McAfee defends government over child database
NAY-SAYERS against the government's central database plans have been slammed by insecurity experts McAfee for claiming that the operation will be less secure.
For those who came in late, Scottish Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been getting a bit of stick over a cunning plan to put every child's details onto a single database.
Instead of kiddies' details being held on a health, education or social services computer, they will be in one big one which can be linked to by the separate organisations.
Brown's thinking is that if it all in one place, no one can lose it and it can be much more secure.
However there has been much outcry in some circles that this database will be a damn fine target for hackers and we could be letting our kid's data fall into the hands of terrorists, paedophiles and other sorts of people that we used to be able to lynch.
However Kim Camman, marketing manager at mobile device encryption specialist SafeBoot, a McAfee company, told the INQ that it was a silly idea to assume that data stored on one central database will present a bigger threat than data held on lots of little ones.
He said that the problem with the system is not the single database idea but the fact that the data might be unencrypted in transit.
One central database is likely to be far more secure, as it will allow all parties to access it in a more secure way, he said.
It will also reduce the need for sensitive information to be stored on multiple mobile devices and transported between departments.
He said that if the database is managed and protected properly with strict security protocols and policies, and all employees are educated in these procedures, it should make a significant difference to improving child protection.
Unfortunately we are talking about the government here and it does not have what even the most trusting, gullible, rose-tinted spectacle wearer could call a good track record on data security. µ
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we should compile all the data available on everyone into one, giant database then have the different departments, agencies etc connect to it through a 256 bit encryption for maximum child security!

There's nothing quite like the centralization of (information =) power.
How about politicians go first? Let's have them put all of their personal details, medical records, etc. onto a single database that is accessible to all government departments to prove that it's safe.

I'm sure they'd be happy to lead by example.
Be very careful for what you wish for. Typically a database that size is develop from a design team. In the design team will be people that will have more knowledge than others and these people could exploit the system if given a reason to do so. By having specialized data in distributed systems the chances of someone getting all the data is very remote provided the same safeguards McAfee mention are used on EVERY database. Lets face that is not the case. Governments typically go with the lowest bidder on projects, an the mandatorys are skewed to the success of the project not necessarily security. Education is key to the key users of the information. If this is done right then nothing needs to be spent on a entirely new database, security on it, application interfaces, etc. Education is expensive, but in the long run it is the one thing that pays back.
If you had been paying attention to the news recently you would have heard all the requests for a central database for this information. Lots of child abuse cases get missed because the records of medical treatment for injuries and case information held by social services are not linked. If this information was stored centrally than a social services case officer would have access to all the facts and be better equipped judge how much the child is at risk.

However the government in this country has earned itself a reputation for cocking up IT projects.