long since ceased to actually exist as described due to office renamings. Often things as simple as a department section being elevated into a department branch and people using the new name even while they wait 1-2 years for the manpower records to be fixed and the POM process to cycle through for program resourcing. But still, seems hard to treat it as a crime at one level when no one blinked an eye at the lower level.

    Maybe Congress will eventually step in, but in the meantime the American voters made their choice about who they want to run these agencies, so...

    • cwillu  3 days ago

      The main title of the office is still “secretary of defense”, the executive order added a secondary title of the department and the office, it didn't replace the primary titles.

    • jubilanti  3 days ago

      > the American voters made their choice about who they want to run these agencies

      The American voters don't get to override the U.S. constitution. The American voters also voted in the U.S. Congress, which has the sole authority to name the department and title. My representatives have not voted to change the law. Do you not care about the rule of law?

      > I'm not in the habit of policing the names people use for themselves.

      I'm sure you think you're being clever, but this is such a bad faith argument.

      1 reply →

    • jazzypants  3 days ago

      These agencies such as the Department of Defense, whose secretary is...?

      The department's name is *legally* the Department of Defense. If they want to change it, they can go to Congress and do it the legal way. They have a majority. There's nothing stopping them except for their disregard for the sanctity of the law.